Welcome to DaviSound "NEWS UPDATES" !
Copyright ©1999-2021 by Hayne Davis, DaviSound
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ARCHIVED CHRONOLIGICAL NEWS ENTRIES FROM HAYNE DAVIS FOR 2021 In reverse order with the first entry at the bottom of the page and the last at the top as each new entry is added at the top of each prior entry.
PAGE INDEX:
January 15, 2021 - ''DaviSad DaviStation'' l February 22, 2021 - '' DaviShort and DaviShortwave ! '' (Barndoor Receiver) l
March 19, 2021 - ''DaviSqueezing DaviSnakes'' l April 30, 2021 - ''DaviSpringing-DaviScrapping etc. etc.'' l May 26, 2021 - ''DaviSkipping to DaviShipping'' l June 30, 2021 - ''DaviSummer 2021'' l July26, 2021-''DaviStymied?- DaviSobering '' l
August 29,, 2021-''DaviSearch...DaviShippers...DaviSpaghetti?...DaviSchedule'' l September 30, 2021 - DaviSeptember ... DaviStructuring ... DaviSecrets I October - November 9, 2021... DaviSurgery - DaviScary Halloween !
December, 2021
'' DaviSeason's Greetings! '' This is just a quick follow-up to last month's announcement (please see below) to wish everyone another happy holiday season- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Seems like we just did it and here it is again!
As for myself, in regard to that special announcement of last month, I seem to be recouperating nicely. The docs say I am doing "great" and ahead of schedule (surgeon said I was in better shape at discharge than some of his 35 year old patients...of course, he could have been just trying to make me feel good!) but recovery from this kind of major surgery is just TOO slow for me and I have been a little impatient with how long it takes to get your strength back. However, the good news is, as of the past week or so, I have been feeling more like my "old self" than I have since before the first heart attack back on October 20th. I would say I am about 80% back to full strength as of today although still enduring some sensitivity from the procedures which will probably take many months to disappear entirely.
I do plan to be "easing" back into some kind of work routine by the end of January so I should have some more definitive news in that regard by next month's update as we move into 2022.
I, sincerely, thank those of you who took the time to drop me an eMail and your well-wishes and encouragement mean more than you know! I look forward to continue to hear from you and I thank all of you for returning here month after month as we wind up another year of "News Updates" from DaviSound. Next month, this page will be archived and we will start a new slate for 2022. I hope to see all of you back here next year as we continue with our 51st year in operation (52 in June of '22) "down home" at DaviSound!
Again, thank you all!
Hayne
October - November 9, 2021
'' DaviSurgery ... DaviScary Halloween! ''
'' DaviSevered '' for Halloween
October 27th was my 30th wedding anniversary. It was spent in the hospital. October 28th I underwent open heart surgery for a triple by-pass graph on my heart. As I write this, it is November 9th and the first day that I have been able to actually feel up to attempting a news update and, then hopefully later, wade through what will be, no doubt, a deluge of email from many of you wondering where I have been and why I haven't answered your inquiries.
Earlier, Wednesday, October 20th to be exact, I felt some very unusual, strange sensations across my upper back, chest and shoulders while driving my commute from my home workroom to our lake house which is now our residence for a time. I thought at one point that this might be the proverbial heart attack sensations I had always heard so much about but, since due to my lifestyle, diet, health supplements and normal cholestrerol readings, I had always figured that any form of heart/artery disease would be the LAST thing that would happen to me.I became a little more concerned when I awoke during the night with the sensations returning as I made one of the many nightly bathroom trips we "old men" always have to make each night. But, after leaning over and doing a push-up on the sink, the pain cut off like a switch. Ah-Hah, I thought, all of this was just some weird muscle irritation from all the yard work and lifting I had been doing days before. Well things seemed fine until the following Friday when I was back in the home workroom moving things around and felt the sensations returning along with, this time, a pressure and ache in the center of the chest. This time I KNEW it was heart related and asked my wife to try to drive me to the local ER.
