[sdiy] frequency counter

[phillip m gallo]

Yes.  But ... sadly the ear fatigues.

I find working with tuners, counters, 'scopes, increasingly and
qualitatively "calibrates" your "ear".  This allows you to develop a great
capacity to tune un-assisted by counters/tuners.

But serious "spend an hour, what happen if i do this" would seem to be
greatly aided by counters and tuners.

Because i could, the last VCO i brought up i used two Fz counters, a Seiko
tuner, DVM, 'Scope and ears (Pity my neighbors as this was 3:00 am). Each
served it purpose.

Casual (which means pre-session) tuning would seem to be an ear thing, but
"In progress" and "final cal prior to enclosing" really benefit from the
gear.

Proof that the ear and gear (!) appeal to different quality impressions is
the way certain parametrically lousy VCO's work well as part of a
synthesizer (ignoring evolved req's like between session stability and
repeatability).

regards,
p

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
[mailto:owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl]On Behalf Of WeAreAs1 at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 1:48 PM
To: peter at buzzclick-music.com; synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
Subject: Re: [sdiy] frequency counter



In a message dated 6/26/04 1:16:58 PM, peter at buzzclick-music.com writes:

<< I may be wrong, but it was my understanding that he was wasn't talking
about
the design stage in his original post.    He was talking about application,
after the circuit is completed.  Yes, a frequency counter is an absolute
necessity when designing or troubleshooting a circuit, especially a VCO.
But for using the synth afterward and tuning up your tracking, it's overkill
and will make the job much more difficult.

There are times I am brought in to Big City Music to adjust the 1V/oct
tracking of Analogue Systems' VCOs that have come out of adjustment due to
the shipment over the ocean.  Bare in mind that this adjustment on this
particular VCO is easier than most as there are separate trimmers for the
low end and the high end - much easier.  I follow the written procedure
which calls for a frequency counter - but do the final adjustment by ear.
"These are musical instruments, ... they should be tuned for those ears."

Yes.  These are musical instruments, designed to interface directly with our
ears (well, maybe you also need some speakers and some air...).  As such,
they
should be tuned for those ears.

BTW, I have hired a lot of piano tuners in my time, and none has ever used
an
electronic device to aid with the tuning.  They use their ears and a tuning
fork.  They even managed to do subtle "stretch tuning" with only their ears.
This has been the case even in situations where the tuner needed to tune a
piano in a noisy environment (in a noisy rock club or busy concert hall).
They
weren't just being stodgy traditionalists, they were doing what they knew
worked
best.

I'm not suggesting that Ian or anyone else get rid of their counter,
especially because it's useful during the design and troubleshoot process
(also, they
look very cool on the bench).  I do, however, suggest that once the design
is
set, that we tune our musical instruments with our ears.

Mike B.
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