Ray Dolby (1933

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Biography

Ray Milton Dolby was an American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR, which has been said to have "transformed sound reproduction".

Timeline

The story of Ray Dolby, told in moments.

1956 Life

Helped develop the first practical videotape recorder at Ampex while still in his early twenties. The machine weighed 1,500 pounds and cost $50,000. CBS used it first.

How do you help build the first videotape recorder in your early twenties? Did CBS using it first feel like validation? Was the 1,500-pound machine beautiful or absurd to you?

1965 Event

Founded Dolby Laboratories in London. He'd spent years studying at Cambridge and working in India for the UN. He was 32 when he finally started his own company.

Why start your own company in London instead of the US? What did Cambridge and India and the UN teach you before Dolby Labs? Was 32 late or right on time?

1966 Event

Invented the Dolby noise reduction system. It stripped hiss from tape recordings. Decca Records adopted it first. Within a decade, nearly every professional studio used it.

How does stripping hiss from tape change all of music? Did Decca adopting it first feel like a breakthrough? Was noise reduction your greatest idea or just the first?

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