Discussion
Loading...

Post

Log in
  • About
  • Code of conduct
  • Privacy
  • Users
  • Instances
  • About Bonfire
Woozle Hypertwin
Woozle Hypertwin
@woozle@toot.cat  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

Like a regular analog hi-fi amp, but oriented towards digital I/O and processing.

The front would be pretty similar to a standard analog hi-fi amp except mostly one big touchscreen (higher-end models would have more physical controls, cuz those are expensive).

The back would have a few analog I/O ports (RCA for your analog tape decks and maybe CD player or whatever) but the focus would be on accepting digital inputs via USB so you could share hi-fi speakers among two or more computers, not to mention phono turntables with USB output.

(Side note: getting that low-level moving-coil phono cartridge input to the amp without picking up A/C buzzing was always a challenge; it suddenly occurs to me that just having an ADC on the turntable and sending the signal over digitally is actually extremely practical, and doesn't sacrifice any quality as long as the ADC is good quality.)

Yeah, I know, probably nobody except @Harena and me would have any use for such a device... (we currently route the analog outs from our PCs and laptop through an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R, which works ok but the UX kinda sucks, in large part because of all the analog points-of-failure ...and I'd rather be using it for production.)

#HypertwinManor

crude pencil sketch of the rear panel of an imagined hi-fi device with 3 standard USB inputs, 2 USB-C inputs, and a reasonable selection of RCA inputs and monitor I/O pairs, as well as 2 pairs of speaker outputs
crude pencil sketch of the rear panel of an imagined hi-fi device with 3 standard USB inputs, 2 USB-C inputs, and a reasonable selection of RCA inputs and monitor I/O pairs, as well as 2 pairs of speaker outputs
crude pencil sketch of the rear panel of an imagined hi-fi device with 3 standard USB inputs, 2 USB-C inputs, and a reasonable selection of RCA inputs and monitor I/O pairs, as well as 2 pairs of speaker outputs
  • Copy link
  • Flag this post
  • Block
David Lindes
David Lindes
@lindes@toot.cat replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@woozle @Harena I presume by "amp" you mean what's sometimes called a "receiver"?

(Like, https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/tv-video-home-theater-sound-bars/c/av-receivers or https://onkyo.com/receivers/av-receivers or whatever.)

Because, I mean, if you just want an amplifier, then just get an amplifier, and it sounds like you already have an audio interface. But I assume you're looking for something that's combining these functionalities, yes?

Onkyo

AV Receivers | Onkyo

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
Woozle Hypertwin
Woozle Hypertwin
@woozle@toot.cat replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@lindes @Harena My understanding is that "amp" is a superset of "receiver", where a "receiver" is an "amp" with a built-in "tuner" -- but Your Vocabulary May Vary.

The important part is the ability to switch between (or, in this case, mix) inputs, and push the output to speakers.

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
David Lindes
David Lindes
@lindes@toot.cat replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@woozle @Harena See, coming from a theatre background, I think of "amp" as just "an amplifier" -- like, all it does is amplify signals to make big noise from the speakers... but, ok, sure. Anyway, terminology notwithstanding, we seem to be talking about the same thing -- a thing that not only amplifies, but also selects (or perhaps mixes) signals (and may or may not also include a radio tuner). (Wait, do you really want mixing, too? Or just selecting? Because... I'm inclined to think that might be a point at which you're really unlikely to get a satisfactory product, though if you just want selecting, I'm... not sure if it does exist, but I could certainly imagine it existing.)

Anyway, I can imagine why you might want such a thing, but.... I've been out of the audio loop for a while, so I don't really know what's out there, and a quick perusal of a couple of options that I thought might be helpful... weren't, so... 😕

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
Woozle Hypertwin
Woozle Hypertwin
@woozle@toot.cat replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

@lindes That's probably more in line with the musical/performance usage -- in that sense, an "amp" often isn't even stereo, and is intended for larger spaces than a residential room.

I'm using these terms in the home-audio sense.

@Harena

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
Woozle Hypertwin
Woozle Hypertwin
@woozle@toot.cat replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

P.S. Why can't I mark the image as not sensitive even though it's behind a CW? This seems like a UX designer's misunderstanding of the meaning/purpose of "CW"...

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
Woozle Hypertwin
Woozle Hypertwin
@woozle@toot.cat replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

I can almost think of ways to build a thing like this using entirely off-the-shelf parts -- like, take a large Linux tablet (or a RasPi with a suitably-sized touchscreen attached) and glue it to a box containing just a line-to-speakers amp, an ADAC with the necessary I/O ports, and a USB splitter...

(...can you use a USB splitter to combine multiple inputs on the device end? Is USB actually maybe symmetrical, under the hood? If not, then why does USB-C work at all? And... what about Naomi???)

The software would probably be the hard part, just because writing good software is time-consuming.

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block

bonfire.cafe

A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate

bonfire.cafe: About · Code of conduct · Privacy · Users · Instances
Bonfire social · 1.0.2-alpha.7 no JS en
Automatic federation enabled
Log in
  • Explore
  • About
  • Members
  • Code of Conduct