[BC] The Big Hurt in Stereo

[Robert Orban]

At 03:42 PM 12/1/2006, you wrote:
>From: <cjquinn1949 at adelphia.net>
>Subject: [BC] The Big Hurt in Stereo
>To: broadcast at radiolists.net
>Message-ID: <33138921.1165002627081.JavaMail.root at web29>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
>I would have a tendency to agree with David Reaves' assessment. At this point
>I have no reason to doubt the word of the composer's son that the track was
>recorded only in mono. I would think that he would be the best qualified 
>as to the
>recording's history.
>IIRC it was also in the 70's that Orban came out with a stereo 
>synthesizer. I don't
>remember the model number or how it worked, but I do remember seeing one
>on display at an NAB convention. Perhaps Bob Orban can chime in with a little
>background info on the unit.

The 245 series. They created complementary comb filters on the L and R 
channels by making an artificial L-R signal by means of a 4-pole allpass 
network. Two poles' time constants were user-adjustable by means of 
"Dimension" controls to keep a good channel balance for a given piece of 
program material. This process is completely mono-compatible (the mono sum 
is the original mono source) and does not color the audio because the sum 
of the power spectra in the left and right channels is the same as the 
power spectrum of the source. There is an AES Journal paper on it:


A Rational Technique for Synthesizing Pseudo-Stereo from Monophonic Sources
Volume 18 Number 2 pp. 157-164; April 1970
A new system for spreading monophonic material into pseudo-stereo is 
described. The system possesses high fidelity to the original, good 
compatibility, and full effectiveness even in reverberant environments. An 
extension of the technique for use in multitrack to stereo mixdowns is 
described and analyzed, revealing both improved perspective and excellent 
musical and mechanical stereo/mono compatibility.
Author:   Orban, Robert


Bob Orban