Category Archives: Signal Processing

SOUND GUY XMAS! The family delivers sound guy gifts!!

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I’m so lucky to have such thoughtful family.
I know how difficult it is to shop for us sound guys.
I hope the ideas I’ve been sharing have been of inspiration to eager shoppers.

I thought I would share some of the ideas my family and friends came up with that I missed and appreciate as professional tools and inspiration to learn from!

Super bright LED flashlight.  This one is very small, takes 4 AAA batteries and I bet will last a very long time!
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Gear tie Flexible ties.  I’ve never seen these! This things are very soft and wont scratch anything.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=67776&cat=1,43326,59481
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Maped pencils.  These are awesome because they are orange and they are triangular.  Very nice to work with!

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Ike Zimble of Zimble Audio hooked me up over the holidays with a product he really enjoys.
Rawn America’s Tefrawn, I’m very excited to try it out!  Truly a Sound Guy Gift!! 
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I’m very protective of my hearing (and the family knows this).
I’m going on a trip this week and there will be swimming in the ocean.  Aqua Ears!

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Make it stick – the science of successful Learning,  a very very good read.  I got 1/2 way through and gave it to a teacher that needed it more than I did. 
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Flex X-RAP Finger protection.  I’ve never seen anything like this stuff.  If you’re making a bunch of cables and want to move faster this is the ticket! http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=64762&cat=1,42207,64762

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A KAZOO!!!!  Because I’m easily entertained.

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Happy holidays to everyone!  You’re all an inspiration to me and mine!  Keep the feedback coming!

IMAX- The Next generation of IMAX sound – 12 Channel configuration – and LASER projectors, about time

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Imax – The Next generation of IMAX sound –  12 Channel configuration – and LASER projectors, about time!!

Had a fantastic experience with the new IMAX sound system at the AES meeting held at Technicolor.

The “Upper Quad” ceiling speakers really bring it together.IMG_8687

VBAP is going to need some work… and a HUI

I walked away asking: “If it were truly immersive, there would never be idle speakers”  Cory said: “Backgrounds are the first thing to go…” I think those will become crucial.

I also walked away wanting a dozen U87s…

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Of course you could hear the birds chirping and running away WHILE the rocket was launching…
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sound guy Xmas idea: APx515 2-Channel Audio Analyzer

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This would be a dream for the test bench.  Simple, robust effective analysis tools!   I would be happy with an old system one… but this would be on the shelf in a heartbeat. 

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The APx515 is a high performance audio analyzer optimized for production test. APx515 has a typical THD+N of –106 dB, a one million point FFT with 24-bit resolution, and 192K digital I/O. It is a best-in-class instrument for its combination of speed, performance, automation, and ease-of-use.

APx515 is a significant product because it delivers the performance and reliability of Audio Precision at a production-level price.

APx is the fastest audio analyzer in the world, returning 21 audio measurements in as fast as 1.2 seconds. It is also the easiest to use, with one-click measurements, custom reporting and sophisticated automation without any programming. A full API and LabVIEW driver is also provided.

This speed and ease-of-use means test will never be a bottleneck, and production line managers can achieve reliable, consistent results compared to the current low-cost alternatives like a distortion analyzer.

For companies outsourcing their production, requiring APx515 on the production line gives tighter control over production, ensuring manufacturers are meeting their contractual requirements.

sound guy xmas!!! Day 1 – Syscomp Curve Tracer

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Xmas is around the corner.  Sound guys and gals are the hardest people in the world to shop for… I will be posting a stream of gift ideas!

Day 1:  The Syscomp CTR-101 Curve tracer:

Key Features
-Plots device characteristics for diodes, transistors, MOSFETs, JFETs, and more!
-Up to 30V test voltage at 1A test current
-True voltage and current source drive ampliers
-High resolution measurements
-Pulsed test mode to minimize device dissipation
-Auto-scaling real-time plotting during analysis
-Sample-by-sample power and current limiting
-Open-source software
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My first microphone pre-amp design

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Doing a school project is the PERFECT excuse to design build a test my first ground up original Microphone pre-amp!

I learned these buzzwords from the Kimber cable guy:

The imaging is fantastic, totally forward sounding with edge AND detail on the soundstage.  Though precise, there isn’t that analytical flavour tainting the dry sound in the copper typically found in other microphone pre-amps.  Micro-clipping isn’t an issue anymore!  By a factor of at leased 10, the noise floor is lower than you’d ever expect.  With an un-constrained matrix, painting the sound stage will be a pleasure.  Tipping the value curve, the proportions are just right.

But honestly… I’ve not heard it yet, or kimber cable for that matter.

Seriously though…  it’s a transformer coupled double balanced class A instrumentation pre-amp using only the best.  Actual results to follow!

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JL Sub-Woofer

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Took a look inside a JL subwoofer… quite the coil and suspension system.  http://www.jlaudio.ca/home-audio-powered-subwoofers-fathom

JL audio dominates the Car stereo market in terms of driver quality.  The salesman said the best line “We learned a lot from our 12 Volt line of products in designing this home theatre sub”  so from now on, Car audio will be forever “the 12 volt industry”


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Dual Spiders to support the super high excursion of the woofer…  simply incredible designIMG_7964

Super cool Philips console

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$_57 $_57-7 $_57-6 $_57-5 $_57-4 $_57-3 $_57-2 $_57-1
From the sale:

 

Up for sale is a rare 1970’s Philips LDC25 console. The console features 24 transformer balanced mic/line inputs, great sounding 3 band EQ, 2 aux sends per channel and 4 transformer balanced output busses. 16 of the input channels are early discrete LDC modules and the last 8 feature later 1970’s IC based modules – both sets of modules sound, for all intents and purposes, identical. The sound of this desk is punchy, clean and very hi-fi sounding – easily on par with anything built by Neve/Api/Studer from the same era. These were built by Philips in Holland for recording mostly classical music, but were built to a very high standard and also sound fantastic on modern tracks which require a very forward sounding mix with a very low noise floor. I bought this to use as the main console in our studio due to the high build quality, high track count, compact size, multiple sends and versatile output options – but I need to raise money for the completion of our house restoration which takes priority to the studio build out. All the manuals and module documentation are included. The console will be fully gone through by a qualified technician prior to shipping and/or pickup. All input/output wiring is terminated to panel mounted XLR connectors, so all you need to do is connect the console to your DAW/tape machine and you are ready to record – no wiring necessary.
The console is located two hours west of Chicago in IL. I’m happy to assist with freight shipping, but please understand due to the fragile nature of vintage electronics any risk associated with shipping is going to be your responsibility. Local pickup is welcome. Payment by check or wire transfer only for this listing. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I hope this console finds a good home!