Looking at another post in this forum and starting to work out an answer, my brain kinda turns into a storm of "but if... and if... and you'd also need... and you need...."
This lead to the revelation that, for loudspeaker design, with everything taken into account - phase, frequency response, room nodes, listening axis, etc etc, it feels like a small wonder we ever manage to produce anything that sounds even half decent.
Yet here I am years later with some ugly as sin but wonderful 2-way monitors filling my room with some 80's clasics... how about everyone else? How often does it just feel like there's too much to learn? or too many compromises to be made?
Though I have to say, it's the fact that there's "no right answer" that keeps me enthralled and coming back for more... what if I tried...
(one example being the whole idea of amplifiers that deliver different power into different loads... so dont we need to be really careful with the impedance of our loudspeaker designs for accurate frequency/power response?? and then there's the afforementioned problem of listening room conditions...)
This lead to the revelation that, for loudspeaker design, with everything taken into account - phase, frequency response, room nodes, listening axis, etc etc, it feels like a small wonder we ever manage to produce anything that sounds even half decent.
Yet here I am years later with some ugly as sin but wonderful 2-way monitors filling my room with some 80's clasics... how about everyone else? How often does it just feel like there's too much to learn? or too many compromises to be made?
Though I have to say, it's the fact that there's "no right answer" that keeps me enthralled and coming back for more... what if I tried...
(one example being the whole idea of amplifiers that deliver different power into different loads... so dont we need to be really careful with the impedance of our loudspeaker designs for accurate frequency/power response?? and then there's the afforementioned problem of listening room conditions...)
It gets as overwhelming as we allow it to get - no more, no less.........
the main problem is not to let the mumbo jumbo take over........
the main problem is not to let the mumbo jumbo take over........
I was on a DIY binge for a good 7 years and finally managed to burn myself out. Haven't really worked on anything in a couple of years now.
It was a strange thing to realize that the more time I spent working on projects the less I actually enjoyed listening to music. Even with thousands of dollars in amplifier and speaker parts sitting here, I don't have anything hooked up to listen to. Funny that I don't even really care. :/
It was a strange thing to realize that the more time I spent working on projects the less I actually enjoyed listening to music. Even with thousands of dollars in amplifier and speaker parts sitting here, I don't have anything hooked up to listen to. Funny that I don't even really care. :/
Sad but true, maybe. As time goes on I find my favorite music resists all attempts to compromise the reproduction.
Guess what, all good music does that. I think if I find myself agonizing over details of the reproduction, the music must be pretty dull (like Diana Krall 🙂 )
electronic, measurement, design tools, especially where software gives leverage are cheaper, more capable than ever
access to technical information likewise - has never been easier, cheaper - all the way up to free university courses online now
even table saws, other fab tools are available for much less now than in previous decades if you are willing to work at getting the best out of the cheap stuff instead of buying "pro"
access to technical information likewise - has never been easier, cheaper - all the way up to free university courses online now
even table saws, other fab tools are available for much less now than in previous decades if you are willing to work at getting the best out of the cheap stuff instead of buying "pro"
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Yeah, when I put something together and it doesn't work right or it sparks or some crap, I feel like taking a hostage and making someone who is smart finish it for me.
I was fortunate enough to understand what the goal was, decades ago, because it fell into my lap - my efforts rewarded me with understanding of the "what" ... unfortunately, the "how" is the "overwhelming" bit 🙁, 😡 - there is tremendous frustration in the getting of a 100% reliable handle on the "how" ...
In one sense I don't need "brilliant" sound to happen at all the time - I can be content listening to quite mediocre playback, because I can hear exactly where the problems are, and relax because I know what would need to be done to lift the standard to a required level. It's like a garage mechanic driving around a bit of a bomb of a car for personal use, and never fixing it - there always something else that's more interesting, more worthy of putting time into ...
Edit: To me, one of the biggest traps in this game is the believing that the speakers are where the "big" answers are - since I got "good sound" the very first time from the most ordinary, everyday type of speaker one can buy, I've never been particularly fussed about this area of the enterprise - whatever's on hand is usually good enough, IME.