All the usual tests and scans ensued and the elevated heart hormone secretions indicated that I had endured a mild heart attack. The emergency room crew had sent the data to their partner heart hospital in Columbia which then had me transported by ambulance to Columbia for further evaluation. A heart catherization was scheduled for the following Sunday and I suspected, at worst, I might have to receive a stint during the procedure. However, the cardiologist who performed the procedure told me that I had about a 95% blockage in one crucial artery and severe blockage in another along with mild narrowing in two of the other main arteries. He said surgery was needed.
Well I stubbornly persuaded them to discharge me for a few days so that I could get some necessary arrangements taken care of prior to the surgery. They reluctantly agreed, sending me home with a bottle of nitro pills but telling me if it became necessary to use those pills I had better just come on back right away. Well, as it turns out, I only made it home for one night before being awakend early the next day with more of the same old pressure/pain in the chest that I had felt that previous Friday. So back again to the Columbia Heart Hospital ER and, subsequently to ICU where I was admitted and prepped for the surgery which occured first thing the morning of the 28th. By Halloween 2021, I had suffered two heart attacks and had open heart triple by-pass surgery.
So, here I am recovering after, truly, the worst ordeal of my life but feeling a tad better with each passing day. I am now 12 days past surgery and finally able to have enough endurance to sit up at the computer for awhile. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that I have at least that many more days before I can expect enough improvement to be able to move around more normally and six weeks before I begin to ease back into a more regular routine. It is standard to expect to be out of work for about three months after this surgery but If things keep progessing as they are, I expect/hope to shorten that by about a month ... at least "easing" back into my old work schedule, hopefully, in about two months or so.
The bottom line is, however, more required "DaviStalling in the projected DaviSchedule". I will be doing all I can to speed recovery and get back to normal ASAP but I certainly will do so carefully and not risking any further complications if possible. I regret, so much, having to once again put our remaining current projects on hold until well into the first of next year but there is just no other choice.
Thank all of you who are STILL "clients in waiting" and who will, neccesarily, have more waiting to endure but I assure you all that I will be back at it in a few months and, according to the docs, with much better endurance in the future than in past months!
Sincerely,
Hayne Davis
September 30, 2021
'' DaviSeptember ... DaviStructuring ... DaviSecrets '' Another September has come and gone and every year they seem to do that all the more quickly. They come around faster and leave even more rapidly.
Some progress has been made with the workroom restructuring that I mentioned last month. As most of you know, I now do all my work from home and the "workroom" is a rather small, converted bedroom where I have tried to cram "tons" of components, parts, work tables, test gear, desk, and even a small "studio" section for minimal audio recording/archiving.
This month, I have further relegated two of the other adjoining rooms as temporary storage areas (further turning our small rural cottage into a "warehouse" as my wife "semi-jokingly" now refers to it - our actual "residence" is now mostly the lake house which requires a 20 minute commute). I have been trying to do the magician's trick of creating additional space where there is none and, of course, I have not been overly successful. All of this dishevelment has been further complicated by the fact that the house is also undergoing other needed repairs including a new kitchen floor and sink drain. But, I have cleared an area for mounting the first mixing console completion project and a newly cleared table for a larger "test bench" area. Now, if I can just find a place to put all the stuff I moved to free up these new areas!
Many of my "news updates", especially these last-minute ones, are often inspired by a recent client or inquiror email. I received such an email a couple of days ago from one of our oldest clients, from Canada, whom I have not heard from in many years. He was asking about the "supposedly coming soon" (as he put it!) re-write of my old "Tech Reports" . Almost ten years ago, I had promised him a copy of the new edition, to be entitled ''DaviSecrets'', just as soon as it was completed. It is rather embarrassing that I have made so little progress with the re-writes in the FOURTEEN YEARS since the original was pulled from the website!
