1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: Get in text with technology with text Stuff from dot com. 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: Say everyone, and welcome to tex Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: and I'm Lauren bob Obam And today we wanted to 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: talk about a particular person who was very influential in technology, 5 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: someone whom we lost last year in two thousand and thirteen. 6 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: Ray Dolby and Dolby. You know the name. If you're 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: at all familiar with audio equipment, the name just jumps 8 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: out at you. I mean, even if you are, you're not. 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: Even if you've seen a movie in a theater basically 10 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: ever or maybe watched one on a DVD. If you've 11 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: ever owned a stereo in the history of ever, you've 12 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: probably seen the Dolby logo, which is that Yeah, certainly 13 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: in the history of the past thirty years. Yeah, which 14 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: I think for most of our listeners that that qualifies. Uh. 15 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: I know that we have some listeners who maybe have 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: owned stereos that are older than thirty years. We appreciate 17 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: you as well, of course. So Dolby, who was this guy? 18 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: What did he do? While he was an electrical engineer, 19 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: famous for his work in developing audio technology, which was 20 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: used in everything from movies to uh, to studio equipment, 21 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: to the stuff that you could buy like consumer electronics. 22 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:28,279 Speaker 1: And he has absolutely no relation to the musician Thomas 23 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: Dolby known for us. She blinded me with science, right. 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: Apparently Thomas Dolby took that stage name based on Dolby. Yes, yeah, yeah, 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: his his actual name is Thomas Robertson, but his stage 26 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: name is Thomas Dolby, presumably taking the name because of 27 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: Dolby Laboratories and Dolby himself, Ray Dolby, Ray, by the way, 28 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: had still has a son named Tom so also a 29 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: little confused and confusion there, um. But apparently and and 30 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: you uncovered this little tidbit that that Thomas are Yes, yes, 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: Thomas Dolby, the musician stage name person, had an agreement 32 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: laid out that he would not name any electronics equipment 33 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: under the Dolby brand, right right, He could not he 34 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: you know, there was some initial um tension between Dolby 35 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: Labs and Thomas Dolby, but that eventually got kind of 36 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: settled down in the agreement essentially was kind of a 37 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: gentleman's agreement. It was that Thomas Dolby could perform and 38 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: and record under the name Thomas Dolby as long as 39 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: he didn't put out like the Dolby Stereo, because I 40 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: could be confused with the actual Dolby Labs brand. So 41 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: let's talk about Tom, not Thomas Dolby. That's a totally 42 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: different podcast that we could do, because Thomas Dolby has 43 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: been very active in digital distribution. But Ray Dolby. So, 44 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: he was born back in nineteen three in Portland, Oregon. 45 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: His father was a salesman yep. Ray Delby as a 46 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: kid got interested in electronics. He apparently, according to one 47 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,559 Speaker 1: report I read, at age nine, rigged up an electronic 48 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: signaling system that would allow you to alert someone, similar 49 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: to using something with Morse code. I imagine this is 50 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: something similar, like like a simple switch and uh, something 51 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: that either made noise or lit up. There weren't details 52 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: about exactly what it was. Yeah, I think that this 53 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: was from an interview that he had done with a 54 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: member of the um I e. The I Tripolie back 55 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: in the eighties at some point. So I didn't have 56 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: extreme details, but I found that very charming. He was 57 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: also fascinated as a child by the mechanics of music. 58 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: As a kid, he apparently played clarinet and remembered being 59 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: um just engrossed by the vibrations of the reds, and 60 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: in fact, that fascination with music would go throughout his 61 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: entire life. His sons would talk about how he was 62 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: not just an engineer, nor did he ever wish to 63 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: be seen that way. He was an adventurer at heart 64 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: and a musician at heart, someone who truly appreciated the 65 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: sound owned of talented artists making music. And that was 66 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: part of what he was so interested in when he 67 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: got into electronics, was being able to have a device 68 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:16,039 Speaker 1: that could record and play back such stuff without any 69 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: other artifacts getting in the way. So in high school 70 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: he uh joined the projectionist clubs. So clearly a big 71 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: man on campus. Uh. Obviously these are the the kids 72 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: who are really interested in cinema. They're interested in in 73 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: all aspects of electronics technology. Yeah, you know, all of 74 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. And through that, in nine he 75 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: met one um Alex Pantov excellent. Yeah, he was the 76 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: founder of a company called Ampex Corps. Yep. And uh 77 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: and so here's here's the deal. Here's the scenario. Alex 78 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: Pontia comes to town and he's gonna have a meeting 79 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,359 Speaker 1: and in order. Part of this meeting involves showing a 80 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 1: film and he needs to have someone to run the projectors, 81 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: so he reaches out to the local school and says, hey, 82 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: can you send me a kid who can run the projector, 83 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: and Dolby volunteers. He says, this sounds like something I 84 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: would really like to do, so he comes over and 85 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: runs the projector and he and Poniatof hit it off. 86 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: I mean they you know, it's clear that Dolby is 87 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: truly interested in technology, and Ampex was really getting into 88 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: building recording devices, both for UM industry, like geophysical recorders, 89 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: and also for you know, entertainment industry as well eventually, 90 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: so he Dolby shows this incredible interest in the subject matter, 91 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: and Poniatof is obviously impressed and tells Dolbie, hey, you know, kid, listen. 92 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: I know you're in school and all, but I tell 93 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: you what, on weekends and on vacations, if you like, 94 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: you can come and work for me, And Dolby says sure. Yeah. 95 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: Delbie was only sixteen years old at the time and 96 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: wound up working a little bit more than I think 97 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: that they originally expected. Dolby said that he was far 98 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: enough I had with his credits in high school that 99 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: he wasn't really worried about getting into colleges. He figured 100 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: he had it in the bag. So he wound up 101 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: at a certain point spending like three hours a day 102 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: at school and five hours a day at Ampex. It 103 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,559 Speaker 1: turns out that eventually Dolby's not so so concerned about 104 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: staying in college either, at least initially. So. Yeah, his 105 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: he was obviously really eager to get hands on experience 106 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: with this. It was, you know, he didn't want to 107 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: just learn theory. He wanted to actually be working, and 108 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: he found it really exciting. By nineteen fifty one, he 109 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 1: was attending San Jose State College in California and had 110 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: picked the major of