Hi, I am Bob and the owner of the Cook (actually LIVINGSTON) Binaural Tone Arm you speak about. It can be seen in its entirety here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hs2SgsKAq7zFgZc.html I have an extensive collection of these rare Binaural records, along with related literature gathered from the audio fairs. I started this collection in the 50's and still enjoy listening to these records. I have upgraded my turntable to a direct drive and will try to upload some more videos of different binaural records in the near future. It will be on my satellite you tube website shown on your left with the vintage television set (NOT "harristeeter1").

I am a very old man from frozen Patagonia, Argentina, and you made me happy again with your videos. I am deaf from one ear and almost deaf from the other even so, this amazing recordings almost made me feel stereo again in decades!!!. I thank you. Cheers!!

I just wanted to say that I enjoy your videos. A hidden gem on KZfaq... criminally under-subscribed for sure. Nothing wasted on fluff or flashiness, just matter-of-fact nuggets of varying interests, that we can definitely relate to, presented clearly and passionately. Don't ever change.

Cook was also a pioneer in another way, he designed his own, improved record presses, AND came up with an idea to make records at the point of sale! Sold some in Jamaica which enabled the early flowering of what was to become Reggae. They could record locally, get Cook to male a master, send it back to them, and press records from it when asked for.

I knew a guy who got excited about Sony's consumer portable DAT recorder. This guy had no stereo of his own, but upon hearing about DAT technology he became obsessed and eventually saved up enough to buy one. This was no small feat because the player/recorders were very expensive and this guy was about 20 years old. Even more surprising than the fact that a poor young person with no HiFi wanted to spend a small fortune on a highly specialized piece of audio equipment was the fact that this person was homeless and had no apparent job! Some of these details did not come to light until later. He eventually did get his portable DAT rig and politely requested some recording time on my stereo. Amazingly, when he got to my apartment where I had a mediocre Sony turntable with a respectable Ortofon Concorde cartridge and rather good quality Realistic brand (Radio Shack) 35 Watt power channel receiver, he came with his own vinyl records! I fully expected him to go through my records to pick some hit songs or perhaps an album to "transfer" (pirate) to DAT. That might have been the plan originally, but by the time he showed up he had learned/realized that viny records wear out a little with each play and he wanted the best possible source for his recordings. To my amazement he brought 3 or 4 albums, some of which were Pink Floyd, some brand new, and at least one that was used but in excellent condition. He didn't pick and choose tracks at all. He simply recorded all sides of all albums to DAT cartridges. Months later I saw him and asked how the DAT player was working. I was definitely envious of that DAT player. He reported with consternation that the DAT worked perfectly, but that he had come to realize that nothing he could obtain commercially could fully utilize the potential of the player and that he had embarked on a quest to make his own "truly high quality" recordings. He had ordered better headphones and some highly regarded binaural microphones from a catalog and was hopeful that he could eventually get some really good recordings of live concerts. Fast forward a year - I saw him again and he had the DAT unit with him. I asked about it and he demonstrated. He had very nice headphones (I don't remember what kind now) and played me some of his prizes recordings: some live concert tracks, and RAILROAD SOUNDS!! He also had frog sounds and some other sound effects. I think it's funny that people gravitate to train sounds when a new high quality audio recording format comes along. From one decade to the next, trains retain their appeal, particularly for demonstrating surround effects in an audio system.

Sounds really great with headphones. .

I remember as a kid using two tape recorders to do a similar stereo effect. Even though the tapes were played back in the same machine which recorded them, the recordings still drifted apart over a few minutes.

I had a friend who had a pair of JVC biphonic head phones with microphones on each ear cup. We went to a showing of Star Wars and recorded the audience sounds. When played back through the headphones, it sounded like you were in the theater again. I listened to your test recording on my stereo and it was pretty amazing. Never knew about Emory Cook, now I have to check him out.

This freaked my cat out, which freaked me out. Awesome video though! 👍

The demo was pretty darn cool. I have quite a large, albeit older Yamaha stereo sound system connected to my computer. When the ships horn went off.. Pure immersion! I could feel the blast in my chest! Nicely done. Thanks for the experience.

The stereo separation with the Cook records are amazing. I am no audiophile but I can tell a pretty big difference in "traditional stereo" that we have now and Cook's records despite my hearing impairment

I have a copy of that Columbia binaural record. It is Fascinating to hear. I also have one Cook binaural, but no workable way to play it correctly. Cook donated all of his stuff to the Smithsonian. You can get copies of his recordings from Smithsonian Folkways, either as burned-on-demand CD-Rs or as downloads. I ordered a CD of Rail Dynamics and found that about half of it was backwards. At my request, they investigated the situation, respliced the tape so that all of it is now correct, and sent me a copy of that at no extra charge.