While I have made some progress with the new edition of ''DaviSecrets'' over the years, it has been in ''dribs and drabs''. This has largely been put far, far on the back burner by virtual necessity to allow for my numerous, more pressing responsibilities. Just like the limited space in my workroom, my available time to spread amongst all my time demanding duties is even more limited! But, I do want him to know, as well as all of you who may still be interested, that I am planning to MAKE TIME, at least an hour or two per week, to finish the new text along with the most time-consuming part, the newly created diagrams and schematics via CAD. Although my advancing age has blessed me somewhat with just a bit of a slowdown in work efficiency, at least I am enjoying something of a ''remission'' it seems from my old issue of migraine auras (sometimes escalating to mild vertigo) triggered by too many hours typing/drawing on the computer. So, now, I can at least count on putting in an hour or two with minimal consequences. How long this will take to finish I will NOT predict/project here ... because I ALWAYS underestimate. But it certainly will NOT be another fourteen years ! (seriously I hope to have it available some time next year)
We've covered a lot here in these updates this past year so I do urge you to please scroll the page below if you have not kept up or for a refresher if you are interested in where DaviSound has been so far this year and where we are planning to go from here.
As always, I do TRULY THANK YOU for ''tuning in'' and invite you back here next time for more of the "Adventures Of DaviSound"!
Hayne
August 29, 2021
In Memory Of Maggie Lee Franklin Davis - August 29, 1916 - May 27, 2011
'' DaviSearch...DaviShippers...DaviSpaghetti?...DaviSchedule '' A local aquaintance finally got in touch with me a little while back after trying to find my phone number for some time, having misplaced it. She told me she had finally gotten it from my website although it had not been easy, as she had been searching for Hayne Davis and it took quite awhile to find anything on Google. Admittedly, this particular person was probably not all that "Internet savy"; however, I had similar luck when I tried a Google search for both Hayne Davis and Davis Sound (notice I typed Davis and Sound as two words as most people would do who are not familiar with the acronym, DaviSound).
Actually, with a very RARE name like Hayne Davis, up until recently, if you searched for me by name a lot of our pages would pop right up and you would easily find the website. However, It seems a couple of years or so ago, somebody dumped a huge repository of web pages on the Internet relating to an 1800s New York lawyer named Hayne Davis called "The Hayne Davis Papers". Can you believe it? So, now, unless one types something like Hayne Davis Sound, or Hayne Davis Audio, into the search window, it will take forever for anything relating to yours truly to show up beyond the deluge of lawyer papers headings.
While this is somewhat understandable, what really "bugs" me is the fact that searching for "Davis Sound" (again as most people would do who have only heard the name and not really paid much attention to our spelling) also takes "forever" to show anything relating to "DaviSound". This is ESPECIALLY perplexing since I even went to the extent of registering the domain "DavisSound.com" ...as two separate words ... just to avoid this common mis-assumption. When you search that way you will find, perhaps, a half dozen or so other "Davis Sound" companies of one sort or another, many of them recent upstarts, but the ORIGINAL, world renowned, copyright trademarked "DaviSound" will not show up even though we also own DavisSound.com! If you click the above link you will be sent to a page where I "rant" about this to some extent before being redirected to DaviSound.com. What does this say about Google? Couldn't possibly be mercernary bias could it?
On another note...
Another way the world around us is "deteriorating" of late would have to be the willful destruction of the United States Postal Service by the current Postmaster General! It is hard for me, as a lifelong mailorder shipper in business for over fifty years, to fathom how such a thing that we now suddenly endure can even be possible in this country! Yet, I felt the same about the 2016 election also. But, this "offshoot" of that is, to me, at the top of the list of all the hundreds of atrocities that the former administration and its enablers bestowed upon our democratic government! Why is he still there? Well, by law, the current president can NOT fire him and he is accountable only to the board of governors whose majority was handpicked by the former administration. He cannot be fired by the board either unless he has committed a grievous act giving "just cause". Well, if owning millions in assets of competing companies, sabotoging the post office, its existing equipment and employees is not "just cause", then what in hell is?
