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Thread: Sony to spin off audio unit

  1. #1
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Sony to spin off audio unit

    http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31523511

    Sony may get no audiophile respect, but its audio products are very good, and bulletproof. I hope the unit survives.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


  2. #2
    Senior Member Ed Zeppeli's Avatar
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    Well damn, I just bought a Walkman for the first time in 30 years. lol

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    Senior Member hsosdrum's Avatar
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    In 2003 I bought a Sony professional CD burner and it barely lasted 4 years before it simply would no longer burn CDs (I had burned maybe 60 CDs total on it by the time it gave out). Ditto for the Sony SXRD TV that I bought in 2006: it only lasted 4 years before I had to replace it. Neither of these were disposable commodity-level products; both should have provided far longer service than they rendered

    I'm officially done with Sony.

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    Senior Member 4343's Avatar
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    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by hsosdrum View Post
    In 2003 I bought a Sony professional CD burner and it barely lasted 4 years before it simply would no longer burn CDs (I had burned maybe 60 CDs total on it by the time it gave out). Ditto for the Sony SXRD TV that I bought in 2006: it only lasted 4 years before I had to replace it. Neither of these were disposable commodity-level products; both should have provided far longer service than they rendered

    I'm officially done with Sony.
    Contrast that with my PVM 25" monitor that I got in 1987, B stock. I finally had to replace last September when the HV resistor pack went out. Put many thousands of hours on that one...

    I know I have burned at least 400 DVD's on my Sony DVD recorder, 'cause that's how many VHS tapes I donated to the local library after transferring them. Still going strong. Down to one a week now days.

    The Audio group has some of the best people in Sony. Hope they do well on their own.
    Mike Scott in SJ, CA
    Drive 'em to the Xmax!

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    I've had some mixed results with Sony. I had a small Trinitron tv that just would not die, but on the other hand i had a receiver that died after a few years and even when it was working it was quirky. I also had a Sony SACD player that died on me.

  6. #6
    Senior Member hsosdrum's Avatar
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    Regardless of my personal feelings about the reliability/unreliability of Sony's products, I do agree that spinning off the audio unit is unlikely to be a good thing over all. I'm sure that one of the factors that allowed those talented engineers to thrive (as in invent the CD and SACD, among other things) was that they were backed by the resources of a giant corporation. And while that can be a double-edged sword, the engineers at the new company will likely have to struggle more for funding than they ever did while a part of Sony. I also wish them every success.

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    I don't own a lot of Sony gear but it has all been very good. I've got 2 of the big 300 disc CD changers that just keep going and going and going. I've also got a nearly 20 year old 32" XBR TV that looks as good as the day it was new. Someday I'm going to replace it but I'll need several strong backs to help me get it out of the house.

    The thing that stopped me from buying a lot of other gear is their love of proprietary formats. For instance, I purposely avoided Sony cameras for awhile because they required their memory sticks instead of standard flash memory cards. Sony fought these format battles way too long and often.

  8. #8
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    discussing the past reliability of products has little to do with this story.

    they were innovative when there were audio things to innovate, not so much
    left to do with current technology today. about all a company can do is improve
    on current relevant gear now.

    IMHO ..sony's beta was superior to vhs when they competed. but sony lost money on
    products that didnt fly -R cassette-. at least it didnt kill them like the divx did to
    circuit city.

    the audio world regards sony MD as a failure, but i'm still a fan and grab up the gear when available.

    Sony seemed best at tape based products, which have generally been killed by digital.

    i;d love to see the audio side return to former glory, but i dont think that hawking MP3 accessories
    is going to do that. Not for JBL either.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

  9. #9
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    Back when I was more traditionally minded, Sony bothered me in a way that I now admire them for. They are relentless innovators in electronics and software. In the development of the CD, Sony did the software end including the error correction and encoding. (Philips handled the optics, basically the player). Philips wanted a fourteen bit system; Sony insisted on sixteen. Two of the bits are what keep the errors to zero. They don't have the same function as the other bits. Philips, lacking the Japanese insistence on doing everything perfectly, only wanted good enough. Fourteen would have either meant errors or lower audio quality.