I remember as a teenager being played some 1960s stereo test records. One particular surround sound test always sticks in my memory, where a sound moved towards you, through you and then right to the back of our long room, before returning back towards you and into the speakers where it started from. I've never experienced anything quite like it since, and I have tried and experienced a number of sophisticated modern setups, some of which were very cutting edge for the time a few years ago.

This is a great video. I had the honor to work with Emory at Cook Labs in Norwalk, Connecticut in the late 70's. What an amazing man and it's great to see he is remembered so highly with such fondness and respect. He fully deserves it, and without a doubt he is STILL the smartest man I have even encountered in my 70 years.

Wow! Learned something interesting just now. I would love to see how those original binaural records were mastered and how the cutting lathe was set up. Very ingenious and fascinating. Thanks for posting this.

That is so cool. The separation is unreal for an LP.

that was amazing, I felt like I was in a movie from that time and I was lost in the place where ships start their trips. Very reallistic, good video

The stereo separation is impressive but so is the fidelity. That really did not sound like a recording from that time period. Very cool. I might have to look for the Rail Dynamics record. I didn't hear any pops in this, did you have to clean it up or was it really this clean straight from the record?

Can't believe I have not seen this, quite interesting.

My dad had a copy of "Voice of the Sea," though his was just a standard monaural pressing. It was on red vinyl and the B-side was "Surf." Thanks for bringing this back as a personal nostalgia item for me, and for giving me the chance to hear it in stereo!

Great video! The stereo separation is incredible on headphones. I've read about these Cook records but I've never found one. I did bought buy a copy of "Listening In Depth" at a thrift store a long time ago and still have it. I didn't know it was one of the first stereo albums released. But after 60 years it still a great sounding demo album.

That was extraordinary!!! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing that recording... and if you ever feel like posting any more of the tracks as "extras" on your channel, I'd sure listen!!!

Some more info about Emory Cook: Emory Cook was quite thoughtful of the future of his recordings and his label that released them. In 1990, he donated everything involved with it (masters, documents, equipment, etc.) to the Smithsonian. One result is Smithsonian Folkways (the museum's label, itself formed when Moses Asch donated his Folkways label to the Smithsonian in 1987) re-releasing quite a few of Cook Labs' albums on CD and cassette (and an occasional LP re-release, IINM). The picture of him at 1:42 shows him standing next to his "Microfusion" record molding presses. In addition to his stereo recordings and their binaural LP releases, Cook also developed the Microfusion process, which he used to press his label's records. Microfusion was different from conventional vinyl record pressing in that it used a very fine micrograined vinyl powder (almost like toner powder for copiers/laser printers) for the raw material, rather than coarse vinyl pellets melted down initially to hockeypuck-sized "shots" or "biscuits" which are then heated and pressed into a finished record. I believe the Microfusion presses ran at a lower temperature, and had shorter molding time. This resulted in a less-complex manufacturing process that Cook envisioned of marketing to smaller record labels or record stores themselves to make their own short-run custom pressings of vinyl, in addition to being of a much higher quality than conventional vinyl pressings with far less surface noise, due to the melting of the powdered vinyl micropellets "filling" in the heated mold more thoroughly. Cook Labs had a set up a sister label in Trinidad, because of his interest of the music there, that solely used the Microfusion presses to press the many 45s that the Trinidadian division of Cook released. I guess Cook sold the Trinidadian division to another party early on, and as a result, the Trinidadian Cook Labs records and masters are not part of the Smithsonian collection, since they were out of Emory's hands after selling them. According to the Smithsonian's website, one of the Cook Labs collection's artifacts is a bag of powdered Microfusion vinyl powder used for the process. folklife.si.edu/archives-and-resources/cook-labs-records

what an interesting piece of history. The stereo effect was impressive.

This is the perfect example of why I will never ever give this channel up. Thank you, Kevin.

Not even 15 years later they we're making quadraphonic records! Even though they were more of a curiousity.

This is amazing, really. The recording you played at ~09:50 was amazing, especially considering the time. It seems like he had some great ideas; I'd listen to this kind of stuff all the time.

This is just insane! What a wonderful piece of history.

Certainly a very unusual technology, but very effective, gives more of a feeling of actually being there than the stereophonic sound we ended up with... :)

Beautiful! Gonna use that last ship horn as my phone's ring tone! LOL.

i'm so old, i remember my dad and his 7 foot long 'hifi' with tube amps, and playing 'living stereo' records. i also remember sound effect records were also very big.

That guy was brilliant. I really enjoyed this video. Fascinating really. Thanks for the video.

At this way you got 100% channel separation. Great idea from Mr.Cook

The was very interesting video. Thanks for posting. Aligning a cartridge on a regular turntable is difficult enough, but trying to set up one of those two headed tonearms must have been a freakin' nighmare!

