The Audio Expert: Everything You Need to Know About Audio

1116 Pages·2012·18.41 MB·English

by  Ethan Winer

The Audio Expert
Everything You Need to Know About Audio
Ethan Winer
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All figures and photos not explicitly credited are copyright © 2012 by Ethan Winer or
RealTraps, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or
medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein.
In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the
safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors,
assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of
assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of
products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods,
products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Winer, Ethan.
The audio expert : everything you need to know about audio / Ethan Winer.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-24082100-9
1. Sound—Recording and reproducing. 2. Music—Acoustics and physics. I. Title.
TK7881.4.W56 2013
621.389’3—dc23
2012006059
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com
12 13 14 15 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
For my Wife, Elli Mastrangelo Winer, who endured many late dinners and
missed pinball games during the ten months it took me to write this book.
Acknowledgments
It’s important to thank the people who were most influential over the
years in teaching me “how technology works.” First was Marty Yolles,
who, when I was about 12, spent many Saturday afternoons helping me
overhaul an old lawnmower engine I would later use for a home-made
go-cart. Then later in my teens and early 20s, Cliff Mills, Alan Podell,
Marvin Fleishman, and others graciously gave their valuable time to
answer my endless beginner questions about audio and radio electronics.
Later, Leo Taylor and I designed and built several analog synthesizers
and other audio devices, with Leo doing most of the designing and me
doing all of the learning. Leo worked as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard,
so I got to play with every type of audio test gear imaginable as we
created and refined our designs. Finally, my thanks especially to Bill
Eppler, who for more than 30 years has been my friend, mentor, and
advisor on all technical matters.
I mention these influences because, aside from lawnmower engines
and electronics, these people also taught me what I call the “ham radio
ethic” of sharing information freely and with endless patience. When I
grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, ham radio was popular, and many
towns had a local ham radio club where you could learn about
electronics for free in a friendly and informal atmosphere. This ethic of
sharing has been a driving force throughout my entire life. It was why I
wrote my first book in 1991—a manual for programmers to explain the
unpublished internal workings of Microsoft’s DOS BASIC compilers—
even though at the time I owned a software company that sold products
based on the same information! My company was unique because we
included all of the assembly language source code so people would not
only buy a packaged solution but could also learn how the programs
they bought worked.
It always bothers me when people are secretive or protective of
their knowledge, as if sharing what they know means they’ll no longer
be as valued or even needed. This is why today I continue—through my
posts in audio forums and articles on my personal website—to help
people build acoustic treatment, even though my current business
manufactures and sells acoustic treatment products.
Many people contributed and helped me over the ten months it took
to write this book. I’d like to thank Catharine Steers of Focal Press for
recognizing the value of this book and helping to make it a reality.
Carlin Reagan, also of Focal Press, guided me throughout the process.
Expert audio engineer and journalist Mike Rivers did the technical
review, offering many incredibly helpful comments and suggestions. My
friend, cellist, and electronics engineer, Andy Woodruff, provided
formulas for the decibels.xls spreadsheet, and also performed the cello
demonstration video. My friend, black belt electronics engineer Bill
Eppler, contributed his considerable wisdom and helped with fact
checking, as did microphone expert Bruce Bartlett, video expert Mark
Weiss, acoustics expert Wes Lachot, and loudspeaker maven Floyd Toole.
I must also thank Collin Wade for the saxophone demo; David Gale
for his violin expertise; Steve Isaacson and Terry Flynn, who
demonstrated the piano; expert arranger Arnie Gross for years of musical
tutoring; luthier Bob Spear for his string instrument expertise; and
composer Ed Dzubak, who contributed several pieces for the plug-in
effects demos. I offer my special thanks to John Roberts, a professional
electronics engineer and friend since we worked together in the 1970s,
for his many valuable suggestions.
About the Author
Ethan Winer is a reformed rock ’n’ roll guitar and
bass player who sold his successful software business in 1992 at the age
of 43 to take up the cello. Ethan has, at various times, earned a living as
a recording engineer, studio musician, computer programmer, circuit
designer, composer/arranger, technical writer, and college instructor. In
addition to a best-selling book about computer programming, more than
100 of his feature articles have been published in audio and computer
magazines, including Mix, PC Magazine, Electronic Musician, EQ
Magazine, Audio Media, Sound on Sound, Computer Language, Microsoft
Systems Journal, IBM Exchange, Strings, Keyboard, Programmers Journal,
Skeptic, The Strad, Pro Sound News, and Recording. Ethan is also famous
(some might say infamous) for his no-nonsense posts about audio science
in online audio forums.
Besides his interest in audio and computers, Ethan produced two
popular Master Class videos featuring renowned cellist Bernard
Greenhouse and five CDs for Music Minus One, including a recording of
his own cello concerto. His Cello Rondo video has received more than a
million views on YouTube and other websites. Besides writing, playing,
and recording pop tunes, Ethan has composed three pieces for full
orchestra, all of which have been performed publicly. He has also played
in several amateur orchestras, often as principal cellist.
Ethan lives in New Milford, Connecticut, with his wife Elli and cat
Noah. In 2002 he started the company RealTraps to manufacture bass
traps and other acoustic treatment, which he continues to this day.
When he’s not watching reruns of The Simpsons or writing music, Ethan
enjoys cooking and playing his collection of vintage pinball machines.