An RCA Inner sleeve from c.1970 touts the superiority of Dynaflex records.
Dynaflex is a trademark for a thin, lightweight vinylLPphonograph record introduced by RCA Records in late 1969. Rather than using the stiff plastic material used by conventional vinyl pressings, Dynaflex records used a softer, pliable formulation that allowed RCA to use less material, saving money and also making the record appear to lie flatter on turntables. At the time, as a cost-cutting measure, most industry record pressing plants were using recycled or "reground" vinyl, taking old and unsold records, cutting out the center with the paper labels, then melting the rest down and reusing the material to make new records. Such "reground" vinyl records typically sounded much noisier and scratchier when played than a record made from new or "virgin" vinyl; collectors noted that records pressed from "reground" vinyl sometimes had small remnants of paper labels or other materials embedded in them.
RCA's Dynaflex records varied somewhat in thickness, but most literally "flopped" back and forth when held between the hands. Some were so thin and flexible they could actually be bent nearly in half. This flexibility also gave them theoretically more resiliency in shipping, resulting in fewer returns from retailers due to breakage and cracks.
Opinions from record collectors and audiophiles are divided as to Dynaflex's sound quality. Some felt that the sound quality actually improved, due to the purer vinyl used, and better processes for removing impurities in the vinyl compounds; others felt that Dynaflex pressings were noisier and lacked bass frequencies compared to conventional records, and also had more "rumble" (low frequency noise) than conventional thick pressings. While RCA claimed that Dynaflex records were less noisy and less susceptible to warpage and would last longer than conventional vinyl records, some consumers (particularly classical listeners) derisively referred to the new product as 'Dynawarp' because of evidence that Dynaflex records were prone to warp on dealers' shelves, just from the pressure of the shrinkwrap on the album jacket. Some critics charged that Dynaflex was nothing more than a ploy devised by RCA to save money by using less vinyl than in traditional, thicker records.
RCA Records apparently never fully implemented the use of Dynaflex, as regular thicker vinyl records continued to be manufactured; many titles issued by RCA were available in both Dynaflex and heavier vinyl pressings. Around 1974–75, RCA began to gradually reduce the number of Dynaflex records being manufactured and by the end of the decade had been discontinued entirely.
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A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A speaker system, also often simply referred to as a speaker or loudspeaker, comprises one or more such speaker drivers, an enclosure, and electrical connections possibly including a crossover network. The speaker driver can be viewed as a linear motor attached to a diaphragm which couples that motor's movement to motion of air, that is, sound. An audio signal, typically from a microphone, recording, or radio broadcast, is amplified electronically to a power level capable of driving that motor in order to reproduce the sound corresponding to the original unamplified electronic signal. This is thus the opposite function to the microphone; indeed the dynamic speaker driver, by far the most common type, is a linear motor in the same basic configuration as the dynamic microphone which uses such a motor in reverse, as a generator.
An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An "EP" is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal".
A phonograph record, a vinyl record, or simply a record or vinyl is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the outside edge and ends near the center of the disc. The stored sound information is made audible by playing the record on a phonograph.
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.
The twelve-inch single is a type of vinyl gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compared to LPs which have several songs on each side. It is named for its 12-inch (300 mm) diameter. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the mastering engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality. This record type is commonly used in disco and dance music genres, where DJs use them to play in clubs. They are played at either 33+1⁄3 or 45 rpm. The conventional 7-inch single usually holds three or four minutes of music at full volume. The 12-inch LP sacrifices volume for extended playing time.
An acetate disc is a type of phonograph record generally used from the 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes and sees limited use as of 2009. Despite their name, "acetate" discs do not contain any acetate.
The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes, playback speeds, and appearance. However, since the commercial adoption of the gramophone record, a wide variety of records have also been produced that do not fall into these categories, and they have served a variety of purposes.
Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at least partly into the actual playable grooved area, distinguishing them from picture label discs, which have a specially illustrated and sometimes very large label, and picture back discs, which are illustrated on one unplayable side only.
Plasma cutting is a process that cuts through electrically conductive materials by means of an accelerated jet of hot plasma. Typical materials cut with a plasma torch include steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass and copper, although other conductive metals may be cut as well. Plasma cutting is often used in fabrication shops, automotive repair and restoration, industrial construction, and salvage and scrapping operations. Due to the high speed and precision cuts combined with low cost, plasma cutting sees widespread use from large-scale industrial computer numerical control (CNC) applications down to small hobbyist shops.
Record collecting is the hobby of collecting sound recordings, usually of music, but sometimes poetry, reading, historical speeches, and ambient noises. Although the typical focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music can be collected.
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording.
A matrix number is an alphanumeric code stamped or handwritten into the run-out groove area of a phonograph record. This is the non-grooved area between the end of the final band on a record's side and the label, also known as the run-off groove area, end-groove area, matrix area, or "dead wax".
The LP is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of 33+1⁄3 rpm; a 12- or 10-inch diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a vinyl composition disk. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire US record industry and, apart from a few relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound in 1957, it remained the standard format for record albums, during a period in popular music known as the album era. LP was originally a trademark of Columbia and competed against the smaller 7-inch sized "45" or "single" format by RCA Victor, eventually ending up on top. Today in the vinyl revival era, a large majority of records are based on the LP format and hence the LP name continues to be in use today to refer to new records.
The germanium alloy-junction transistor, or alloy transistor, was an early type of bipolar junction transistor, developed at General Electric and RCA in 1951 as an improvement over the earlier grown-junction transistor.
Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.
Direct metal mastering (DMM) is an analog audio disc mastering technique jointly developed by two German companies, Telefunken-Decca (Teldec) and Georg Neumann GmbH, toward the end of the 20th century after having seen the same technology used by RCA Princeton Labs for its SelectaVision videodiscs in the late-1970s.
In the production of phonograph records – discs that were commonly made of shellac, and later, vinyl – sound was recorded directly onto a master disc at the recording studio. From about 1950 on it became usual to have the performance first recorded on audio tape, which could then be processed and/or edited, and then dubbed on to the master disc.
David Richardson is an English music producer, audio engineer and musician. He founded Sky Studios with rock band Jethro Tull, the studio later became leading facilities house, Sound Recording Technology (SRT).
Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting, which were widely used during the "Golden Age of Radio". They provided material—from station-identification jingles and commercials to full-length programs—for use by local stations, which were affiliates of one of the radio networks.
Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is the non-crystalline form of silicon used for solar cells and thin-film transistors in LCDs.
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