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Let Sound be Your Teacher

جمعه ۲۶ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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این جمله رو تو ابتدای سایت BYOB (به معنی Bring Your Own Battery) میبینید که بنظرم جمله زیبایی هست و همانطور که قبلا گفتم درک Audio یک چیز Subjective هست و تا خود شنونده دنبال شنیدن صدا نباشه هیچ کتاب و نوشته ای به تنهایی نمیتونه بهش کمکی بکنه.

آقای Charles Altmann از آلمان صاحب برند Altmann Micro Machines که درباره خودش چنین نوشته :

Altmann Micro Machines is a german company focusing on the deliberate application of technology with the intent to improve customer’s wellbeing through procreation of uplifting and joyful experience. Specialty audio products and developments with a number of applied patents include the Altmann Superlative 24 bit / 96 kHz Digital to Analog Converter, The AMM – UPCI – Ultra Precision Clock Injector , the AMM JISCO – Jitter Scrambling Decorrelator ? the Altmann SPLIF – Split Feedback – Amplifier Topology , The Altmann Tube-o-Lator lacquer – a coating that makes semiconductors sound tube-like, the Altmann Do-it-Yourself Tonearm, The Altmann BYOB -Bring Your Own Battery- high performance vibrationally optimized audio amplifier and the Altmann Attraction DAC, a new and unique DA converter that can play up to 192kHz audio without oversampling and features extensive jitter filtering with dual VCXO precision PLL, switchable JISCO function, tube-o-lator-treated R2R converter, high-precision I/V conversion, and high power output and a vibrationally optimized desging employing a musical spruce sound-board. The Altmann Attraction DAC is the first DAC worldwide that can play fast sampled audio with zero-oversampling, sample by sample with unrivalled acoustic performance. Altmann Micro Machines was founded in 1994 by Dipl Ing. Charles Altmann.

Other Altmann Sites:

www.jitter.de

www.altmann.haan.de

www.amm.haan.de

ساخته های دست این شخص قیمت خیلی پایینی دارند و میتونه مورد استفاده کسانی باشه که هم صدای خوبی میخواهند و هم هزینه براشون خیلی مهم هست.

سایت زیر رو ببینید که این شخص ساخته هاش رو گذاشته :

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/

فکر کنم این برند رو دوست خوبمون به نام heaven (من اسم دیگری از ایشون ندارم و با همین اسم ایشون کامنت میگذارند) معرفی کردند و من ازشون تشکر میکنم.

دوباره برمیگردم ، الان باید برم …

خب ، این آدم در ابتدای سایتش توضیحی داده که گفته اجازه بدید بجای پذیرفتن هر ایده ای ما ببینیم “تجربه به ما چی میگه” The experiment decides که بنظر من این جمله بسیار بسیار درست و مهم هست.

این نوع نگرش باعث میشه ما از فضای مورونی حاکم بر های فای که بیشتر ساخته پرداخته مجلات و فروشندگان هست دور بشیم و بجای بحث های احمقانه رایج X بهتر از Y هست و … ببینیم تجربه شنیداری چه چیزی رو به ما میگه. اتفاقا رومی هم روی این مساله تاکید زیادی داره و خیلی از نوشته ها و گفته های فضای های فای رو احمقانه میدونه.

آقای Charles Altmann در ابتدای نوشته هاش تاکید میکنه بهتره قبل از آشنا شدن با من اون ایده های قبلی رو که از جاهای دیگه به گوشتون رسیده و مبتنی بر تجربه شنیداری نبوده فراموش کنید، متن زیر رو دقیق بخونید :

Messages and Distortion
Imagine You would govern a large country with millions of people living there.
Then, not only a code of conduct or laws are needed for this country to work, but also messages.
A simple message would be: “It is good to be able to defend our country” or “wash your hands when leaving the bathroom”.
Why do you need messages? Well, messages are a tool to make your people stop thinking on their own and start functioning automatically in the way you intend.
If you – the governor of the country – think, that many people living in your country are somewhat stupid, then you would more likely rely on very simple messages.
For example: “It’s good for the economy and for the wealth of all of us to consume goods” or “Smoking cigarettes is bad for your health” .
And bang, your people are in trouble. This is a contradiction: Its good to consume but its bad to smoke. Distortion is what happens, when two messages are in conflict.
So a third message is needed, an exception, in order to resolve that conflict: “Its good to consume a product but its bad, when the product is a cigarette since it is able to cause illness”
When the message stops working, an exception is needed. Unfortunately life can be complex so a variety of exceptions are formulated:
“Buy a microwave but don’t put your pet in there”
“Enjoy your coffe, but caution, its extremely hot”
“Its great to have a 400hp sportscar, but beware of curves”
“Burgers are bad and salad is good, but salad with fried chicken is bad, it can have more fat than the burger”
“You must have that louder exhaust, but use it on the racetrack only”
Since You are not really the governor of the country (call me if you are), lets change the focus now. You live in the country and are bombarded with messages. The messages have been formulated in order to put you into a sleep-state and make you a functioning consuming entity with the illusion of individuality.
Since no message can work for all given aspects of life, you can indeed call them distortions, or in other words:
Distortion happens, when a simple message fails to fit into your view of the experience – you putting your pet in the microwave and being unsatisfied with the end result . That is Distortion.
Any message can only work for a limited view, and therefore I suggest the following practice:
a) try to identify the messages that reach you from the media (news, ads) and other persons.
b) find the messages that are triggered in your mind by any situation.
c) forget them all, its time to wake up.

Messages in Audio
There are many messages in the audio field. And many of them unquestioned, like the stuff you have put so much effort into learning in school or university.
These messages have been forwarded by the audio media, manufacturers and individuals.
Let’s take a brief look at the message salad:
“It must have flat frequency response”
“The harmonic distortion must be as low as possible”
1000 Watts is better than 100 Watts is better than 50W is better than 10W is better than 3 Watts
“The step response of the speaker don’t look good on the diagram”
The cone must be made of a stiff material
“SACD is better than DVD-A is better than CD, but Vinyl is best ”
Those messages have put you to sleep, so that you can simply sleep-walk into the next store and buy the stuff with the largest numbers: “I’m going to spend 10.000 bucks and I want 1000 Watts, 100 pounds, most zero’s on the distortion figure and the damn-highest sampling frequency you stock, sucker ! ”
You have already done that and it didn’t work out soundwise? You have followed all of the currently popular audio messages, and what you get is: Distortion.
Well, what do You think why You finally stranded here ?
So before continuing with this funny BYOB site, please forget all messages, at least those audio messages, so you don’t have to ask yourself (or me) boring questions concerning frequency-plots (yes, its flat) etc. (However, I am always thankful for interesting questions or remarks.)
But, as this site also contains messages – what else -, I would like to stress the point, that I don’t want you to unconditionally believe my stuff, I just want you to contemplate about it unprejudiced and awake.
The experiment decides

مطالب جالب دیگری هم خصوصا در مورد لرزش تو سایت ایشون هست :

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/listen.htm

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/vibration.htm

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/mother.htm

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/lacquer.htm

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/current.htm (این لینک خیلی جالب در مورد برق سیستم گفته حتما بخونیدش)

تو آخرین لینک بالا در مورد Power Supply اینطور میگه :

What makes a high-quality audio amplifier expensive ? It is the power supply

قبلا هم گقتم Solidstate های خوب مثل ASR و Vitus همشون تو طراحی Power Supply با بقیه فرق دارند. این آقا استفاده از باتری رو پیشنهاد میکنه کاری که ASR انجام داده و میدونید چقدر هم رومی روی مساله برق وقت گذاشته.

این آدم یک آمپلی فایر ساخته (شکل بالا رو ببینید) که با برق باطری اتوموبیل کار میکنه و 10 وات به 8 اهم میده که نیاز به بلندگوی با حساسیت بالا داره و کل قیمت درخواستیش 950 یورو هست.

دو مطلب هم در مورد فرمت دیجیتال نوشته که خیلی جالبه :

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/cd.htm
http://www.mother-of-tone.com/timeband.htm

http://www.jitter.de/

حتما حتما دو لینک بالا رو بخونید. برخی شرکتها مثل EMM Labs بیشتر روی پاسخ پله تاکید دارند و برخی روی پاسخ فرکانس که این ادم میگه اگر رفتید به سمت بهتر کردن پاسخ فرکانس باید پاسخ پله رو هم بهینه نگه دارید.

و این آقا یک DAC خیلی خوب با قیمت 950 یورو ساخته که تو شکل زیر میبینیدش :

و اینکه ایشون فونو استیج هم ساختند.

