[sdiy] Another new hard to find part....

[Scott Gravenhorst]

jbv <jbv.silences at club-internet.fr> wrote:
>Hi all,

>Scott Gravenhorst
>> What I really hate about this is that mainstream electronics tends toward
>> digital microprocessor methods which don't seem to yet be able to do what
>> simple analogue circuits can do for music.  When analog is finally gone,
>will
>> the digital domain be able to satisfy our musical demands?  So far, it
>> doesn't look that great, IMHO.
>
>remark 1 : when I compare the time I used to spend 25 years ago designing +
>debugging modules & drilling PCBs full of TTL logic with the ease to design
>the
>same stuff around a uC or a basic stamp, I realize that I don't care much if
>big
>companies decide to drop TTL logic in dip package...
>Furthermore I don't think logic ICs had much influence on the analog sound...

Actually, my comment was more general regarding the demise of "discrete" ICs
such as OpAmps, OTAs, matched multi transistors, etc. in favor of more DSP like
approaches as are found in today's digital synths.  And logic parts can and do
find their way into analog circuits.  The 4069UB is prime example.  (note the
Wasp Filter and several distortion techniques...) Also the use of a JK or D
flipflop is extremely common to provide a suboctave.  Once these older
technology devices are gone, there will only be emulations which are "close but
no cigar".  Today's synth designer does not consider the characteristics of
this transistor or that opamp, rather, they implement things using mathematics.
 While there is nothing wrong at all with that, the demise of the other world
of parts subtracts those selections from our engineering pallette.  The DSP
driven synth world has also given rise to what many people (even you, I
believe) has complained about: lack of real pots for knobs.  Encoders give
quantized values, pots do not.  My own lab has both digital and analog stuff. 
I would hate to see a day where there is no more analog except for ridiculously
expensive and impossible to repair (due to unobtainium) vintage equipment. 

And here we are with 2+ GHz PCs and _still_ virtual analog synths suck, for a
variety of reasons.  If you want a virtual that works well (Chameleon) you're
no longer talking about anything "cheap".  And the ones that don't suck are
limited, unlike a true analog modular where if something you need is missing,
you just build it.  With the virtual world, you have to worry about how much
stuff the CPU will support before it gets bogged down and can't do it anymore.
 Analog is limited only by space, which you can make and power supply current
which you can add.

And please please please people, this is not a "analog is better than digital"
rant.  I said I have _both_ and use _both_ for good reasons.  There are things
digital does better and there are things analog does better.  I would prefer to
see both available.  To me, a musical world in which only DSP synths are
available is sadly lacking.


>remark 2 : in the late 60's & early 70's, when Bob Moog & friends used to cook
>
>their modulars, did they made efforts to use technology from 30 years ago ?
>Nope : they were just using parts of their time. And they managed to make
>wonders
>out of it.
>When compared to what was available back then, today's technology is pretty
>much
>likle a treasure island. So is there really any difficulty to design great
>stuff with today's
>technology ?
>Is nostalgia of analog sound really necessary ? Does digital really have to
>compete
>with analog ? Did analog have to compete with violins and drums ?
>Since I went back to synth diy circa 1996 (after 15 years), I've always
>suspected
>that the nostalgia for analog technology and sound had much to do with lack of
>
>inspiration (should I say "designers' lazyness" ?), rather than limited
>technology...
>I'm afraid that some of us complain about gone trannies, just like in the 70's
>some
>music fans used to lament about Hendrix' death, or later about Kurt Cobain's
>suicide...
>I've the feeling it's just nostalgia for the pleasure of it... Nostalgia of
>the thrill and
>difficulty to find parts & schemos in the 70's, when today everything is only
>a
>mouseclick away on the net... and 5 to 10 times cheaper...
>
>JB


---------------------------------------------------------
- Where merit is not rewarded, excellence fades.
- Hydrogen is pointless without solar.
- What good are laws that only lawyers understand?
- The media's credibility should always be questioned.
- The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist.
- Governments do nothing well, save collect taxes.

-- Scott Gravenhorst | LegoManiac / Lego Trains / RIS 1.5
-- Linux Rex         | RedWebMail by RedStarWare
-- FatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/FatMan/
-- NonFatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/
-- Autodidactic Master of Arcane and Hidden Knowledge.