When did dual inventory (Mono/Dolby A Stereo) prints cease to be a thing.

[Marcel Birgelen]

And yet, I consider the 2001:ASO to be an outstanding soundtrack from Stanley Kubrick and it wasn't mono; quite the opposite. Wasn't "Clockwork Orange" Dolby-Mono or something like that?

From what I remember, Dolby noise reduction (which later became "Dolby Type A") was used during production/mixing of the soundtrack (in mono), but the prints (at least the original releases) contained a standard optical soundtrack.

Also, from what I've read, Kubrick's dedication to mono was based on that he was obsessed with how his movies eventually would be presented in the theater. With many theaters lacking proper equipment for stereo sound, he focused on making it sound as good as possible in mono. The sole exception was, of course, 2001, although that release pre-dates Dolby Stereo. Eyes Wide Shut technically doesn't count, because the mix was created after he died, but apparently, he did a crash-course on "stereo sound editing" and considered a stereo or multi-track mix for Eyes Wide Shut right from the beginning.

[Steve Guttag]

It was always Dolby-A. You may be thinking of "Dolby System" which was the generic name applied to Dolby noise reduction before there were choices. If you look on a CAT22, you'll see the Dolby System logo but in text "Type-A" noise reduction.

Don't forget SPARTACUS. Also multi-channel (pre Dolby).

I wonder if Sam Chavez knows what movies actually were released in Dolby Mono. The era of the 364/E2 combination predate my cinema time.

[Marcel Birgelen]

It was always Dolby-A. You may be thinking of "Dolby System" which was the generic name applied to Dolby noise reduction before there were choices. If you look on a CAT22, you'll see the Dolby System logo but in text "Type-A" noise reduction.

Don't forget SPARTACUS. Also multi-channel (pre Dolby).

I know they used "Type A" for the production of "A Clockwork Orange", I didn't know if the system was known by that name back then though. But looking it up: Dolby A was introduced in 1965, so yes, by then it was already called "Dolby A".

According to what I could find on-line, Callan (1974) was apparently the first "Dolby Mono" release.

[Gordon McLeod]

Gordon,

I commented on this film previously and I set up a couple of mag screenings. No Dolby NR or DBX encoding in my experience. Maybe why it sounded so bad. LOL. Charles Durning was the highlight of the film.

We played it at the Varsity in toronto with DBX. I remember it as it was the last filmshown on the Simplex mag penthouses on the centurys (with a KT 30 and Dolby cp50 systemand quintaphonic box still in the rack) before hte V8 3570 ent in with the cp200

[Gordon McLeod]

Sinbad the eye of the tiger Listomania had dolby mono prints up here

[Sam Chavez]

The screenings I did were straight mag and if DBX encoded, it certainly wasn't noted. DBX encoding was not subtle so the side effects would have been obvious. Not saying it didn't happen in some instances but someone would have to provide the DBX decoder. Could have used a Sensurround box but I don't know if there was a version that supported more than a mono input. "Callan" was on the list of early releases but I can't recall in any order the titles. The list was certainly part of Dolby history and Ioan used to show a slide with that list in his shows or lectures.

[Steve Guttag]

The only dbx prints I recall, and I don't know how widespread they were was Nine-to-Five.

[Marcel Birgelen]

In my impression, outside of Sensurround, dbx was ever only used on mag-tracks, but there were actual (non-Sensurround) 35mm prints with the optical track encoded in dbx?

[Sam Chavez]

I don't recall any optical soundtrack prints with DBX encoding and certainly no way to play it back accurately. But I'm not in NYC, LA, or Toronto for that matter so a specific title with DBX encoding could easily get by me. Maybe a particular Title early in DTS could have experimented with DBX. Then there was that sound system built by Parasound? It had 8 individual optical sound tracks and an 8 channel solar cell. I believe that might have been done using DBX.

[Steve Guttag]

I recall Parasound was tried for Popeye. I thought it was just 4 optical stripes, not 8.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

Yes, Popeye was just 4 optical stripes. It sounded like crap on a Dolby CP-50 so we complained, Paramount told our booker that the print was sent by mistake, and they replaced it with a normal Dolby Stereo print. I saved a few frames of the Parasound print, but where the house they are now, decades later, I have no idea.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Is Parasound the same thing as the infamous Vistasonic? That was the primary sound system envisioned for the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The information about that failed sound system available on-line is very spotty, maybe someone still remembers how it was supposed to work?

[Sam Chavez]

I believe Vistasonic and Parasound were the same. They experimented at Regency 2 and Northpoint in SF. There are 8 ribbons on the Westrex camera and it's possible to do 8 channels but can't recall number of actual elements on the solar cell. Could swear it was 8 wires coming out of the cell but could be wrong. Dolby was their competitor so they didn't let us see much even though even though we were present at the installation to put things back to normal when they got done. I recall Popeye but not Raiders. Anyway, gone in a flash and left lots of great speakers and amps behind, including a cube of nine subs. AB Systems amps.

[Martin Brooks]

And yet, I consider the 2001:ASO to be an outstanding soundtrack from Stanley Kubrick and it wasn't mono; quite the opposite. Wasn't "Clockwork Orange" Dolby-Mono or something like that?

According to my notes, Clockwork was the first film to use Dolby Noise Reduction on all premixes and masters, but it was never presented in Dolby. Clockwork was released in December of 1971. The Dolby 364 mono Cinema Processor wasn't released until February of 1972 and around the same time, a Dolby demo film called "A Quiet Revolution". "Callan" was the first Dolby mono film shown at Cannes and that wasn't until May of '74.

[Martin Brooks]

Yes, Popeye was just 4 optical stripes. It sounded like crap on a Dolby CP-50 so we complained, Paramount told our booker that the print was sent by mistake, and they replaced it with a normal Dolby Stereo print. I saved a few frames of the Parasound print, but where the house they are now, decades later, I have no idea.

I could have sworn I saw Popeye at the old Beekman in NYC in Vistasonic sound but I just looked up the ad and it wasn't playing there, so I must have seen it at the Loews Orpheum I and I remember it sounding fantastic. I remember being very surprised. But the ad has no sound format indication. In Manhattan, it also played at the Loews State and the Bay Cinema.