electrical engineering. Uh, and he was 111 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: still working with Ampex at that time, and within the 112 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: first year of his schooling, actually just after he was 113 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: just about to start a sophomore year, Ampex began to 114 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: develop something that would revolutionize the entertainment industry and the 115 00:06:53,720 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: home entertainment market. Eventually, the video recorders, so videotaper orders 116 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: were not a thing yet, right, this is a brand 117 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: new technology, and he had the opportunity to work on 118 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: an early implementation of that videotape had the potential to 119 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: be a truly disruptive type of technology, which, of course, 120 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: as we all know, that's what happened. I mean, you 121 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: saw it happen again and again. But he had the 122 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: chance to get in on the ground floor, and he 123 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: was so excited by that that he made the decision 124 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: to drop out of college and uh work full time 125 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: at Ampex. But that also meant right, this was during 126 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: during the Korean War was about to really ramp up, 127 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: and he was He's spoken about being very aware at 128 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: the time that this decision would make him eligible to 129 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: be drafted, and being a little bit concerned about that, 130 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: which would turn out to be a fair concern. Yeah, 131 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: he um, you know, by not being a college student, 132 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: that made him eligible for the draft, and in fact, 133 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: he was drafted and he went into the army on 134 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: April first, nineteen fifty three. He was drafted into the army. 135 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: And during this was during the Korean War. Delby later 136 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: said that, uh, that was with it because he got 137 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: to work on the video recorder. Meanwhile, even you know, 138 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: Dolby was removed from the picture. He had to go 139 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: and serve in the army. UH. Ampex ended up shelving 140 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: the video recorder project, not because Dolby was removed from it. 141 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: I mean, Dolby himself said, it's not because I wasn't there. 142 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: That's not why they did it. They did it because 143 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: the company itself was in financial trouble. There was a 144 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: recession going on at the time, and the company was 145 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: hit pretty hard by it, and so to to save 146 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: money and and to cut back on things that were, 147 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: you know, obviously big projects that could pay off, but 148 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: it would be a long term gain, they decided to 149 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: pull back on those. So this was one of the 150 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 1: projects they shelved. So he goes off and he joins 151 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: the army. While he's in the army, he teaches classes 152 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: on electronics because why not. Yeah, he still hasn't completed 153 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: college himself. But on January one, nineteen fifty five, he 154 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: was discharged from the army and rejoined Ampex, which had 155 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: started UH to decide go back and and launched the 156 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: video recorder project again. So he was working on that. 157 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: He also went back to college. This time. He did 158 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: not go to San Jose State. He went to a 159 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:15,439 Speaker 1: little college called Stanford UM, and he completed his degree 160 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: at Stanford. So by nineteen fifty six the video recorder 161 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: goes into production. So this is a big deal. And Dolby, 162 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: I think his name is even on one of the patents, 163 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,199 Speaker 1: at least one of the patents. Yeah, this is Ampex's 164 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: specific video. Yes, and it's the first to go into production. 165 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: So Dolby goes to then uh he he applies and 166 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: is accepted to go to Cambridge University to work towards 167 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: a PhD in physics. Um, he would finally receive that 168 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty one. Yeah, and uh, and of course 169 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: you know, obviously PhD in physics, he's looking at acoustics, right, 170 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: that was his main focus. No, that's not his main focus. 171 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: His main focus actually was an X rays, long wavelength 172 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,719 Speaker 1: X rays. He was, yeah, he was. He was convinced 173 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: that this was what he really he was going to 174 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: do for the rest of his life. He was going 175 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: to work in experiments and build things that worked with 176 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: X rays. Apparently at the time, very popular guy in Cambridge, 177 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,959 Speaker 1: partially because he had access to professional recording equipment and 178 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: there were a lot of musical groups in the area 179 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: that wanted to be able to record stuff, but they 180 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 1: didn't have access to professional recording equipment, you would get 181 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: these really poor recordings. So he started getting invited to 182 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 1: all sorts of events and he would have people over 183 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: at his place to play music. Not keep in mind, 184 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: this is you know, this is great stuff for Dolbie 185 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: who loves music. You know, this is again him continuing this, uh, 186 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,439 Speaker 1: this keen interest in music. So I'm sure he found 187 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: it to be a wonderful time of his life. Oh sure. 188 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: He was also making a big impact on the community 189 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: in general. He around the same time was consulting for 190 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: the UK's atomic energy authorities, so getting some good stuff 191 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 1: on his resume. Oh yeah, yeah, No, this for someone 192 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: who was interested in making the first video recorder. He's 193 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: already branching out quite a bit by this time. Also 194 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty two, he meets Dagmar ballmert Uh in 195 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,439 Speaker 1: Cambridge and she would become the love of his life. 196 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: I mean, every report I ever read about the two 197 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: of them talking about very sweet talked about how parties 198 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: they were always right there, you know, backing each other up, 199 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: and they they complemented one another in various ways. So 200 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: she was actually from Germany. She was in Cambridge for 201 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: a summer program when they met, and the rest is, 202 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 1: they say, is history. We'll we'll talk more about them 203 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: a little bit later on to UM. But then in 204 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three, really cool, Yeah, Dolby read about this 205 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: opportunity in a newspaper for the United Nations Educational, Scientific 206 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: and Cultural Organization a k a. UNESCO as most people 207 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 1: would know about it, UM to to go to India 208 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: and help consult to to build up a little bit 209 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: more of a kind of infrastructure, Yeah, scientific laboratory infrastructure, 210 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: specifically in the Punjab region which is known as a 211 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,839 Speaker 1: very culturally rich area. And he spent two years there. 212 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: And while he was doing that, he continued to be 213 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: really interested in creating equipment that would be allowed to 214 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: allow you to make high fidelity audio recordings. Well, he 215 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: had brought one of those professional level Ampex I think 216 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: it was the Ampex six hundred tape recorders along with him, 217 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: and UH would would invite musicians to complay at his 218 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: house so that he could experiment with recordings. And UH 219 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: and he started to really be bothered by something that 220 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: is inherent in magnetic tape recordings analog recordings, which is 221 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: that you get this hiss sound, particularly if you're playing 222 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: the tape at lower speeds. And we'll talk more about 223 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,840 Speaker 1: that as well. Because in nineteen sixty five, once he 224 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: had concluded his two year stint with UNESCO, he decided 225 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: to go back to London. There was a dressmaker factory. 