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--- audio:audio_by_van_alstine_work [2021/03/21 02:44] – [DVA Digital Preamplifier] mithat
+++ audio:audio_by_van_alstine_work [2023/01/02 21:54] (current) – [DVA Digital Preamplifier] mithat
@@ Line 170: / Line 170: @@
 **Discussion:** Given the availability of a less costly remote control transmitter that I secured for the SLR and CFR chassis and AVA's new ability to burn microcontrollers in-house, it was natural to apply these to replace the more expensive and now 14 year old design still being used in their RB (Real Basic) preamplifer chassis. 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. As of early 2021, they have made it a standard feature for all preamps using this chassis design.
+===== RC3 =====
+c. 2020--2021
+Embedded design for IR remote control sending with silicone membrane switches.
+**Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.
+**Discussion:** To help address issues with supplier chains in AVA's existing remote control vendors, I decided it would be a good idea if they had the ability to vertically integrate remote control production as needed. This is the first fruit of that endeavor. It is a PCB based around a very low power microcontroller implementation and accompanying firmware that is retrofitted into one of AVA's existing vendor-supplied cases. The solution provides in-house customization of remote control codes and their timing.
 ===== DVA Digital Preamplifier =====
 c. 2018--2021
+**Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.
+**Discussion:** The DVA Digital Preamplifier is effectively an expansion of the DAC MK5. It reworks that product's output stage to provide a [[https://mithatkonar.com/blog/2020/10/14/dacs-and-the-differential-dilemma/|differential output]] as well as some gain while also implementing control of volume and input selection via a touchscreen and remote control. Thus, it eliminates the need for an analog preamp. This is, of course, how many users with primarily digital sources have been doing things for a long time now. It just took a bit of time to convince AVA of the advantages of this. Now that it's done, they are all-in. That said, getting to done was no easy feat. Development was beset by seemingly myriad hurdles, ranging from the [[https://www.strata-gee.com/akm-fire-2020-was-almost-over-then-disaster-struck-again/|fire at the AKM factory]] to the prolonged COVID-19 Great Parts Apocalypse.
+The DVA Digital Preamplifier also brought forth a new design aesthetic and chassis mechanics that I originally intended as a one-off transitional one. As is often the case, it took a good amount of work to convince AVA of the merits of making the change. But once the design was released, it received, for the first time ever for an AVA product, praise in the audiophile press for its aesthetics. Likely as a result of this, AVA asked me to design or redesign faceplates for a variety of new and existing products.
+What this means is that my original plan of transitioning to a completely new design program that takes updated user, business, and manufacturing requirements into full consideration will be delayed. I regard this as an odd manifestation of [[https://www.raymondloewy.org/loewy-biography/|Raymond Loewy's MAYA principle]].
+===== DVA A2D =====
+c. 2021
 **Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.
@@ Line 178: / Line 197: @@
 **Discussion:** Coming soon.
+===== DVA R2X =====
+c. 2021
+**Contribution:** Concept origination, development, and implementation.
+**Discussion:** Coming soon.
 ===== The present =====