Some do some don't. Spotty McTeen in his bedroom is no Brian Eno. I suppose next you'll be saying Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram weren't musicians?
What don't you get about that? Steve Jobs decided that the Apple hardware would be a closed platform open to only carefully vetted partners. We had a lab full of Apple II's with wide buses coming out to custom test hardware, this all ended.
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The myth that the Silicon Valley pioneers could see the future is much over-rated. It's more like the first land animals crawling up out of the ocean and finding a new unexplored world.
All good fortune,
Chris
All good fortune,
Chris
Apple II, fond memories, made some extension cards with stuff hanging on them at the time. Most transparent piece of gear ever, direct access to machine code.
I remember a guy in (my very small) town owned a hard drive (and a bank), 5MB = $5K, yikes!, for his Apple II, and had its maximum of 64K RAM. Actually, it ran what it ran pretty fast.
Programming in Basic was possible for regular goobers like me, too. Could've been worse.
All good fortune,
Chris
Programming in Basic was possible for regular goobers like me, too. Could've been worse.
All good fortune,
Chris
I started out with the Apple II in the late '70's as well. A fellow circuit designer from HP gave me a modified program that computed AC responses, mostly from filters. I used it then to optimize head bump cancellation filters for my first Mobile Fidelity 30 ips recorder. A breakthrough at the time. Still the Apple II, of course was extremely limited, so I went for the first MAC's when they appeared in about 1985, and used it, with add on's till 1991, when a fire destroyed it. I found SPICE with it almost useless. In fact, I never found SPICE really useful, until I got a PC and could download LT Spice. This program is interesting, even today, but not really necessary for my work, I have come to find out. IF I had a more thorough training on SPICE, perhaps it would be more useful, like some of you find, but I don't really need it.
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SPICE, and computer modelling in general, is doubtlessly needed in industry where big bux have to be committed to even make a mold to make something else, in order to make another level something else. But for DIY audio, I have to wonder.
Kinda like practicing before a cricket match, it's not quite cheating, but it spoils the fun.
Arf! All good fortune,
Chris
Kinda like practicing before a cricket match, it's not quite cheating, but it spoils the fun.
Arf! All good fortune,
Chris
John, this is pity not to find SPICE useful. You can try many different circuitry before to start soldering. I never designed any amp(just built someone else designs) before I found LTspice and started to use it.
Best wishes, Damir
Hey Chris, if you or anyone else is interested, Anywhere Software just made several of their packages free and open source. These are some powerful Basic language tools for lots of different platforms.
With my second MAC (about 1992) I was able to acquire MicroCap that I used for many years, but then my MAC broke down, I changed models and my MicroCap program was not useful anymore.
I worked with computer aided design before SPICE was even invented. In 1966, I was in charge of circuit evaluations made with ECAP (a program from IBM) and I punched the cards, and ran the program as well on an IBM 1620 computer. It was powerful for its time, BUT I found flaws in the results. You just could not trust it completely. A slide rule would sometimes give more accurate results.
In 1971, I audited an upper division class at UC Berkeley with Dr. Donald Pederson, 'the father of SPICE'. It was primitive then, gave poor results to MY questions, and I gave it up, returning to my trusty slide rule, until I got my first HP35, that did just about everything I needed for me for some years, at least till 1979 or so when I acquired the Apple II. And so it goes. Perhaps, I know more than many of you suspected about SPICE, and I still don't find it very useful.
I worked with computer aided design before SPICE was even invented. In 1966, I was in charge of circuit evaluations made with ECAP (a program from IBM) and I punched the cards, and ran the program as well on an IBM 1620 computer. It was powerful for its time, BUT I found flaws in the results. You just could not trust it completely. A slide rule would sometimes give more accurate results.
In 1971, I audited an upper division class at UC Berkeley with Dr. Donald Pederson, 'the father of SPICE'. It was primitive then, gave poor results to MY questions, and I gave it up, returning to my trusty slide rule, until I got my first HP35, that did just about everything I needed for me for some years, at least till 1979 or so when I acquired the Apple II. And so it goes. Perhaps, I know more than many of you suspected about SPICE, and I still don't find it very useful.
