AES San Francisco 2012
Product Design Track Event T8

Sunday, October 28, 11:00 am — 1:00 pm (Room 132)

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Tutorial: T8 - An Overview of Audio System Grounding and Interfacing

Presenter:
William E. Whitlock, Jensen Transformers, Inc. - Chatsworth, CA, USA; Whitlock Consulting - Oxnard, CA, USA


Abstract:
Equipment makers like to pretend the problems don’t exist, but this tutorial replaces hype and myth with insight and knowledge, revealing the true causes of system noise and ground loops. Unbalanced interfaces are exquisitely vulnerable to noise due to an intrinsic problem. Although balanced interfaces are theoretically noise-free, they’re widely misunderstood by equipment designers, which often results in inadequate noise rejection in real-world systems. Because of a widespread design error, some equipment has a built-in noise problem. Simple, no-test-equipment, troubleshooting methods can pinpoint the location and cause of system noise. Ground isolators in the signal path solve the fundamental noise coupling problems. Also discussed are unbalanced to balanced connections, RF interference, and power line treatments. Some widely used “cures” are both illegal and deadly.

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EXHIBITION HOURS October 27th 10am – 6pm October 28th 10am – 6pm October 29th 10am – 4pm
REGISTRATION DESK October 25th 3pm – 7pm October 26th 8am – 6pm October 27th 8am – 6pm October 28th 8am – 6pm October 29th 8am – 4pm
TECHNICAL PROGRAM October 26th 9am – 7pm October 27th 9am – 7pm October 28th 9am – 7pm October 29th 9am – 5pm
AES - Audio Engineering Society