The disc recorder pictured right dates from the late 1940s and produced
high quality recordings on 78 rpm discs.
One company that produced these portable disc recording systems was
Birmingham Sound Reproducers, better known in later years as BSR.
The disc recorder pictured right dates from the late 1940s and produced
high quality recordings on 78 rpm discs.
One company that produced these portable disc recording systems was
Birmingham Sound Reproducers, better known in later years as BSR.
BSR became world famous for their automatic record changers, a position all but unchallenged until the end of the 1970s when various factors led to the demise of record deck manufacture. In the late 1940s, BSR sold the DR66 recording outfit. This consisted of a DR.33M recorder (shown), an AR.15C amplifier and a matching monitor loudspeaker. The unit recorded on 5 inch to 13 inch blanks at 78 rpm.
Magnetic tape recording was virtually unknown in the UK at this time. And yet in Germany, as far back as 1934 tape recording was becoming a serious competitor to disc recording. The foundations of the tape recorder were laid by the Danish engineer Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. He's the same Poulsen who built the Poulsen arc transmitter. Poulsen himself did not develop sound recording, development of his arc transmitter was more pressing. Just as well, because it was several decades before magnetic oxide tape was invented which allowed the tape recorder to seriously challenge disc recording.
While leafing through the December 1952 issue of the RSGB Bulletin (now
RadCom), I found an advertisement for a Grundig 'Reporter' tape recorder.
The advertisement caught my attention because I had acquired one of
these machines a while back - see the June 2000 Valve and Vintage.
I was surprised to find how expensive the machine had been: 75 Guineas.
That's £78.75 in modern money.
A considerable amount, at that time.
By the way, a Guinea was (and still is) equal to 21 Shillings (£1.05).
Before decimalisation, prices of up-market goods were often quoted
in Guineas, and at 75 Gns. the Reporter was definitely up market.
Click on the image to get the whole advertisement.
It's full size, at 300 dpi, and suitable for printing.
It seems portable recording has now come full circle.
The old 78 rpm disk recorders gave way to tape;
first single-track analogue, then multi-track.
When the digital audio revolution came along, tape was there too.
Whether it was based on technology borrowed from video,
or purposely designed, like DAT.
Now, portable (and studio) disc recorders are taking over from tape.
There are stereo CD-RW and MiniDisc optical disc recorders.
Then there are the multi-track hard disk recorders like the 16-channel
Fostex VF-16 shown.
In fact, hard disk recording is rapidly taking over from tape in the
studio too, with 24-track machines available from several manufacturers.
Return to the contents page