QSE-1 QS encoder find

[gonzothegreat]

The day started off with my desktop PC's 250gig hard drive (nearly full with recordings of video/audio and other stuff) dying. Fortunately the day improved significantly when I found this little gem at a flea market. Too bad it didn't come with a manual. No idea where it originally came from. The previous owner is on the dark side of the grass so he's not telling. The guy didn't have any other audio gear for sale but I can't help thinking he had more stuff at some time.

Over at the quadraphonic message board there were a few postings that mentioned this unit in passing but little else. From the looks of it, they didn't give much thought to cosmetics as the rack mount chassis looks about as generic as could be.

Now if I could just recover the data off my dead hard drive...

 

[bluesky]

Nice. Never seen one quite like that before. You may really have something there. Just never seen that style. Looks like professional equipment, like it belongs in a radio station or something.

 

[QuadBob]

Sansui QSE-1

Congrats Gonzo!

First the good news.........yep its a rare, cool, quadraphonic item. And, bluesky is correct.......these were sold to Radio Stations and studios (note the balanced jacks).....for ENCODING 4 channels of music (ie; quad) into "QS" for broadcast in the case of radio stations, or to prep a QS master for lps.

Now the bad news..........pretty much useless today unless you need a doorstop. There just isn't any reason to "encode" to QS. Today we "encode" to Dolby Digital or DTS for 5.1 use. So, there isn't any need or use for a straight QS encoder.

The QSE-1 was the original Sansui QS encoder. The last one they made was the QSE-5, and I have seen a QSE-4 before. A QSE-5 was recently on Ebay.........no takers (but the seller did want a pretty outrageous opening bid).

Still.......a great find!:thmbsp: It would look great in a Sansui quad museum!! Just too bad that it really doesn't have a purpose anymore.....:tears:

QB

 

[LBPete]

It does look like some sort of professional recording equipment. Those look like mike inputs on the back. The Serial number is a little hard to read but it looks like it was built in October of '71. That would put it at the dawn of the Sansui quad era. A cool find for sure. Drop Quadbob a line. He'll know what it is.

- Pete

 

[LBPete]

Bob, there you are. You snuck in while I was writing my post.

- Pete

 

[CUlater]

How does he do that? Not a post for months, then a quad thread starts and BOOM, there QuadBob is... Thank goodness for small favors!

 

[Aage]

toadly awesome find, dude!

Congrats Gonzo!

First the good news.........yep its a rare, cool, quadraphonic item. And, bluesky is correct.......these were sold to Radio Stations and studios (note the balanced jacks).....for ENCODING 4 channels of music (ie; quad) into "QS" for broadcast in the case of radio stations, or to prep a QS master for lps.

Funny, despite the XLR jacks I'm not able to see this in a radio station, but a recording studio, or post-production house, for sure! The good part back then was that for the record pressing plant, they didn't have to do anything different!

Now the bad news..........pretty much useless today unless you need a doorstop. There just isn't any reason to "encode" to QS. Today we "encode" to Dolby Digital or DTS for 5.1 use. So, there isn't any need or use for a straight QS encoder.

Yeah, I don't suppose many people want to come out of the studio with a master under their arm to press QS vinyl (but it sure Would Be Cool if they did!)

The QSE-1 was the original Sansui QS encoder. The last one they made was the QSE-5, and I have seen a QSE-4 before. A QSE-5 was recently on Ebay.........no takers (but the seller did want a pretty outrageous opening bid).

Still.......a great find!:thmbsp: It would look great in a Sansui quad museum!! Just too bad that it really doesn't have a purpose anymore.....:tears:

QB

Interesting data on the models, Bob, thank.

And yes, this is a piece to keep, part of the QS heritage.

 

[QuadBob]

Funny, despite the XLR jacks I'm not able to see this in a radio station, but a recording studio, or post-production house, for sure! The good part back then was that for the record pressing plant, they didn't have to do anything different!

Well, they certainly didn't make many of them. But, the market was initially targeted towards FM broadcasters.....Sansui actually had around 30 stations across the country broadcasting in QS (at least some shows) at one time.

