Audio
Engineering Society
Upper Midwest Section
Upcoming Events:
More Information Coming Soon...
Our section plans to offer a
few different events each year. We also encourage members, especially
those outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to organize your own local
events. Contact us for assistance in planning local events-we want to
help! This
is your AES Section. Please continue to give us feedback on how we can
make it more effective for you. Also send along audio events that we can
pass along via the web site or newsletters.
Regards,
John Nygren
Chair, AES Upper Midwest Section
The Audio Engineering Society,
now in its fifth decade, is the only professional society devoted
exclusively to audio technology. Its membership of leading engineers,
scientists and other authorities has increased dramatically throughout the
world, greatly boosting the society's stature and that of its members in a
truly symbiotic relationship.
The AES
serves its members, the industry and the public by stimulating and
facilitating advances in the constantly changing field of audio. It
encourages and disseminates new developments through annual technical
meetings and exhibitions of professional equipment, and through the Journal
of the Audio Engineering Society, the professional archival publication in
the audio industry.
Local
Section Activities: Section meeting
participation keeps members up-to-date with new developments and provides a
valuable avenue for exchange of ideas and experiences with other
professionals. This networking can serve to further career advancement.
Moreover, such participation offers the dedicated participant the
possibility of future involvement as an officer of the society.
SECTION OFFICERS
Chairman:
John Nygren
Vice Chairman:
Bruce Olson
|
Secretary:
Robert Barbour
|
Treasurer:
Jason Spartz
|
Committee:
Larry Glenn
David Igl
Greg Reierson
Erland Persson
Joe Dundovic
Brian Johnson
|
Contact Information:
John Nygren
740 Preakness Lane
Chanhassen,
MN 55317
Phone: 612 581 8766
http://www.aes.org/sections/uppermidwest/
|
Past
Events:
SMALL ROOM ACOUSTICS WORKSHOP:
Led by Bruce Olson and Brad Yost. This session
was held Saturday, March 25 at North Central University
In addition to being our Section’s Vice Chairman,
Bruce Olson is the AES Standards Steering Committee Vice Chair for the
Western Hemisphere, and chair of the AES Working Group on Grounding and EMC
Practices. Bruce is the founding member of OLSON SOUND DESIGN,
www.olsonsound.com, a consulting firm specializing in sound
system, technical systems and combined audio & video production/presentation
system design.
Brad Yost is a veteran designer, engineer, and
producer with numerous award winning projects to his credit as a specialist
in recording, mixing, studio design and consultation. As an acoustic
consultant, Brad has over 20 years of experience in system design, analysis,
and installation of systems both simple and complex.
Bruce and Brad will hold this workshop in NCU’s
Rehearsal/Recording area for which they creating the acoustical design.
UPPER MIDWEST SECTION HOSTS SPEAKER DESIGN PRESENTATION
AND MANUFACTURER TOUR:
On Thursday, March 2 The AES UPPER MIDWEST SECTION and
the Minneapolis Speaker Company (MISCO), hosted a meeting of 53 members,
student members and guests from a wide variety of ages and backgrounds.
Dan Digre of MISCO and consultant Mike Shields of DMSI
provided a journey through the design and manufacture of a custom
loudspeaker driver. Mike Shields presented diagrams and formulas explaining
electrical, acoustical, and mechanical models of loudspeaker performance.
Mike provided a discussion of the steps in selecting performance parameters
for an 8-inch woofer using design software to supplement his design
experience. Four of these specific 8-inch drivers together with an equalized
amplifier are used in the Model S48 active “Fast Woofer” by High Emotion
Audio. Mike later used the S48 to demonstrate the finished product and the
iterations in arriving at the equalization characteristics (www.highemotionaudio.com).
Dan then outlined the steps in choosing and evaluating
the multiple components of the speaker using SPEAD (by Red Rock Acoustics)
design software to provide the performance specified. A sample speaker using
the data derived during the presentation was assembled and tested. While
waiting for the glue to dry on the sample, MISCO provided tours of their
large OEM speaker manufacturing plant. MISCO was started by Cliff Digre,
Dan’s father some 50 years ago and is one of very few loudspeaker
manufacturing facilities remaining in the USA serving the OEM market. Cliff
Digre was also on hand to greet the participants and assist in giving
tours.
Mike reminded us that the ultimate evaluation of any
loudspeaker is “how does it sound?” This represents subjective evaluation
rather than an objective measurement which leads to larger questions of the
connection between what we know how to measure and what we can hear.
Saint Paul
MN: The Audio Engineering
Society - Upper Midwest Section held its most recent meeting at the McNally
Smith College of Music in downtown Saint Paul. The May 7th event
hosted three of the top designers of
high quality audio hardware.
- Dave Hill, proprietor of CRANE SONG in Superior,
Wisconsin is known world wide for his one-of-a-kind products. Dave designed
products for Summit Audio for ten years prior to starting Crane Song. His
pre-amps, mixers, and A to D converters have received rave reviews.
http://www.cranesong.com/
- Dan Kennedy, founder of GREAT RIVER ELECTRONICS
creates audiophile grade gear in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dan started by
developing quiet microphone preamplifiers for recording classical music
using ribbon microphones. After successfully producing these, Dan set out
to improve the performance of vintage hardware designs, and has also added
several well-received equalizers to his product line as well.
http://www.greatriverelectronics.com/products.html
- Wade Goeke of CHANDLER LIMITED in Waverly, Iowa
returned to Iowa after life in LA, and has built a reputation for making new
versions of classic devices. He is currently teaming with EMI/Abbey Road to
create hardware that brings back the sound of recordings by the likes of the
Beatles and Pink Floyd.
http://www.chandlerlimited.com/products/ltd1.php
Dave, Dan, and
Wade came together to discuss their products and how they go about dreaming up
and producing their critically-acclaimed gear. The event started with brief
introductions followed by a question and answer session that was moderated by
John Nygren (section chairman).
The panel
discussed a wide range of current audio design and operation issues such as:
·
The sound of transformers
versus electronically differentiated inputs/outputs.
·
What benefits result from
buying professional level equipment compared to budget level gear.
·
How the quality of cables
impact the performance of processors.
·
The impact of “pin 1” design
errors on noise prevention/rejection.
·
Interference between devices in
close proximity (heat, electromagnetic, ground loops, etc.).
·
The impact of phase shift on
the performance of audio designs.
·
The use of negative feedback
loops in amplifier designs.
·
How AC power conditioning
effects the performance of hardware.
·
Trends the panelists anticipate
in the audio hardware industry in the next 2 to 5 years.
·
The performance of digital
versus analog designs using the latest equipment and sample rates.
Product
demonstrations and discussions followed the event.
Over 50 people
participated in the event representing an even distribution between section
members, student section members and attendees from the local audio
community. The Upper Midwest section appreciates the generous participation
of Dan Kennedy, Wade Goeke, and Dave Hill in this meeting. We also thank
Thomas Day, Faculty Advisor, and his Student section at McNally Smith College
for providing their auditorium for this event.
Wade Goeke, Dave Hill,
Dan Kennedy, John Nygren Demonstration and discussion
Dan Kennedy, Dave Hill,
and Wade Goeke
Photographs taken by
Jason Spartz, (section treasurer)
