PC4uMusic configurations presented to wider audience at AmberExpo on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea
The AmberExpo Congress and Exhibition Center hosted a Sound PC stand showcasing computers configured for optimal playback of recorded music. Several years of experience with dedicated videoconferencing systems have shown that PCs require "analog enhancement" to reproduce crystal-clear digital recordings, and this can be achieved by leveraging existing technical solutions for hi-fi and audiovisual equipment.
The most central part of the stand was an artistic vision of a PC without a case and it had a simple motherboard from Gigabyte. The CPU was from Advanced Micro Devices with a small and quiet fan that was enough for it. The motherboard also had a built-in circuit for FireWire connection, which at the time was considered the biggest hope for the future of sound, but for D/A and A/D conversion there was also a Realtek processor. The design for the PC without a case was created by the Swedish artist Per Oscar Dahlberg. The choice of the image over the motherboard was inspired by an art history student. The capacitors on the used motherboard reminded her of a housing estate. It enabled a discussion with several artists who visited the fair about their visions with PC4uMusic. The most exclusive vision was presented by a jewelry studio owner who came up with a proposal to use black (bog) oak, also known as Polish ebony.
Inside a transparent Plexiglas enclosure was presented PC with a Gigabyte motherboard with a galvanically isolated audio section and a built-in Creative Labs Sound Blaster Core3D audio processor. CPU was an Intel processor clocked at 4.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz for RAM. Audio was connected to the digital-to-analog converter via a specially designed Intel HD Audio (front panel connector)> 2x RCA (conectrors) adapter. This eliminated the drawbacks of connections with the 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) minijack socket used in PCs.
In the wooden case, in the style of exclusive hi-fi equipment, there was a PC with a card from the same manufacturer and a CPU from Intel and a built-in Realtek sound processor, as well as an additionally installed Sound Blaster X-Fi card. It was with a complete set of audio inputs and outputs via Intel HD > phono (RCA) adapters for both sound processors - the built-in and the sound card. This guaranteed an optimal connection for all signals that were to be played back with the audio system or digitally copied from analog media.
In another nearby stand, active studio monitors in a closed box with dual AB class amplifiers in the rear panel were presented. It was a two-way system with a coaxial element from SEAS. A Polish design with an electro-acoustic transducer from a Norwegian manufacturer using a marketing slogan The Art Of Sound Perfection is now one of the references in configurations PC4uMusic. Now the Audio Pro Solutions Coax can be completed with a dedicated subwoofer in a closed box, which has better impulse response than bass reflex. More can be found in the text 5.1 reference in optimal PC4uMusic configurations
PC4uMusic configurations can be made with the logic that was in products from British New Acoustic Dimension with a German business concept based on 3 main characteristics: performance, value and simplicity, which was perfectly realized by the Norwegian designer Bjørn-Erik Edvardsen , who is seen in the picture above ( in the upper corner). More about this is in the text Spartan concept in New Acoustic Dimension and PC4UMusic configurations.
The alternative is versatility as in Marantz American designs from the 70s, when their experiences from the mixer era were skillfully used for transistor applications and expanded with a wide range of technical innovations with support for quadraphonic recordings in CD-4 and SQ formats, as well as stereo FM broadcasts, also with Dolby B noise reduction. More in the text: American Marantz tradition also in PC4u Music configurations
Both approaches do not exclude that PCs can acquire elegance like that of the Danish Bang & Olufsen, which has led to the brand's RTV equipment finding its way to a permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. More on this in Bang & Olufsen elegance inspires PC4uMusic configurations
PC as a modern home tape recorder should also always work with precision, as with the Swiss ReVox. This brand of advanced audio equipment was created in 1951 by the Swiss company Studer, which was founded 3 years earlier, and their offer provided the highest quality for recording studios. About it the text: Revox reliability inspires in PC4uMusic configurations
AmberExpo also presents the concept of "4Performance" configurations , so that PCs can function under difficult conditions and serve "undiluted" music. They are intended for artistic visions, galleries and attractive bars, as well as modern DJs. The picture above shows an active subwoofer from such a set, which was used in the Sierakowski manor with a PA system from Box Elektronics and an HTPC with a DAB+ tuner. Sometime back in 1714, the mayor of Gdansk, Andreas Borckmann, built his summer mansion. Later, the manor was visited by, among others, the young Frédéric Chopin.
The PA system with the radio function was similar to the technical solution that Swedish Audio Pro had for the home in the 1970s with the Computer Controlled AM-FM Receiver TPA-150 and active B2-40 ACE bass with a pair of passive satellites S2-7.
However, the ACE subwoofer could not drive satellites, so you had to use the TA-150 or a receiver that you already had at home. The TPA-150 was intended to be used with active 3-way A4-14. Karl-Erik Ståhl's idea with subwoofer and satellites has now become common for PCs at home, but not with PA. 
Box Electronics' solution has an active bass speaker with 3 built-in preamplifiers. 1200 W is connected directly to a 12 inch electroacoustic transducer for the lowest tones with a highly efficient Neodymium magnet and 2x500 is traditionally connected with cables to a pair of passive 2-way satellites, which have a sensitivity of 97 dB SPL (1W/1m). These preamplifiers connected to the PC have never been overdriven and guests in the Polish summer capital could enjoy "undiluted" music while sitting outdoors in sun loungers, which were freely displayed on a large area of sand. The signal from Digital Audio Broadcasting was converted in the PC to an analog with a high precision of 16bit/192kHz. The conversion in the PC from the radio stations' streaming can be even more precise with 32bit float and e.g. live broadcasts from Berwaldhallen in Sveriges Radio's P2 which is already available on the Internet with Free Lossless Audio Codec. 
drawing by Per Oscar DahlbergBenjamin's psychoacoustic lab is constantly testing and implementing possibilities for optimal music playback using new technical solutions with the computing potential of computers and open structures.PC4uMusicis the main project.
In Gdansk area in northern Poland the black oak wood trunks found during archaeological surveys were dated to be as old as the 14th century.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.shop.s-a.pl/Black-Oak-cinfo-eng-43.html
The sources of Baltic oak
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The engineer Karl-Erik Ståhl is behind many of Audio Pro’s patented ingenious innovations, most notably ACE-Bass, which allows a deep bass from small subwoofers.
ReplyDeleteAudio Pro is a Swedish company with strong roots in the early HiFi industry. The company has designed, developed and manufactured speakers since 1978 and is today available in over 55 countries globally. Audio Pro launched in the 70’s a range of active speakers with advanced technology and high sound quality, that have become milestones in the history of speakers.
DeleteThough interestingly, the company's now 42-year history initially began with a long-standing focus on the development and production of subwoofers. These subwoofers had an innovative design (the so-called ACE-Bass technology, developed by the company's founder) which resulted in a sound quality that earned the brand an outstanding reputation within the industry in just a few years, and early models, such as the Audio Pro B2.50 and B4.200, still fondly remembered by audiophiles today.
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