    I believe Sony also developed every new amplifier class in the last three or more decades. What I used to dislike was Sony always throwing technology at a problem. Now I realize they have been the key player in audio innovation for a long time. Most high end companies pretty much keep reinventing the wheel. Sony had to compete with every company in the mass market.

    If the audio divisions of Sony and Philips keep collaborating, the future might be bright, and funded.
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


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    Senior Member Hoerninger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    Now I realize they have been the key player in audio innovation for a long time.
    In the beginning of the seventies Sony had a huge neon sign
    " SONY - Wegbereiter der audio visuellen Zukunft"
    in the city of Hamburg . Something like "SONY - pathfinder of the audio visual future". I thought to myself BS, we had Grundig, Blaupunkt, Wega, Braun, Telefunken, Siemens and more. Now I show great respect for SONY, although I have never bought any sony gear. I own the mechanics of an old SONY 3motor tape recorder from the pre transistor era for restauration. But this will not be done anymore, time goes by.
    ___________
    Peter

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    Senior Member audiomagnate's Avatar
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    I read somewhere that the only thing making money for Sony is their insurance division.

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    Senior Member Odd's Avatar
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    43XX (2235-2123-2450-2405-CC 3155)5235-4412-4406-4401-L250-18Ti-L40-S109 Aquarius lV-C38 (030) 305P MkII

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    Yeah, Sony used to dabble in high-end, but I guess the money just isn't there. I'm glad there are guys like Mr. Pass that still make boutique electronics.

    Francis
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    Senior Member 1audiohack's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=Ducatista47;372226] I believe Sony also developed every new amplifier class in the last three or more decades. QUOTE]


    Hi Clark;

    In all sincerity I don't want this to sound at all like a question asked in hostility. I am truly interested in your basis for this statement. ?

    Thank you,
    Barry.
    If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.

  15. #15
    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=1audiohack;372257]
    Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista47 View Post
    I believe Sony also developed every new amplifier class in the last three or more decades. QUOTE]


    Hi Clark;

    In all sincerity I don't want this to sound at all like a question asked in hostility. I am truly interested in your basis for this statement. ?

    Thank you,
    Barry.
    Hi Barry,

    I am afraid I can't remember the specific source. I know they didn't invent Class E, but I think I remember that they did develop many others to practicality if not outright think them up. Since I can't remember precisely where I think I found this information, I will gladly retract it. Sony's engineers do have an impressive track record for developing concepts both built and merely fascinating. I will stand by my assertion that Sony has been in the forefront of audio development for some time. There is much representation from the other heavyweights in Japan, Europe and America, but Sony is usually found in the attribution line of the earlier practical designs.

    Here is a link to the patents of just one of their engineers. In all these links, the patent titles are hyperlinks.

    http://patents.justia.com/inventor/nobuo-hareyama

    Perhaps unrelated, this list for another of the team that developed the Compact Disk. I like the first one, about motor control of a tonearm.

    http://patents.justia.com/search?q=heitaro+nakajima

    Toshitada Doi, another on the CD team. All interesting; catch the "Fluid Flow Control Speaker System" employing fluidics to convert PCM to analogue.

    http://patents.justia.com/search?q=Toshitada+Doi

    And, for better or worse, Sony's reach is broad.

    http://fortune.com/2013/04/30/sony-p...us-terrifying/

    Senri Miyaoka, another team member who obviously enjoyed working with light.

    http://patents.justia.com/search?q=senri+MIyaoka

    To illustrate how everyone jumps on an idea, here is one list of some Class D patents. You will note that the first practical design that wouldn't self destruct its own hardware is a Sony item, one of several in the early chronology of the post theoretical filings. I have attached a PDF of it.

    http://www.acutechnology.com/ClassD/Pat_list.html

    To illustrate how the CD patent train rolled, attached is a PDF document in progress from the SACD development, showing Sony's contribution to the Sony-Philips arrangement.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
    Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears


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