226 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: I assume it was a factory for dresses, not for dressmakers. 227 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: Think they actually built dressmakers. I think the robotics wasn't 228 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: quite it's advanced at the time. So yeah, he rented 229 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 1: essentially what was a corner in an old factory and 230 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: created Dolby Laboratories. He was using twenty dollars in startup money, 231 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: which was what he had saved plus borrowed from other folks, 232 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: and it had a grand total of four employees when 233 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: it first started, and their first product that they were 234 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: working on was something called Signal to Noise Stretchers. Now 235 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: that's the technical name for what Dolby created. However, that 236 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: they are to this day called Dolby's. Yeah, in the 237 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: industry they're called Dolby's and it didn't take very long 238 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: for that to happen. So the whole point of signal 239 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 1: to noise Stretchers, it kind of comes in the name 240 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: signal to noise. So if you think of something that's 241 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: been recorded to magnetic tape, the signal is whatever it 242 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: was you were trying to record, right, Noise is noise, 243 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: it's stuff you don't want, it's artifacts, it's it's static. Yeah, 244 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: it distracts from what you were trying to capture. So 245 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: if your goal is to create a recreation of the 246 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: moment that a sound was created, then you want to 247 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: reduce that noise as much as possible. And so this 248 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: was a method really of recording and playing back stuff 249 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: so that you would reduce that noise so that it 250 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: was inaudible, it was unnoticeable. And we'll talk about how 251 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: he did that in the second half of this of 252 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: this episode. But anyway, this was you know, really meant 253 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: to be kind of a a side project. It was 254 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: meant to be the thing that allowed him to make, 255 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: you know, to fund the other things he was going 256 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: to do, specifically X ray experimentation. But as it turns out, 257 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: Don't Be hit on something that a lot of people 258 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: found really fascinating and valuable and it took over his life. Well, 259 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: even even at the time very high qualit uality media 260 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: like a like like an LP like a record. Um, 261 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: we're recorded from a master tape, a master magnetic tape. 262 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: So this impacted a huge segment of a few different industries. 263 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: Oh sure, if your master tape has a hiss on it, 264 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: then that hiss gets transmitted to every other copy that 265 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: you make. Right, So if you're able to create a 266 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: system where you remove that hiss so that you have 267 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: the highest quality master tape, then whenever you are making 268 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: a new copy, then you are there across your copying 269 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: the hiss as well. Yeah, so if you if you 270 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: can get rid of the hiss, that's awesome. And that's 271 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: why it ended up being such a big deal. Um. 272 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: And so early on it was really focusing mostly on 273 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: on studio level quality, right, we're talking professional recording studios, 274 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: not something that you would find in your average uh 275 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: playback device that a consumer would have right right right there. 276 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: Their first customer was Decca Records. Yeah uh ended up 277 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: being a pretty important customer. So Decca Records, they come 278 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: up and they say they want to use the Dolby 279 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: system on a series of recordings made by Vladimir Ashkenazi 280 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: of Mozart Piano Concertos, which you know already it's speaking 281 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: to Dolby's heart, and so Dolby says that, uh, you know, 282 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: he realized that the noise reduction, which he thought was 283 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: gonna be that little side project, was going to become, uh, 284 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: the main thing he worked on for the at least 285 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: the foreseeable future. So nineteen sixties six, Dolby Mary's Dagmar. 286 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: So uh. They end up eventually having two children, Tom 287 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: and David. Tom is a novelist and a journalist and editor, 288 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: and David sits on the board of directors for Dolby Labs. 289 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: So they're both very successful. Um. In nineteen sixty eight, 290 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: Dolby is convinced by a man named Henry Class, who 291 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: at that time was president of the k l H 292 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: Research and Development Corporation, to create a consumer version of 293 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: his signal to noise stretcher technology. All right, because up 294 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: until this point it had all been these these really 295 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: high end, pretty expensive versions for for that professional studio 296 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,200 Speaker 1: that for doing like doing those master tapes, right, it 297 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: was it was meant as a as an industry thing. 298 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: So it was you know, Originally Dolby was thinking that 299 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: his stuff that he was working on it would trickle 300 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: down to consumers. But in a way that the consumer 301 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,360 Speaker 1: would never notice, or in a way that the consumer 302 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: would never have any direct participation in. Yeah, exactly, because 303 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: because you know, the consumer would be able to enjoy 304 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:39,439 Speaker 1: the benefits by playing something and not hearing that sounds 305 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 1: better than that other things, right, but they wouldn't be 306 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: able to create their own stuff. Right Well, this class 307 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: ends up saying to to Dolby that, hey, you should 308 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: really make a consumer version of this. Dolby says, there's 309 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 1: not really a market for it. I can't see consumers 310 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: jumping at this. So then what Class does is something 311 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: kind of sneaky to convinced Dolby otherwise. He goes back 312 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 1: and he tells some of his engineers, hey, guys, let's 313 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: kind of reverse engineer this. Take Dolby's Type A what 314 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: would eventually be called the Type A Dolby's UM and 315 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: reverse engineer so that we can make a consumer level 316 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,359 Speaker 1: of our own. They do that. He then takes that 317 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: to Dolby and says, look at what I did. I 318 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,919 Speaker 1: took your stuff and I made a cheaper version for consumers. 319 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: Someone else is gonna do that and they're gonna beat 320 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 1: you to the market, so you should do it. First, 321 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,679 Speaker 1: and Dolby says, huh, how about that. You're right, I 322 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: should do that, And so Dolby that goes to create 323 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,440 Speaker 1: a consumer version of his signal to noise stretchers called 324 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: Type B. So Type A is for the professional studios, 325 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: it's it's more sophisticated, it covers a greater range of sounds, 326 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: and we'll go over that in the second half. To 327 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: Type B is less expensive, more limited. But then for 328 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: your average consumer it was perfectly unless unless you're an 329 00:18:57,840 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: expert in the field and have an extremely good year 330 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: end cetera, etcetera. Was basically fine. And then later on 331 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: Dolby Labs would end up releasing updates. They had a 332 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: Type C come out that was a more sophisticated version, 333 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: and then eventually they had a spectral recording which was 334 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: an even more sophisticated version of the same basic approach. 