On Thu, Apr 06, 2006 at 11:52:04AM -0400, Timothy Miller wrote:
> On 4/6/06, Rene Herman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >
> > Anyways, this does not seem to be a market under consideration anyway.
> >
>
> I seeded the discussion with the idea of doing an ultra-high-end card
> because that absorbs parts costs. But we should not restrict
> ourselves to that. We need to design something that is profitable and
> relatively quick to market. I don't care what that product is, as
> long as it sells.
>
>
> Keeping in mind that what Howard, Andy, and I do best are chip design,
> board design, and low-level software development, it would be best to
> play mostly on those strengths. If we did audio with an external box,
> note that building cases is beyond our expertise; it doesn't mean we
> won't do it, it just means that we'll be less effective at that aspect
> of the design.
Well, that puts the discussion in context. I think a few of us were
tripping over the meaning of "high-end" audio. If you restrict it to what
can be done in a card that plugs into a computer, that's a whole different
kettle of fish.
I still think the trickiest part is requirements capture, though.
But, presumably, this groups knows a lot more about the purpose and
requirements for an in-computer sound card than a true ultra-high-end
audio-to-digital interface unit, which is what some of us evolved toward in
earlier postings.
The most difficult piece of parts shopping might be finding DAC
chips with an adequate production lifetime. The performance certainly
should be readily available.
One thing that might be worth considering is an opto-isolated bit
stream, leaving the audio output floating with respect to chassis ground, so
as to get rid of 60 Hz ground loops. Of course, that has to be done without
compromising EMI integrity.
Regarding external products with their own cases, some of us here
have experience with that. Mine is mostly with sheet metal, which is good
for rugged, EMI-hardened professional gear anyway. Injection-molded plastic
cases are horrendously expensive to tool, and the off-the-shelf ones look
crummy.
But I think a high-end professional recording product would just
exceed our resources, especially in requirements capture, and there isn't
any chip design to do in it anyway except maybe for a little FPGA glue
logic.
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