Why am I addressing this here, you ask? Because, along with millions of Americans who depend on the formerly reliable postal service ( in spite of what many misinformed, biased naysayers might tell you otherwise) for important mail and shipments regularly, I now see my mail service being deliberately ruined! Longtime clients and followers of DaviSound will know that I have ALWAYS utilized and praised the postal service for my deliveries. Up until a couple of years ago I had NEVER had a shipment lost or damaged through the postal service, again, in spite of what the naysayers and the propagandists of the other private shipping companies would have you believe! Then, a couple of years back, I did have one minor mishap, but only my FIRST in over fifty years of regular shipping and receiving products and services by mail. Given this record, you can easily see why I have always been a "cheerleader" for the postal service, especially when receiving comparatively terrible "service" by its competitors in my location.
However, a few weeks ago, when I shipped the last completed DaviSound Tool Box, I encountered my first major, poor experience with the postal service which was, UNDOUBTEDLY, a direct result of the "policies" of this unqualified, multi-million dollar, political donor appointee now in charge of destroying our most valued, and necessary, government agency, the U.S. Postal Service! I shipped the well-packed unit in a heavy outer box and paid for 3 Day Priority Mail insured delivery. I have always used this method so as to avoid lengthy handling times and always shipped on Tuesday so that no weekend layover in a terminal, with extra handling, would be necessary. Well, this time, the "3-day" Priority Mail service that I paid a small fortune for, took ELEVEN days including a weekend layover for delivery to this side of the Mississippi! On top of that, all this extra "jostling" around had, no doubt, included some rough handling since the unit arrived with some problems that point to that. Although relatively minor, they will still require a return of the unit back to me for correction and we will have another two-way shipping "adventure" to, once again, keep us holding our breath that nothing else goes amiss the next time around.
Now, I have to say, that I still enjoy remarkable service from the folks at my local post office, as over-worked and under-staffed as they may be. They have ALWAYS looked after me and my shipments and they still do and I owe them a debt of gratitude for this over-the-top service they have provided for me over these many years. The current staff there is no exception. Whatever happened to slow my delivery happened AFTER it left my local Post Office as well as the Columbia distribution center since all of that handling and journey was on schedule as documented by regular tracking notices. It was after it left South Carolina that these issues occurred ... exactly where/what/how/why is, and will remain, unknown.
Will I continue to use the post office given this latest experience? I will, at least for the time being, and assume that this extreme was a rare instance even with the state of things as they now exist. This is because that the few times I have experienced other carriers with shipping and, primarily, deliveries in my location, I have only "batted about 500" with at least a 50/50 chance of a shipment arriving with some problem! I can only hope that somehow, someone with enough genuine concern, and the necessary political clout, will do whatever is necessary to stop, and reverse, what is happening with the postal service before it is too late for all of us!
"DaviSpaghetti?" ... ...
If you have ever peered inside one of our cramped Tool Boxes (some moreso than others) and, especially, one of our hand-wired custom mixers, you might exclaim, as my daughter once did, "that looks like a pile of spaghetti!". The ribbon cable leads protruding from each MasterPiece module, once they become separated and attached to the various controls they support, can, sometimes at a glance, look a bit "chaotic" even though the wiring is anchored and laced wherever possible. I have always, jokingly, referred to this technique as "organized chaos" and it has long been addressed in various locations of our site, especially here DaviStatements ''Ratnesting''! If you have never read that before, but are interested in DaviSound gear and construction techniques, then I urge you to do so ... along with, of course, the overall design/construction article DaviSound Design Philosopy .
The recently completed TB-4 is an example of the "organized chaos" referred to above. This photo was taken after assembly just before the front panel was lifted and fastened in place to the cabinet. Every precaution is taken to see that wherever the wiring is fastened to an outboard component, it is anchored in place so that no amount of normal movement can cause anything to change, even if it were to be dropped, or mishandled, within reason. Unfortunately, in this case, some EXTREME mishandling took place somewhere prior to delivery.
