6 ms·

NwAvGuy: The Audio Genius Who Vanished (2014)

33 points by monort 11y ago

irixusr 11y ago
I was very pleased yesterday to see someone posted one of his articles. When I first discovered him a few years ago I read them with great enthusiasm; all the electrical theory I learned came together and clicked (for audio anyways)
dkbrk 11y ago
According to whois he's still around as of 2015: Domain Name: NWAVGUY.COM Registrar: 1 & 1 INTERNET AG Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 83 Whois Server: whois.1and1.com Referral URL: http://1and1.com Name Server: NS57.1AND1.COM Name Server: NS58.1AND1.COM Status: ok https://www.icann.org/epp#OK Updated Date: 10-mar-2015 Creation Date: 09-mar-2007 Expiration Date: 09-mar-2016
- GSegbar 11y ago
  So come March 9th and if it doesn't expire, we'll know somebody is taking care of things.
Tobold 11y ago
Is it really a violation of the ND clause to PRODUCE something from a changed version of the "SOURCE CODE" (so to speak)? As long as the changed version is not being distributed...?
keithpeter 11y ago
Quote from the 'details' page [1] "Perfboard DIY – Don’t try this! While a basic Cmoy might work cobbled together on perfboard or protoboard the O2 is different. The higher performance and greater complexity mean you’ll almost certainly have problems without using a proper PC board." Does anyone have any insight into the nature of the problems that might result from a quick lash up on Veroboard? PS: the comment made in the OA about the verbosity of NwAvGuy certainly struck a chord!
- VLM 11y ago
  Section 2-29 of: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-design-process.html http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-design-process.html And the entire article at: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/virtual-grounds-3-channel-amps.html http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/virtual-grounds-3-channe... Its easy to make something that amplifies, but he's trying to make something that provides specs maybe 10x to 10000x better than human hearing can detect, which is much harder. You can build something that outputs 0.1% THD and you won't be able to hear it, but he wants (wanted?) to build to 0.001% THD and he's got the rather expensive test equipment required to prove it. JDS labs sells a PCB for less than the cost of shipping (you'll spend more on UPS than on the board) or a full parts kit for $60. This has been around for years and I've been tempted but haven't built one. I just checked JDS and its still in production and in stock. Being CC- licensed there are probably other places to get PCBs and kits.
  - keithpeter 11y ago
    "Let’s take a quick detour and look at vibration damping. Vacuum tubes, and certain components in very high gain circuits like phono preamps, can be “microphonic”—vibrations can affect them in audible and measurable ways" OK, I'll do the reading (verbose-ness!). The quote above makes a degree of sense - I can remember valve based consumer electronics and having fun with the microphonics. Dad used a piece of dowling with a grommet on the end to check for valves that 'rang' so he could replace them.
CyberDildonics 11y ago
This is an advertisement - Any time there is a model number or a price in an article it has been placed by someone who paid to have the article written. EDIT - I guess people don't understand why they see articles like this when they do.
- kabdib 11y ago
  I just read a bunch (more) about audio design, which I find very interesting. As a software engineer who is getting an electronics lab together, after a 40 year hiatus, things like this are worthwhile. Definitely beats another hiring thread on HN :-)
crikli 11y ago
I was recently in the home of an old friend who reps for a few ultra high end audio companies. The entry level speakers were $30k. The mids, $90k. The 700lb top shelf models? $220k. Some things exist purely so they can have their purchase price shared and in the instance of high end audio, I can only imagine the margins involved. If this guy made the waves the article implies then someone in the industry tracked him down and incentivized him to go away.
- overcast 11y ago
  While I'll agree that just about any decently made amplifier of the same power level, is just the same as the next. Speakers certainly do sound different. $220,000 different? Probably not, but out of every piece of audiophile stuff that is mostly hocus pocus, a set of speakers make the biggest difference. When it comes to solid state components, it's just all parts everyone else is using. The processing features are just about the only thing that separate them.
  - crikli 11y ago
    Probably not? Definitely not. At damn near a quarter mil for speakers you're way beyond the what the human ear can detect on the curve of diminishing returns. We agree though about speakers and the quick win they represent. They're like your car's tires, the primary interface between you and the medium, and an upgrade is the lowest hanging fruit.
    - overcast 11y ago
      Cost is irrelevant honestly, it's just an entirely different market. Just like hyper cars. Are the Zondas, Ageras, and Venenos worth $2+ million. Of course they aren't. You're paying for the prestige and image. Price is just what someone is willing to pay for.
      - crikli 11y ago
        Once the conversation shifts from performance to prestige and image, you're back to my original statement, which is about something existing primarily to have its purchase price shared. Your car example is perfect. If performance was the only metric the buyer of a Pagani cared about, he'd have bought a ZR-1 Corvette. But because anyone with a six figure income and a 730+ FICO can buy a Vette, the gazillionaire buys the Pagani, something that exists (in part) because it projects the buying capability of it's owner.
mring33621 11y ago
The solution is simple: 1) make your design changes 2) email the NwAvGuy with your plans and a requested deadline of 30 days for a response 3) if he does not respond negatively by the deadline, feel free to proceed with your plans 4) NwAvGuy may then choose to pursue legal means of enforcing his strange license choice, or not I'm betting not.
apohn 11y ago
I used to be fairly active on a popular Headphone Forum, both before and after NwAvGuy appeared and disappeared on that forum. Nobody with a real engineering background and strong belief in the scientific process could actively participate in that community and maintain a healthy state of mind. Lots of people simply cannot let go of the possibility that maybe they cannot actually hear they things they claim they can, and there is a severe psychological bias to supporting people's fancies, spending, and quests for "perfection." NwAvGuy is unique in that he tried to educate (and was very adamant about this) the community and designed a superior and relatively inexpensive DAC/Amp to show people that many other people building eqiupment were full of crap. And because of this I think somebody would have tried to harm him if he ever revealed his identity - I'm not exaggerating. There were/are a lot of people who tried to help on that forum by presenting general engineering principles and sensible methodologies (e.g. volume matching) for testing. And eventually they all stopped participating because any push towards a scientific methodology was responded to with vitriol and hate. So I'm not surprised he just vanished. I used to get attacked for asking the most basic questions (e.g. did you try to volume match when comparing two amps). I can't imagine the hell he went through. Why would you tolerate that hostility for a hobby?