That may be a good idea for a future video - offbeat subjects for records (e.g. recording locomotive sounds).

This is extremely interesting! Last December, I attended the Keystone Record Collector's (monthly) show, in Lancaster. I noticed a "Cook" recording label, with a US Governmental issued record from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, circa '55. I now wish that I had pulled the record from its sleeve; what a surprise that would have been! I have two Crosley "Coloradio's" on the bench, for capacitors, and safety upgrades, and three more coming after these two are complete.

I heard it through my home studio monitors. Holly Molly, superb.

What a great discovery this video is. I will be checking out more from you.

I remember when we got our first stereo record player back in the early 60s. It was fabulous. It still is fabulous because I still have it along with most of the records and it still works. Sounds terrific. I play it only on special occasions with special people who truly enjoy the way good music sounds.

That adds a new dimension to "being there". When you consider that most of the people (and virtually all of the machines) you hear on this recording are no longer with us, it makes the recordings seem so close.

excellent piece of editing & history, very well done.

It's amazing how much different it sounds vs. a "normal" stereo recording. The separation is superb. It sounds like you're really standing there. Very cool -- thanks for making this. I had no idea this technology had ever existed -- this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

This is amazing

That was one of the coolest recordings I've ever heard

basically, that track at the end is ASMR before there was ASMR

These are the highest fidelity recordings you can have from that era, has as much separation and dynamic range as a CD, and the system was clearly superior to the stereo standard we all know for vinyl records. The system could maybe have been perfected to a more user friendly and less bulky form, maybe in the form of 2 tracks next to each other, looking like 2 spiral lines the one inside the other, and a system with a two needle single cartridge, so that spacing and tracking of both needles is always the same, the needles need posibly to be stagered a bit to get all bits on top of the 2 needles can be fitted inside that single cartridge.

Listining to this on my 7.1 surround sound system makes it sound very impressive.

As old as that record wa, it played so clean, and the dynamic range for a recording that old was impressive.

Well this was fascinating! I'd never seen seen stereo being achieved this way before. Amazing what ideas they came up with back in the day.

Brilliant video. Totally intersting and a format I was not aware of, and I know a LOT of wierd audio stuff so thanks for brightening my world for the better. Many many thanks for posting

Great video.... I really love old tech and this is a very rare and interesting one. Thanks for recording and "decoding" that LP!

That was great! That's probably the best stereo separation I've gotten out of my stereo in a while!

Wow! That recording at the end is crazy! Your history lesson was baller too! Love your vids.

That was really cool to listen to. Thanks for the upload.

This is absolutely fantastic! Thank you very much for sharing this video!

That is awesome! I've heard of this but I've never actually seen a video of it being demonstrated. I'm surprised at how well the Technics turntable kept the exact speed; even the most minuscule pitch shift that no one would normally notice would throw the phasing off wildly, especially if music were being played.

Excellent! I do own a copy of one of the Cook Laboratories Binaural LPs. Thanks for the video! 👍👍

WOW, the soundstage on it is ENORMOUS.

*WOW!!!* Ingenious! Crazy, but ingenious!

I listened on my surround sound! When they blew the horn i actually jumped! I can't believe it was recorded over 60 years ago! Lol thank you so much!

Just because the early tonearms used 6 grams tracking weight does not mean that it won't damage records. It certainly won't destroy them, but in time it will cause groove damage. That's why many used records from that era have that distorted sound towards the end of a side.

Wow!! So I was around records and record players since as far back as I can remember, and this is the first I've ever seen this! Thank you for showing me something new to me!

Fantastic video! Thanks for this.

Hearing that recording was just out of this world. Thanks for sharing

I had no idea such a thing existed. Thank you so much for showing this.

Wow the 'Stereo' separation is so wide. Has anyone recorded these records onto a digital format yet?? Thanks for the video.

Enjoyed the history lesson! I listened on headphones and the synch'd video was great!

You make excellent videos VWestlife!

I think that is amazing. I listened on headphones. I never knew that there was stereo before magnetic tape.

Great video. Emory Cook's Calypso recordings, which are all still available on Smithsonian Folkways, are great performances and have amazing fidelity.

wow, even trough headphones sound really great

Really interesting

Excellent,, as always. And some great history 🎯📡🎼🎧🎹🚀🍺🍸

The Bell Labs recordings you include were done a year after Alan Blumlein made the first single-groove stereo recordings at EMI in the UK. Bell had made some experimental records of Stokowski in 1932, but they used an even more eccentric method than the Cook records, with separate left and right grooves right next to each other - it must have been very hit-and-miss putting a twin-stylus tone-arm onto a disk so the stereo was the right way round every time :) Blumlein made a patent application for his stereo system in 1931: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Blumlein Some of Blumlein's earliest recordings were made at Abbey Road studios: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gapje6WT2bSdkZ8.html

Great video!!!!Thank you!!!!😍😍😍

Thank you for this. I'd never heard of it, and it's so cool and impractical!