So what's ahead and how are things shaping up, schedule-wise, at DaviSound? Well, obvioulsy, the shipping return debacle for the TB-4 is a slight setback. As worthwhile as our unusual construction techniques may be for "clean audio", the technique requires some tedious difficulty for backtracking and troubleshooting after assembly since it was designed to be "entombed forever". Thankfully, in this case, there is probably just an issue with one, or two, disheveled components per channel ... we just have to confirm, uncover and get to them without disturbing the others. Hopefully, there won't be too much involved to correct the issues there but, then, a short "re-burn-in/re-test period" will be required before we "swallow hard" and reship the unit for the second time. Then, there is STILL that on-going TB-50 prototype on the "outbench" undergoing testing and tweaking. I would say I am about a month behind where I had wanted to be by now (so what else is new here?) but things are still looking good to have my workroom entirely restructured for the final assembly of those last, two "mega-mixers", that have to be attended to on extra large work tables, by early fall. No, they won't be both completed by the end of the year and will necessarily carry over into the winter of 2022. But, I do expect to have, at least, one completed and shipped by first quarter 2022 with the other very close behind. Then, after that, I will be accepting future orders for DaviSound Tool Boxes on a select, one at a time, basis which will, of course, be annnounced here.
As always, I thank all of you "gluttens for punishment" who wade through all of my "rants and ramblings" here each month and I invite you to return for more "surprises" next month as we plod ahead, "down home at DaviSound".
Hayne
July 26, 2021
'' DaviStymied? ... DaviSobering '' Once again another month has rolled around and disappeared all too soon and, this time, it does find me having to do another month-end update while being "stymied" just a bit as to what exactly to write about in this month's post. It seems the old "endless gabber" has run out of "gab" at the very moment of deciding to post this month's update! Looking back, I have to say I think we have had some pretty good posts these past months, so far; but, this will likely not be one of them.
Maybe this is largely because this month, like so many seem to do, did not turn out and proceed as expected or according to plan. If you caught last month's edition of News Updates (scroll below), you will recall I was looking forward to a rare "summer vacation". Well, how did that go? ... you ask. Not too great actually ... largely because I was plagued with a severe abscessed tooth infection most of the time and that was followed by yet another unusual abscess in another, rather uncomfortable, location a lot further down from the mouth! I guess all of the "grumpiness" of the grumpy old man finally festered up and surfaced in a couple of very sensitive spots just in time to give me all the unexpected grief I could ever imagine for days on end.
I have been back trying to get in "DaviStride" once again but it has been a slow process (spent most all afternoon today at the doctor's office) largely catching up on an untypically high volume of neglected email. It's nice to get email but it can be very time consuming to respond to, especially in adequate detail to technical questions, and especially in large volume. I have been amazed at how many total newcomers have discovered DaviSound recently as evidenced by much of this latest email barage.
It is sometimes a rather sobering thought to ponder that some of today's "pro audio" practitioners were just being born when DaviSound first launched a website back in 1998 (after operating entirely by mail in all the years prior)! It's even more "DaviSobering" to consider that some of their PARENTS were just being born when DaviSound first came into being back in 1970! It does amaze me how many generations we have spanned and how many times I have answered the same general questions from each generation. But, I am not complaining ... far from it! Welcome aboard and keep them coming!
One of the things that seems to always still astound most of the newcomers to our site is the fact that DaviSound became famous for pioneerig ALL WOODEN enclosures, rack mount and table mount, for pro audio gear along with our uniquely "transparent" audio chains in which they housed. I get comments on that, almost invariably, everytime a newcomer discovers us for the first time. I just answered an email from a young, new studio owner, and first-time inquiror, (who happened to mention his age- 22, which inspired my ponderings in the above paragraph) who said, in addition the exploration of all of our "Tool Boxes" and the Wood You Believe sections he really enjoyed listening to the Ode To Wood by Boris Karloff! That alone tells me that he must have REALLY spent some time on our site since I, myself, cannot recall off-hand exactly where that particular audio link is located. But, for those of you who have never heard it before, I urge you to listen as it is truly a beautiful little audio essay from an unmistakeable voice. It was included on our site many years ago with permission from the Karloff family. Here is that link for those who have not heard it (or who might like to listen again) Boris Karloff's Ode To Wood . If you don't hear the autoplay background audio, please open your browser settings and check "allow" under the "sound", or "background sound", headings.
