Summary
of some Solidyne's contributions to Broadcast Engineering
1960
World first bar
graph VU-meter display, today is used worldwide as the standard in audio metering.
(see more info at the left menu)
1971
Photo-resistive
optical rotary faders
1972
Audio compressors with FETs. Solidyne was a pioneer in variable gain systems
using FETs since our 1969 paper. During 20 years this was the dominant technology
in this field.
1976
We described for the first time, and published (AES Journal, USA) the technology
of peak asymmetry canceling, named Kahnn- Bonello, today used by Orban,
Omnia, Aphex, AEV, and most audio processors manufacturers.
1980
We created audio automation using open reel recorders with computer control of
mechanic transport and audio parameters, setting a new landmark in performance
(AES Journal,USA).
1983
We created the technology, now named: "Bonello Criterion", for acoustic design
of Radio Studios. Today it is used by the acoustic designers all over the
world. And it appears in text books of Acoustics of USA and Europe (AES Journal,USA)
1985
development of ECAM, the world first standard for audio bit compression (precursory
of all the following technologies, including MP3)
Due this invention Mr Bonello was awarded, years later with the Fellowship Award of the AES, New York
1987
we created the world first PC soundcard with professional sound quality
and bit compression
1988
we created the world first software for PC Radio Automation. This was a
milestone at the Radio world. Today all the radio stations around the world
are using some kind of software automation, based on this invention. We
decided not to apply for a Patent, in order to keep this invention available
for all the people. We presented this invention at the NAB 1990 world radio
trade fair in USA. See details below
1995
We introduce the Artificial Intelligence software for radio automation,
Audicom, that is still today the only A.I. software at the market.
1998
We create the VA16 Digital FM Modulation Monitor. It is the world only FM
Monitor that is able to measure the Audio Quality of the station (Frequency
response, Distortion, signal/noise, etc) using the on-air signal, and without the need to stop the normal programming.
2004
We created and patented the only audio fader without moving electrical contacts, using
Electrostatic technology. Named ESF, this unit gives the user 25 years of
duration without maintenance.
2005
We
created the word only system for restoring the original audio quality of
an audio transmission over a telephone line or cellular (VQR technology). It restores the bass and treble frequencies lost during transmission
2007
As
result of 35 years of research, we published at AES Journal, New York, March
2007, the first scientific justification of the theory of the FM audio processing.
Including a mathematical demonstration of the increase of the coverage area
obtained in the FM stereo transmission.
The same year, Prof Oscar Bonello, Solidyne founder, was awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, New York, USA with the Fellowship Award for outstanding contributions to Audio & Acoustics Engineering
2009
We introduced the first software for controlling with full sync a complete radio network of several radio stations in different locations. This Artificial Intelligence based technology, named Audicom Multicast, uses Metadata information for controlling it using Internet streaming
2014
Solidyne created the new Audicom AVRA with Audio & Video. A true TV channel at very low cost on-line worlwide at Internet. We are the first company at the world with this product. This will be the new way of Broadcastng transmissions of FM & AM radio over the world. Presentad at NAB 2014, Las Vegas, IBC 2014, Amsterdam, CAPER 2014, Buenos Aires, AMITRA 2014 México, etc
Solidyne:
a brief overview
Solidyne
was founded in 1968 by Oscar Bonello, its CEO. Mr Bonello is an Argentine
researcher and professor at the University of Buenos Aires.
Solidyne has now a team of 50 people working in our company. The secret
of the Solidyne's success at the radio market and professional audio
field, is very simple: Our obsession by Research
and permanent Innovation.
Throughout
these years, Solidyne has made more than 10.000 broadcast audio consoles, that
add an accumulated on-air time greater than 30.000 years. No other world
manufacturer can offer a so convincing guarantee of reliability !
Solidyne is now the world oldest manufacturer of broacasting consoles
Also, Solidyne has manufactured and installed the biggest audio system in
Latin America: The satellite broadcasting network used for transmitting
the FIFA World Cup in 1978.
Solidyne
had manufactured open reel magnetic tape recorders, using dynamic bias
and self-aligned by computer, PBX telephonic centrals and user telephones,
communications between energy networks, Communications centers for the
Argentina Air Force, Army, Gendarmerie, etc
From 1980 we are working in the field of the 24 hours Voice Loggers, and
we were one of the few international companies manufacturing multi-channel
magnetic tape recorders (Medical Emergencies, Electrical Companies, Ambulances,
etc).
From 2004 up to the present, we manufacture AR-200 Digital Voice Loggers
with state of the art technology: digital encrypted recording on Hard
Disk; another one of the inventions of Solidyne. This small size 16,
24 & 32 channels recorders have open architecture, high reliability
and low cost
In the field of Audio Processing we are the company with more experience
of the world. Solidyne's papers published from 1970 can be found in the
bibliography of this field.
