Laser turntable explained

A laser turntable (or optical turntable) is a phonograph that plays standard LP records (and other gramophone records) using laser beams as the pickup instead of using a stylus as in conventional turntables. Although these turntables use laser pickups, the same as Compact Disc players, the signal remains in the analog realm and is never digitized.

History

William K. Heine presented a paper "A Laser Scanning Phonograph Record Player" to the 57th Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in May 1977.[1] The paper details a method developed by Heine that employs a single 2.2 mW helium–neon laser for both tracking a record groove and reproducing the stereo audio of a phonograph in real time. In development since 1972, the working prototype was named the "LASERPHONE", and the methods it used for playback was awarded U.S. Patent 3,992,593 on 16 November 1976.[2] Heine concluded in his paper that he hoped his work would increase interest in using lasers for phonographic playback.

Finial

Four years later in 1981 Robert S. Reis, a graduate student in engineering at Stanford University, wrote his master's thesis on "An Optical Turntable".[3] In 1983 he and fellow Stanford electrical engineer Robert E. Stoddard founded Finial Technology to develop and market a laser turntable, raising $7 million in venture capital. In 1984 servo-control expert Robert N. Stark joined the effort.[4] [5]

A non-functioning mock-up of the proposed Finial turntable was shown at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), generating much interest and a fair amount of mystery, since the patents had not yet been granted and the details had to be kept secret. The first working model, the Finial LT-1 (Laser Turntable-1), was completed in time for the 1986 CES. The prototype revealed an interesting flaw of laser turntables: they are so accurate that they "play" every particle of dirt and dust on the record, instead of pushing them aside as a conventional stylus would. The non-contact laser pickup does have the advantages of eliminating record wear, tracking noise, turntable rumble and feedback from the speakers, but the sound is still that of an LP turntable rather than a Compact Disc. The projected $2,500 street price (later raised to $3,786 in 1988) limited the potential market to professionals (libraries, radio stations and archivists) and a few well-heeled audiophiles.[6]

The Finial turntable never went into production. After Finial showed a few hand-built (and finicky)[7] prototypes, tooling delays, component unavailability (in the days before cheap lasers), marketing blunders, and high development costs kept pushing back the release date. The long development of the laser turntable exactly coincided with two major events, the early 1980s recession, and the introduction of the Digital Compact Disc, which soon began flooding the market at prices comparable to LPs (with CD players in the $300 range). Vinyl record sales plummeted, and many established turntable manufacturers went out of business as a result.

With over US$20 million in venture capital invested, Finial faced a marketing dilemma: forge ahead with a selling price that would be too high for most consumers, or gamble on going into mass production at a much lower price and hope the market would lower costs. Neither seemed viable in a rapidly-shrinking market.

ELP

Finally, in late 1989 after almost seven years of research, Finial's investors cut their losses and liquidated the firm, selling the patents to Japanese turntable maker CTI Japan, which in turn created ELP Japan for continued development of the "super-audiophile" turntable. After eight more years of development the laser turntable was finally put on sale in 1997 – twenty years after the initial proposal – as the ELP LT-1XA Laser Turntable, with a list price of US$20,500 (in 2003 the price was lowered to US$10,500).[8] The turntable, which uses two lasers to read the groove and three more to position the head, does allow one to vary the depth at which the groove is read, possibly bypassing existing record wear. It will not, however, read clear or colored vinyl records.[9] ELP sells built-to-order laser turntables directly to consumers in two versions (LT-basic, and LT-master),[10] at a reported cost (unpublished) of approximately $16,000 for the basic model.[11]

Optora

In May 2018, Almedio of Japan, a computer drive manufacturer,[12] presented the Optora ORP-1 optical (laser) turntable at the HIGH END Munich audio show.[13] Few details were provided by the company[14] because, like the 1984 presentation of the Finial turntable, the Optora was a non-working mockup. Company representatives indicated the turntable would use five lasers and be belt-driven,[15] like the ELP. However, after producing some promotional materials (since deleted), a price was never announced[16] and the Optora has not been put on the market. The company's website devoted to the turntable has since been deleted.[17]

Performance

In a 2008 review of the model ELP LT-1LRC, Jonathan Valin in The Absolute Sound claimed:

Valin commended the tonal accuracy of playback, but criticized the lack of dynamic range and bass response (limitations of the vinyl records themselves). He emphasized that records must be wet-cleaned immediately before playback because:

In 2008, Michael Fremer noted in Stereophile:

Fremer also noted, however, that all of this comes at a cost:

Fremer concludes:

Optical record scanning

A similar technology is to scan or photograph the grooves of the record, and then reconstruct the sound from the modulation of the groove revealed by the image. Research groups that developed this technology include:

