Feb 26, 2011

Not something I ever thought I’d have to write, but I sometimes forget how small this world really is.

I am happy to ship mics and meters to any number of international destinations. However, being based in the United States, I am subject o U.S. laws and I must comply with U.S. trade sanctions. For now, that means I can not ship products to the following countries:

• Belarus
• Burma (Myanmar)
• Cuba
• Iran
• North Korea

A microphone is not a weapon of mass destruction, but I have to abide by the laws of the land. Sorry.

permanent link

Feb 24, 2011

For those interested in following the A/V market, Linda Seid Frembes (aka AVWriter on Twitter) has been organizing a series of AV Chats to discuss various topics and issue that concern the A/V and custom install market. It’s a nice inside look at what’s going on in the industry and a way to gauge one’s performance against that of others in the business.

The inaugural AV Chat held a couple of weeks ago (transcript) mainly concerned the effect the economy has had on the A/V Market (tl;dr version: business is slow for many firms).

The AV Chat held earlier today discussed industry and customer trends. My takeways:

• Customers don’t care about 3D TV (not a surprise to anyone that’s been paying attention)
• HDMI has been a mixed bag (ditto)
• The iPad, as a replacement to proprietary remote control panels, is rapidly gaining traction (to be expected given that an iPad costs a fraction of what remote control panels from Crestron et al retail for)
• Standards are are hassle, from clients/customers not understanding them, to we suppliers/designers having to purchase them (welcome to my life)
• Installers are seeing a lot of interest in Apple’s Airplay technology (this did surprise me because of Apple’s proprietary reputation, but Airplay is open and I guess customers and manufacturers recognize that.)

The next AV Chat will be scheduled shortly, check Linda’s Twitter account and site for updates. For those who may want to follow along but find themselves Twitter-less, you can monitor the conversation via the TweetChat site.

permanent link

Feb 17, 2011

There’s a neat little history lesson unfolding on the AES SC-04-04 mailing list: Ray Rayburn is compiling a history of microphones and asked for some assistance regarding the Western Electric 640-AA condenser microphone. This prompted responses from industry notables including Leo Beranek, and Mead Killion ( of Etymotic Research) among others. Ray posted a couple of the documents he received from Leo and from other sources at his site and they provide some fascinating insight into the development and calibrationof early condenser microphones.

Check it out if you have a moment.

permanent link

Feb 10, 2011

Today I learned that Bob Paquette in Milwaukee, WI has a collection of over 1000 microphones that he has organized into a Microphone Museum.

I’ve never had the opportunity to travel to Milwaukee,but if I do, I will be stopping by.

permanent link