I think am going to just let that do it for this month's edition and I do hope to present a bit more substantive News Update next month as we begin to head into the fall stretch by that time with the completion of a couple of exciting mixer projects in the works (our FINAL large custom mixer creations by the way as I am not accepting any more large custom mixer commissions after these two completions as mentioned previously- that reminder for the newcomers who may be considering inquiring!).
Thanks for "listening" and please continue to "tune in" for more ramblings from DaviSound in the months ahead!
Hayne
June 30, 2021
'' DaviSummer 2021 '' I could really get going with the "DaviSpeak" in this one with utterings like "DaviSweltering" and "DaviSweating" etc. etc. but, in the interest of "overkill" avoidance ... I won't do that. Besides, this really needs to be a "DaviShort" one ... having just barely "DaviSqueezed" it in before the end of another, all-too-fleeting month.
I am about to take a REAL "summer vacation" in the sense that I will be actually VACATE the work premises for a ten to twelve day consecutive stretch for a long, very rare, OVERDUE change (something I have NOT done for YEARS now)!
Hopefully I will be doing something like this for a change ...Sitting lakeside with our (now ten year old) Maltese, Pretty Penni.
(although this was a fall snapshot from some years back and not summer...
I hope to be exchanging the heavy shirt for a tank top and doing similar ...
along with floating around on our electric pontoon, "Elektra-Cute")
Instead of this typical view which I most always have in front of me ...Early stages of point-to-point interior wiring for the latest TB-4 some months back.
Until then ... Happy Summer Vacation!
Hayne
May 26, 2021
'' DaviSkipping to DaviShipping!'' Yes, after last month's lengthy epistle, I thought it appropriate to just, pretty much, skip over this month's edition at least for any real substantive content. Of course, after I decided that, I then decided to go ahead and include just a photo or two after all here below. But, especially if you missed last month's update with all of it's content, please "skip" (scroll down) to it for review after you read this brief edition for May.My two favorite months, May and September, are ALWAYS the shortest it seems as they FLY by. This one is no exception as it seems only "last week" I was posting last month's News Update! This month of May will be even a little shorter due to the fact that I will be winding down shortly for a brief (and rare) vacation break from May 28 - June 4.
I, then, expect the month of June to see us finally shipping all the current projects now in the final stages including a batch of ''MasterPiece'' modules along with the new TB-50 and TB-4 now in their final prep stages.
Once those items are all flying to their new destinations, I can then turn my full attention to the remaining projects scheduled for finishing this year ... those being two custom preamps long in the works for two old friends and clients and, of course, the long awaited (and talked about in these pages) FINAL custom mixers! Here, below is a great photo of those mixers!
Not exactly what you expected, no doubt!
This is the back corner rack in my workroom and what you see there, under wraps, are the cabinet components of the mixers just referred to! These segments are all ready for final assembly on my larger work table which will take place one at a time, beginning with the first in line, "Mixer O'Tube" destined for Ireland.
This is the last photo taken of the O'Tube control panel before it was fully stuffed with hardware quite some time ago. I expect this retro, all-tube unit to be a beauty to behold, as well as to work with and listen to, once it is all together. I am really looking forward to, FINALLY get the opportunity to dedicate the required, lengthy stretch of time exclusively for it. After that, we have one more special mixer, of a different type entirely, to complete that is destined for Greece. It should be quite a collector's item since it will be the LAST, large, custom DaviSound mixer to be offered! Of course, I will be talking a lot about both of them in the months ahead.