In one sense I don't need "brilliant" sound to happen at all the time - I can be content listening to quite mediocre playback, because I can hear exactly where the problems are, and relax because I know what would need to be done to lift the standard to a required level. It's like a garage mechanic driving around a bit of a bomb of a car for personal use, and never fixing it - there always something else that's more interesting, more worthy of putting time into ...
Edit: To me, one of the biggest traps in this game is the believing that the speakers are where the "big" answers are - since I got "good sound" the very first time from the most ordinary, everyday type of speaker one can buy, I've never been particularly fussed about this area of the enterprise - whatever's on hand is usually good enough, IME.
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I have been in the past.
I tried a class d irs2092 design using my own pcb and it was terrible.
The 2092 just kept resetting.
I learned a lot about decoupling and pcb layout from that project.
It took 3 pcb revisions to get it right.
I tried a class d irs2092 design using my own pcb and it was terrible.
The 2092 just kept resetting.
I learned a lot about decoupling and pcb layout from that project.
It took 3 pcb revisions to get it right.
I'm getting back in after 20 years out of DIY. Too early to tell if I have actually learned the lessons from the mistakes I made back then, but given the advances in tools available to the DIYer now that were not then (simulators that take less than 24 hours to run, sound card based testing, affordable measurement mics etc) it's a very different hobby. As long as I remember the stupid mistakes I made as a youth it's all good 🙂
The danger is that I am finally toying with speaker building, which was always my achilles heel.
Should add, in the intervening years the music collection has grown to the point where I can say I am a music lover rather than an audiophile!
The danger is that I am finally toying with speaker building, which was always my achilles heel.
Should add, in the intervening years the music collection has grown to the point where I can say I am a music lover rather than an audiophile!
I seem to get away with just building a box and slapping in a couple of full range drivers. They always seem to sound OK.
I have got away with it for 38 years so I must be doing something right.
The electronics side I always find there is something new to learn. I got into class d and SMPS. Both have taught me a lot despite having been an electronics engineer for nearly 40 years.
I have written software for a similar amount of time.
Even now I find a new challenge pops up now and then.
Getting into PIC and PC USB was fun.
I also write PCB design software, some of the geometry can be fun to figure out.
Well I'll learn soon enough.
Electrons are funny things and always ready to show you that they don't like being herded.
Yes, they're annoying things that don't understand what you want from reading your mind, and don't keep their their head down, focusing on the essent...
Hey, look, a squirrel!
Hey, look, a squirrel!
I am getting overwhelmed. The constraints in my case are lack of time , $$$, talent, knowledge and ... well everything else too.
But much like with motorcycles ~15 years ago, you get to a point where you can do all that is feasible with time and $$ and walk away form the massive projects.
You learn not to take on the yamaha XJ650 with a slipping transmission, and instead opt for the XJ700 with bad carbs. With bikes, it took a lot less time ... there were only 4 manufacturers I was looking at.
With audio, there is a 1000 it looks like.
Cool.
srinath.
But much like with motorcycles ~15 years ago, you get to a point where you can do all that is feasible with time and $$ and walk away form the massive projects.
You learn not to take on the yamaha XJ650 with a slipping transmission, and instead opt for the XJ700 with bad carbs. With bikes, it took a lot less time ... there were only 4 manufacturers I was looking at.
With audio, there is a 1000 it looks like.
Cool.
srinath.
For me, going to a Hendrix concert was a defining moment. It was there that I realized that I was not going to be a rock star guitar player. I was capable of playing the surf music that flowed out of the radio, but Hendrix, wasn't just a whole new level, it was unreal. I did go out and get myself one of those gray magic boxes that he had (Echoplex), but I decided to get a real electronics job and be content making guitar amps.
This is hilarious as I have simulated amplifiers showing -150dB distortion, but listen to FM radio before bed with a 6-1/2 inch speaker sitting on a night stand clip leaded to a car head unit with + from the left front and - from the right front output.
Works well enough that I haven't changed it in a few years.
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