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--- audio:audio_by_van_alstine_work [2019/08/02 21:12] – mithat
+++ audio:audio_by_van_alstine_work [2020/01/02 17:38] – [Transcendence Five] mithat
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 I have done quite a bit of consulting work for [[https://avahifi.com|Audio by Van Alstine]] over the years. I'm summarizing below some of it. While I completed a number of smaller projects for AVA before 2002, I decided to pick up the story with the Transcendence Five as that is the first product that was my complete circuit design. The list below isn’t exhaustive.
-The focus of my work with AVA has always been to bring the highest standards of audio engineering to the company while fostering a more generous, considered, and inclusive view of the industry and its consumers.
+The focus of my work with AVA has always been to bring the highest standards of audio engineering to the company while helping to foster a more considered and inclusive view of the industry and its consumers.
 ===== Transcendence Five =====
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 New vacuum tube line stage to replace AVA’s existing design originally derived from the Dyna PAS 3.
-**Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.  I’m pretty sure this was the first commercial application of my vacuum tube computer optimization methods based on my [[https://www.birotechnology.com/articles/VTspice.html|SPICE model optimization work]] (i.e., there were two layers of computer-based optimization: one to model the tubes and the other to optimize the performance of the circuit).
+**Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.  I’m pretty sure this was the first commercial application of my vacuum tube computer optimization methods based on my [[https://www.birotechnology.com/articles/VTspice.html|SPICE model optimization work]].
-**Discussion:** I thought the time had come for AVA to have a new vacuum tube line-level stage to replace their aging 12AX7A-based design, and they agreed. I based the initial work around two stages of 12AT7A gain using heaps of the SPICE simulation to optimize the circuit behavior for audio reproduction. I originally wanted to apply my design optimization methods to a number of different tube triodes and subjectively evaluate the results, but after hearing the results with the 12AT7A, AVA decided to put the design into production immediately. A variant of this stage remains in production today in the form of AVA’s Fet Valve CFR and FetValve CF RB preamps.
+**Discussion:** I thought the time had come for AVA to have a new vacuum tube line-level stage to replace their aging 12AX7A-based design, and they agreed. I based the initial work around two stages of 12AT7A gain using heaps of SPICE modeling to optimize the circuit behavior for audio reproduction. I originally wanted to apply my design optimization methods to a number of different tube triodes and subjectively evaluate the results. But after hearing the results with the 12AT7A, AVA decided to put the design into production immediately. A variant of this stage remains in production today in the form of AVA’s Fet Valve CFR and FetValve CF RB preamps.
 ===== Transcendence Six =====
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 c. 2018
-Low-cost remote controlled volume circuit adaptable to the existing RB chassis.
+Low-cost remote controlled volume circuit adaptable to AVA's existing RB chassis.
 **Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.
-**Discussion:** Given the availability of a less costly remote control transmitter that I secured for the SLR and CFR chassis as well as AVA's newly founded ability to burn microcontrollers in house, it was natural to apply these toward a stripped-down remote control design for their RB (Real Basic) preamplifer chassis to replace the previous volume-only remote control first developed 14 years earlier. Again I expected AVA to adopt the remote control as standard equipment on the RB chassis, and again they decided to offer it as an option, albeit not as costly as the solution it replaced.
+**Discussion:** Given the availability of a less costly remote control transmitter that I secured for the SLR and CFR chassis as well as AVA's new ability to burn microcontrollers in-house, it was natural to apply these toward a limited-feature remote control design for their RB (Real Basic) preamplifer chassis to replace the existing design developed 14 years earlier. As was the case 14 years before, I expected AVA to adopt the remote control as standard equipment on the RB chassis, but again they decided to offer it as an option, albeit not as costly as the solution it replaced.
+===== The present =====
+I continue to provide ongoing consulting services to Audio by Van Alstine, particularly in the areas of digital audio, small-signal analog audio, low-power amplifier design, and user interface design. For reasons that should be obvious, I'm not at liberty to discuss projects under development.
 ===== The future =====
-I continue to provide consulting services to Audio by Van Alstine, particularly in the areas of digital audio, small-signal analog audio, low-power amplifier design, and user interface design. Within audio, my work focuses on developing solutions that represent true audio progress rather than producing colored signatures that happen to be fashionable. On a more general level, my design interests include a desire to bring greater equity to technological realms and to improve user experiences in every stage of product use. I try to bring all this to bear as much as possible in my work for AVA.
+Within audio, my work focuses on developing solutions that represent meaningful audio progress rather than chasing coloration signatures that happen to be fashionable. On a more general level, my design interests include a desire to bring greater equity to technological realms and to improve user experiences in every stage of product use. I try to bring all this to bear as much as possible in my work for AVA.