33 points by monort 11y ago

I was very pleased yesterday to see someone posted one of his articles. When I first discovered him a few years ago I read them with great enthusiasm; all the electrical theory I learned came together and clicked (for audio anyways)

dkbrk 11y ago

According to whois he's still around as of 2015: Domain Name: NWAVGUY.COM Registrar: 1 & 1 INTERNET AG Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 83 Whois Server: whois.1and1.com Referral URL: http://1and1.com Name Server: NS57.1AND1.COM Name Server: NS58.1AND1.COM Status: ok https://www.icann.org/epp#OK Updated Date: 10-mar-2015 Creation Date: 09-mar-2007 Expiration Date: 09-mar-2016

GSegbar 11y ago
So come March 9th and if it doesn't expire, we'll know somebody is taking care of things.

Tobold 11y ago

Is it really a violation of the ND clause to PRODUCE something from a changed version of the "SOURCE CODE" (so to speak)? As long as the changed version is not being distributed...?

keithpeter 11y ago

Quote from the 'details' page [1] "Perfboard DIY – Don’t try this! While a basic Cmoy might work cobbled together on perfboard or protoboard the O2 is different. The higher performance and greater complexity mean you’ll almost certainly have problems without using a proper PC board." Does anyone have any insight into the nature of the problems that might result from a quick lash up on Veroboard? PS: the comment made in the OA about the verbosity of NwAvGuy certainly struck a chord!

VLM 11y ago
Section 2-29 of: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-design-process.html http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-design-process.html And the entire article at: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/virtual-grounds-3-channel-amps.html http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/virtual-grounds-3-channe... Its easy to make something that amplifies, but he's trying to make something that provides specs maybe 10x to 10000x better than human hearing can detect, which is much harder. You can build something that outputs 0.1% THD and you won't be able to hear it, but he wants (wanted?) to build to 0.001% THD and he's got the rather expensive test equipment required to prove it. JDS labs sells a PCB for less than the cost of shipping (you'll spend more on UPS than on the board) or a full parts kit for $60. This has been around for years and I've been tempted but haven't built one. I just checked JDS and its still in production and in stock. Being CC- licensed there are probably other places to get PCBs and kits.
- keithpeter 11y ago
  "Let’s take a quick detour and look at vibration damping. Vacuum tubes, and certain components in very high gain circuits like phono preamps, can be “microphonic”—vibrations can affect them in audible and measurable ways" OK, I'll do the reading (verbose-ness!). The quote above makes a degree of sense - I can remember valve based consumer electronics and having fun with the microphonics. Dad used a piece of dowling with a grommet on the end to check for valves that 'rang' so he could replace them.

