A New Sonic Hologram Generator is coming from Bob Carver.

[Ar9Jim 6,056]

8 hours ago, halfbaked said:

It has been a while is there any forthcoming news about the new Sonic Hologram Generator? 

The new board design is 90% complete, the chassis design and prototype are 90% complete. With the holidays upon us and many vendors on holiday. We hope for February shipments. Thanks.

[halfbaked 167]

Thanks for the info. The update is very much appreciated.

[4krow 5,077]

Could it be preordered?

[jeffs 2,604]

Top: simple 2 channel preamp with SH. Volume and SH functions remote controllable.

Middle: simple 2 channel preamp with SH. Manual volume and SH switching.

Bottom: SH only. SH switching via remote control.

 

Input1, Input switch, Input 2, Preamp out, line level out. One unit has balance control under the input switch.

 

Almost 200 mounted components, all surface mount except electrolytics. Tedious work but at least my hand is still stable enough to do it. 

This was my winter project. Mostly for fun and to keep up on a few skills.

[4krow 5,077]

I just ordered a bunch of those pushbutton switches. They look to be neatly placed on the front of those components. How do you like the spring action of these switches?

 

 looking closer at the circuit board, I see only 3 leads going to the balance control instead of 6. How does that work?

 

 I am happy that you made a unit that has remote SH. A very useful idea. 

 

Someday, I will be able to discover how I might be able to place a volume type control in place of the SH IN/OUT switch. Hafler did it to his iteration of SH and it was very useful. Some recordings didn't require as much manipulation as others.

Edited December 6, 2023 by 4krow
So many reasons

[jeffs 2,604]

On 12/6/2023 at 12:12 PM, 4krow said:

How do you like the spring action of these switches?

The spring action is fine. They have a decent amount of throw before they latch. You really need elf fingers as the button itself is quite small. Resting fingers on the top of the unit and pressing with a thumb tip works fine.

 

On 12/6/2023 at 12:12 PM, 4krow said:

I see only 3 leads going to the balance control instead of 6. How does that work?

I detailed this in a different thread, but don't remember where. I basically copied the C-1 gain stage which includes balance. It's easier to show using the C-19 schematic - which is more-or-less the same:

 

So - here's the issue with this, while you do need only a single pot (3 connections) for balance, it's less than ideal.  In the default state, with the 50K pot shown, it basically puts 25K ohm in parallel with each volume pot. Not really much of an issue. When the pot is turned all the way to one side, it puts 50K in parallel with one sides volume pot, and ZERO ohms in parallel with the other side. So - you see the 820ohm resistor? It serves as the minimum load that the previous stage will see with the pot twisted all the way. Without it, the previous stage is presented with a ZERO ohm load.  In the case of the C-19 shown, the previous stage is an internal op-amp, followed by 1K ohm, so that op-amp would be presented a 1.82Kohm load. Not really an issue.

In the case of the C-1, I think the 820 ohm is the same but the 1K changes to 1.5K, so the presented load with balance turned all-the-way would be 2.32Kohm..... however, there is no internal op-amp, so this low load is presented to whatever is connected to the preamp input. It's less than ideal, but is it a problem?  It's hard to say but I've never had an issue using a C-1 preamp and I like them quite a bit. I've also never run a unit with balance turned all the way to one side. I will say that once I gave this some thought, I chose to NOT use the balance connections on 2 of the units I built, it's only on one. In the case of my manual unit, I used a C-1 20K ohm takeout 2-gang volume pot. In the case of the remote volume units, the volume pots are 50Kohm 2-gang motorized.

Edited December 7, 2023 by jeffs

[4krow 5,077]

It's something how a balance control can be a thread in its own right. I wasn't aware of the issues until I decided to put a balance control in one of my units. 

 In my next build I am going with the stacked volume pots (well, not physically stacked, but you get my meaning), as that solves the balance control issue in an elegant way.

 

 

[radtraveller 216]

So is this a major improvement over SH in say a 4000t or an incremental refinement or the same end result on newer hardware?

 

[4krow 5,077]

It's a good question. Personally, I have never had any objections to the C-9 to begin with, hence my love affair with it for decades. Let's go this way--- buy one get one keep one, or return one for your money back. That has been my policy from the beginning and if I haven't misspoken, it is the Carver way as well. You be the judge, you decide.

 

 >>> So as I queried before, can these be preordered?<<<

[halfbaked 167]

It would be hard not to have it as a sonic improvement, especially after considering the 285. Bob Carver has always been known for improving sound. I believe that Our Bobfather would lead us to the promised land once again. As 4krow has said the Carver promise will have your ears be the judge.

[John Smallwood 227]

Hi everyone,

 

Here is a link to a new processor that seems very similar to sonic holography.  In fact, it seems to me that this is using almost the same verbiage Bob used when describing SH.  

 

How is this not infringing on Bob's tech?  

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/bacch4mac-short-review-first-impressions.39494/

 

 

Edited January 30 by John Smallwood
original link didn't work