[DECtalk] DecTalk newbie

[Tony Baechler]

Hi Jayson.  Yes, I agree with you that probably the DEC-Talk can only 
output at 11 KHZ max.  Someone else said that also and that makes 
sense.  However, you are completely incorrect about your other 
statements.  I suppose you are right that in the commercial market the 
concept of CD quality didn't exist until the 1990's, but I know that 
CD-ROMs have been around since about 1986 or 1987.  Presumably, audio CDs 
have been around that long as well.

However, let's go back further in time.  Even as far back as the 1940's, 
ETs or electric transcription discs could reproduce sound at up to about 
22,050 HZ.  I do not have any original discs, but I do have first 
generation recordings taken directly from disc.  With a little work in 
Sound Forge, I can easily raise the high frequencies to get very close to 
CD quality.  They were sampled at 44.1 KHZ and that helps of course, but my 
point is that, while they are analog, they can and do reproduce sound that 
is at least 22,050 HZ in quality.

You specifically mentioned magnetic tape.  I won't argue about cassettes, 
although I think that some brands do in fact reproduce 22 KHZ.  However, 
there was a form of tape called the open reel.  We're going back to the 
1970's or so.  Many people used reels for collecting old time radio, but 
there were commercial releases also.  I have a music concert on reel which 
sounds like it could be CD quality.  It sounds amazing!  Even the reels of 
old time radio that I have can easily be converted to CD quality, as long 
as they are recorded at a high enough sample rate.  I would be glad to let 
you hear one of those reels as well.

I'm frankly a little surprised that you are incorrect about your facts.  I 
heard an edition of the country music you put up, and if that's from tape, 
you would have me fooled because the quality is excellent.  Oh, I forgot to 
mention the 1950's CBS master tapes I've heard.  They are also very near CD 
quality and easily produce higher frequencies.