335 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,959 Speaker 1: Class would wind up continuing to to interact with Delby 336 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: in this industry. Yeah, he ends up creating a company 337 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: called Advent Corporation, which would produce the first consumer cassette 338 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: deck that had the Dolby technology in it. Now, that 339 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: wasn't the first one that was a consumer product. The 340 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: first consumer product was real to real deck So this 341 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,120 Speaker 1: is before cassettes really had had started to become a thing, 342 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:41,679 Speaker 1: but real to real recorders. If you were, you know, 343 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 1: an amateur musician or even a professional musician, but you 344 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: want to record your own stuff, then this is the 345 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,120 Speaker 1: kind of technology you were using at the time. So 346 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one that's when Dolby Labs begins to experiment 347 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 1: by going outside of just the audio recording industry. There's 348 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,879 Speaker 1: still very much it's still audio centric, but they're looking 349 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: at another industry that they can impact, and that that 350 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,479 Speaker 1: was movies. And this would be this would be a huge, 351 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: huge player in in a Delby's personal success and and 352 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: be just the film industry. Yeah, so they're looking at 353 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: making movies sound match the quality of the images because 354 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: uh and Lauren, I saw that you you pulled this 355 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: into the notes as a perfect example. The problem was 356 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 1: that movies at that time we're relying on the same 357 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: basic sound systems that have been developed decades earlier. Oh yeah, 358 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: there had been so many innovations in um in film 359 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,439 Speaker 1: quality itself over the past, of the recent past of 360 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: of the nineteen sixties and fifties, but really like gone 361 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: with the wind was the industry standard of of audio production, 362 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,880 Speaker 1: and that had happened thirty five or forty years previously, right, 363 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: So Dolby ends up looking into creating a system that 364 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: would make much more clear, crisp sound or movies. Uh. 365 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: And so the first film that gets released that has 366 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: the Dolby treatment to it is a little film called 367 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange And oh, my, Drew gis if 368 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: you don't vitty, well, what I say, things changing sus 369 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: scory these days, and people quick to forget. Just remember 370 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: that without this, our movies wouldn't sound nearly as good. 371 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: And here here's the reason why Dolby was so influential, 372 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: really early early on, because not only did it work, 373 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,920 Speaker 1: but it wasn't expensive for theaters to incorporate into their systems. 374 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: Like this is this is not surround sound we're talking 375 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: about here. This is just the sound quality. Yeah, this 376 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: is just the clarity, removing that hiss, because the same 377 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: hiss was apparent in uh in film as it was 378 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: in yeah, in magnetic tapes. So this was a way 379 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: of being able to create this, this crisp sound that 380 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: theaters didn't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars 381 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: to fit. They didn't have to do that. So it 382 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: ended up the coming in industry standard because it worked 383 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: and it was cheap. And when it works and it's 384 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: cheap and becomes a standard, that means you have a 385 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: constant supply of customers. So Dolby had struck gold with this. 386 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:15,439 Speaker 1: This was going to end up being one of the 387 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: biggest businesses for Dolby moving forward, because you had an 388 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: entire industry dependent upon that that particular methodology to make 389 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: movies sound good. And it became one of those things 390 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: where if you saw that the movie incorporated Dolby Sound, 391 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: you knew you were in for a special treat. So 392 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: we've got a lot more to talk about here, including 393 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: some some developments that also tied back into sound and 394 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: the movies. But before we do that, let's take a 395 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: quick break to thank our sponsor. Al Right, getting back 396 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,360 Speaker 1: to ray Dolby, So he was already seeing success in audio, 397 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: uh well, audio hardware, both on the on the the 398 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: professional side and on the consumer side, was starting to 399 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: see success in the motion picture industry. Um and then 400 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: starts to work on some other stuff for movies. In 401 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: nineteen Uh, A lot of things happened. First of all, 402 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: he relocated the headquarters of Dolby Labs. It had been 403 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: in London, as we had said earlier, they moved it 404 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,120 Speaker 1: over to San Francisco, California. Yep. So he goes over 405 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: to to to Uh, well, I was gonna say San 406 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: fran but boy, they hate that. I would also say Frescope, 407 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: but they hate that more. We'll just say the city. 408 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,880 Speaker 1: So he takes it to the city in California. Well, 409 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: they still keep their London office. That they still keep 410 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: the London office open, and they then introduce a multi 411 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: channel technology for films that becomes known as surround sound. 412 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: So multi channel is pretty self explanatory. There are multiple 413 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,199 Speaker 1: channels for the sound, and you have multiple speakers and 414 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: you send different channels to different speakers to create the 415 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: effect of sound surrounding the person in the in the theater. 416 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: So that way, if you have action on the screen 417 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: that's heavily taking place on the left side, you can 418 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: amplify the stuff that's on the left rather than on 419 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 1: the right and give the impression that you are right 420 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: there in the middle of things. You can even isolate 421 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,160 Speaker 1: sounds so that particular sounds play either more on one 422 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: side than the other or just on one side. And 423 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: if you've been keeping up with surround sound, both in 424 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: the film industry and in just home entertainment center centers, 425 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: you know that the numbers keep going up, like you 426 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: had five point one and then like six point one 427 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,399 Speaker 1: and seven point one. Then mostly that really refers to 428 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: the channels, all right, it's the number of channels that 429 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: are involved, and it's usually uh, I think it's five channels. 430 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: And then the point one is technically the effects channel. 