CX (audio)

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CX is a noise reduction system for recorded analog audio. It was developed by CBS Laboratories (a division of CBS) in the early 1980s, as a competitor to other noise reduction (NR) systems such as Dolby and dbx. The name CX was derived from "Compatible eXpansion," a feature of the technique.

The CX logo, present on LPs and laserdiscs utilizing CX noise reduction
The CX logo, present on LPs and laserdiscs utilizing CX noise reduction

CX was originally designed by CBS as a noise-reduction technology for vinyl LP records. CX required a special decoder connected to a stereo system, in order to fully reproduce the CX encoded sound on the LP. However, CX-encoded records could also be played without a decoder, with a resulting (claimed acceptable) amount of dynamic range compression.

CBS predicted that CX encoding would become standard on all new LP releases but this never happened. Approximately 50 CX encoded LP titles were released by CBS around 1982. The albums in this series also came in standard, non CX encoded versions. While the implementation of CX with LP's was quite unsuccessful and short-lived, CX would later see success as the NR used for the stereo analog audio tracks on laserdiscs. It was also used for the audio tracks on discs of the RCA SelectaVision CED videodisc system.

Almost all laserdisc (and some CED) players manufactured since the mid-1980s had CX NR capability as a standard feature, with almost all commercial laserdisc releases having CX encoding on their analog tracks as well.

The theory of operation is described in U.S. Patent 4,376,916 .

Contents

[edit] Partial List of CX encoded LP's released by CBS

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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[edit] External links


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