ببینید در مورد ساخت بلندگو و انتخاب درایور چه حرف های جالبی زدند :

About Speaker Drivers

As I stated in earlier chapters, a good sound will be always present, when distortion mechanisms are absent.

The same holds true for speakers.

Unfortunately I have the feeling, that today’s designers of speaker drivers seem to have absolutely no idea, what they are doing.

In the early days, a speaker manufacturer or designer listened to his products and if it did not sound good, it was certainly regarded as wrong. Today they rely on measurements in anechoic chambers and many of them respect their own listening less than their futile measurements.

Also the technical specification of speaker drivers gives you lots of useless numbers, but not any information of the most important construction features.

In fact, there are only two real distortion mechanisms concerning speakers, but you will not be able to find any contemporary speaker driver, which is designed in order to avoid those simple distortion mechanisms (there are very rare exceptions).

1) Wrong materials

The speaker cone and coil-former material is much more important to the sound than the geometry and basket of the speaker. The Mother-of-Tone material for cones and coil formers is PAPER.

It is nothing short of ridiculous to make a speaker with an aluminium or titanium, polypropylene or ceramic cone. It doesn’t work. Well, some think it does 😉

The only thing unsuited cone materials can do is to nerve you. Speakers that employ those unsuited materials must have very complex crossover networks in order to keep you from continued vomiting.

Note: On HF compression drivers, aluminium and titanium diaphragms can still sound good, when the horn is made of a decent material, as sound is reflected inside the horn many times and adapts the vibrational character of the horn-material -> see Mother-of-Tone chapter.

You are still able to get speaker drivers with non-plasticized paper cones, but most of them will have a voice-coil made of aluminium or plastic (i.e. Kapton). Aluminium and Kapton are very good for heat dissipation and you can make cheap hi-wattage speakers with those materials, but what’s the need of hi-wattage, if you can’t bear to listen to the shit?

Above is a view inside a aluminium voice-coil former of a otherwise excellent speaker construction. Although capable of high power dissipation, a speaker employing an aluminium voice-coil former will always sound like sheet metal, which can be useful if you will be using it exclusively for steel-guitar 😉

See above a Kapton voice coil former. Better than aluminium, but never natural sounding. Actually it sounds as it looks… like plastic.

A Nomex voice-coil former (above) yields a high level of sound quality plus a much higher heat dissipation compared to paper. For many speaker applications Nomex is the ideal voice-coil matierial (especially for bass or mid drivers). Unfortunately it is rarely used today (except for some famous Celestion guitar speakers).

When it comes to highest sound quality (and lowest power dissipation) paper is the way to go. See below the cone and voice-coil former of a perfectly constructed 1950’s radio speaker.

Other speaker drivers that still employ paper cones AND paper voice-coil formers are Lowther (beware of hi-ferric ;-), Fostex FE series and some cheap chinese speakers (see below).

The drivers above feature small paper-voice-coils, paper cones, re-fitted foam surrounds, spruce-phase-plugs, small magnet and small power-dissipation. As they have no distortion-mechanism, they are used without crossover. The paper HF driver at the top is fed through a capacitor.

2) Cavities

The second distortion mechanism for speaker drivers is the presence of cavities.

Cavities create resonances and can totally mess up the performance of otherwise decently made speaker drivers.

See the below illustration of cavities (blue) that can be found in a contemporary speaker:

The very majority of today’s speakers use ferrite magnets that leave a relatively large hollow space between the pole piece and the magnet. As each enclosure or cavity has resonant modes, a cavity behind the voice coil (in the magnet structure) will create a distortion. The character of this distortion is a trashy peaky metal sound. This distortion speaks through the voice-coil and is easily identified, as it results in peaks in the frequency response.

Drivers using Alnico and Neodynium magnets typically have no or very small cavities in the magnet structure -> see below a positive example of how a magnet structure should look:

There’s another cavity in front of the voice-coil between the pole-piece and the dust-cap. This is also an enclosure which will generate a resonance frequency peak in the speaker response. It will also prevent accurate signal reproduction of the speaker. The character of this distortion depends largely on the size of the dustcap (the smaller the better) and the voice-coil-former material. A dustcap will in any case fuzz the sound. It will prevent a otherwise focused clean sound production.

If the cavities are so small that their resonance frequencies are above 20kHz, the problem is gone to a large degree. A phase plug (preferrably lacquered wood) is a simple and effective measure to eliminate the front cavity as shown below with a modified Fostex FE164.

If dust protection is needed, this can be accomplished with a sound-permeable material (i.e. textile gauze) as found still today i.e. on the Celestion Vintage 30 and Greenback guitar speakers (guess why).

So let’s summarize:

Any speaker that prevents cavities in front or behind the voice coil and employs paper for the cone AND the voice-coil-former will sound good. ANY SPEAKER!

That was all.

Is it really so EASY to make a great sounding speaker? Yes

A perfect Speaker Driver

A perfect speaker driver employs a non-plasticized paper cone, and a paper or nomex voice-coil former. It uses any kind of magnet, provided that there is no cavity in the magnet structure.

A perfect speaker driver also has no dust-cap, but a phase plug (preferably made of wood), that fills the voice-coil cavity. If a dust-prevention is needed, a sound-permeable material should to be chosen in combination with a short phase plug.

See below, the corrected speaker construction, which avoids cavities:

The suspension and voice-coil diameter is chosen with respect to the desired frequency response.

A speaker as described above, is not necessarily expensive to manufacture, and it also needs no elaborate crossover network, as distortion-mechanisms have been avoided.

ایشون یک بلندگو هم ساختند به ادرس http://www.mother-of-tone.com/speakersystem.htm و به قیمت مناسب 2000 یورو که امکان ساخت توسط خریدار (DIY) هم فراهم هست.

این آدم ایده جالبی هم تو ساخت پنل آکوستیکی داره که بران خیلی تازگی داشت :

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/acoustic_panel.htm

این پنل ها حالت رفلکتور دارند (برخلاف همه که یا جاذبند و یا دیفیوزر!!!!!!) که از چوب ساخته میشوند.

دیگه نگید اکبری برند ارزون معرفی نمیکنه و بهتره برید سراغ فروشنده ها و ازشون بخواهید بجای وارد کردن برندهای بدصدا این برند ها رو وارد کنند 😉

یک خبر بی ربط بدم اونم اینکه Luxman چیزهای خوبی داره میسازه (البته نه به خوبی ویتوس و ASR) و من به کسانی که از آکوفیض خوششون میاد پیشنهاد میکنم سری به Luxman بزنند چون الان این برند ژاپنی چیزهای خوبی مثل M-800A ساخته که یاد اون آکوفیض قدیمی ها رو زنده میکنه.

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فستیوال سالیانه European triode festival (ETF) Aarhus Triode Festival در دانمارک

پنجشنبه ۲۵ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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این فستیوال هر ساله در اروپا برگزار میشه و در سه فستیوال اول شهر Aarhus در دانمارک میزبان میهمانان بود. از نگاه من دانمارک یه جورایی کشور اول تو زمینه های فای حساب میشه و نه تنها طراحان خوبی مثل ویتوس و پیتر (طراح آئودیونت) رو داره بلکه خیلی از بلندگوسازان مطرح دنیا بهترین درایورها رو از کمپانی های دانمارکی تهیه میکنند.

تو این فستیوال ها علاقه مندان به DIY لامپی شرکت میکنند و هم مقالات ارائه میشه و هم ساخته های دست اونها (چه بلندگو و چه آمپلی فایر) دمو میشه. البته هر کسی دعوت نمیشه و افراد خاصی امکان شرکت در این فستیوال رو دارند.

ویکی پدیا اینطور نوشته :

Since 2000 each year the “European Triode Festival” (ETF) has been held in various venues in Europe (the first three events were called “Aarhus Triode Festival” aka “ATF”. The ETF focuses on do-it-yourself audio valve amplifiers using triode vacuum tubes, and brings together some 100 high end vacuum tube audiophiles from all over the world (from as far away as Finland and New Zealand). At the Festival participants demonstrate their (all home-built) equipment (analogue/digital/amps/speakers/etc.) and discuss all aspects of high-end vacuum tube sound reproduction. It’s a private venture of audio lovers; commercial activities are not allowed.

For the first 3 years, the festival was organised by Kurt Steffensen and held in Aarhus, Denmark. During the next 3 years, Christian Rintelen and Wolfgang Braun organised the festival and held it in Langenargen, Germany. In 2006 and 2007 Guido Tent and Emile Sprenger organized the Festival in The Beukenhof, a former monastery in Biezenmortel, The Netherlands. In 2008 Guido teamed up with Arend-Jan Wijtzes and Rob Hubertse to organize the final Dutch edition and in 2009 the festival moved to Stella-Plage, France. During the 4 days of the Festival, several seminars, workshops, shootouts and musical performances are organised.