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Heine, William K. "A laser scanning phonograph record player." Audio Engineering Society Convention 57. Audio Engineering Society, 1977.
  2. Web site: Patent US3992593 – Disc phonograph record playback by laser generated diffraction pattern – Google Patents . 23 October 2011 . 29 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140129043547/http://www.google.com/patents/about/3992593_Disc_phonograph_record_playback.html?id=UxI0AAAAEBAJ . live .
  3. Web site: Robert Reis Resum&#233 . Senderogroup.com . 23 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111116213740/http://www.senderogroup.com/about/reis.htm . 16 November 2011 . dead .
  4. Web site: Robert N Stark – Inventor Patent Directory, Page 1 . Patent.ipexl.com . 23 October 2011 . 15 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140315232226/http://patent.ipexl.com/inventor/Robert_N_Stark_1.html . live .
  5. The development of and technology behind the Finial turntable was covered in depth in Stereophile. See the August 1986, October 1988, January, February, and November 1989, July 1990, and June 1991 issues.
  6. Web site: Orban . Robert . [ftp://ftp.orban.com/Audio_Quality/Maintaining_Audio_Quality_in_the_Broadcast_Facility_2008.pdf Maintaining Audio Quality in the Broadcast Facility – 2008 Edition ]. 25 June 2008 . Page 39 – Production facilities specializing in high-quality transfer of vinyl to digital media should consider supplementing their conventional turntable with an ELP Laser Turntable(9) Instead of playing disks mechanically, this pricey device plays vinyl without mechanical contact to the disk, using laser beams instead..
  7. Web site: Steven R. Rochlin . Bill Gaw AA Chapter 55: ELP Laser Turntable . Enjoythemusic.com . 23 October 2011 . 2 April 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120402192855/http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0404/aachapter55.htm . live .
  8. Web site: ELP Laser Turntable: plays vinyl records without a needle, presented by Audioturntable, Ltd . Audioturntable.com . 23 October 2011 . 5 November 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111105231948/http://www.audioturntable.com/ . live .
  9. Web site: Valin . Jonathan . ELP LT-1LRC Laser Turntable . The Absolute Sound . 24 November 2008 . 3 July 2013 . 7 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140307011027/http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/elp-lt-1lrc-laser-turntable/ . live .
  10. Web site: LT Specifications ELP Laser Turntable. elpj.com. en-US. 2017-10-11. 4 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171004075952/http://elpj.com/ltfeaturesandspecs/. live.
  11. Web site: The World's Only Commercially-Sold Laser Turntable. Diffuser.fm. 4 May 2015 . en-US. 2017-10-11. 12 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171012002519/http://diffuser.fm/laser-turntable/. live.
  12. Web site: ALMEDIO INC. 株式会社アルメディオ . 9 June 2020 . 6 August 2020 . 1 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001070357/https://www.almedio.co.jp/en/ . live .
  13. Web site: Decks And The City – Turntables At Munich High-End 2018 . 16 May 2018 . HiFi Pig . 4 August 2020 . 31 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180731114652/http://hifipig.com/decks-and-the-city-turntables-at-munich-high-end-2018/ . live .
  14. Web site: Optora 2018 Product Catalog . 1 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180613130208/http://www.almedio.co.jp/assets/img/optora/optora_pdf02.pdf . 13 June 2018 . dead .
  15. Web site: OPTORA Optical Turntable another try at playing LPs with a laser . 6 August 2020 . 18 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211118105125/https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=157618.0 . live .
  16. Web site: Best turntables you can buy, from affordable to absolute insanity . CNET . 6 August 2020 . 6 April 2023 . http://web.archive.org/web/20230406023806/https://www.cnet.com/pictures/best-turntables-you-can-buy-from-affordable-to-absolute-insanity/20/ . live .
  17. Web site: Optoraのご紹介｜株式会社アルメディオ . 6 August 2020 . 14 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181114221300/http://www.almedio.co.jp/optora/ . live .
  18. Web site: Particle Physics Resurrects Alexander Graham Bell's Voice . Marsh . Allison . . 30 April 2018 . 9 May 2018 . 10 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180510042237/https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/dawn-of-electronics/particle-physics-resurrects-alexander-graham-bells-voice . live .
  19. Web site: Playing the Unplayable Records . . 24 June 2017 . 9 May 2018 . 9 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180509033934/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/arts-culture/playing-the-unplayable-records/ . live .
  20. Web site: You Can Play the Record, but Don't Touch . Greenfieldboyce . Nell . . 15 July 2007 . 1 April 2018 . 12 August 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070812180736/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11851842 . live .
  21. Web site: Saphir: Optical Playback of Analogue Audio Disc Records . . 2015 . 2 March 2021 . 28 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210428092614/http://recherche.ina.fr/eng/Details-projets/saphir . live .
  22. 10.1364/AO.25.000597 . Reproduction of sound from old wax phonograph cylinders using the laser-beam reflection method . 1986 . Iwai . Toshiaki . Asakura . Toshimitsu . Ifukube . Tom . Kawashima . Toshio . Applied Optics . 25 . 5 . 597–604 . 18231220 . 1986ApOpt..25..597I .

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