431 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,919 Speaker 1: It's point one is that technically the subwoffer because if 432 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: you have a five point one's set up, it usually 433 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: means that you have a front center speaker front left, front, right, 434 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: back left, back right, and then you have the sub 435 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: wolverer for forgetting those those vibrated so effects. Right, that's 436 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: the that's what makes the movies like uh like like 437 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: Event Horizon really watchable, you know when you get that. 438 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: So yeah, any any time that you have the elder 439 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: gods coming for you, it's great if you can really 440 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 1: feel it in your spleen. Yeah, even if every time 441 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: the Taranto source Rex takes a step in dress a 442 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: park the water on your table actually actually shakes, then 443 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,360 Speaker 1: you know you've got a really good sound system. So yeah, 444 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,919 Speaker 1: surround sound comes out. And there were some there were 445 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: a few movies that that took advantage of it early. 446 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: But there was one in particular, close to my heart, 447 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: that um really leveraged it, little independent film that came 448 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,439 Speaker 1: out in nineteen Star Wars. I was thinking Close Encounters 449 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: of the third kind of Star Wars is good too. Now, 450 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 1: of course it was Star Wars, and both Star Wars 451 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,960 Speaker 1: and Close Encounters did take advantage of surround sound. Both 452 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,360 Speaker 1: did come out in nineteen seven. And those movies had 453 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: so much going for them. I mean, they were capturing 454 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: people's imaginations, they had incredible scores. John Williams worked on both. Uh, 455 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: they were they were movies that hit just at the 456 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: right time, and they were so big budget. There were 457 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,199 Speaker 1: such blockbusters. That was kind of the beginning of the 458 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: entire blockbuster era. And and it's kind of a chicken 459 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,120 Speaker 1: and an egg issue of whether they caught on so 460 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: well because they had this terrific sound quality, or that 461 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: the sound quality because it was attached to these incredibly 462 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: popular movies, thus became more popular. Doesn't really matter. I mean, 463 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: I would say that the sound was certainly an integral 464 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: part of what made those movies an amazing experience. And 465 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,199 Speaker 1: in fact, George Lucas gives incredible amounts of credit to 466 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: Dolby and Dolbie Labs for making Star Wars immersive. He 467 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,400 Speaker 1: said that, you know, that's what gave me the ability 468 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: to create the experience I had imagined. Grant, he said 469 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: that way back in the in the late seventies, I 470 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: suppose when he went back and decided to ruin the 471 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 1: Star Wars movies with all the special editions, he was 472 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: thinking that maybe he didn't really achieve what he had 473 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: planned on achieving. That's kind of commentary will skip on 474 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: the rest of that. But but but at any rate, 475 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 1: was you know, this was a huge industry game changer, 476 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: and I believe that tech stuff that that Jonathan and Chris, 477 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: you guys did a whole episode on surround sound back 478 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: in Yeah, So if you want to learn more about 479 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,479 Speaker 1: how surround sound works, definitely go back and listen to 480 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: that podcast. It's from August time. The name is what 481 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,120 Speaker 1: is surround sound? If you're looking for it, yep, yep, 482 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: So go check that out because we're not going to 483 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,919 Speaker 1: cover surround sounds so much as we're gonna cover the 484 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,440 Speaker 1: signal to noise stretchers at the end of this episode. Um, now, 485 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: when we're getting into an interesting time in Dolby Labs 486 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,680 Speaker 1: is history At this point in nine nine, William Jasper 487 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: joins Dolby Labs, and Jasper was a little different from 488 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:46,239 Speaker 1: the average person who worked at Dolby. Basically everyone who 489 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,640 Speaker 1: worked there at the time was a technician, Yeah, including 490 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: Dolby himself. And so that works great when you're building products, 491 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 1: But any person who is especially handling a complex business 492 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,679 Speaker 1: will tell you if you don't have the expertise and 493 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: things like managing a budget and people and etcetera, Yeah, 494 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,679 Speaker 1: that that your company can end up going straight, uh, 495 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: even if you are working your hardest to make sure 496 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. And they were working their hardest, I 497 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 1: mean there, but their response to having any kind of 498 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,199 Speaker 1: monetary problem was to innovate wonderful new technology, which is, 499 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: you know, a fine thing for business to do, but 500 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,679 Speaker 1: also so expensive and also yeah, it's also not the 501 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 1: best plan. So essentially what's saying what we're saying here 502 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,639 Speaker 1: is that anytime Delby Labs got into some financial uh 503 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 1: you know, like like they're starting to creep toward the 504 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,880 Speaker 1: red right, like they're gonna lose more money than they 505 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: bring in. Then they would end up making some sort 506 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: of new product and that would stave off that and 507 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: make make sure that they were doing okay. But that 508 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: was a lot of short term reactions, and bringing Jasper 509 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: on as a manager was sort of a long term solution, saying, well, 510 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: let's get someone in here who knows how to manage people. 511 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what Jasper's background was in. So Asper 512 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: starts by making some pretty tough choices. Uh. For example, 513 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: he ends up laying off about a third of Delby 514 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: Labs employees in both the San Francisco and London offices. 515 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: He said that the purpose for that was because of 516 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: budgetary problems, like you had to do it in order 517 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: for the company itself to remain strong. Um, so they 518 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: continue to innovate. Yeah, yeah, despite all of those, all 519 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: of those layoffs. Um, you know, Jasper kind of got 520 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,479 Speaker 1: the system working again, and over the next decade they 521 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,479 Speaker 1: would they would introduce surround sound systems for television, compact discs, 522 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: and laser discs. Uh. Nineteen eighty, Dolby Labs would introduce 523 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: the C type Dolby's that I mentioned earlier in this episode, 524 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,479 Speaker 1: which you know, the higher grade consumer version of the 525 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: those original type stretchers. Right. Um. In two they would 526 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: introduce Delby Surround for home video, right which again for 527 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: people who are big home entertainment theater enthusiasts, that was 528 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: a huge deal. In nin teen eighty three, William Jasper 529 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: would become the president of Delby Labs. By the way, 530 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: all through this time, Ray Dolby retained ownership of the company. 