Previous seminar speakers have included people like Jean Hiraga, Morgan Jones, Lynn Olson, Per Lundahl (Lundahl Transformers), Brian Sowter (Sowter Transformers of England), Steve Bench, Guido Tent (Tentlabs), Allen Wright (VSE), Peter van Willenswaard of Stereophile magazine, Pieter Treurniet (Tribute Transformers) and John Broskie (GlassWare and Tube CAD Journal).

Previous workshops have included subjects such as power supplies (shunt/series/passive/regulated), the sound of distortion, noise and hum, speaker crossovers and digital jitter. Audio gear listening competitions are held for items such as phono stages, full range speakers, single-ended triode amplifiers and output transformers.

ETF’s have been reviewed in several magazines, including Revue du Son, MJ, TNT Audio, 6Moons and Prestige Audio Video.

A recurring item with each Festival is a Special Guest that is invited to join the Festival and hold a presentation about a high-end audio subject of their own choice.

رومی هم اینجا مطلبی نوشته ببینید :

I am not sure what it is, how it organized, who runs it and who participate it. My initial feeling that it was a bunch of the folks of DIY-audio-lever come together to drink bear and do not see own women for a weekend, sort of a Brokeback Euro-Mountain  but with tube rectification and fully regulated. Anyhow, I was not there, have no idea what level of sound they accomplish in there and what level of audio was generally presented at ETF2009. I suspect that sound was not too exiting in there – like at most of the show. It does not look that anyone speaks about the ETF sound but they have pictures. Well, it is what it is – audio it becomes a pornographic discipline, not only pornographic with detail description of what camera was used, what was the lens was used and how it was shot.

اشخاصی مانند :

Jean Hiraga, Morgan Jones, Lynn Olson, Per Lundahl (Lundahl Transformers),

Brian Sowther (Sowther Transformers), Steve Bench, Guido Tent (Tentlabs),

Allen Wright (VSE), Peter van Willenswaard (Stereophile),

Pieter Treurniet (Tribute Transformers),

Tim de Paravicini (EAR/YOSHINO) and John Boskie (TubeCAD)

تو این سمینار ها حضور دارند.

من سعی میکنم تک تک این افراد رو معرفی کنم و مقالات جالبی رو که نوشتند براتون تو سایت بیارم اما تا اون موقع بهتره خودتون اسم این افراد رو سرچ کنید و دنبال مطالب سایت اونها رو بگیرید.

لینک های زیر رو هم ببینید، بیم اونها لینک هایی هست که مطالب مفیدی در مورد ساخت دستگاه داره :

http://www.triodefestival.net/index.php?page=etf-2010-photos

http://www.triodefestival.net/index.php?page=more-on-etf

http://www.tubecad.com/2005/December/blog0055.htm

http://greygum.net/sbench/sbench101/

http://www.nutshellhifi.com/library/europe3.html

http://www.dhtrob.com/index_en.shtml

http://www.tnt-audio.com/shows/etf04_e.html

http://www.timebanditaudio.com/ETF08/etf2008.html

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/triode/triode.html

http://www.holgerbarske.com/etf09/album/hb/index.html

http://www.holgerbarske.com/pics/album/ETF%2008%20-%20Impressionen/index.html

http://www.holgerbarske.com/etf09/album/cg/index.html

http://www.audiohagel.dk/index/categories.php?cat_id=28&sessionid=e24e8c7b73c7baadd19e76bc94223889

http://www.timebanditaudio.com/ETF2009/etf2009.html

http://www.german-vintage-loudspeakers.com/navid.670/impressions-of-the-european-triode-festival-2008-3.htm

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/etf06/etf.html

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/etf2010/1.html

http://www.thomas-schick.com/ETF06.htm

آخر هفته خوش بگذره

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با Jean Hiraga بیشتر آشنا شویم

شنبه ۲۰ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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آقای Jean Hiraga یکی از کسانی است که من لازم دیدم در موردشون بنویسم. اولین دلیلش این بود که ایشون یک مقاله خیلی جالب در مورد آمپلی فایر نوشته اند به آدرس زیر:

http://www.tcaas.btinternet.co.uk/hiraga1.htm

زندگی نامه این آدم رو آوردم بخونید :

Born in Paris in 1943 from a french mother and a japanese father, Jean Hiraga shown early a considerable interested for complementary domains of audio and electro-acoustic fields.

In 1965, he moved from France to Japan, where he was one of the most influent spécialists who promoted, from 1969, sound and musical qualities of tubes, specially directly heated version such as 45, 2A3, WE300B, 4300B, 211, 845, 6C33C.

In 1968, he started to contribute for french Revue du Son and, later, in Nouvelle Revue du Son, as special correspondant in Japan. He published in these magazines several articles that had considerable impact in hi-fi world, such as :

“Amplifiers, harmonic distortion analysis” (dec. 1975) ;

“Can we hear audio connecting wires” (oct. 1976, translated in august 1977 in british HiFi News & RR review).

In 1977, Jean Hiraga, one of the pioneers of audiophile philosophy, founded and started to take in charge, a chief editor, L’Audiophile, a magazine dedicated to this new high end audio world. He largely contributed in this magazine with the publication a many articles demonstrating, from 1977, importance and influence on sound quality of passive components (capacitors, resistors, volume controls, selector switches, soldering, influence of analog turntable mats on sound quality, while showing strong interest for high quality, high efficiency loudspeakers.

In 1986, he received from the british audio review HiFi News the “1986 HiFi annual Award” for his important contribution in audio field.

Jean Hiraga invested a considerable time to tune up many audio circuits for private use. Some of them have been designed for the account of La Maison de l’Audiophile and Lectron companies and were on the international market between 1978 and 1982, such as :

– Le Prépré (head preamplifier for MC phono cartridge) ;

– Hiraga Classe A 20 W, pure classe A solid state power amplifier ;

– “Minimum”, a solid state, battery operated ultra-compact phono preamplifier ;

– JH 30, JH 50, JH 60, JH 80, a series of hybrid power amplifiers, added later by PA50 line preamplifier. This last line of products, added by several improvements, is partly on the actual market through Jean Maurer company in Switzerland.

Jean Hiraga was the author of several books such as :

– Les Haut-parleurs, (Loudspeakers, 1980, three times re-edited, 5 times reprinted) ;

– Initiation aux amplis à tubes (1980, Audio tubes amplifiers initiation, four times re-edited + one edition translated in swedis ” Rörforstärkare”, 1986).

In 1982, Jean Hiraga moved back to Paris. In 1983, he was asked him to take in charge Nouvelle Revue du Son as chief editor, this until early 2007, giving to him the opportunity to test, analyse and listen several thousand of international audio products during more than 25 years.

لینک های زیر بنظر مفیدند:

http://www.tcaas.btinternet.co.uk/

http://www.tcaas.btinternet.co.uk/index-3.htm

http://www.tcaas.btinternet.co.uk/hiraga.htm

http://twogoodears.blogspot.com/2009/12/ears-and-hearing-some-jean-hiragas.html

http://www.nutshellhifi.com/library/europe3.html

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/auditorium23/23_2.html

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/hiraga/hiraga.html

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/Jean-Hiraga-Le-Monstre/

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/Jean-Hiraga-Class-A-Amplifier/

http://www.tubecad.com/2005/December/blog0055.htm

این آقا هم با لامپ کار کرده و هم با ترانزیستور و هم به Power Supply باتری توجه داشته و تو فستیوالهای ترایود اروپا هم سخنرانی میکرده و روی نوع دیستورشن ها هم مطالعاتی داشته.

بحث منبع تغذیه برای ترانزیستور خیلی مهم هست و برخی از کمپانی ها کلا رفتند به سمت باتری چون گرفتن پاسخ خوب با قیمت های پایین کمی با این ترانس ها و خازن ها مشکل هست.

چند روز دیگه در مورد دو برند http://www.mother-of-tone.com/ و http://www.redesignsaudio.com/ خواهم نوشت.

خوش بگذره

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سرعت تغییرات برای بهترین پاسخ

شنبه ۲۰ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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یک سوال طرح میکنم، اونم اینکه فرض کنید پیاده یا با ماشین قراره مسیری رو طی کنید، آیا میدونید با چه سرعتی باید حرکت کنید تا در کمترین زمان ممکن به مقصد برسید؟

جواب این سوال رو اگر از یک ناظر بیرونی بپرسید به شما میگه برای کمترین زمان باید از بیشترین سرعت ممکن استفاده کنید. این ناظر بیرونی حرف درستی میزنه چون زمان رسیدن برابر هست با مسافت تقسیم بر سرعت حرکت شما.