Columbia's SQ format had around 70 broadcasters at its peak.

Shows that were already encoded to QS didn't need this unit for broadcast. These only had a limited application.......to take "discrete" four channel recordings (like Quadraphonic Reels) and encode them for broadcast as QS encoded.

At home, you would simply tune the FM station, set your decoder to QS........and Voila! Your receiver decoded the signals back into four channels.

Yeah, I don't suppose many people want to come out of the studio with a master under their arm to press QS vinyl (but it sure Would Be Cool if they did!)

There are still a few of us left that would be chomping at the bit for it!!

A few years ago I did a gig as a technical consultant for Universal Music........they were digging in their vaults for material to release on SACD and DVDA.......and what did they find?

Yep, QS encoded master tapes!!! I took my Sansui QSD-1000 (the ultimate QS decoder) up to Malibu and we "decoded" the master tapes through it and into their Nuendo multichannel workstation. A very cool experience........but unfortunately, I know the stuff I worked with them on ended up never getting released. They were still missing some masters.....so they couldn't complete the album. A real shame!!:tears:

QB

 

[Stene]

Congrats Gonzo!

First the good news.........yep its a rare, cool, quadraphonic item. And, bluesky is correct.......these were sold to Radio Stations and studios (note the balanced jacks).....for ENCODING 4 channels of music (ie; quad) into "QS" for broadcast in the case of radio stations, or to prep a QS master for lps.


The QSE-1 was the original Sansui QS encoder. QB

In the beginning of 70' we produced a QS 4-channel record in a studio ( 7 ) at Swedish Broadcasting. "Walk on the Wild Side" Jockey Records JSLP2002. You can see the QSE-1 as well as myself at the right. A little bit younger than today

 

[gonzothegreat]

The full serial is 101101512. How many were made? I thought a few thousand at most - possibly under a thousand. This one was definitely made for the US market as the side of the case has a Sansui style 117 volt sticker.

It isn't *quite* totally useless since it also has a QS decoder (for monitoring). Most people don't need a QS decoder but I suspect it would be a step or two above the early consumer decoders of the time. Not sure on the last part as I haven't had time to take nudies. Any guesses as to what's inside?

Wouldn't it be cool if somebody had a 4 channel master tape (how about the 24 bit 4ch master of Floyd's DSOTM that's floating around?) and pressed it on nice vinyl? Borderline pointless but cool nonetheless.

As for where it came from, my bet is on a radio station in the Milwaukee, WI area. The flea market was the annual hamfest in Cedarburg and the seller was clearing out the estate of a ham radio operator. The other test gear was all RF stuff.

If somebody wants the hires pics for a website, PM me and I'll try and get them sent midweek.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[QuadBob]

The full serial is 101101512. How many were made? I thought a few thousand at most - possibly under a thousand. This one was definitely made for the US market as the side of the case has a Sansui style 117 volt sticker.

The serial number follows the Sansui standard; so yours was made on assembly line 10 in October of '71. Number 1512. As we know they mixed equipment on the assembly lines, you're probably right about the quantity.....

It isn't *quite* totally useless since it also has a QS decoder (for monitoring). Most people don't need a QS decoder but I suspect it would be a step or two above the early consumer decoders of the time. Not sure on the last part as I haven't had time to take nudies. Any guesses as to what's inside?

It would only have the basic QS decoder as originally designed based upon its production date of Oct '71. The QS encoding algorythm never changed.......so the QSE-1/QSE-4/QSE-5 all were pretty equal "encoding" wise. Minor difference in circuits, bells and whistles were the only changes.

The "decoders" did change drastically.....but was stable with the basic QS decoder circuit from '71 until '74 when they introduced Vario-matrix in the QRX-7001, and outboard decoders QSD-1, QSD-2, and studio decoder QSD-4 (usually paired with the QSE-4). They may have used higher quality components though in the QSE-1.....might know more once I see the pics.