Finally, I want to point out that I WILL do all I can to accomodate those of you who have inquired about new Tool Boxes but they will just have to wait until 2022 when these long ongoing current projects are all behind me. I am looking forward to being fully caught up with multiple projects that are awaiting completion and will then schedule new orders ONE AT A TIME as schedule permits!
Thank you for joining me here each month and until next time ...
Enjoy the beginning of a new summer!
Hayne
April 30, 2021
'' DaviSpringing ... DaviSearing ... DaviStressing ... DaviSnaking (again) ... and DaviScrapbooking! '' Yep, we're not just "DaviSpringing" through spring ... but you might say we have "spring, sprang, sprung" in that we have pretty well accomplished the tasks at hand (well ALMOST anyway) that were planned for the spring months before we head into the stretch and begin the final phases of assembly on those long awaited, last big, custom mixer projects that are planned for completion by the end of the year !
This is the last accepted Tool Box we have in the works for this year prior to the upcoming "mixer run". (Once again, I must apologize for the poor, distorted quality of my cell phone camera!)
This is the new TB-4 for Dave Rust that we mentioned awhile back and it is now into the infamous "burn-in" stage whereby we run all sorts of audio proofs of performance periodically while the unit stays powered up 24/7 for several weeks in order to assure there are no early failures with any circuit component. Then, after staying on continuously, it goes through many more days of frequent off/on cycles before going back into another lengthy, always-powered-up, "burn-in"/proof testing period. Think of it as a "stress test" of each completed project before we send them on their way for, typically, a lifetime of trouble-free performance.
Nowadays, this "burn-in" period is more important than ever! This is because the last four projects we have put through these paces have all had varying problems (circuit component failures of one type or another) turn up during the "burn-in" period. Once the faulty components are replaced, either replacing power supply components (the most common early failures) or a MasterPiece module with a bad manufactured component inside (either an active device or, more likely, a bad coupling or decoupling capacitor), another subsequent,lengthy "burn-in" period is required for the replacement component(s). The new TB-50 (anniversary special inaugural Tool Box) has required a "record number" of these lengthy burn-in sessions and, in fact, is STILL here undergoing,hopefully, its LAST such procedure prior to shipment! The fact that we now have TWO units on two separate test tables (highly unusual) still undergoing these tests simultaneously is why I dubbed these current "burn-ins" more akin to SEARINGS than burn-ins!
I have been forced to comment several times in these updates the past couple of years on the high percentage of faulty electronic parts flooding the market these days even from formerly reliable sources. One can only speculate the cause of this but it is most likely the fact that ALL components nowadays tend to actually originate from the same error-prone factories in Taiwan or China even when they are sourced by former reputable American, British and German "manufacturers"! This has forced me to, nowadays, be overly concerned about all the issues for which I originated the burn-in process many years ago even when such failures were most rare in those bygone times.
So, while I don't like to have to add lengthier-than-ever post completion times to an already, neccessarily lengthy completion process, it MUST be done under today's circumstances to insure that each finished product is capable of maintaining the DaviSound standard of performance for that lifetime of dependable, trouble-free service for each owner! It seems that I now have to call this unfortunate fact to the attention of all prospective buyers. Nonetheless, in the end, each receives a superior performer when it has FINALLY passed the new, lengthier than ever, "DaviStress" test!
"DaviSnaking" (again) ...
Last month's post featured the fact that I "DaviSqueezed" ("DaviSneaked"?) in an order for a new pair of newly designed DaviSnake microphones for a client due to very unique circumstances. You can scroll down (or use the index link) to read about that if you happened to miss it last month (and see a nice photo of Weston Ray's "snakes" in action as well).
Although I still have not taken the time to update the DaviSnake site area to illustrate the revised version, I thought I would go ahead and post a couple of photos of the new "DaviSnake" microphone design here.