اما من فکر میکنم از دید اون کسی که این مسافت رو طی میکنه این پاسخ پاسخ درستی نیست. البته منظور من وارد شدن به بحث فیزیک نسبیت انیشتین نیست و فقط میخوام اشاره ای داشته باشم به مساله ناظرها و تقابل اونا با پدیده ها.

من مسیری رو بین دو نقطه پیاده حرکت میکنم، به من ثابت شده اگر از سرعت مشخص V سرعت کمتری داشته باشم بنظرم کمی دیرتر میرسم به مقصد و همینطور اگر سرعتم از سرعت V بیشتر باشه هم احساس میکنم مسیر کمی طولانی شده.

از دید ناظر بیرونی وقتی من با حداکثر سرعت (بیشتر از V) حرکت میکنم زودتر به مقصد میرسم اما از دید من وقتی با سرعت V حرکت میکنم زودتر از حالت های قبل به مقصد میرسم.

میدونید چرا؟

دلیلش اینه ما همیشه وقتی در حال ایجاد تغییری هستیم فراموش میکنیم هر تغییری یک فیدبکی روی خود ما داره و نتیجه نهایی حاصل کل این بازخوردهاست.

وقتی من با سرعتی کمتر از V حرکت میکنم انگار ذهن من از عدم همگامی من با سرعت V پالس هایی میده که باعث شه من فکر کنم مسیر طولانی شده و حتی وقتی با سرعت بیشتر از V حرکت میکنم هم یک هیجان و پالسی به من القاء میشه که اون فیدبک باعث میشه من احساس کنم چرا مسیر تموم نمیشه.

شاید مثال من خیلی خوب بیان نشه اما من معتقدم خود شما میتونید مثال های بهتری رو برای خودتون پیدا کنید که باور کنید بهترین سرعت برای تغییرات تابع به حداکثر رسوندن سرعت تغییرات نیست.

من احساس میکنم هر تغییری در بیرون نیاز به هماهنگی با ضرب آهنگی در درون ما داره و اگر سرعت اون تغییرات با Clock درونی ما سینکرون نشه سرعت تغییرات ااز وضعیت بهینه فاصله میگیره.

یک مثال دیگه سورس خریدن هست، خود من وقتی از شهر کتاب یکی یکی سی دی صوتی میخرم و بعد از گوش دادن هر کدوم میرم سراغ بعدی خیلی احساس بهتری دارم تا اینکه یک دفعه چند کیلو سی دی سفارش میدم و میارمشون خونه.

این موضوع جای فکر بیشتری داره و اگر بخوام یک دورنمای کلی داشته باشم میتونم بگم هر تغییری یک سرعت اپتیمم برای هر شخص داره و بیشتر و کمتر از اون سرعت وضعیت تعادل رو به هم میزنه.

دنیای ما برخلاف این ایده به ما تابع ماگزیمم رو پیشنهاد میکنه ولی من اینطور فکر نمیکنم و حالت بهینه رو حالت ماگزیمم نمیدونم.

در مورد های فای بازی هم میتونید به این موضوع فکر کنید و ببینید آیا ساعت داخلی های فای بازی شما با وقت و انرژی ای که میگذارید همخوانی داره یا نه.

ما که Clock های فای مون از کار افتاد اما کسانی که هنوز کلاکشون میزنه میتونند به این موضوع بیشتر فکر کنند 😉 .

من تو مطلب های فای در یک نگاه به اهمیت خود شنونده اشاره داشتم و الان هم تاکید میکنم پاسخ بهینه تابع خود شنونده هم هست و تنها تابع شاخص های بیرونی نیست.

امانوئل اکبری تو کتاب فلسفه گفته :

درک ریشه هر لذتی به شناخت ما از خودمون و Clock داخلی مون بر میگرده در تقابل با شاخص های بیرون و  وضعیت بهینه به حداکثر رسوندن شاخص های بیرونی نیست.

بی ربط به بحث بالا:

در مورد بلندگوهای سازگار با اتاق های معمول بیشتر بدانیم:

An Interview with Duke LeJeune of AudioKinesis

Audio Kinesis

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روز بلاگستان فارسی

چهارشنبه ۱۷ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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به دعوت بلاگ نوشت گفتم چیزی هم من بنویسم در مورد روز بلاگستان ، البته امروز 16 شهریور نیست و من یک روز دیر دارم مینویسم اما مهم نیست.

من خیلی تو این فضای وبلاگ های فارسی نبودم و فقط مطالب دوستان دانشگاهیم مثل جادی رو دنبال میکردم اما تا اونجایی که من خبر دارم خیلی ما وبلاگ تخصصی فارسی تو زمینه های مختلف نداشتیم.

خودم هم نفهمیدم چی شد وبلاگ نویسی روشروع کردم اما خوشبختانه هنوز ادامه اش دادم و مطالب زیادی هنوز برای نوشتن دارم، فکر میکنم نوشتن باعث شد بیشتر به موضوعات فکر کنم و نتیجه همه تست ها و برداشت هام رو یک جا جمع کنم.

به هر حال امیدوارم بلاگستان فارسی روزهای خوبی رو تجربه کنه.

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آلبوم دود عود

سه شنبه ۱۶ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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آلبوم دود عود رو بخاطر سنتورنوازی یکی از شاگردان استاد مشکاتیان و یک تصنیف زیبا با شعر مولانا دوست دارم. من فقط از رومی های فای خوشم نمیاد بلکه از اشعار مولانا رومی هم خوشم میاد ، بنظر میرسه همه رومی ها کارشون درسته.

دود عود رو بشنوید و من به شما قول میدم تا هزار سال دیگه هم کسی نخواهد اومد که اون حسی که در یک شعر عرفانی هست رو بتونه مثل شجریان منتقل کنه.

این شعر مولانا رو شجریان در همین آلبوم میخونه :

ای یوسف خوش نام ما خوش می روی بر بام ما
ای درشکسته جام ما ای بردریده دام ما

ای نور ما  ای سور ما  ای دولت منصور ما
جوشی بنه در شور ما  تا می شود انگور ما

ای دلبر و مقصود  ما  ای قبله و معبود ما
آتش زدی در عود ما  نظاره کن در دود ما

ای یار ما عیار ما دام دل خمار ما
پا وامکش از کار ما بستان گرو دستار ما

در گل بمانده پای دل جان می دهم چه جای دل
وز آتش سودای دل ای وای دل ای وای ما

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های های برای های فای

یکشنبه ۱۴ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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خبر اول اینکه یکی از فروشندگان خیلی قدیمی و درست حسابی های فای درش تخته شد اونم بخاطر نداشتن گردش مالی :

Sound By Singer , one of the most prestigious and old Hi Fi  stores in U.S  is bankrupt and about to close. This is  very alarming notice to high end audio. This business is doomed . Sad news!!

کمپانی Hovland یکی از کمپانی هایی که خیلی مورد توجه من بود هم درش تخته شد و واقعا حیف شد که این کمپانی بسته شد اما کمپانی های بدصدای زیادی الان مشغول فعالیت هستند.

کلا از وقتی من بیخیال های فای شدم نمیدونم چرا در همه داره تخته میشه 😉

خب بنظر من الان دیگه باید جنگ جهانی سوم شروع بشه تا جهان بعد مدتی بعد از جنگ وضعیت بهتری رو تجربه کنه.

خبر بعدی اینجا رو ببینید که  لینکش رو مایک گذاشت من دیدم :

http://www.stereomecmuasi.com/cihazlar/sayi24/marten_momento1_english.htm

خبر دیگه که خبر جدیدی هم نیست ورود آمپلی فایر KR به ایران هست که کاش جای اون برند Lamm میومد، البته یک وقت فکر نکنید میخوام تبلیغ منفی کنم چون KR برند بدی نیست، من تنها نظر واقعیم رو بیان میکنم و قصد ندارم بزنم تو سر بازار فروش این برند، چیزی که هست اینه که من فکر میکنم KR میتونه صدای معقولی بده اما نه با بلندگویی مثل منگر که درایوش کار راحتی نیست. منگر رو فقط ASR میاره سر حال و KR باید با بلندگوی سازگارش جمع بشه ، البته KR مدل های بالای 100 وات هم داره اما از من میشنوید لامپ با توان بالا خیلی فرقی با ترانزیستور نمیکنه و باید رفت سراغ سینگل های کم وات با بلندگوهای با حساسیت بالا.