We started the era of the Psychoacoustic Processing in Broadcasting with
the publication of an original paper, at AES Journal, June 76, New York.
Solidyne
was the first world company that creates a digital audio system based
on PC, for radio automation.
See below a history of this innovation, the most important radio innovation
of the second half of XX Century.
Due to this invention, in 1992 Solidyne was awarded with the First National
Prize to the Technological Innovation. The Audicom system has been sold
in 45 countries. Today this technology is used in radio stations of more
than 120 countries.
Since 1970 we contributed in technical and scientific exhibitions.
Solidyne has published more than 150 papers in several international magazines.
We have 12 Patents of Invention. We have received numerous prizes by our
scientific and industrial work.
In the scientific field, our theories are today included in text books
of Audio and Acoustic used in many Universities of the world. We mentioned,
for example, the "Handbook for Sound Engineers", Glenn
Ballou (Howard Sams); "Acoustics" of Alton Everest (McGraw-Hill),
etc
The
invention of the PC
Radio Automation
Old PC audio
card
manufactured by
Solidyne in 1990
The PC soon
becomes
a familiar device
in radio studios
Modern 12
channels
PC card with internal DSP
In 1983 a new idea was born in Solidyne; to replace the open reel tape
recorders and cartridge player, by a new technology based on Hard Disk
storage, using as working platform an IBM PC computer that had arrived
at the market the previous year
The idea was considered by many engineers like impossible, because the
sound cards had still not been invented... and the capacity of storage
in HD was smaller than 30 MB. On the other hand, nobody thought about
that time in using a computer within a Radio study (an engineer from USA
said to us: "computers and consoles are like the water and oil;
they never will be mixed! "
But at this
point a notable synergy takes place that allowed Solidyne to be the first
world company to perform this invention. The fact is that for that date
Prof Bonello was teaching Electro Acoustics at the University, and the
Psychoacoustic was his main field of interest. The Bonellos's idea was
to use the human ear Masking effect, to reduce the amount of bytes necessary
to codify an audio signal. This was the first application of Masking to
digital audio.
This idea was very new and so strong that today all the forthcoming compression
standards in the world (MP3 included) use the same principle we developed
20 years ago !
During 5
years of research & development of the compression technology, the
ECAM was created. After that, Solidyne created sound cards for PC (nobody
manufactured audio cards at that moment), and the software that supported
the new technology. In 1988 the new system was presented in South America
at the Communication Secretary, in Argentina. In 1990 at the NAB world
exhibition in Atlanta, USA, it was presented to the rest of the world.
Solidyne was the only company, at NAB 90, that offered a PC automation
system.
In that opportunity, when seeing the Audicom, the president of the NAB
said: this is not a simple advance; it is the re-invention of the Radio...
and he was right !. Solidyne, yet today, was the only company in the world
that faced the simultaneous solution of the 3 key technologies that gave
access to audio in PC:
1) The compression
algorithm
2) The audio interface (Sound card)
3) The application software.
In 1992 by
this invention we were awarded with the First National Prize to the Technological
Innovation
Although in 1990 many engineers of radio insisted that: never a computer
within a radio study would be accepted, the experience demonstrates
that they were mistaken...
Today the
PC is so indispensable in a Radio Station as before were the open reel
recorders or the cartridge player (we have pushed both towards the Museum ).
The invention of Solidyne, today has crossed the world, sometimes in our
own version, the Audicom, or by other software developers.
Solidyne
never apply for invention patents of this device, because we wished that
all the radio stations of the world can freely use the benefits of the
Audio & Computer technologies.
Fortunately,
this dream has come true
Some
Awards
1973
- Honor Award
for Industrial Design, CIDI, Argentina
1978
- Mr Bonello
becomes a Senior Member IEEE, USA and Member
of the New York
Academy of Science, USA
1992
- First National Prize for Innovation (Audicom technology),
Banco Frances,
Argentina
1997
- Special Award to the technological Innovation, Banco Frances, Argentina
2000 - Fundación BACH, Argentina. Nomination as outstanding Audio Engineer.
2005- Buenos Aires City Government,
Award for the creation
of RadioImagen .technology
2007-
Fellowship Award, Audio Engineering Society, New York, USA (www.aes.org)
2009 - First Prize to the Technological Innovation in Broadcasting, granted
by the Consejo Profesional de Ingeniería, Argentina
Some
Invention Patents
PATENT 184.619 Photorresistive
fader
PATENT 198.911 Audio
Matrix
PATENT 215.101 Autoset
Hybrid
PATENT 217.193 Virtual
flux input transformer
PATENT 218.707 High
performance magnetic recording system
PATENT 236.414 TDM
tech for Audio conmutation
PATENT 237.296 New
system of UPS distributed power