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I don't doubt all this, but it's pity you stopped to use SPICE (not reliable enough??) in 21st Century. You know that analog integrated circuit design is not possible without SPICE now. Most problems with any SPICE program is not the program per se but reliable models.
Best wishes, Damir
Same here, vim for text editing, mc for file handling, tiling window manager (i3).
Linux used except when using browser as reading here then qubes.
/örjan
Dependence on SPICE does not necessarily make a better designer. Just a designer using different tools. I have found that audio quality in electronics takes more than what can be represented by a computer. Parts quality, layout, for example, as well as an ideal topology. Simulations are not the real thing.
Now, this means that some of you might, in fact, be able to use SPICE to make a better product. If you do, and the quality of your design is recognized by a number of serious listeners, (not necessarily engineers) then I will be glad to congratulate you.
Now, this means that some of you might, in fact, be able to use SPICE to make a better product. If you do, and the quality of your design is recognized by a number of serious listeners, (not necessarily engineers) then I will be glad to congratulate you.
It's not about me, I'm just an audio amater, but you with your long and successful professional audio work, with large experience about electronic components (in SPICE is possible define many component parameters) could use SPICE to your advantage. Don't be old fashioned, I am probably older than you, but trying to stay young in soul and technic.
BR Damir
It’s the other way round.
The real design starts after Spice has done the initial phase which is to getting some feeling for the possibilities.
Spice does not design anything for you.
Compare it to a painter who first makes a number of sketches before starting with the real thing.
Extremely helpful to prevent potential pitfalls.
Hans
computer nostalgia? I started with the Commodore 64. Then 128, PC, PC XT. PC AT. 286, 386, 486 and on and on into PDP 8,10, RT-11 etc. Doing machine language programs -- you know stuffing 1's and 0's into registers and loading them line by line to boot the damn thing up. But never wanted a MAC. ECAP and so many SPICE programs I cant remember them all.... and Basic, PASCAL then C. I have ended up with MicroCap for CAD/SIM. I only used the CAD seriously once for a new idea and got a patent on that circuitry. 25 years later it is still being made and sold. After the circuit was in production, I decided I better measure it and see how good it really is... It measured exactly same as CAD/MicroCap predicted.
But now, I dont do IC's nor VLS IC work so i can breadboard a basic circuit idea or design that I have as fast as I can draw it in Microcap. Then measure it and know. Done. I learn as much, maybe more, with real world parasitics effects and real device characteristics, et al at same time. As long as the parts count isnt too high. Thats just for circuit sections maybe. A whole circuit is then done on PCB and tested.
THx-RNMarsh
But now, I dont do IC's nor VLS IC work so i can breadboard a basic circuit idea or design that I have as fast as I can draw it in Microcap. Then measure it and know. Done. I learn as much, maybe more, with real world parasitics effects and real device characteristics, et al at same time. As long as the parts count isnt too high. Thats just for circuit sections maybe. A whole circuit is then done on PCB and tested.
THx-RNMarsh
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I think my first was nat semi's sc/mp board, or the altair 8800... Both were about the same time!
The oldest one I still have is an Osborne 1 Portable PC... Osborne 1 - Wikipedia
It still works...
The oldest one I still have is an Osborne 1 Portable PC... Osborne 1 - Wikipedia
It still works...
wow that is Really old. 8008 or 8080?
That makes you officially an old Geezer like me. 🙂
But thru all those machines I came to hate them. The constant changes and issues that comes with PC's and every plug-in card hardware/software upgrade as well. So, now it has to work without me doing anything much to it and stay that way.
-RNM
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My first was a Holborn Computer (for made in Holland) that I designed based on the z80.
IBM PC wasn’t yet there.
I designed the hardware, the multiuser operating system and the application software.
The system was sold to dentists, opticians and jewelers.
It used a light pen to make selections on the screen, a novelty at that time.
Hans
IBM PC wasn’t yet there.
I designed the hardware, the multiuser operating system and the application software.
The system was sold to dentists, opticians and jewelers.
It used a light pen to make selections on the screen, a novelty at that time.
Hans