KR یک حسن داره اونم اینه که لامپ هاشو خودش میسازه و مشتری گرفتار پیدا کردن لامپ nos نمیشه اما صداش تا اونجایی که من میدونم تو حد و اندازه های Audio Note و Lamm نیست. اینجا رو ببینید :

http://www.euphonia-audioforum.se/forums/index.php?showtopic=7570

به مهندس میگفتم من آرزو به دلم موند یکی تو ایران یک برندی بیاره که برام جالب باشه  و آدم احساس کنه یک کار تحقیقاتی درستی پشت اون انتخاب صورت گرفته.

خبر آخر رو بهتره ندونید چون هنوز خودم تصمیم ام قطعی نشده و در اولین فرصت اگر OK شد بهتون خبر میدم 😉

مولانا میگه :

بجز با روی خوبت عشقبازی   حرام است و حرام است و حرام است

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ESP Loudspeakers Concert Grand SI in Iran

دوشنبه ۸ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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آدرس سایت :

http://www.esploudspeakersna.com/welcome/index.html

There are only two legitimate references in audio:  live music and well-recorded master tapes.

What live music AND good master tapes have in common is very different from most “hi-fi” systems:  excellent resolution without tipped-up highs; tight and deep low frequencies without artificial slam or boom; transparency without thinness; rhythm and pace without artificial crispness; and most importantly, emotional involvement without an urge to analyze the sound.

These things—the attributes of musicality—are exceedingly difficult to achieve, which is why truly great loudspeakers are so rare, and also why knowledgeable music lovers are so often looking for ways to “upgrade” their systems.

Technology should serve the music, rather than being and end in itself or a means to generate marketing hype.  Yet despite today’s incessant parade of technological “advances,” how many systems do not sound somehow artificial—electronic, timbrally unnatural, mechanical, tonally disjointed, thin, tipped-up, overly crisp, boomy, etc.?

The next time you hear an audio system or component, ask yourself:  Does it sound like music or like “hi-fi”?

Why ESP?

Do today’s mega-systems sound truly live to you, or do they sound merely “impressive” but somehow artificial? Do they make you want to sit and be enveloped in your favorite music for hours, or are they better suited to showing off short audiophile tracks to friends at a cocktail party? Can you listen on those systems without fatigue or boredom to an entire album, a complete symphony, or even an opera?

The best systems should attempt to hone in on the sound of live music. Hitting that musical bull’s-eye involves the extremely rare convergence of technology, experience, and art into inspired creations. Success comes from the design equivalent of centripetal, rather than centrifugal, force–driving toward the center of sonic realism rather than spinning away in a “space race” of space-age components and cabinet materials which lead to newer models, more marketing hype, and higher prices but which have very little to do with musical realism or emotional involvement. Among the thousands of speakers on the market, even among the dozens of extremely expensive speakers on the market, how many are truly great? Why are “newer and better” models released so often?

How is ESP Different?

ESP loudspeakers are designed and built by an enthusiastic music lover and frequent concertgoer who is also one of the world’s great speaker designers. That is why ESP speakers sound so extraordinarily close to live music and why they have been owned and by so many musically discerning reviewers and industry insiders.

ESP loudspeakers are hand-built and tested by the designer himself, working with a small team of master artisans. This allows us to go to perfectionist extremes that others do not; our design and build quality are absolutely without compromise.

ESP loudspeakers are often said by reviewers and industry insiders to surpass sonically the most expensive speakers in the world; yet while our parts costs and uncompromising build quality do indeed exceed those of speakers priced well above ours, our prices reflect a concern for value which is second only to our concern for absolutely unsurpassed musical realism.
ESP loudspeakers deliver unparalleled musical involvement. There is nothing “hi-fi” or artificial about our sound.  Our speakers are legendary for their timbral naturalness, seamlessness, dimensionality, dynamic ease, and presence, which lead to more involving, longer music sessions.
ESP loudspeakers are classics, with time-tested design, perfectionist build quality, non-intrusive furniture-grade looks, and sound quality so close to that of live music that they will allow you to get off the upgrade merry-go-round once and for all.

What kind of music?

We believe that recordings of acoustic music are better than recordings of amplified music, and that recordings of texturally complex music are better than recordings of texturally simple music, for judging music reproduction components.  This is not because of any inherent superiority of acoustic or texturally complex music over amplified or texturally simple music, but because acoustic music contains fewer layers between the instruments’ original timbres and what is heard by the listener, making it easier both to discern subtle differences in the way different components reproduce those timbres and to compare the reproduced sound of instruments to their sound in live settings; and texturally complex music requires components to unravel denser textures without congestion and to reproduce wider dynamic, tonal, and spatial palettes.  Of course, for many people this is not relevant to subjective musical satisfaction, and in any case, excellent recordings of texturally complex music are relatively difficult to come by, but we feel that that for comparing the quality of the best music reproduction components, and for those listeners who wish to get as close as possible to the sound of real instruments in a live setting, acoustic and texturally complex music are essential.

What we listen for?

While musical satisfaction is, of course, subjective, we believe that there are certain characteristics of truly great music reproduction components which separate them from the rest:

We expect to hear little or no artificial character to the sound, little to remind us that we are, after all, listening to electronic reproduction rather than live music.  It is a rare system indeed that does not immediately betray its electronic nature, however expensive the system may be and however well it may satisfy many audiophile criteria.  We want to hear a purity of timbre and a relaxed, unhyped clarity to the sound, making it sometimes possible to suspend disbelief and feel that we are listening to the real thing.  The greatest amplifiers and front end components are designed with the most optimally simple circuits to sound the least like electronics.  The greatest loudspeakers achieve the ideal convergence of extreme clarity and musicality.

We want to be able to listen for hours on end without the slightest fatigue, just as we can with live acoustic music.  Fatigue comes from an artificially tipped up and “alive” sound, which may impress upon a short audition but grows tiring after 30 minutes.  We expect to hear no upper midrange glare, a common cause of listener fatigue.

We also want to be able to listen at close to live concert sound levels without fear of dynamic limitations. The best components have an ease of presentation which allows the music to get louder and louder without hardening of the sound, distortion, or shrinking of any part of the soundstage.
We like to hear musicians with realistic size and body (three-dimensionality), neither two-dimensional, on the one hand, nor bloated, on the other. We also like to hear realistic image focus rather than surrealistically highlighted or unnaturally pinpointed imaging.
We expect to feel something akin to the palpable presence of live performers in our room; to feel a physicality to the sound; to feel our room and our bodies being energized. This comes from proper dimensionality and focus along with a low noise floor.
We want the tonality of the system to be both natural and seamless across the frequency spectrum, never sounding tipped-up in the highs, overfull in the bass, thin in the lower midrange, or shrill, nasal, metallic, or otherwise colored.
We want the high frequencies to extend naturally and easily, without the hyped detail which some listeners mistake for transparency.  Detail should be clearly audible, but in a relaxed and natural way within the total musical fabric, rather than in an attention-grabbing way in which the highs jump out from the rest of the frequency spectrum.
We want the low frequencies to be extended and tight, just like they sound in a good concert hall.  We do not want them to be overemphasized or bloated, even though unnaturally strong bass may be appealing in certain types of music.
Most importantly, we want the system to cause our toes to tap, our spines to tingle, goose bumps to appear, or tears to well up—all signs that we have transcended the reproduction components and become truly connected with the music.

Accuracy vs Musicality

It is often said that designers and purchasers of audio components must lean toward one or the other of the poles of accuracy and musicality. Adherents of the accuracy school want to hear everything that is on the master tape. They talk of a component’s detail and transparency, and use phrases like “on the warm side of neutral” or “slightly smoothing over detail” to describe components which fall into the musicality camp. Adherents of the musicality school want to simulate the sound of a live acoustic performance in a good hall. They talk of a component’s warmth, emotion, and ability to “communicate” the musical essence to the listener, and use terms like “analytical” or “cool” to describe components which fall into the accuracy camp.

Our belief is that a properly designed and configured system can be both highly accurate and musical at the same time, assuming well-recorded source material. Accuracy and musicality converge when a system sounds transparent without being hyped; when detail emerges clearly but in a relaxed, rather than spotlighted, fashion. This requires the right combination of electronics and speakers:

For electronics, absolute accuracy to the master tape should be the only goal, an achievable one if the component is designed with the simplest circuits allowable, with no unnecessary electronic embellishments. Source components as well as preamplifiers and amplifiers should be as pure and neutral as possible, without hype or haze. Their job is to pass through, with absolutely no editorializing, exactly what is on the recording. Anything else represents less than optimal design. Electronic components which are thought to be accurate yet analytical may indeed not be so accurate after all, having a tilted-up frequency response or adding electronic haze or other noise artifacts. Conversely, electronic components which are thought to be musical in the sense of slightly softening detail may indeed have too much in the signal path to let all the information through.

