Date:         Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:28:23 -0400
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Aren't recordings original sources?
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Bob, are you talking about a power cord with a foil shield like a standard audio cable? I thought UL 
or some other standards body wants a solid green-wire, same gauge as the two conductors. Is the 
shield a separate wire? Is it connected to the greenwire ground? What are you sheilding, fuzz from 
coming off the power conductors or fuzz from coming in from the outside?

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Olhsson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 9:18 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Aren't recordings original sources?


> -----Original Message-----
> From Tom Fine: "... do you think powerline fuzz and hash matter more, less
> or none to modern gear that uses
> cheaper/lightweight and switching-type power supplies? I'd think the
> old-school stuff wouldn't care,
> it was designed to operate on the principle of an over-spec'd power supply
> providing a large reserve
> for peak-power demands after the conversion to DC. But some of these modern
> devices -- including
> well-rated professional gear -- seem to have such flimsy power supplies, I
> wonder if all this
> matters more in that world. Plus, there are arguments to be made about the
> quality of internal power
> and the performance of digital devices, but again what is provided on the
> gear may well be up to the
> job in the case of professional-grade equipment. Bottom line, I highly doubt
> what sort of power cord
> you use as long as you're using properly-spec'd gauge wires, matters in any
> of this..."
>
> I've heard power cords make a surprising difference especially shielded vs.
> non-shielded. Tying every neutral in an audio system together at one point
> makes a bigger difference as does cleaning and tightening every single AC
> connection all the way back to the power pole. Doing both in my experience
> has reduced the effect of AC cords considerably.
>
> You can ask anybody in the touring sound business and they'll talk your ear
> off for an hour about the incompetent power supply and grounding design
> found in most of the past 40 years worth of so-called "pro" audio gear and
> there is no reason to expect consumer audio to be any better. When you
> consider how little AC wiring has even been touched in a half century and
> how poorly designed most gear is, it shouldn't be surprising that anything
> that alters the frequency response of an audio grounding system may well be
> audible due to different flavors of RFI. Obviously if you can hear anything
> change, all flavors are wrong but those of us who hear this stuff aren't
> lunatics and at least some of us are pretty happy with a heavy duty, well
> shielded $20 power cord.
>
>
> Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
> Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
> Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
> 615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com    http://www.thewombforums.com
>