Some guy sneezed on the left channel and I wanted to say "Gesundheit!" 😄

Excellent video. Your recorded demo sounded amazing with headphones. Cook made some incredible recordings for the day. it would be great if you could post a full recording.

Great video! Thank you!

That was truly amazing, it sounded like I was really there when I closed my eyes and imagined being transported back to that time long ago.

I have a couple of these Cook binaural LPs. I ripped and digitized each track separately using a Technics SL5200 and a TASCAM CD recorder. I then copied both files to my PC hard drive, and imported them as wav files into Audacity. I speed-sync'd them and output them as two track stereo. Actually simpler than finding / building / buying a binaural tonearm.

This is really something! Kinda plays with the idea of a 5.1 surround record, however we would need a special device to play it back. I do have one question about this record, does the inner track have more distortion towards the end? I would imagine the inner track losing audio quality faster than the outer. Nice vid 👍

It is interesting to note that Alan Blumlein when working at the research laboratories at EMI Hayes England in 1933 invented and patented 45/45 degree binaural recordings. Due to the depression it was not something that the makers would market at that time and with the intervention of WW2 was largely forgotten. Alan originally worked for Columbia that combined with HMV and I believe Sterling to form EMI in 1930. In the very early 1950s Decca spent a long time developing the 45/45 degree stereo recording technique just to discover in 1958 that it had been patented in 1933!. That is an amazing player and records you have there. Nothing is new! J.

I have that cartridge Columbia promoted on the booklet of the demonstration record! It was one of the first stereo cartridges in the USA. Like many early American stereo cartridges, it's a mono design sloppily adapted to the 45/45 principle. It's not even magnetic, it's a ceramic cartridge. They released various versions: the Columbia CD from the booklet, an SC-1 and an SC-2. The SC-1 had a diamond stylus, the SC-2 had a sapphire one. Strangely enough they released out-of-phase versions of the SC-1 and the SC-2, for the sake of compatibility with some amplifiers of the time. They also released a professional version, the 55 model. The difference was that it had a 0.5mil stylus and the response was a bit flatter (20-15.000 at +/-2dB, the regular versions had 30-10.000 at +/-3dB) They had mediocre specs, and in a review from November 1960 they tore their ass, including the Professional 55 model. By 1959 and 1960 their price dropped a bit. It did track at 6 grams (well, from 5 to 7 grams) but that was the maximum the standard set by the RIAA in March of 1958 allowed. I doubt stereo records could go past 15kHz then. I definitely wouldn't be comfortable using that much in our modern records that have modulation at 20kHz , some beyond if they use copy-paste mastering from a CD I haven't really had the chance to try it, since the almost non-existant compliance means I can't use it with my Technics. But apparently they had success in jukeboxes in the USA and Europe.

Interesting and informative video Kevin.

Thanks for that, absolutely fascinating 👏😀

I love this channel

Incredible!! Fantastic!

WOW! That is Amazing! What we take for granted today was leading technology back then! Imagine what will it be in another 60 to 65 years in the future and what people will be thinking about the Digital format files we use now? Great Video By the way!!

so many strange and interesting audio technologies. thanks for sharing this.

That sounds great! Definitely listen to with headphones, ya’ll.

BRAVO for Stereophonic History. Emmanuel from Paris

I had one of Cook's stereo albums. I used to tease the dog whenever I played the cat fight.

Great information loved the video

Thanks for this... enlightening !!!

Weird but very cool record. You mentioned recording then splitting up the two audio channels. I do video game audio rips of my games and when I first started ripping songs from games I had to manually sync up two channels of the track for it to come out right. Later on I found the right setting in my ripping program and that is no longer needed.

Wow!! Awesome find!

Multitrack tape recording made both the Cook binaural system and conventional stereo records possible. But the video indicates that there were multitrack record grooves back in the 1930s, before the advent of magnetic recording tape in the U.S. It should be noted that Hollywood had had multitrack recording on film long before the recording industry.

Very interesting! Thanks

I really learned something new here! I certainly knew that stereophonic sound arrived in 1958; and to in my opinion, and knowledge it was one of the top inventions, if not 10, say top 20 inventions, innovations, and technologies of the twentieth century. Therefore, although I was not around, until a few years later, I consider stereophonic sound to have changed, and advanced the playback, and psychology of listening to music, and the presentation of music. However, for me to discover that Emory Cook, who was a genius, was overlooked, invented stereo in 1952 is very surprising! Thank you for this enlightening fact, and historical development. Again, thanks for the lecture, VWestlife.