Speakers, on the other hand, are electromechanical transducers which inevitably add their own character to the sound in the process of converting electrical energy into acoustic energy. Speakers represent the sum of the designer’s technical and artistic abilities and his understanding of what live acoustic music in a good hall sounds like, which depends in part upon how frequently he listens to live music and what he listens for. Large differences among speaker brands should not be surprising, then, if we consider the multitude of ways in which the numerous complex variables in speaker design can be blended into finished products which attempt to recreate the sound of live music.

Our preference then, is for the most accurate electronics, that is, those with the most optimally simple, purest-sounding circuits, coupled with the most musical speakers, that is, those with the most real-sounding presence, dimensionality, tonal accuracy, and dynamic ease.

On Tweaks

In addition to the music reproduction equipment itself, several other factors are critical for realizing the best possible sound from your system: room acoustics, power delivery, component isolation, cables, and optimizing the source material. Room acoustics is the most important factor and is, along with optimizing the source material, independent of the given playback system. Tweaking the source material includes such activities as cleaning LP’s and cleaning, polishing, edge-bevelling, and demagnetizing CD’s. With regard to power conditioning, component isolation, and cables, on the other hand, we have found that while there are many competently designed and often quite expensive products which can make a positive difference, the contribution is generally not system-independent; positive effects in one system may be absent or overdone in another, or may result merely from counteracting tendencies elsewhere in the system (the infamous “tone control” effect). This is not meant to deny the effects of many tweak products, since most systems do benefit from some tweaking, and tweaking is both essential and fun; but just as the best electronic components employ the simplest and purest circuits, once the essentials of room and source are taken care of, and assuming that the electric power from the wall (hopefully dedicated power) is relatively noise-free, we have found that the best way to maintain the purity of the recorded signal is often to keep things relatively simple. Tweaks on top of tweaks can render the playback system so complex that its musical essence is obscured. Everything in the power or signal delivery system will add a characteristic sound to the system. Does it not make sense that the best-designed components will require the least “additives,” just as the freshest fish is best eaten raw and the best steaks are not masked by sauce?

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Lampizator DAC

پنجشنبه ۴ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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برند Lampizator برند جالبیه، اگر دقت کرده باشید من برندهایی رو دوست دارم معرفی کنم که طراح اونها مانند Decware تو سایتش مطالب بدربخوری رو نوشته باشه و علت علاقه من به AudioPax یا Audio Note و یا خیلی از برندهای دیگه ای که دوست دارم فقط صدای اونها نیست بلکه گفتگوی مبتنی بر تجربه شنیداری اونهاست. البته رومی معتقده روی نگاه و تجربه شنیداری یک طراح یا مودیفایر مثل آقای Lampizator خیلی نمیشه حساب کرد اما من جدا از این موضوع اطلاعات جالبی رو تو سایت این آدم دیدم و فکر میکنم برای شما هم جالب خواهد بود.

بحث در مورد طراح این شرکت قبلا تو انجمن من توسط آقای نوید مطرح شد ببینید :

http://forum.hifi.ir/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=139&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=Lampizator

آقای Lukasz Fikus طراح لهستانی Lampizator سایت خیلی جالبی داره و مطالب خوبی در مورد تست صدای انواع سی دی پلیرها داره که نشون میده این آدم خیلی از برندهای گران و ارزان رو شنیده ، مودیفایشون کرده و خلاصه اطلاعات جالبی رو از هر کدوم اونها تو سایتش گذاشته که هم برای من جالبه و هم برای کسانی که دوست دارند بیشتر از طراحی داخلی پلیرها بدونند.

این آدم خیلی به آقای Peter Quvortrup (راستی یادتون باشه آقا پیتر اهل کشور دانمارک هستند اما انگلستان زندگی میکنند)  طراح  Audio Note UK احترام میگذاره و در مورد خودش تو سایتش اینطور گفته :

This private site LAMPIZATOR is dedicated to tube DIY, music, and practical ways to best sound reproduction.
More specifically: my goal is to own “the best stereo system in the World” and to do it on a reasonable budget. The second aim is to share with others what I have found out in the process, i.e the Lampizator, The Saba speakers, the gem DAC’s and Russian supertubes.
Since I can’t afford a dream system, I decided to learn what makes this technology “tick” and to build the system myself. Soon the pursuit of hi-fi truth became my passion and I relentlessly look inside the boxes, in vain hope to find honestly made and good sounding products. When I discover something worth noticing, I publish it here. I am sure there are ways of owning an absolutely fabulous hi-fi system which everybody can afford. To put things into perspective, I build for myself systems costing circa 1500 Euro, which beat sonically everything I heard before at cost-no-object demo’s in Frankfurt HighEnd show. If we can buy it – thats fine. If we can’t – we must do it with our own hands. It is a combination of buying used gear on ebay, modifying, mixing and matching, and having open ears to new gems from China.  In fact – it is easy. I think I have found all elements I need: best source – CD player with Lampizator, best amplifiers (tubed of course) , and best speakers (alnico). In my subjective opinion my current system can easily be called one of the best stereo systems in the World. This page is about sharing with others my experience acquired in the process.
I am trying to condemn marketing and engineering B/S which I find inside gear. I am a self proclaimed Prometheus. I steal the industry secrets and give them back to the people. I ridicule the ridiculous. I also easily offend the easily offendable.
Of course you can go out and buy yourself such quality in the shop, in this case the price tag may reach approx. 20 000 -40 000 Euro, so anyone not needing such money is more than welcome to go and spend it. And after you buy it, I challenge you to meet me and compare. I will bring gear costing 1000 Euro and I will win.
My approach is to achieve best sound regardless of the cost, but fortunately my discovery is that it is not the money that make the sound, but intelligent choices.  This page is not a “poor man’s Hi-Fi”, it is about best hi-fi period.

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Executive brief: in this private website I summarized my 20 years of experience in designing, building and modyfying the stereo hi-fi equipment. Oryginally inspired by Audio-Note’ Peter Quvortrup philosophy of constant upgrading by better parts, I started a new era in my audio hobby – DIY. Then encouraged by Thorsten Loesch page I started learning about all things related to digital. In the countless articles  I try to share with others the various projects which I tried myself. I minimize the voo-doo talking, and try to ridicule the myths. As diplomma engineer I demistyfy many marketing fairy tales and I try to reward honest companies with my aplause. I do not differenciate between 100 USD dac from Hong Kong, or a 20 years old Philips for 20 Euro on ebay, a grandfathers’ SABA radio or Mark Levinson, Linn, Mc. Intosh or Wadia products. They all can be equally good or equally bad.
I deal with simple improvements, modifications, tweaks, very heavy surgery – all kinds of things you can do to improve your stereo. I also deal with buying HIFI online from Hong-Kong and China. There is a little bit about restoration of old gear, about room accoustics, and about listening enjoyment. Psychoaccoustics, soldering technique, measurements and component matching sometimes also appear in my pages.
You can find many confronting opinions, because what I deeply believed 20 years ago (that Scanspeak is the only good loudspeaker out there) is not necessarily my belief today. So in the form of BLOG rather than a finite webpage – I applaud many products like CD Player Grundig or ribbon tweeter Raven 2 to be World’s best. After some time, thanks to my relentless pursuit for truth – I discover new kings and report that finding to you. So don’t blame me for changing kings and queens every quarter or so. That is the very nature of the search. And by the way, the chase is better than the catch.

I devote great deal of time to tube technology, tubes in general and the circuits. I try many different Telefunken. Siemens, Amperex, Philips, Kenrad, Brimar and Sylvania tubes and I compare them to Russian military ones which I love. But of course YMMV.

Finally, I talk a lot about the tube output stage – the Lampizator. I think it is great. After 5 years of research on over 200 CD players I arrived at a conclusion that NOTHING beats properly made Lampizator stage, and  I described a couple of Lampizator variants with more than 20 different tubes.
I published a short summary of this experience in my DOC called LAMPIZATOR 2.0 which was released in july 2008.

خیلی خوب میشه این برند بیاد ایران و ما ببینیم تو سورس های زیر 3000 هزار دلار چه پاسخی به ما میده. گزارشات زیر رو ببینید :

Vincent
TDA1541A chip (جالبه)
Theta
MHZS
Digilampizator
Goldmund (شاشید به این برند سوئیسی)
Shanling ()
Teac VRDS
Lampucera
Capacitors (اطلاعات جالبی در مورد خازنها)

بخش تازه ها اینجاست : http://www.lampizator.eu/Updates.html

تو بخش تازه ها مطالب زیادی برای خوندن وجود داره مثل:

http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/photogallery/STEPS/Lampizator.doc

که مرحله به مرحله مودیفای رو توضیح داده و یا رنکینگ سورس ها در:

http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/CD_player_ranking.html.

