Ray Dolby dies.....

[B3bluesman59]

From the LA Times:

 

Ray Dolby, the inventor and engineer who founded Dolby Laboratories and pioneered noise-reducing and surround-sound technology widely used in the film and recording industries, has died in San Francisco at 80, the company announced Thursday.

 

 

Dolby had been living with Alzheimer's disease in recent years and was diagnosed in July with acute leukemia, the company said.

 

Today we lost a friend, mentor and true visionary, Dolby Laboratories President and Chief Executive Kevin Yeaman said in a statement. Ray Dolby founded the company based on a commitment to creating value through innovation and an impassioned belief that if you invested in people and gave them the tools for success they would create great things. Rays ideals will continue to be a source of inspiration and motivation for us all.

 

PHOTOS: Notable deaths 2013

 

Dolby, born in Portland, Ore., was a precocious inventor. While attending high school in San Francisco and then at Stanford University, Dolby worked at Ampex Corp., where he was the chief designer of the first practical videotape recording system.

 

By the end of his life, he held more than 50 patents and had received two Oscars for scientific and technical achievement, several Emmys and a Grammy.

 

My father was a thoughtful, patient and loving man, determined to always do the right thing in business, philanthropy, and as a husband and father, said David Dolby, his son and a member of Dolby Laboratories board of directors. Our family is very proud of his achievements and leadership. He will be sorely missed, but his legacy of innovation will live on.

 

Dolby is survived by his wife, Dagmar, his sons Tom and David, their spouses Andrew and Natasha, and four grandchildren.

 

 

[J. Dan]

Does anybody know how long it's been since he was actively involved in the company and which technologies were directly attributed to him vs his legacy? He was obviously responsible for all ot the noise reduction technology...I'm curious if he was also involved in much of the more recent surround sound technology?

[Lone Stranger]

Dolby Laboratories was one of the 5 companies involved in developing the AAC audio file format often used in iPods and iPhones.

[ITGITC]

 

It was because of Dolby B that I purchased an Advent 201 Cassette Deck when I was in college... and a pair of Advent microphones to record bands... and a pair of Advent speakers.

 

It was a well made machine. The microphones and the external preamp that was necessary, were all of very high quality... Very high on the "Bang for the Buck" scale.

 

I made a lot of memorable recordings with that combination.

 

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/images/Advent201.jpg

 

KLONK!

 

Tom

 

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

Ya have to admit, it's kinda funny or ironic one of his sons is named Tom...

 

Rest peacefully, Mr. Dolby, and thanks. His sounds like the kind of interesting, technical life I'd like to know more about.

[J. Dan]

Ya have to admit, it's kinda funny or ironic one of his sons is named Tom...

 

In Retrospectacle, yes, it is.

[HammondDave]

Dolby,,,DBX... All the great noise reduction systems of the 70's.

[Joe Muscara]

Do we observe a minute of silence, or a minute of higher fidelity sound?

 

 

 

(Admittedly stolen joke from FB)

[orangefunk]

Have to confess I never used Dolby that much on any of my cassette decks... took too much of the high end off for me... still a pioneer no doubt. I guess his main thing was NR for commercial studios.

 

 

[Dana.]

Whenever I hear "Dolby," I think Spinal Tap.

 

"You don't do heavy metal in Dubly..."

"In what?"

"She means 'Dolby.'"

"We shan't recover from this one."

[nickd]

Thomas Dolby has said he's going to be on BBC radio today to talk about Ray Dolby - if I can find a link to the audio somewhere I'll post it here.

[MIDI2XS]

It was because of Dolby B that I purchased an Advent 201 Cassette Deck when I was in college... and a pair of Advent microphones to record bands... and a pair of Advent speakers.

 

It was a well made machine. The microphones and the external preamp that was necessary, were all of very high quality... Very high on the "Bang for the Buck" scale.

 

I made a lot of memorable recordings with that combination. [...]

Ray Dolby obviously deserves credit for the Advent 201's noise reduction, but you can thank Wollensak/3M for the ruggedness of the transport since they were the manufacturers (and designers of the transport mechanism).

 

[MuzikTeechur]

He blinded me with science.

[Mark Schmieder]

Actually, dbx came from dbx not Dolby:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dbx_(noise_reduction)

 

Other than for that correction, I stand in awe of the man and what he did, and treasure the time I met him at an AES tech conference. One of the nicer people in the industry, and an excellent speaker. We've lost another true innovator.

[Mark Schmieder]

The Thomas Dolby who will appear on BBC may be Ray Dolby's son vs. the pop artist who changed his name to avoid confusion with Tom Robinson:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dolby

 

Shades of David Bowie, who had to distinguish himself from the already-famous Davey Jones. But also smacking of the trademark territorial boundaries of APple Computer vs. Apple Records.