RCA Victor "Hi-Fi" Records.

[mrvic2]

I've heard that RCA Victor released some records around 1931 that had much higher fidelity, and aren't good to play on acoustic machines. From what it seems like, these are just pressed on standard scroll labels, so is there a way to tell between these and a regular record of the time?

[gramophone-georg]

I've heard that RCA Victor released some records around 1931 that had much higher fidelity, and aren't good to play on acoustic machines. From what it seems like, these are just pressed on standard scroll labels, so is there a way to tell between these and a regular record of the time?

There were two types in two different releases as far as I am aware.
The first were the 1932-33 ones that were recorded by a different electrical process denoted by the "VE" being enclosed in a diamond rather than an oval. They are recorded quite loud with enhanced midbass to show off Electrola pickups I think. I have a couple Waring records that are unlistenable due to this ("Old Yazoo" comes to mind) but the rest play on Orthophonic machines just fine.

The second was a special label series released by Victor in the 1935-7 series with buff labels as "Higher Fidelity Demonstration Records". I'm not sure what exactly made these "Higher Fidelity" as they had the same catalog numbers as the regular issues stamped in the runoff, if I recall. Maybe they used "Z" shellac for a quieter surface. Who knows.



The "VE" in a diamond continued to be present through most of the 1930s I think, but after about 1933 they must have toned the input down to make them more acceptable on older machines as new ones were not selling due to the Depression.

Mike Sherman no doubt has more/ more accurate info on this.