The evolution of audio quality

MANILA, Philippines – Over the course of the last hundred years, audio and communication technology has moved from simple, mechanical marvels that were large and sounded harshly tinny to modern-day, portable media devices that deliver amazingly high-quality sound. Today’s portable media devices have undergone advances that let us take high-quality audio and listen to it virtually anywhere, allowing us to experience our favorite songs and videos while still staying in contact with the world. Let’s take a quick tour through time to get a grasp on just how much things have changed.

Before that magical day in 1877 when American inventor Thomas Edison recited “Mary had a little lamb” into the first phonograph, there was absolutely no way for sound to be to captured and played back. The first phonograph wasn’t beautiful, the distortion was harsh and grating, but it proved that reproducing a sound wave was finally possible. This opened up the genie’s bottle that created a thirst for music that, up to that time, could only be heard through live performance.

Several years later, Alexander Graham Bell began to research better ways to record and reproduce sound. This led to the creation of the “graphophone,” a word that was concocted by switching the words “phono” and “graph.” The graphophone was cheaper than its predecessor, and for the first time the average household could now listen to music in the comfort of their own home.

Beginnings of the Electrical Era

Later in the 1930s and 1940s, electronics began to come onto the scene with the popular introduction of the tube amplifier and audio electronics. Soon after, recordings that were made acoustically gave way to electrical recordings that captured sound using microphones, electrical recording and mixing equipment and the newly introduced electrical disc cutter. All of these technologies allowed for recordings that sounded better than ever.

With the introduction in 1944 of the professional audio recorder, music could be produced in a more controlled and dynamic way. Combine this with the introduction of high-fidelity records and better playback equipment in the mid 1950s and you have the birth of the “Hi-Fi” equipment market that allowed audio to be faithfully reproduced in the home.

Birth of the Digital Age

In the early 1980s, the personal computer made its way into mass production, and audio and media production slowly became available to the consumer and professional producer alike. This was the first step into the modern-day information age of digital production and technology. 

The development of the compact disc (CD) began when two Dutch physicists at Philips began searching for a way to optically record video images onto a disc. After several prototypes were built, Sony agreed to join forces to help develop standards. At the time, Sony argued for a 12-centimeter, 75-minute disc, believing that a disc should be large enough to hold all of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It was felt that the disc should be practical in size and that 95 percent of all classical music pieces would fit onto a 75-minute disc. 

MP3, audio codecs come of age

The MP3 codec (a word that denotes the “encode/decode” process) started in 1987 in Germany as a way of compressing audio data down to file sizes that could be easily stored onto various data media for transmission over the Internet.

Of course, the MP3 did much more than that. It ushered in a new age for portable media, as large amounts of high-quality music could now be reduced down in size to the point that hundreds and even thousands of songs could be easily stored to CD, hard disc and more recently to rewriteable memory cards for listening to your favorite music on-the-go. The MP3’s popularity increased to such an extent that file sharing has shaken the very foundation of record companies, and it has invited major manufacturers to create new and innovative players that lets us enjoy our music anytime, anywhere.

In a little more than a hundred years, audio technology has advanced, miniaturized and increased in quality to the point that on-demand audio and video media can fit easily in a pocket.

Understanding audio quality

As an audio professional, one of my top concerns is the quality of the sound that I’m hearing from a professional production or portable media device. Although the ability to mix and produce quality music is a lifelong process, it’s my belief that the ability to enjoy and appreciate quality audio is within reach. 

Everyone might not know or understand the details and the effort that goes into the making of a quality production, but when I sit someone down in front of a killer playback system and play one of my latest productions, the response is almost always… that’s amazing!

Measuring audio quality:

Frequency response

One of the first “specs” that you’ll probably encounter in a system is its “frequency response.” A device that has a relatively flat response won’t affect or alter the way that your music will sound. You’ll simply be hearing all of the details that went into the recording, without any changes in frequency balance. Through the use of equalization (EQ), the sound can easily be altered to your own personal taste.

So, what’s the final result of a system that has good frequency response capabilities? It will reproduce all of the frequencies in the audio spectrum, allowing you to fully experience the deep impact of a clear bass sound, discern the middle frequencies in a way that improves the intelligibility and separation between the instruments, as well as hear the openness and transparency in the high end in a way that allows the “life” and “shimmer” of a recording to come through.

An example of a new product, which offers good control over frequency response, is the Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman phone which has Clear Audio. Clear Audio is a combination of clear bass and clear stereo mated with a special hardware setup which pumps two sets of audio channels through each headphone speaker. The Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman phone delivers clear and true sound quality in a small device that can be taken anywhere. If EQ is needed, the W705 offers EQ settings that will let you tailor the sound curve to match your personal listening taste.

There are other factors that determine audio quality such as low distortion characteristics and transient response, concerning headphones that sound engineers consider when building a high-quality audio device such as the Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman phone. 

Subjective measurements

Of course, in the final analysis, the most important measurement tool used in both pro and consumer audio is your ears. How does it sound? Does the quality of your device help to enhance the overall media experience? Does it present the music with the clarity and detail that your on-the-go media library deserves? With Sony Ericsson’s dedication to quality, along with the technology of Clear Audio found in the W705 Walkman phone, you’ll be certain to get the best possible quality and detail to help get the most out of your music, media and communications experience.