[BC] Re: Early Multiband

[Robert Orban]

At 06:18 PM 12/27/2005, you wrote:
>From: "Jim Wood, C.P.E.W." <electrojim at sbcglobal.net>
>Subject: [BC] Re: Early Multiband
>To: <broadcast at radiolists.net>
>Message-ID: <008701c60b34$4699fe60$6401a8c0 at JIMSDESK>
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>         reply-type=original
>
>Okay, just what was the first commercially-available multiband processor?
>The first one I ever came across was the Altec 2-band unit, which was the
>work of James Noble and Robert Bird, described in full in the December 1969
>issue of the Journal of the AES.

Mike Dorrough claims to have been selling DAPs before the Altec unit was 
introduced.

Certainly, the Altec was the first multiband compressor for which I saw 
marketing literature. All of this arguably stems from Ray Dolby's multiband 
compressor in the A-type noise reduction system, that even included diode 
clippers to remove overshoots. Dolby-A was first sold in 1965 and was 
developed in 1964.

>  Also, wasn't the Friese(sp?) Audio Pilot a
>multiband device?  What was its vintage?

I could have sworn I had a manual for this thing around, but a quick search 
didn't turn it up. IIRC, it was a wideband device that closed a feedback 
loop around the TX, attempting to take into account the non-ideal behavior 
of the TX. Reportedly, it was very touchy to set up  because of the 
stability issues resulting from the delay that the TX introduced into the 
feedback loop.

Bob Orban