531 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: He was the chairman of the board until the late 532 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: the late odds, the late two thousand something, so he 533 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,959 Speaker 1: he was, um, you know, he was actually at this 534 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: time the really the sole owner of the company. So 535 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: it's still privately held company at this time. In seven 536 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: Ray Delby becomes an Officer of the Most Excellent Order 537 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: of the British Empire, which means he gets said O 538 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: B E at the end of his name. It does 539 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: not mean he's a knight. Knighthood would require a higher 540 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 1: ranking than O B E. But still he was not 541 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 1: more highly regarded in the eyes of Her Majesty the 542 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: Queen than I don't worry, Jonathan, I'm still waiting. She 543 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: never returns my calls. Yeah, anyway, I'll have her over 544 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: for tea sometime, I swear it so. Nineteen eighty nine, 545 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: Dolby receives an Oscar for his contribution to the motion 546 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: picture sound uh. In nine seven, he received an award 547 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: from then President Bill Clintons. Don't when we still call 548 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: hi President Clinton. He's not the current president. No, but 549 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: you get that title forever, you know. I mean, I 550 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: don't have that title. But one day he doesn't return 551 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: my calls either. For the for the record, at any rate, 552 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: he was awarded. Dolby was awarded the National Medal of 553 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: Technology and Innovation. And here is Dolby's speech, which I love. 554 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: The first part of your life is education. The second 555 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: part is hard work, and then you get discovered and 556 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 1: people start handing you awards. That's exactly how it works. 557 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: Short and sweet, very very modest man by a very 558 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: humble according to all reports that I read, where he 559 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: loved working on the stuff he worked on, and he 560 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: loved also we'll talk about some of his hobbies. He 561 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: loved those very much as well, and of course his family. 562 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: But was not the kind of person to you know, 563 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: revel in these things or boast in them. He was 564 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: just very determined and enjoyed working on something. Yeah. Yeah, 565 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: I think he was just one of these wonderful people 566 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 1: who had that drive to create all of this stuff 567 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: in the experiment. Um. For for that, he was awarded 568 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: in two thousand three by the Emmy's with a Lifetime 569 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: Achievement Award yep, And two thousand four, he was inducted 570 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: into the Royal Academy of Engineers. In two thousand five, 571 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: Dolby Labs then finally goes public and this move ends 572 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: up getting uh, Ray Dolby around like his shares are 573 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: worth around two hundred million dollars at that point. Yeah, 574 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: he became a pretty much instant billionaire. Yeah. Yeah, that 575 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: that rocketed him to billionaire status. And in two thousand 576 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: nine Dolby retires as the chairman of the company board. 577 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: And uh yeah it was um, you know, pretty pretty 578 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: remarkable time for Dolby Labs and also sadly for Ray 579 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: Dolby because it was around this time also that he 580 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: discovered that he had contracted Alzheimer's. So uh and by 581 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 1: two thousand oven he had officially retired because even even 582 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: a stepping down, he was still working on things. He 583 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: was still working on systems and um. Yeah, so that 584 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: that kind of is the you know. And of course 585 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: he passed away September twelve. Yes, yeah, so that that's 586 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: a look at his life. But more than that, I mean, 587 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: he obviously he won multiple awards. He won Oscar Awards, 588 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award. He has a theater named 589 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 1: after him, the Theater where the Oscars are held every year, 590 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: the theater right as a as a tribute to him, 591 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: his Dolbe Labs secured the name of that for the 592 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: next twenty years. Yeah, that was formerly the Kodak Theater. 593 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: I've actually visited that theater and um, because I I've 594 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: stayed in Hollywood a couple of times and I stayed 595 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: near that theater. It's a really it's a really interesting place. 596 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a cool design. I like it a lot. 597 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: Um And then you know, let's talk about some of 598 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: his hobbies, some of his interests. He was. He sat 599 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 1: as the director of the San Francisco Opera for a while. Um. 600 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,000 Speaker 1: He was also on the he was a governor of 601 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,400 Speaker 1: the the Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony as well. Obviously, 602 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 1: that love of music doesn't go away, Sharon. And when 603 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: you're as big a person as dol be Er, as 604 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: as you know, influential, influential, then I'm not sure if 605 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: he was that tall. That's not what I was saying. Um. 606 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 1: He also was an amateur pilot. Yep. He loved sailing 607 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:28,840 Speaker 1: and boating. He had a yacht. He also liked to 608 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,719 Speaker 1: drive for pleasure. I loved reading about some of his 609 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: driving adventures. Like he he drove a vintage Jeep around 610 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,800 Speaker 1: for a while just to explore the San Francisco area 611 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 1: and California in general. He also for a while enjoyed 612 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: driving essentially what was the same thing as a tour bus, 613 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: like a like a tour bus that rock musicians would use. 614 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: He liked driving one of those around. Uh, that's so cuteous. 615 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: It's a very interesting character. And um. Also, he and 616 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,760 Speaker 1: his wife both were h or philanthropist. She still is obviously, 617 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: She's still very much involved in philanthropy, all right. She 618 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:08,400 Speaker 1: she inherited his his his multitudino misfortunes. He was worth 619 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: around two point four billion dollars at the time of 620 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: his death and one of the projects they donated money 621 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,200 Speaker 1: to was they donate like thirty five million dollars to 622 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:22,360 Speaker 1: the University of California, San Francisco for stem cell research 623 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: projects and instead of Flowers when when they announced the 624 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,319 Speaker 1: passing of Ray Dolby, the family said, well, in lieu 625 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:32,799 Speaker 1: of Flowers, why not make a donation too, And they 626 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,400 Speaker 1: listed a couple of different medical facilities that specifically do 627 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,839 Speaker 1: Alzheimer's research and a little bit into leukemia as well, 628 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:44,359 Speaker 1: which is he actually passed away from right, right, so, uh, 629 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 1: you know there they were very much active and she 630 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,439 Speaker 1: still is in uh, scientific endeavors not you know, it's 631 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 1: all sorts of philanthropic endeavors, not just the arts, but 632 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: also the sciences. Um. So that's and to really, I think, 633 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,960 Speaker 1: to be fair to Dolby, he would not just stay 634 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,720 Speaker 1: which between the two. He felt art and science really 635 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 1: were interwoven. Oh sure, well, you know it's he he 636 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: was so influential in bringing in bringing the two together. 