چیزهایی هم در مورد ساخت بلندگو اینجا نوشته:

http://lampizator.eu/SPEAKERS/PROJECTS/P24/P24_monster_speakers_raal_altec_lansing.html

و لیستی از سورس های ارزان :

0.  Sony XA5ES
1. ARCAM CD73 (Wolfson based, price circa 400 GBP on ebay) (and all other Arcams with Wolfson) Also new WM8741 based Arcam CD17 – yummy !
2. Nakamichi CDP-2E with TDA1541A, Sony CDP557ESD with BB PCM64 DAC
3. Philips 753 and 751 with Philips TDA1549 DAC (and Marantz cd5000 and CD48)
Luxman D-103u
4. Sony CDP-555ESD with TDA1541, Kenwood DP8010 with PCM58P, Sony CDP338ESD with BB-PCM58P DAC
5. Cambridge Audio CD3, CD2
6, JVC 1050Z with K2 filter and JVC DAC
7. Maxi Lampucera with CS4397 DAC from Cirrus (needs transport)
8. SATCH DAC with the TDA1541AS2 (needs transport) now it even comes with factory installed lampizator
9. Cambridge AZUR 540-640 with Wolfson DAC
10. Copland CDP 289
11. Zhalou DAC 2,5 MK2 and 3,0 (needs transport) based on CS4397 and 98
11.B) LITE DAC-AH with 8 x TDA1543 DAC
12. ZERO DAC with AD1852 DAC chip
13.  Bang and Olufsen CD5500 (TDA1541a)
14.  MHZS 66 and 88 (Yes, they sound quite nice ) based on Burr-Brown 1742 DAC
15. Creek CD60
16  AMC CD9
17. Pioneer PD-S06
18. Kenwood DP8010
19. Philips CD 930 and CD 940 which is the same

and of course – all Audio Note DACs (not players) – they are on position ZERO above all players listed.

اینجا هم در مورد عشق بنده Audio Note DAC 4 نوشته که جالبه اگر ترنسپورت CEC رو با DAC آئودیونت جمع کنیم چون اینجور که بوش میاد آئودیو نت خیلی ترنسپورت ساز نیست. میگه :

The power transformers are all EI (Audio Note hates toroids)

مقایسه ترنسپورت ها رو اینجا ببینید که CEC هم تو شون هست :

http://www.lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/TRANSPORT/Transportbattle.html

در مورد آمپلی فایر هم چیزهای جالبی نوشته :

http://www.lampizator.eu/AMPLIFIERS/AMPS.html

1. In pentode tube amps ALLWAYS make a triode mode conversion (unless there is a switch to change the modes). This applies to ultralinear circuits etc.
Triode mode pentodes sound great, but in pentode mode – they sound really BAD. Bad bad bad. The mod is easy and costs nothing.

2. In the input section – remove and short all series resistors – we don’t need any of them. Tubes are happy when coupled to each other directly.

3. sometimes there is too many paralell resistors which form – together with series resistors – some signal attenuators. Get rid of all of them except the resistor which goes from tube grid to ground. Every small tube needs grid grounding resistor, value between 200K to 1 M.
The first input tube may use the volume pot as a resistor – so the paralell R can go out.

4. I like triodes without the cathode capacitor. Most amps use an electrolytic cap across the cathode resistor. Remove it and maybe you can decrease the cathode resistor by half. This sounds much cleaner.

5. Coupling caps: all tubes connect to the next tube by a series cap. Use sizes like 0,47 uF or more in the first stage, and over 1 uF in driver stage. use the RADIAL wound, round type not the box type and not the oval. Radial is the way to wind a good cap.
The best type is paper in oil (PIO) type, copper foil is the best electrode material. (jensen or audionote) or any decent MKP.

6. I routinely remove the global feedback loop and never I found it to be a problem. Without feedback EVERY amp that I know – performed better – more open, louder, with deeper bass, more magic, more what I like.

Thats basically all we need to do. The improvement depends on the circuit but usually the mods open up the sound a great deal. Triode mode is most important of them all. Theoretically we “loose power” but subjectively the sound is louder, more spacious and free. Wery well worth doing.

اینم بهترین هایی که این آدم شنیده از نگاه خودش :

# Best speakers I ever heard:
Audio Artistry Grand Beethoven. (I will never forget the demonstration). That memory lead me to creation of P12 the best of the best projects of my life)
# and — My own P-12 INNERLIGHT- Alnico open baffle.
# Worst audio system:
the award for worst sound at Frankfurt 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999 goes to full Naim system. Demonstrated by NAIM, so cant blame the set-up or component matching. Everything that I hate about reproduction, in one ugly package.
# Best Audio sound: at Frankfurt 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999 goes to STAX Omega headphone system.
# Worst demonstration of well regarded audio system in the history: Grande Utopia speakers driven by Carin monos at Warsaw Holiday Inn.
# Best cables regardless of the price:
IC: Audio Note AN-VZ
Loudspeaker: Audio Note AN-SPZ in biwiring mode.
# Best budget IC: Goertz Sapphire , Nordost Blue Heaven
Best small loudspeaker without bass: Sonus Faber Guarnieri Homage.
# Best CD transport: Audiomeca Mephisto with Audio Note AN-Vx analogue cable as digital.
# Best CD player: Tube Technology Fulcrum. Best economy player: Copland 289
# Best small signal tube: 6H2P (for 6922 circuits it is a revelation). In every application it is a revelation. Head and shoulders above other, not counting real exotica NOS. MUCH better than the 6H30P so called supertube by mr. Khomenko.
# Best Amplifier regardless of price: Audio Note Ongaku. No comments.
# Best capacitors for de-coupling:  Audio-Note copper foil paper in oil, and same goes for the tweeter cap. But beware: they tend to BREAK short very easily for no reason at all.
# Best solid state amplifier: TACT Millennium Mk2.
# Best recorded CD for testing of the equipment:  Shirley Horn – “Remembering Miles”. Patricia Barber: “Modern Cool”
# Best vinyl playback: Clearaudio deck and cartridge.
# Best power tools for woodworking: Kress
# Best DAC chip – Philips TDA1541aS2

برندهایی که از نظر ایشون پدرسوخته نیستند اینجاست :

http://www.lampizator.eu/Thegoodthebadandtheugly.html

SONY
Audio-Note
Twisted Pear (Russ Audio)
Copland
Cambridge
Saba (till 1970’s)
Arcam
Meridian
Grundig till 1990
DUAL
Philips
Yamaha
NAIM
Audio Alchemy
Tube Technology
TEAC
Kenwood
BAT
VAC
PS Audio
Audiomeca
Revox
Creek
Marków
AMC

نگاهش به فیلتر برق هم جالبه :

http://www.lampizator.eu/AC%20FILTER/SILK/FILTER.HTML

میگه :

http://www.lampizator.eu/NIRVANA/nirvana.html

So what do I mean by the state of audio Nirvana?

Let me list some very basic conditions:
1. The music in our room sounds drop dead gorgeous
2. five seconds after closing of our eyes and listening we can visualize all musicians and their instruments. We can follow each instrument and each thread easily and we can enjoy the piece as a whole
3. We do not have absolutely any clue that we listen to stereo not musicians (with eyes closed)
4. When the music is touchy we get goose bumps
5. When we listen to good albums we continue all the way to the end and we finish with an eargasm
6. We have zero itch to tweak, sell, buy or upgrade. System becomes unimportant and invisible
7. 10 out of 10 visitors, be it audiophiles or regulars, comment that they never heard better music reproduction
8. The illusion of  “they are here” or better “I am there” is so real it is truly scary. The room in our brain is totally replaced by the perception of the recorded event.
9. The music sounds fantastic at REALISTIC levels that means at the sound level similar to the loudness at the original event (usually this means bloody LOUD)
10.  I cant think of point number ten just for the sake of having a nice round list of 10.

How not to get to audio Nirvana

1. Read all audio magazines. Especially cut through the writing straight to the verdict.
2. Pay attention to 5 star products only.
3. Invest in shakti stones, spiked cones, snake oil, CD demagnetizers, anti vibration platforms, cables that contain silver and gold,
4. Pay attention to CD players which have lowest THD (total harmonic distortion) and amplifiers which have highest damping factor above 1000
5. Regularly visit your friendly dealer and without any strings attached let him get you hooked on the latest Stereophile Recommended Levinson 959.05 for 33 000 USD like a bargain
6. Fill your room with bass traps, diffusers, and sound lenses
7. Move to the basement and build a dedicated room isolated from family, friends, relatives and fresh air.
8. Go to every audio show you can
9. replace all capacitors with Black Gates and all resistors with Vishays and all diodes with Hexfreds IMMEDIATELY.
10. Play the pink noise at max volume and leave the system on repeat for one week.
11. Buy a 10 KWatt pure sinus replicator generator and feed your system with proper AC, and immediately  the music will just sound heavenly … dead. The master guru in the magazine said that the AC is really out of shape these days and that it is REALLY bad for the system.