Wouldn't it be cool if somebody had a 4 channel master tape (how about the 24 bit 4ch master of Floyd's DSOTM that's floating around?) and pressed it on nice vinyl? Borderline pointless but cool nonetheless.

Yep........we already have it on 96/24 DVD-Audio!:yes: As for QS encoded.........the Japanese pressed Quad lp of DSOTM is QS encoded and what we use for demo'ing the fantastic outboard QS decoders!:thmbsp:

If somebody wants the hires pics for a website, PM me and I'll try and get them sent midweek.

Thanks for all the info!

PM sent................

QB

 

[LBPete]

Gonzo, be sure to post the serial number to the Sansui Database at the top of the page. I just took a quick look and this model is not currently listed. That means you have the only one on record.

- Pete

 

[gonzothegreat]

Thanks for the pointer Pete. I have done as you asked.

I need to dig up a bunch of XLR connectors so I can see if it works or not. I looked at the countless electrolytics when I had it open and none of them were bulging so that's a good sign.

Just as a followup to the Western Digital 250 gig hard drive that went tits-up the day I found the QSE-1, I checked a few data recovery outfits and everyone quoted a price of over $1000! Yikes! I put the project on the wish list if I hit the lottery until this evening. I didn't win the powerball but I did manage to get my drive running again!

I examined the drive controller pcb and noticed the pcb pads had moderate oxidation (probably from heat). On the underside of the pcb there is a small connector that used spring-loaded contacts to connect to the drives read/write heads. I cleaned both the pads and the fingers and buttoned everything up for a quick test. IT WORKED!!!

 

[Greyhawk17]

It LIVES.......

Thanks for the pointer Pete. I have done as you asked.

I need to dig up a bunch of XLR connectors so I can see if it works or not. I looked at the countless electrolytics when I had it open and none of them were bulging so that's a good sign.

Just as a followup to the Western Digital 250 gig hard drive that went tits-up the day I found the QSE-1, I checked a few data recovery outfits and everyone quoted a price of over $1000! Yikes! I put the project on the wish list if I hit the lottery until this evening. I didn't win the powerball but I did manage to get my drive running again!

I examined the drive controller pcb and noticed the pcb pads had moderate oxidation (probably from heat). On the underside of the pcb there is a small connector that used spring-loaded contacts to connect to the drives read/write heads. I cleaned both the pads and the fingers and buttoned everything up for a quick test. IT WORKED!!!

GONZO, Good for you! A+ for the day......Cheers, T:thmbsp:

 

[gonzothegreat]

I had tried to power it up previously but the only sign of life was the red test lamp. Wasn't sure if this was normal so I put it back on the shelf until I could dig up some balanced cables.

Good/bad news...

The good news is it looks like the main problem is a power supply issue.

The bad news is a 1/2w resistor got cooked and I'm going to either have to find a schematic or guess from the charred remains of the aforementioned BBQed device. It is next to a pair of TO3 regulator transistors w/o heatsinks & large electrolytic filter caps so its almost certainly part of a bipolar power supply. I can't see another 1/2w resistor in the circuit that looks similar. Of course there is the issue of what caused the resistor to flame out. Time to pull all the cards and give them the once-over.

 

[studiomustek]

I had tried to power it up previously but the only sign of life was the red test lamp. Wasn't sure if this was normal so I put it back on the shelf until I could dig up some balanced cables.

Good/bad news...

The good news is it looks like the main problem is a power supply issue.

The bad news is a 1/2w resistor got cooked and I'm going to either have to find a schematic or guess from the charred remains of the aforementioned BBQed device. It is next to a pair of TO3 regulator transistors w/o heatsinks & large electrolytic filter caps so its almost certainly part of a bipolar power supply. I can't see another 1/2w resistor in the circuit that looks similar. Of course there is the issue of what caused the resistor to flame out. Time to pull all the cards and give them the once-over.

Hi Gonzo, I saw only yesterday, when looking on google for the "sansui qse 1" , that you bought it two years ago - did you restored it succesfully? Do you still use it?

 

[bluesky]

Glad to see this thread goin again!! :>)