637 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:11,680 Speaker 1: You know, it's you can't have you can't have art 638 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: without the applications that allow more people to experience it. 639 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: And you know, this has been a fun time to 640 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:22,359 Speaker 1: look back on on his life and his contributions. Let's 641 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,839 Speaker 1: take the last part of this podcast to really talk 642 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,240 Speaker 1: about what put Ray Dolby on the map, the signal 643 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,400 Speaker 1: to noise stretchers, Like what exactly was that all about 644 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: and how did they work? Yeah? Yeah, okay, So what 645 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:38,319 Speaker 1: actually causes tape hiss? Okay? So magnetic tape you know, 646 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:40,880 Speaker 1: has the little magnetic particles in it that that's what 647 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 1: stores you know, and encoded. So it's that grain structure 648 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,800 Speaker 1: that let's you store it, right, and that grain structure 649 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,320 Speaker 1: actually creates that hissing noise. So it's the it's the 650 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,799 Speaker 1: medium itself that produces the hiss, which means you cannot 651 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,200 Speaker 1: remove You cannot remove it because if you had, if 652 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 1: you had a smooth tape, then you wouldn't be able 653 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: to store anything on it. So that's the that's you know, 654 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,400 Speaker 1: the kind of the double edged sword. It allows you 655 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 1: to store sound, but it also will create this his 656 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: So how do you handle this? Well, you know, first 657 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,279 Speaker 1: of all, it's really noticeable, Uh, if you have something 658 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:18,400 Speaker 1: that's playing at a low volume, particularly at a higher pitch, 659 00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:22,399 Speaker 1: or something that's that's recorded at a low volume, right right, right, 660 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,000 Speaker 1: So when you play it back, any of those low 661 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:28,480 Speaker 1: volume parts, you're going to be you're going to notice 662 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,520 Speaker 1: the hiss more if it's a louder part in the recording. 663 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 1: Like let's say that you've recorded a symphony and the 664 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 1: symphony starts off softly but then builds to this well, 665 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: during the crescendo, you may not notice any hiss at all. 666 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 1: I mean, it's just the the sound itself is at 667 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,960 Speaker 1: an intensity where there's no noticeable hiss, but maybe at 668 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,480 Speaker 1: the softer, slower parts you can kind of detect it. 669 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 1: And that was what Dey'll be found to be infuriating 670 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: and needed to be wiped off the face of magnetic tape. 671 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,240 Speaker 1: So what he did was well. And also we should 672 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 1: mention that this is more notice bowl if you're playing 673 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,719 Speaker 1: the magnetic tape back at a slower speed, so real 674 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:08,799 Speaker 1: to real tape plays tape quickly compared to cassette tape. Right, 675 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:10,880 Speaker 1: So if you're doing real to real, that speed is 676 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:13,320 Speaker 1: about seven and a half inches per second, which equals 677 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: out to be about nineteen centimeters per second. But a 678 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:19,879 Speaker 1: cassette tape plays magnetic tape much more slowly, at about 679 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: one and seven eighth inches per second, or about four 680 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,360 Speaker 1: point eight centimeters per second, So cassette tapes move slowly 681 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:29,840 Speaker 1: compared to real to real. So at that slow speed, 682 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,760 Speaker 1: with that narrow band, if you're playing a low volume, 683 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,120 Speaker 1: high pitch sound, you're gonna hear a lot of hiss 684 00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:39,520 Speaker 1: comparatively speaking. And and as Dolbe was noticing that cassettes 685 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: were becoming more of a thing, you know what, more 686 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,960 Speaker 1: of a capable technology. Sure, yeah, yeah exactly, he was like, well, 687 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:48,000 Speaker 1: we've got to address this because otherwise no one will 688 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: ever want to listen to anything. I certainly won't, so yeah, 689 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 1: So what he decided to do is he came up 690 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:57,200 Speaker 1: with a system for both recording and the playback of 691 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:00,400 Speaker 1: of stuff that you were recording onto magnetic tape. The 692 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:04,879 Speaker 1: recording element was a system where you would boost low 693 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: volume signals going onto the tape, so you would artificially 694 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,880 Speaker 1: intensify them, you make them where they would essentially overpower 695 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 1: the hiss uh. And then when you would play it back, 696 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 1: a decoder would interpret this and be able to play 697 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 1: it back at the low volume right, so that you 698 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't get the the high volume played back at additional 699 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:30,400 Speaker 1: volume right. So, so here's how they would target the 700 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,000 Speaker 1: low volume parts, so parts that are quieter that gets 701 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:36,600 Speaker 1: targeted by a system and then it gets artificially boosted 702 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:40,560 Speaker 1: and then recorded to the magnetic tape. When it's played 703 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,759 Speaker 1: back at the you know it and the decoder says, okay, 704 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,640 Speaker 1: play this at a lower volume the original volume that 705 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,840 Speaker 1: it was intended to be at. It reduces the hiss 706 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,520 Speaker 1: sound by the same amount that the signal itself had 707 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 1: been boosted in the first place. And so the his 708 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: is still there, it's just inaudible because it's it's so quiet. 709 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,640 Speaker 1: So uh. And then since you're not treating the high 710 00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:04,759 Speaker 1: volume parts, you don't have to worry about blowing out 711 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,600 Speaker 1: the capacity of the magnetic tape to record that sound 712 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: and then distored everything right, and the hiss also is 713 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,760 Speaker 1: not noticeable at that or or it's not very noticeable 714 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:15,800 Speaker 1: at the high volume things because as we said before, 715 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 1: the sound is already drowning it out exactly. So in 716 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: other words, it doesn't really remove the hiss. It kind 717 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 1: of masks it, which is brilliant. I mean, you don't 718 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:28,480 Speaker 1: have to remove it if you're not able to hear it, right, 719 00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:30,200 Speaker 1: it just goes this is not the hiss you're looking for. 720 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,000 Speaker 1: It's kind of to me. It's like theater. So if 721 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,120 Speaker 1: you're in a theater, like a stage theater, and you're 722 00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:37,880 Speaker 1: watching a play, you know, the set you see looks gorgeous, 723 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,520 Speaker 1: but if you were to walk behind that set, it 724 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:42,320 Speaker 1: would just be plywood and you know, stands and stuff 725 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,480 Speaker 1: like that, because it only has to look good from 726 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 1: the side that you can perceive it. So if you 727 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,080 Speaker 1: can't perceive the utrest of it, don't don't bother building 728 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:57,279 Speaker 1: a set that's never gonna be seen. Peter Jackson, um 729 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,400 Speaker 1: So anyway, Uh, that's you know, that's kind of the 730 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 1: low down the basics of how this worked. Now Type 731 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:08,360 Speaker 1: A Dolby's did this with all frequencies of sounds, so 732 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:10,239 Speaker 1: whether it was a low pitch or a high pitch, 733 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,600 Speaker 1: it would handle that all of it, so that way 734 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,400 Speaker 1: you would have it would make all of the his 735 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:20,960 Speaker 1: the least amount of noticeable. Exactly. That's really awesome grammar. 