خیلی نوشته بالا باحاله

ببینید سورس شما از چه چیپی استفاده میکنه :

http://www.vasiltech.nm.ru/files/cd-players/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm

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The Emperor’s and the Beatnk’s New Clothes by Jack Roberts from dagogo

سه شنبه ۲ شهریور ۱۳۸۹
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Comments Closed

متن زیر رو آقای ژاک رابرتز نوشته ، خوب بخونید ببینید چی گفته :

a.Editor’s Note: This Beatnik article was due to appear on July 16 but delayed because of preparations for the inaugural California Audio Show until now. Both the author and the editor wish to thank our readers for your understanding and support.
If you’re an audiophile, I hope what I’m about to talk about isn’t going to make you feel like the Emperor did when he discovered he was stark raving naked. I have to confess, it kind of had that effect on me, but in a more gradual way. So, just in case you don’t know, here are four facts that will free you to enjoy this wonderful hobby of listening to recorded music.

Fact #1
Amps, preamps, turntables, and not even speakers have any sound at all by themselves. We can talk all we want about how a speaker sounds, but I promise you they will sound different not only with different equipment, but also in different rooms.
This first fact goes a long way in explaining why even audiophiles who knows what they want, who have developed reasonably good listening skills, and over the years has grown tired of constantly upgrading, still changes equipment more often than he would like. You see most audiophiles do not understand the concept of buying a stereo. When I was a teenager no one went out and bought an amp, or a turntable; no, we got ourselves a stereo. We didn’t care what the parts sounded like, we cared about what came out of the speakers. Now, I know that’s an oversimplification, but we do seem to forget that the sound we hear is never the sound of one piece of equipment. What we listen to is the music made by the sound of the whole system.
The big problem is that lots of things cause the sound of a system to change, not just audio stuff. If you don’t believe me, you’ve probably never had to move a system from one room to another. Then there’s all the things in your house that share the AC. You can eliminate this to a significant degree, but if your system is really dialed in then you need to know that running dedicated lines will change the sound. Yes, in most cases for the better, but not always if when dialing in your system you compensated for the AC grunge.
One of the systems I owned along my audiophile journey was a full Linn/Naim system back in the mid-seventies. This system tried to eliminate as many things as possible that could affect the sound of the system. It even made the assumption that all rooms had walls, so why not design the speakers to literally be in contact with the rear wall (the stands for the SARAs, had metal pieces that you pushed up against the wall). In some ways this was one of the best sounding systems I’ve ever owned, but I just couldn’t adjust to the sound of sand amps in the end.
The problem of anticipating how changes will affect the sound of a system is very hard to figure out. There can be lots of reasons for trying to build a system with the sound you want. I’m not suggesting that you should just buy a system from one company, neither am I talking about simply buying components that work synergistically with each other. What I’m talking about is learning to identify the sounds and parts of a live musical performance that you want most in your home system and then working hard until you establish it in your room. The hard part is listening and trusting your ears to put together this system that sounds like music to you. There are all kind of things to try when tuning a system. For instance, moving the listening chair closer or further away can make a big difference, especially in getting the bass right. Look at what and where to hang on your walls. Speaker placement is always huge, but sometimes we don’t spend enough time on toe-in or even toe-out experimentations. I could go on, but simply, you have to work hard and trust yourself. I can’t overstate the part about trusting yourself; no one else can do the final voicing of your system to meet your desires and objectives.

Fact #2
What your equipment sits on really does make a difference in how your system sounds.
From what I have observed most audiophiles fall into one of two camps in regard to what they put their equipment on. Most underestimate the impact on the sound of their system that is made by what their equipment sits on. Of course, there are also those who go to the other extreme.
Most fall into the first camp for several reasons, not the least of being how expensive most audiophile racks are. There is also the matter of ignorance or simply not appreciating the effects of structural and airborne vibrations on the sound of the system. Maybe it all goes back to the cinder blocks and boards we used in college that gives us the attitude that when it comes to racks, if it holds the equipment in place that’s good enough. Some of us have gone so far as to buy expensive spikes, ball bearings, pucks, and many other things, but we don’t deal with the thing our system sits on. Just going out and buying an expensive audiophile rack will not necessarily make your system sound better, because I’ve heard some very expensive racks that literally rob all the life out of the music; and others that make the systems sitting on them sound hard and sterile. I know you want me to name the racks, but that misses the point, because I’ve heard the same racks sound great in one system and bad in another.
The key is to be willing to work on the sound of your whole system and to know that what your equipment sits on really does affect the sound you hear. I’ve tried a lot of things, 4-inch thick maple, different woods in other thickness, slate, granite, corian, bamboo, and others. After years of trying all these things with all kind of different footers, what I’ve found that I liked best are solid wood tables made by master furniture makers.

Fact #3
Never underestimate the effect your room has on the sound you hear.
Years ago, I discovered it was a total waste of time for me to evaluate equipment in a room other than my own. Over the years there have been a few friends’ listening rooms that I came to know the sound as good as my own, but even then I could only get a glimpse into how something would sound in my system. In the end, all that ever matters to me is how something affects the sound of the system in my room. Just think about all the ways that rooms are different. Does the room have hardwood floors or carpeting: stucco, plaster, or sheetrock; windows on both sides or no windows at all; rectangular, square or irregularly shaped; high or low ceilings; small, medium, or large dimensions; lots of furniture and bookcases or sparsely furnished; lots of lights, lamps, computers, or other stuff on the same AC breaker, or a dedicated line. I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting, but you get the idea. Then there is the fact that the room is the thing that is hardest to work with for several reasons. For many audiophiles, the first and biggest reason is the old “wife acceptance factor,” but there is also the fact that most people have no idea how to work with their room so they just opt for putting it off to later. The only problem with this is it may cause you to waste lots of money when all you needed to do is move a chair, or hang some drapes.
The reason I’m writing about all this right now is because I’m getting ready to change some things in my own room and I’m wondering how my sound will survive the changes. One of the changes involves upgrading the AC in my house to solar-powered. I’ve done a lot of research to see how this will effect my sound system, but in the end I can’t know until it’s done. Another change is brought about by my wife’s horror that we still have the same old worn out carpet in the listening room. She wants me to get rid of the carpet for something more modern, like stained concrete, hardwood, bamboo, or maybe cork. My problem is that I can’t decide what kind of floor would change the sound of my system the least, or at least not make it worse.
Now, I bring all this up because I want us all to be more conscience of the sound of our system in our room, not because I want to write reviews that talk about how the midrange, bass, and soundstage of a cork floor sounds compared to stained concrete. I’ve got an idea: how would you enjoy a comparative review of the sound of different drapery material? I sure hope you think this is ridiculous and I have no plans of writing such reviews, but who knows, there are lots of reviews written about the furniture we sit our equipment on. I even read a review a few years ago of a product from Italy called “Audio Carpet”.
While all those things do affect the sound, and are part of putting a system together, that doesn’t mean we need people to start making audio carpet or audio drapes. It does mean we need to think about the system as a whole before we do the audiophile thing and just go out and buy a new component. I dare say that if you have been in this hobby for over twenty years you can name several pieces of equipment you should have never gotten rid of but did. The problem is while it’s expensive, it is also easy to buy new stuff. There’s also the fact that the brain almost always tricks you into liking something you’ve just spent big bucks on is good.
Before you buy a lot of expensive acoustical treatments, move things around. Move furniture, movie paintings, hang different things on the walls, open and close drapes. Yes, I have about $2,000 in acoustical treatment in my room, but moving my listening chair and hanging an alpaca rug, made just as much difference. Never forget everything in the room either vibrates, absorbs, reflects, or defuses the sound. Thus, everything affects the sound, so you have to work at it, not just throw money at it.

Fact #4
Once you get it right have enough sense to leave it along.
It take so much work to get electronics to sound like music in a room not built for sound, that when you get where you love it, don’t go and muck it all up. If there is one thing I have learned as a review, it’s that you can only change one thing at time, if you want to know how that one thing affects the sound. It has taken me ten years of work in my current listening room to get it where it is now, and I can tell you that small changes can really mess up the sound. Don’t go and sell something to buy something new until you have heard them both in your room. Sometimes it pays off, but honestly it a crap shot to whether it will make your sound better or worse.
So, I hope with a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck you’ll find yourself boppin’ to your favorite music in your own home.

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