Tracing Distortion in the Reproduction of Constant Amplitude Recordings
Ludwig W. Sepmeyer · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1941
An analysis is made of the third harmonic tracing distortion generated in the reproduction of constant amplitude recordings. Curves are shown which give, for an assumed spectral energy distribution of speech and music, the peak distortion for constant amplitude recording and for the newly adopted commercial transcription characteristics. In some cases this distortion may be as high as 5 percent at 3000 cycles and 23 percent at 8000 cycles. Comparison is made with the tracing distortion arising in the reproduction of constant velocity recordings. The problem of reducing the tracing distortion to acceptable limits is considered. Experimental verification of the theoretical predictions and the effect of record unevenness upon the tracing distortion are discussed.