BSG Technologies QOL "Signal Completion Stage"

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Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson

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#1
The Absolute Sound, Feb 2012, ran a review of this equipment and an interview with its designer, both pieces written by Robert Harley. The key paragraphs IMHO of Harley's review are on page 92

Sitting in my listening chair, I could switch QOL on and off via the remote control. And switch I did, hundreds and hundreds of times, with CD sources, music servers, SACD, and LP playback. I switched between the ""Bypass" mode and QOL so many times not because the change was subtle and hard to detect, but because it was so profound. Frankly, I had a hard time believing that the radical improvement in the sound was real, and more importantly, represented a step toward the experience of hearing live music rather than just a lateral (if appealing) change in the signal. It also occurred to me that QOL might simply be introducing a euphonic distortion. Whatever the case, there was no question that music listening was more enjoyable with QOL.

Pushing the remote control's Bypass button to engage QOL rendered a significant change in the sound in several different areas. The single best description of QOL is that it caused the sound to "open up," both spatially and in timbre. Instrumental and vocal timbres became brighter, but not in the sense of a frequency-response change (the tonal balance was unaffected), but in the impression of the timbres becoming "illuminated from within." QOL seemed to strip away a layer of opacity, allowing the instrument's tone colors to become more vivid and alive.
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The final paragraph of the review says
Only a few people so far have heard the Signal Completion Stage in their own systems, but I've had conversations and e-mail exchanges with one of them, a 40-year industry veteran, whose reaction was identical to mine right down the line, from the initial skepticism, to our specific listening impressions, to the desire to keep the Signal Completion Stage in our respective systems. I'm still trying to come to grips with QOL, and am not entirely convinced by the technical explanation or that it represents greater fidelity to the source, but I can tell you this; every time I sit down to enjoy music now, I'm listening with QOL.
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Good news: BSG Technologies has applied for two US Patents on the technology, and both applications are available for download on the USPTO website (at $3.00 each). I decided my curiosity exceeded the six dollar threshold and I downloaded them both. They describe two implementations of the QOL technology. The simpler one is found in US2011/0158413 A1, Figure 5 and Figure 6. Will I save you the trouble and expense of downloading these yourself, and put the .pdf files here on this website? No I won't - I'm skeered of gubmunt copyright attorneys.

To my shock and surprise, the simpler version of QOL is nothing less, and nothing more, than pair of equations. These can be implemented with simple opamp-and-resistor circuitry:
  • Left_Out = (1.618 x Left_In) - (0.618 x Right_In)
  • Right_Out = (1.618 x Right_In) - (0.618 x Left_In)
Honest! I promise, when you work through the math in the patent application, that's what it says. Perhaps you recognize the constant 1.618? Yes, collect your prize if you said "The Golden Ratio" (worshiped by architects since ancient Greece). The Golden Ratio = Phi = (sqrt(5) + 1)/2 = 1.618033989....

Maybe, just maybe, it really does produce all the wonderful sonic goodness that Robert Harley describes. But I have my doubts whether the USPTO can issue a patent for it; there is a fair amount of prior art!
 
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#3
So in its simplest form it is just a stereo field widener, as used on some cheap small 'stereo' radios for years? I am surprised that such triviality can be patented, even in America.

The 'correct' amount of widening would depend on speakers, room, and the microphone techniques used for the recording. Fixing it at the golden ratio is probably just meant to impress the gullible.
 
#4
Patent downloads are free, and the documents are public domain. So no need to be "skeered." These are applications, not granted patents, so IF anything is granted, it may look quite a bit different than the application! The only "novelty" to the claims is that the crossfeed ratio equals the "golden ratio," within 10%, marking this as total nonsense. It's not even novel, since most crossfeed circuits were continuously adjustable, with one knob setting equaling 1.618...

I'm tempted to risk the wrath of Ed Simon by slagging yet another reviewer who doesn't bother doing even the slightest due diligence. If you're intrigued by this old-fashioned effects box, it could be assembled for a few dollars by even a novice. There's a ridiculous amount of prior art, so not much worry that you'll get sued.😀

I would have attached the application for general amusement, but it was slightly too large. It can be downloaded here:
Patent US20110158413 - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR A COMPLETE AUDIO SIGNAL - Google Patents

PDF download button on upper right.
 
#5
Agreed. It appears to be a somewhat more complicated than usual inter-aural crosstalk cancellation circuit. IACC circuits have been around at least since the late 70's. Some old commercial examples include Carver's 'Sonic Holography' preamp based circuit, and Polk's 'SDA' loudspeaker based passive implementation.

While I certainly haven't worked my way through the QOL circuit operation details, I suspect that the delayed mixing of signals it employs will result in comb filtering effects. Whatever percieved benefits it may deliver, it is greatly altering the channel signals. While the proof of the pudding is in the the tast..., er, listening, this does appear to be a variation on a long established technique now generally regarded as a gimmick. Commercially, particularly with its $4,000 price, I would think it will run afoul of the 'signal purity' ethos of the high-end.
 
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#6
SY said:
Patent downloads are free, and the documents are public domain. I would have attached the application for general amusement, but it was slightly too large. It can be downloaded here (moved below -MJ) PDF download button on upper right.
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Thanks for demonstrating how to save 2 x $3.00 by using Google! For reference, here are links to both of BSG's patent applications, with free downloads. The simpler implementation is listed first; the more complex implementation (incompletely described IMHO, therefore ineligible for a patent as written) is the second

Patent Application US20110158413 - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR A COMPLETE AUDIO SIGNAL - Google Patents

Patent Application US20110064230 - PHASE LAYERING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR A COMPLETE AUDIO SIGNAL - Google Patents

The interview with BSG Technologies' founder, Barry Stephen Goldfarb, in The Absolute Sound, is quite a rollicking tale. He comes right out and says, I'm a musician not an engineer, I "designed" this by tinkering around. The idea came to me one day long ago when I was assembling a many-drivers loudspeaker, and accidentally wired one of the drivers backwards (out of phase). But the "wrong" arrangement sounded better! Eureka.
 
#7
Actually, you can download for free at USPTO (it takes a plugin to get it in pdf), but for whatever reason, their website was screwed up this morning so I could access it. You can also read the file wrappers, which can be quite entertaining. Use www.pat2pdf.org for the plugin.

Why am I not surprised at the back story? 😀
 
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