736 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 1: So I do it too. But the consumer version focused 737 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,760 Speaker 1: mainly on high pitches because that was where the problem 738 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,920 Speaker 1: was most noticeable, and so it didn't really bother with 739 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:34,400 Speaker 1: the low pitches so much. Because most consumer quality recording equipment, 740 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,000 Speaker 1: you didn't have to worry about it as much. You 741 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:38,080 Speaker 1: didn't have to be so good that this is the 742 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:42,040 Speaker 1: master recording for something. Then uh, the Type C, like 743 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 1: we said, handled a slightly wider range of frequencies than 744 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:48,040 Speaker 1: the Type B did, and once you get up to uh, 745 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:51,200 Speaker 1: I think it was spectral recording where they introduced the 746 00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: ability to handle pretty much all volumes below a certain 747 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:58,920 Speaker 1: threshold and all frequencies. So it the goal was actually 748 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:03,320 Speaker 1: to do as little production as possible, to remove hiss 749 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:07,600 Speaker 1: without affecting the final sound, because the other risk you 750 00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:10,200 Speaker 1: run whenever you do this sort of thing is that 751 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 1: you actually affect the sound of the thing itself, where 752 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:15,480 Speaker 1: you might remove the hiss, but you also somehow otherwise 753 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,719 Speaker 1: affect the sound and thus it's not a good recreation 754 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,520 Speaker 1: of what the original sound was. So, you know, it 755 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:26,120 Speaker 1: was a delicate line to walk. But as technology improved overall, 756 00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:28,840 Speaker 1: um with with with computers and algorithms and everything that 757 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:31,120 Speaker 1: could go into this kind of process, and um, they 758 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,640 Speaker 1: were able to, I mean because because keeping costs down 759 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:36,759 Speaker 1: was always an important part of this Dolby system. Yeah, 760 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:40,600 Speaker 1: and of course we're talking here all about analog. Dolby 761 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,880 Speaker 1: himself resisted the digital revolution quite a bit in the 762 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:47,360 Speaker 1: early eighties. But eventually Delby Labs did come around, obviously 763 00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:50,440 Speaker 1: because if you've seen Dolby Digital everywhere now, but at 764 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:55,080 Speaker 1: the time, the the whole spectral recording idea that was 765 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,360 Speaker 1: mostly to try and extend the life of analog recording 766 00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:02,319 Speaker 1: beyond what most the industry thought it was going to do. 767 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,520 Speaker 1: You know, they thought it was over spectral recording comes 768 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:07,520 Speaker 1: out like, okay, well you've extended the lifespan by like 769 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:11,280 Speaker 1: five years. And eventually Dolby Digital would become a big 770 00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:13,239 Speaker 1: player in that space. But it was one of those 771 00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,920 Speaker 1: things that that Dolby himself resisted for a while. He 772 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:19,239 Speaker 1: had a real soft spot in his heart for analog. Um. 773 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,120 Speaker 1: He felt felt that digital was a little a little cold, 774 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:26,239 Speaker 1: and you know, early implementations were not the best, right 775 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,120 Speaker 1: they were. They were imperfect, We'll say. Yes, although Dolby 776 00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:32,239 Speaker 1: Labs has certainly gotten into the digital space, yes, as 777 00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:34,960 Speaker 1: we said, and they lead it now so or at 778 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:38,160 Speaker 1: least they are a leader. Um also, I mean they're 779 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:43,000 Speaker 1: they're continuing to bring out new systems, for example, Dolby Atmos, 780 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:47,319 Speaker 1: which is a sixty four speaker theatrical sound system. Some 781 00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:50,759 Speaker 1: two theaters installed it when it first came out. But 782 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:53,640 Speaker 1: what was really cool about this system, the sixty four 783 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,520 Speaker 1: speaker system, is that it's so precise that you could 784 00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,560 Speaker 1: even program a sound to come from only one of 785 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:02,560 Speaker 1: those ext four speakers. So if you wanted to pinpoint 786 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:05,880 Speaker 1: a specific point of origin for a sound in a theater, 787 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:08,920 Speaker 1: you could do that, which would be interesting because it 788 00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,240 Speaker 1: would mean that your experience of that film would depend 789 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:14,480 Speaker 1: heavily upon where you sat, because if you sat closer 790 00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:16,279 Speaker 1: to the speaker, it would be louder to you, If 791 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:18,680 Speaker 1: you sit sat further away it be it would be softer. 792 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,320 Speaker 1: But either way, you sure there's I mean, there's always 793 00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:23,080 Speaker 1: going to be a sweet spot in the theater. And 794 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,279 Speaker 1: I think that the general rule is that when when 795 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:29,200 Speaker 1: they're designing these kind of theater systems, the people designing 796 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,200 Speaker 1: them are sitting kind of two thirds of the way 797 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:34,160 Speaker 1: back and dead center in the room. And so if 798 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,520 Speaker 1: you really want to get the best sound system, and 799 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:39,359 Speaker 1: Holly Holly Fried did an excellent brain Stuff episode about this, 800 00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:41,320 Speaker 1: and if any of you guys are watching brain Stuff 801 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:45,040 Speaker 1: over on YouTube or test Tube, but it's generally designed 802 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,480 Speaker 1: so that so that anyone will get a pretty good experience, 803 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,960 Speaker 1: right right. So let's let's close this out with a 804 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,480 Speaker 1: couple of quotes from the man himself. From Ray Delby, Um, 805 00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:58,400 Speaker 1: here's one of mine, and it's it's the longer of 806 00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:01,799 Speaker 1: the two. It's I've often thought that I would have 807 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,080 Speaker 1: made a great nineteenth century engineer, because I love machinery. 808 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:08,319 Speaker 1: I would have liked to have been in position to 809 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,959 Speaker 1: make a better steam engine, or to invent the first 810 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,359 Speaker 1: internal combustion engine, to work on the first car. All 811 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:19,720 Speaker 1: my life, I've loved everything that goes. I mean, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, jeeps, boats, 812 00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:23,720 Speaker 1: sail or power airplanes, helicopters. I love all of these things. 813 00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:25,799 Speaker 1: And I just regret that I was born in a 814 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,919 Speaker 1: time when most of those mechanical problems had already been 815 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:35,800 Speaker 1: solved and what remained were electronic problems. That's kind of funny. No, No, 816 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,520 Speaker 1: it's it's it's beautiful though. That's that's so, and that 817 00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: really uh. I especially having done a bunch of episodes 818 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:46,560 Speaker 1: relatively recently about some of the build up to modern technology, 819 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:48,960 Speaker 1: right and and talking about what was going on in 820 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,720 Speaker 1: the in the eight in the nineteenth and early early 821 00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:55,239 Speaker 1: twentieth century. That was just fascinating to me. Another one 822 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,880 Speaker 1: that that I really loved. Um He said, to be 823 00:45:57,880 --> 00:45:59,799 Speaker 1: an inventor, you have to be willing to live with 824 00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,360 Speaker 1: his sense of uncertainty, to work in this darkness and 825 00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:05,080 Speaker 1: groped towards an answer, to put up with anxiety about 826 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:11,280 Speaker 1: whether there is an answer. And that's what technology is about. Yep, yep, 827 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,640 Speaker 1: it's you know all about you know, innovation. You know 828 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:17,800 Speaker 1: the fact that you are You're trotting upon unexplored ground 829 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:21,120 Speaker 1: and you have no idea when you set forth if 830 00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:23,960 Speaker 1: it's going to meet with success or failure. I mean, 831 00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:28,040 Speaker 1: pretty cool stuff. A cool guy, and thank you. Yeah, 832 00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:30,560 Speaker 1: we're glad that we had a chance to talk about him. 833 00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:32,719 Speaker 1: So we're gonna wrap this up. Guys, if you have 834 00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:36,160 Speaker 1: suggestions for future topics, maybe there's another figure in the 835 00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:38,040 Speaker 1: tech world that you would like us to cover, or 836 00:46:38,040 --> 00:46:40,880 Speaker 1: perhaps it's a company or just a specific technology that 837 00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:43,520 Speaker 1: you've always wanted to know about. Let us know. Send 838 00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:48,160 Speaker 1: us an email our addresses tech stuff at Discovery dot com, 839 00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:50,880 Speaker 1: or drop us a line on Facebook, Twitter or Tumbler 840 00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:53,880 Speaker 1: or handle at all. Three is text stuff. H. S. 841 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:56,320 Speaker 1: W And Lauren and I will talk to you again 842 00:46:56,680 --> 00:47:02,960 Speaker 1: really soon. For more on this and thousands of other topics, 843 00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:04,560 Speaker 1: visit how staff works dot com.