CyberDildonics 11y ago

This is an advertisement - Any time there is a model number or a price in an article it has been placed by someone who paid to have the article written. EDIT - I guess people don't understand why they see articles like this when they do.

kabdib 11y ago
I just read a bunch (more) about audio design, which I find very interesting. As a software engineer who is getting an electronics lab together, after a 40 year hiatus, things like this are worthwhile. Definitely beats another hiring thread on HN :-)

crikli 11y ago

I was recently in the home of an old friend who reps for a few ultra high end audio companies. The entry level speakers were $30k. The mids, $90k. The 700lb top shelf models? $220k. Some things exist purely so they can have their purchase price shared and in the instance of high end audio, I can only imagine the margins involved. If this guy made the waves the article implies then someone in the industry tracked him down and incentivized him to go away.

overcast 11y ago
While I'll agree that just about any decently made amplifier of the same power level, is just the same as the next. Speakers certainly do sound different. $220,000 different? Probably not, but out of every piece of audiophile stuff that is mostly hocus pocus, a set of speakers make the biggest difference. When it comes to solid state components, it's just all parts everyone else is using. The processing features are just about the only thing that separate them.
- crikli 11y ago
  Probably not? Definitely not. At damn near a quarter mil for speakers you're way beyond the what the human ear can detect on the curve of diminishing returns. We agree though about speakers and the quick win they represent. They're like your car's tires, the primary interface between you and the medium, and an upgrade is the lowest hanging fruit.
  - overcast 11y ago
    Cost is irrelevant honestly, it's just an entirely different market. Just like hyper cars. Are the Zondas, Ageras, and Venenos worth $2+ million. Of course they aren't. You're paying for the prestige and image. Price is just what someone is willing to pay for.
    - crikli 11y ago
      Once the conversation shifts from performance to prestige and image, you're back to my original statement, which is about something existing primarily to have its purchase price shared. Your car example is perfect. If performance was the only metric the buyer of a Pagani cared about, he'd have bought a ZR-1 Corvette. But because anyone with a six figure income and a 730+ FICO can buy a Vette, the gazillionaire buys the Pagani, something that exists (in part) because it projects the buying capability of it's owner.

mring33621 11y ago

The solution is simple: 1) make your design changes 2) email the NwAvGuy with your plans and a requested deadline of 30 days for a response 3) if he does not respond negatively by the deadline, feel free to proceed with your plans 4) NwAvGuy may then choose to pursue legal means of enforcing his strange license choice, or not I'm betting not.

apohn 11y ago

I used to be fairly active on a popular Headphone Forum, both before and after NwAvGuy appeared and disappeared on that forum. Nobody with a real engineering background and strong belief in the scientific process could actively participate in that community and maintain a healthy state of mind. Lots of people simply cannot let go of the possibility that maybe they cannot actually hear they things they claim they can, and there is a severe psychological bias to supporting people's fancies, spending, and quests for "perfection." NwAvGuy is unique in that he tried to educate (and was very adamant about this) the community and designed a superior and relatively inexpensive DAC/Amp to show people that many other people building eqiupment were full of crap. And because of this I think somebody would have tried to harm him if he ever revealed his identity - I'm not exaggerating. There were/are a lot of people who tried to help on that forum by presenting general engineering principles and sensible methodologies (e.g. volume matching) for testing. And eventually they all stopped participating because any push towards a scientific methodology was responded to with vitriol and hate. So I'm not surprised he just vanished. I used to get attacked for asking the most basic questions (e.g. did you try to volume match when comparing two amps). I can't imagine the hell he went through. Why would you tolerate that hostility for a hobby?