What does ALD mean?

Assisted Listening Device.

Disney offers a device that receives IR transmissions (I think) that are converted to sound that is played through headphones. It allows an individual to amplify the ride audio of soe attractions.

It is often used to get clean copies of attraction audio (no babies screaming in the background of that guy in the back coughing up a lung, etc.) but has some limitations.
 
kirky said:
Assisted Listening Device.

Disney offers a device that receives IR transmissions (I think) that are converted to sound that is played through headphones. It allows an individual to amplify the ride audio of soe attractions.

It is often used to get clean copies of attraction audio (no babies screaming in the background of that guy in the back coughing up a lung, etc.) but has some limitations.

Some limitations????????
 
Limitations being the frequent drop outs, unstable volume control, clicking, popping, screeching...

I\'m very dissapointed in the ALD system in general. I can\'t imagine someone having to rely on that to hear anything.
 
kirky said:
Limitations being the frequent drop outs, unstable volume control, clicking, popping, screeching...

I\'m very dissapointed in the ALD system in general. I can\'t imagine someone having to rely on that to hear anything.

I think it works very well if you are deaf.:lol:
 
Indeed, it is broadcast using infrared. If you ever see one of those devices mounted on a wall or next to a television monitor that is a black square covered by a grid of seemingly turned off little LED bulbs, those are the transmitters for ALD. The bulbs are infrared spectrum, so that\'s why it visually appears to be off. If you filmed with a camcorder using night vision, it would glow very brightly!

The same technology was used in the binaural version of Mr. Lincoln during its brief run.

The recordings are altered to support the listening needs of those with limited hearing. For example, the audio sounds very flat because the dynamic range is narrowed to make the volume consistent. Also, certain frequencies are suppressed and other emphasized to make voices stand out. Remember, deaf ears percieve audio differently than healthy ears do. ;)
 
SirLamer said:
The recordings are altered to support the listening needs of those with limited hearing. For example, the audio sounds very flat because the dynamic range is narrowed to make the volume consistent. Also, certain frequencies are suppressed and other emphasized to make voices stand out. Remember, deaf ears percieve audio differently than healthy ears do. ;)

That\'s true, but I imagine even people with limited hearing are annoyed by clicking, popping, static, and complete sound drop out. I wonder why they don\'t just broadcast it over a weak radio signal. In fact, if they used a weak FM or AM transmitter, people could tune in using their own equipment and not have to rent an ALD Device.

Maybe there would be too much bleed in signal between attractions... However, each attraction could have its own frequency within a park.
 
Radio broadcasts are a federally controlled resource of limited supply. Disney can\'t just broadcast radio signals without buying a license for each channel used, which is very expensive.

An exception is several groups of \"public domain\" frequencies, which people can use without licensing. Commercial products can use these frequencies if they are certified to meet certain anti-interference laws. Examples of these products are cordless phones and wireless internet. Most products today make use of either 900MHz or 2.4GHz frequencies (each block implies a series of 20 or so channels available around each frequency.) The problem is that these public domain frequencies, obviously, are saturated by commercial products. They are not reliable and would probably suffer worse.

Another exception is a broadcast of exceptionally low power. Disney could exploit this but not without encountering the problems addressed below.

It would be much harder to control the scope of a broadcast if it used radio broadcasting - for example, Mr. Lincoln\'s show could be heard from outside the building. Another example - in the pre-show for Mr. Lincoln, where the pre-show ALD track is also broadcast and separated by the main show only by a wall, how would the hand-held device know which broadcast the user is actually interested in? This is really the biggest problem because it\'s a quality of show matter - the device works best if its use is passive.

Finally, broadcasts throughout the park would interfere with each other. An alternative would be to broadcast using an array of frequencies, however, the listening hardware\'s technology would then be akin to that of a cell phone and would prove to be significantly more expensive, not to mention the cost of buying several broadcast channels.
 
why not use trigger sensors in the attractions, like pal mickey has ... and store the whole showmusic in some fixed storage .. 1GB is cheapo .. but could hold all the shows in a park
 
Good idea, but as with most things today they are profit and cost led, not convienience or technically led.
 
I don\'t personally see why they have ALD on Lincoln... you listen to the entire attraction on wireless headphones anyway.

Though I do understand that the ALD tracks are altered in the ways mentioned.

On that topic, what system is used to broadcast to the regular headphones in that attraction?
 
Oh sorry, you\'re probably right that Lincoln didn\'t have a separate ALD system for the binaural show, but it used to before it.

The binaual headphones used basically the same infrared broadcast technology, but probably newer for high bandwidth. Binaural demands high-fidelity audio.

Using a pre-recorded media player would not permit live broadcasting, like cast member greetings or live shows. Also, the ALD system long pre-dates the techology used in Pal Mickey.
 
Also, the ALD system long pre-dates the techology used in Pal Mickey.

quite sure that the current ald is quite old .. my suggestion was for a future version of the ald ... ;)
 
The idea of being able to buy/rent a device containing all ride/attraction audio would probably lead to somebody learning how to crack the thing...

Hmmm...

Sounds good to me!
 
dolbyman said:
Also, the ALD system long pre-dates the techology used in Pal Mickey.

quite sure that the current ald is quite old .. my suggestion was for a future version of the ald ... ;)

EPCOT has newer technology (updated within the last two or three years) than the other parks, which are scheduled to change over in time.
 
Horizons said:
dolbyman said:
Also, the ALD system long pre-dates the techology used in Pal Mickey.

quite sure that the current ald is quite old .. my suggestion was for a future version of the ald ... ;)

EPCOT has newer technology (updated within the last two or three years) than the other parks, which are scheduled to change over in time.

It\'s a newer device, but same technology it seems. It\'s a neat little device, does ALD, CC, and whatever else. Depending on how much you give them for a deposit they activate certain features.

I found the ALD devices at MK work better than the Epcot systems, but that could have been a fluke. I gave up on the ALD system at Epcot on my last trip, but I may need to reconsider. :D
 
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