25th January 2012
So how can we begin our journey to educate our ears and gain a deeper appreciation of fine audio?
The natural starting point is to listen to live music. Listen to different types of live music in different locations. At Wolfson technical conferences, we have organised a church pipe organ classical recital (did you know our chief technical writer was so talented?), attended a concert by the flamenco guitarist Juan Martin, and spent time watching a local band in a recording studio. Each…
There are no categories assigned to this blog post
12th January 2012
That 3.5mm phone jack! It’s on just about every mobile phone and is a standard size and pretty rugged, but it’s amazing what accessory you can plug in there and a smartphone will recognise it and adapt accordingly. It’s also a challenge for those like Wolfson on the other side of the socket!
People expect to plug in headphones, which have three terminals, and headsets, which use four terminals (one extra for the microphone). They might plug in a lead to connect to their car audio system or home…
There are no categories assigned to this blog post
16th December 2011
We know what we like. A favoured bottle , an admired painting, a memorable meal. In learning the nuances of wine production, discovering more about the life of the artist or discovering the personality of the chef, we gain a deeper appreciation and subconsciously connect with the mind of the producer. A journey into fine audio can provide just such stimulation.
Like fine wine, fine whisky, fine art, fine cuisine, opening yourself to fine audio takes you on an emotional journey of discovery.…
There are no categories assigned to this blog post
16th December 2011
Twenty years ago I worked in an office where one desk phone was shared between four engineers and email was sent and received by the server twice a day. Today on my desk are four phones (two desk VoiP phones, mobile phone, PC headset) and email between desktop, phone and the rest of the world that takes seconds.
Each of the four phones sounds different. The worst call quality is international mobile-to-mobile and the best is PC to PC. The desk phones are made by different companies and fall…
There are no categories assigned to this blog post
6th December 2011
24-bit 96k FLAC files through a minimum-phase apodising digital filter is what it's all about - apparently.
Today I did some internal training on listening to music and discerning the differences between the different digital filters available in our flagship WM8741 DAC, which is used in high-end CD and media players. One of the available digital filters, named apodising, minimises pre-ringing, where an artificial sound is created just before a transient edge.
We had some active studio monitor…
There are no categories assigned to this blog post
