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2ndRick
05-05-2011, 01:48 PM
Tom Holman joins Apple?

Well, Steve Jobs DID say that he wanted to improve sound quality from music played on iTunes.

I hope that TH & Apple will convince the studios to release 24-bit files from the high bitrate or analog masters.

I somehow have a feeling that we will see 'features' like the volume extension and other Audyssey technologies piped into iPhones before his genius is used to make iTunes playback better.


http://gigaom.com/apple/apple-said-to-have-hired-the-audio-genius-behind-thx/


Apple Said to Have Hired the Audio Genius Behind THX
By Darrell Etherington May. 4, 2011

Apple has reportedly hired Tomlinson Holman as its new audio chief, according to a tweet by Leo Laporte Wednesday morning. Laporte said he had it “on good authority” that Holman “is joining Apple to run audio.” Holman is the brain behind Lucasfilm’s THX sound, and the world’s first 10.2 surround sound system. Apple had yet to respond to a request for confirmation as of this writing.

Holman is currently a film sound professor at the University of Southern California, and he has received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement. He spent 15 years as the corporate technical director for Lucasfilm, and all of the company’s THX patents stem from his work and research. Holman also has experience designing loudspeakers and amplifiers in addition to his work in the film industry. His experience covers all aspects of audio, according to Holman himself in a 1996 interview. He says that his ability to avoid narrow specialization is what got him his earliest jobs.

If Apple has indeed brought Holman on board, it could signify big things in store for Mac, iOS and even iTunes audio. Apple already builds optical audio out into all new Macs, via the headphone port (it works with optical TOSLINK cables using an adapter), which can provide true surround sound from your computer to your home theatre system, but it could stand to improve the quality of its built-in Mac and iOS device speakers and headphones. There have also been rumors that Apple may be looking to improve the sound quality of iTunes audio files, which is definitely something Holman could assist with.

Isn’t it time we got good (not just okay or passable) sound from our computers and iOS devices? Admittedly, we’ve come a long way since the days of the first speakerphone, but considering the advancements in display and video quality (a game Apple’s already winning with its Retina Display), I think it’s about time we saw similar investments made in sound quality, too.

Noble Fidelity
06-16-2011, 10:19 PM
Interesting News Rick.

In my introduction of Noble Fidelity and the listing of product lines we sold I failed to mention APT/Holman. We were a charter Dealer for the APT/Holman Pre-Amp.

I have a "souped" Advent 300 which Tomlinson Holman was complicit with Henry Kloss in designing. I travel with it in a computer bag and use it to demo Noble Fidelity loudspeakers.

Tom Holman is very talented.

Noble Fidelity
06-16-2011, 10:33 PM
If you want pics of the road-worthy Advent 300 I travel with, I'll see about it. Furthermore, the Gentlemen that helped design the Noble Fidelity Logo still has and uses the Apt/Holman Preamp he bought from Circle Stereo in the '70's. I can likely muster a photo of it as well.

The Apt/Holman Preamp at introduction was positioned to be the NEXT GREAT Preamp after the Marantz 7 which graced HiFi a decade earlier...

Those were the days.

2ndRick
06-16-2011, 11:01 PM
We had an APT/Holman preamp on the used equipment shelf at Absolute Audio at some point during the mid/late 90s.

I think we would up with it in a huge swap where we horse traded our demo Ampro 9" CRT projector to another dealer for a PILE of used equipment.

I remember that it had all kinds of weird push button settings, and looked like some sort of castoff from the Russian space program. :)

Noble Fidelity
06-16-2011, 11:20 PM
Hi Rick,

Actually it had a fairly straight forward front panel and switch/control compliment as I recall.

No Preamp has yet to approach the romance, design, execution, build quality and performance of the Marantz 7.

None.

The original Marantz tube gear is lore, this is not what we make and sell today.

We can however purvey product pursuant to the greatness, texture and method that our predecessors excelled at.

Such is our mark.

2ndRick
06-16-2011, 11:37 PM
Hi Rick,

Actually it had a fairly straight forward front panel and switch/control compliment as I recall.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ixlgvVaL2Bo/TfrXSHciXEI/AAAAAAAAEtI/thWdU1ErvOA/s640/619.jpg

Sorry Greg, there are a lot of gizmo circuits on this unit. Does anyone really need that many switches to choose stereo vs mono?

Stereo is straightforward, and L+R sounds like traditional mono... So what it L-R?
The toggles for L<R and L>R do not make any sense to me whatsoever.

Also, an effects loop? I had one on a Mesa Boogie guitar preamp I owned. :)

The buttons I was referring to in the above post are the mute control and the tape loop controls. The buttons pop in and out, and there is a different color that is visible through the little clear button cover when the circuit is engaged.

The8thst
06-17-2011, 11:32 AM
It doesn't look any more complicated than the Carver C1 running my 2-channel setup in the basement.

(not my pic or my basement)
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/137b4a4bb2.jpg

Greg_C
06-17-2011, 12:02 PM
Hey, I had one of those! Think I still have the C-9 Holographic processor somewhere as well, on top of a DBX-224 noise reduction processor.

mr2channel
06-17-2011, 12:50 PM
Well, Steve Jobs DID say that he wanted to improve sound quality from music played on iTunes.

The above quote can only be requoted from the movie Supertroopers....

Captain O'Hagan: I'll believe that when me $h1t turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.

Fastfred
06-22-2011, 04:02 PM
Interesting News Rick.

In my introduction of Noble Fidelity and the listing of product lines we sold I failed to mention APT/Holman. We were a charter Dealer for the APT/Holman Pre-Amp.

I have a "souped" Advent 300 which Tomlinson Holman was complicit with Henry Kloss in designing. I travel with it in a computer bag and use it to demo Noble Fidelity loudspeakers.

Tom Holman is very talented.


I used my Advent 300 with a Citation amp as a great phono system....
Sigh.

Noble Fidelity
06-22-2011, 04:22 PM
Hi Fred,

Many people did that back in the day didn't they?