For hard-core channel surfers, a C-band system might be the ultimate home-theater source component,…
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Sales of C-band systems have fallen like a rock since the launch of PrimeStar and DSS four years ago, but C-band still has a lot to offer. With their "steerable" dishes that are 6 to 10 feet in diameter, C-band systems can point to any satellite in the sky. There are too many variables to calculate the exact bandwidth of all the available birds, but my guess is somewhere in the terabit-per-second range. In fact, there's so much capacity that many transponders sit unused much of the time.
Master feed of the universe
Although much has changed in the DTH business, one thing hasn't: C-band is still the primary medium by which cable networks downlink their signals to local cable operators. In addition, broadcast networks use C-band to transmit taped and live programming and news feeds to affiliates scattered around the country. In many cases that are not intended for direct home viewing, these "master feeds" are received by your local cable or broadcast affiliate and then rebroadcast to your home with local commercials, station identification, and so forth.
Although much has changed in the DTH business, one thing hasn't: C-band is still the primary medium by which cable networks downlink their signals to local cable operators. In addition, broadcast networks use C-band to transmit taped and live programming and news feeds to affiliates scattered around the country. In many cases that are not intended for direct home viewing, these "master feeds" are received by your local cable or broadcast affiliate and then rebroadcast to your home with local commercials, station identification, and so forth.
DBS systems…
And unlike DSS, which is a closed system with just two program providers (DirecTV and USSB), C-band is an open system with a dozen or so program providers. This allows 4DTV owners to select from a dizzying array of different programming packages. Some providers even let you build your own program lineup, selecting à la carte only those channels that interest you.
Increased competition results in lower prices. According to an article in the July 1998 issue of Satellite Orbit magazine, "A typical monthly C-band subscription bill runs about $60 for 138 channels. That comes to about $5 per…
Ins and outs
For a device so clearly aimed at the high end of the home-theater market, the 4DTV's back panel makes some surprising omissions. First, there's no component-video output. This is no big deal for analog C-band signals, which are strictly composite in nature. On the other hand, DigiCipher signals originate and are transmitted in the component domain, and should therefore benefit (at least in theory) from such a connection to an appropriately equipped video display. The 4DTV unit does have the next best thing to a component output—an S-video connector—but this is active only…
For a device so clearly aimed at the high end of the home-theater market, the 4DTV's back panel makes some surprising omissions. First, there's no component-video output. This is no big deal for analog C-band signals, which are strictly composite in nature. On the other hand, DigiCipher signals originate and are transmitted in the component domain, and should therefore benefit (at least in theory) from such a connection to an appropriately equipped video display. The 4DTV unit does have the next best thing to a component output—an S-video connector—but this is active only…
SPECIFICATIONS
4DTV analog/digital C-band IRD
Input frequency: 950-1550MHz
Input impedance: 75 ohms
Demodulator: QPSK
Video de-emphasis: 525-line CCIR Rec. 405-1
Video frequency response: 1.0kHz-4.2MHz, ±1dB (DCII video)
Output impedance: 75 ohms
Output level: 1V peak-to-peak into 75 ohms
Audio modes: digital stereo, NTSC subcarrier, VCII+digital
Audio frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, ±1.5dB (digital audio)
Harmonic distortion: 0.4% max. @ 1kHz (digital audio)
S/N Ratio: 84dB min. (digital audio)
Dimensions: 17" by 4" by 13.5" (W by H by…
4DTV analog/digital C-band IRD
Input frequency: 950-1550MHz
Input impedance: 75 ohms
Demodulator: QPSK
Video de-emphasis: 525-line CCIR Rec. 405-1
Video frequency response: 1.0kHz-4.2MHz, ±1dB (DCII video)
Output impedance: 75 ohms
Output level: 1V peak-to-peak into 75 ohms
Audio modes: digital stereo, NTSC subcarrier, VCII+digital
Audio frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, ±1.5dB (digital audio)
Harmonic distortion: 0.4% max. @ 1kHz (digital audio)
S/N Ratio: 84dB min. (digital audio)
Dimensions: 17" by 4" by 13.5" (W by H by…
KEITH JARRETT: At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings
Keith Jarrett, piano; Gary Peacock, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums
ECM 1575-80 (78118-21575-2, 6 CDs only). Manfred Eicher, prod.; Jan Erik Kongshaug, eng. DDD. TT: 7:03:37
Keith Jarrett, piano; Gary Peacock, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums
ECM 1575-80 (78118-21575-2, 6 CDs only). Manfred Eicher, prod.; Jan Erik Kongshaug, eng. DDD. TT: 7:03:37
Customary as it has become to praise the Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette "Standards" ensemble by invoking the classic trio of Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, and Paul Motian, I submit, with all due respect, that we need to retire that metaphor. For one thing, although the essence of Evans's ensemble continued through several personnel changes, including a version…
THE POLICE: Every Breath You Take: The Classics
A&M Chronicles 069 493 607-2 (hybrid SACD/CD). 2003. The Police, Hugh Padgham, Laurie Latham, orig. prods.; Nigel Gray, Chris Gray, Hugh Padgham, Phil Nicolo, orig. engs.; David Tickle, Martin Pradler, 5.1 remixes (tracks 1-12); Bob Ludwig, 5.1 remixes (tracks 13-14) and SACD mastering; Bill Levenson, reissue supervision. A?D. TT: 59:43
Performance *****
Sonics ** to *****
A&M Chronicles 069 493 607-2 (hybrid SACD/CD). 2003. The Police, Hugh Padgham, Laurie Latham, orig. prods.; Nigel Gray, Chris Gray, Hugh Padgham, Phil Nicolo, orig. engs.; David Tickle, Martin Pradler, 5.1 remixes (tracks 1-12); Bob Ludwig, 5.1 remixes (tracks 13-14) and SACD mastering; Bill Levenson, reissue supervision. A?D. TT: 59:43
Performance *****
Sonics ** to *****
YES: Fragile
Elektra/Rhino R2 73789 (CD), R9 78249 (DVD-A). 2003. Yes, Eddie Offord, orig. prods.; Eddie Offord, Gary Martin, orig. engs.; Bill Inglot…
1987 will mark Stereophile's 25th year of continuous (if initially sometimes sporadic) publication. And while we haven't yet decided what we're going to do in celebration, the first issue of 1987 does seem to be as good a time as any to contrast the state of the audio art when we began publication with what is routinely possible today.
In 1962, the LP record had been around for 10 years, the stereo disc for four, and the audio marketplace was in chaos. The "hi-fi" mania which had made audio a multi-million dollar business during the late 1950s had peaked out, and public acceptance of…
As cartridge trackability improved, the ear-shredding hashiness evolved through edginess to a fine-grained roughness or dryness, and the extent to which these were exaggerated by the rest of the system continued to depend largely on the quality of those early stages. By the mid '70s, the engineering fraternity and the mainstream magazines (both of which still judged sound quality by the same four measurements considered definitive ten years earlier) had taken to pointing derisive fingers at audiophiles and their scorn for any preamp with more than 0.1% distortion. This was when the term "…
As with tweeters, there has been no dramatic breakthrough in woofer design during the last quarter century, but there has been plenty of evolutionary refinement. Improvements in available materials and in our understanding of LF reproduction and propagation have yielded many speaker systems of reasonable size which produce as deep and detailed a low end as used to be possible only with behemoth designs. And trickle-down has been at work here too. Some small, inexpensive systems (such as the Celestion SL-600) now produce a level of low-end quality, if not quantity, which would have been…