The editor's corner: Magnetic recording for home entertainment

This magnetic recording issue of Transactions brings to mind some historical "audio plans" for magnetic recorders. In its first fifty years magnetic recording never was a serious rival to the disk phonograph for prerecorded music. But fifteen years ago magnetic recording seemed unique in its ability to provide uninterrupted, long playing, high quality sound, as compared to 78-rpm disks which had to be changed every five minutes. Magnetic recording is no longer unique for long playing nor for stereo. Does it have any exclusive features left? There are quite a few. Tape recording has the reputation for superior fidelity, which is retained throughout a practically unlimited life. Tape furnishes three or more channels for enhanced stereo, and even with two channels it gives better separation and lower distortion than disks. Tape cartridges are rugged, in contrast to delicate disk surfaces. They are more compact, easier to store, and easier to use. A cartridge changer gives many hours of unattended programming. The erase feature allows interesting possibilities for the sale of music, separately from the cartridge, by vending machines where one could insert an unrecorded cartridge and select the music to be recorded. An important problem has been cost. In the next few years recorded tape music may be commonplace. Let us hope that it will bring uncommonly excellent audio quality.