science

Victor Orthophonic Victrola

Victor Orthophonic Victrola is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Victor Orthophonic Victrola rather than just read about it. In short: The Victor Orthophonic Victrola, released in 1925 by Victor Talking Machine Company, was the first consumer phonograph designed specifically to play electrically recorded phonograph records. The combination was recognized as a major step forward in sound reproduction, with a frequency response of 100-5,000 Hz.

Key takeaways

Victor Orthophonic Victrola belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Victor Orthophonic Victrola to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Victor Orthophonic Victrola from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Victor Orthophonic Victrola, released in 1925 by Victor Talking Machine Company, was the first consumer phonograph designed specifically to play electrically recorded phonograph records. The combination was recognized as a major step forward in sound reproduction, with a frequency response of 100-5,000 Hz. Electrical recording was developed by Western Electric, although a primitive electrical process was developed by Orlando R. Marsh, owner and founder of Autograph Records. Western Electric demonstrated their process to the two leading recording companies, Victor and Columbia, who were initially unwilling to adopt it because they thought it would make their entire existing record catalogs obsolete. However, parched revenues in the record industry caused by the mushrooming new medium of radio soon forced both Victor and Columbia to begin experimental electrical recording. The design of the Orthophonic was informed by progress in telephony and transmission-line theory. It was developed by two Western Electric researchers, Joseph Maxfield and H. Harrison. Early electrical recordings sounded harsh when played on the acoustic phonographs of the day, which had been designed by trial-and-error, had highly "colored" frequency response, and emphasized higher frequencies. The researchers invented the exponential horn, and, on realizing that it needed to be nine feet (3 meters) long to reproduce the lowest frequencies on the new discs, designed a method for "folding" the horn into a cabinet of practical size. The design was released by Victor as the "Orthophonic" Victrola in the autumn of 1925. Its first public demonstration was front-page news in The New York Times, which reported that:‍

The audience broke into applause... John Philip Sousa [said] "Gentlemen, that is a band. This is the first time I have ever heard music with any soul to it produced by a mechanical talking machine." ... The new instrument is a feat of mathematics and physics. It is not the result of innumerable experiments, but was worked out on paper in advance of being built in the laboratory.... The new machine has a range of from 100 to 5,000 frequencies [sic], or five and a half octaves.... The "phonograph tone" is eliminated by the new recording and reproducing process. A Wanamaker's ad from October 31, 1925 invited people to come to "Wanamaker's Salon of Music" and "join the throngs" who were "HEARING the new Victor Orthophonic Victrola .... imagining performers present .... blinking unbelieving eyes" and promising "you will never forget it if you live to be one hundred!" A historian comments that:

...playing one of the new records on an Orthophonic was a revelation to listeners accustomed to acoustic reproduction: the dramatic increase in volume, the clear sibilants, and, most of all, the amazing reproduction of bass notes. The Orthophonics set the standard in sound reproduction. Backed by advertising which rightly claimed that their sound was vastly superior to any other machine, they sold very well. As part of a publicity blitz, Victor designated November 2, 1925 as "Victor Day" and, within days, was "swamped with orders exceeding $20 million."‍ List prices ranged from $95‍ to $300‍ depending on cabinetry. $375‍ "Victrolas with Radiola" incorporated a "five-tube Radiola tuned radio frequency receiver with orthophonic reproduction." A $650‍ "Victrola-Electrola" incorporated a "two-way valve" allowing both "Orthophonic as well as electrical reproduction", while the $1,000‍ "Orthophonic Victrola—Radiola and Electrola" had it all, including an eight-tube Radiola Super-Heterodyne. Dance music enthusiasts were not initially impressed; it was classical music that "sold" the new device. The Orthophonic became recognized as a status symbol. Liberace's father, for example, though unemployed, maintained his self-image as an artiste by "own[ing] the best record player available, a 'very special Orthophonic Victrola'". In the early 1950s, the memory of the Orthophonic was fresh enough for RCA Victor to introduce the name "New Orthophonic" for its improved recording process and line of high-fidelity long-playing records, and "Stereo-Orthophonic" was applied to RCA Victor's celebrated "Living Stereo" recordings issued later in the decade.

See also Exponential horn – Loudspeaker using an acoustic hornPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets History of sound recording Victor Talking Machine Company § Electrical recording era

Notes

References

External links Victor Orthophonic Victrola, Credenza model on YouTube playing "No More Worryin" by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Victor Orthophonic Victrola

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Victor Orthophonic Victrola claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Victor Orthophonic Victrola before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Victor Orthophonic Victrola ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Victor Orthophonic Victrola

In research: Victor Orthophonic Victrola appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Victor Orthophonic Victrola in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Victor Orthophonic Victrola is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1925 in New York City, Bell System, History of sound recording, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Victor Orthophonic Victrola outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Victor Orthophonic Victrola in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Victor Orthophonic Victrola means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Victor Orthophonic Victrola out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Victor Orthophonic Victrola in simple terms?

Why does Victor Orthophonic Victrola matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Victor Orthophonic Victrola?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Victor Orthophonic Victrola.