This new version employs a simple technique which allows the microphone to be used as the traditional snake, mounted on a boom with a mic clamp, or the head can be detached from the flex body and uitlized as a "DaviSwinger", hanging mic, suspended by the mic cable from above! The entire microphone circuitry is mounted inside the housing which is essentially just a male, XLR connector.
I hope to have the time to redo the description on the microphone section of the website very soon. Meanwhile, this illustrates the point that it is always a good idea to check these News Updates on a regular basis for any changes that may have occurred which have not yet been able to be updated in the item descriptions elsewhere on the site!
"DaviScrapbooking" ...
A little while back, while rummaging through an old desk, I stumbled on a few old, faded, apparently discarded,black and white photos that were, no doubt, out-takes from an old brochure photo shoot. The quality of these is pretty terrible since the only way I had to copy them in digital format was to simply attempt to re-photograph them with my cell phone camera (that "iffy" camera again...although it did manage to capture some pretty good snaps of those mics above!). Aside from this, the photos themselves were of varying degrees of poor quality as you will instantly notice. But, since they were rare photos of rarely documented moments from our past, I thought I would close out this month's edition by including them here below.
This was a view of the old MCP/DaviSound studios main control room circa 1975. This was shortly after remodeling. The console was about the third generation of custom boards for that room and the last one used prior to the addition of the "DaviSuperSystem" prototype added in 1982.
This is a photo of the large wall map that hung above/right of the office desk for years. The flagged, push pins were used to deignate the many broadcast stations that were using our "Airtight" production services. We used this method with the map so as to know at a glance where a conflict might be if a new client appeared in a pinned market desiring a similar piece of production. As you can see ... we were VERY busy with radio/TV/Film/Advertising productions in those days. This photo was taken in 1978.
Brantlee was always quite a trooper and a real pro. She taught school for several of the years she worked with me and I can recall many afternoon sessions when she would come in tired and "frazzled" from having to endure the classroom all day yet still work long past the dinner hour to get that "perfect" take on a track.
She later married and moved to Texas where she was a devoted wife, mother and community worker. Unfortunately, she succombed to breast cancer in 2015. The last time I saw her was in 1989 when she came and gave a pep talk to my staff just before we launched our new FM station. I think of her often and, of course, anytime I listen to an old MCP demo tape! You can hear some samples of her work (although not necessarily her best! - The jingles presented here on this private YouTube area are actually out-takes for one reason or another and the quality is bad since the only surviving tape was a victim of the "Ampex Tape Plague" - a phenomenon that caused stored tapes' oxide to "grow" and often become unplayable or, at best, full of gritty high end distortions noticed on this copy.) The link takes you to, basically, an ALL MALE vocal jingle package although Brantlee can be heard on the one, "Be My Baby" parody in the package. Her voiceover talent is demonstrated on the promos at the end of the package done by she and I together. She can also be heard doing backup vocals on the "Dream Medley" cut (By "Sugar And Spice") posted in this same location. Once I am finally able to get the Mother Cleo Productions memorial website up and running, many, many more examples of her remarkable talent can be heard there. https://youtu.be/AeAOF5F77qc
If interested, you can find more old black and white brochure photos from the the early 70s here - DaviScrapBook
So, this wraps up QUITE an extensive edition of News Updates for the month of April 2021. Thank you so much for visiting and please join me here again next month for more of the " on-going, goings-on" at DaviSound!
Hayne
March 19, 2021
'' DaviSqueezing DaviSnakes '' Hard to believe we are just about to enter the second quarter of 2021 already. It has been a fast winter with, once again, rather "DaviSlow" ("DaviSnail"?) progress on current projects here at DaviSound. I guess if you go back and review most of these updates for the past recent years this will simply sound like another echo. I have just resigned myself to the fact that, truthfully largely due to old "Murphy's Laws" and circumstances entirely beyond my control, I am simply destined to ALWAYS fall behind on work projections and completion estimates. So be it. We WILL/DO get it done, albeit seemingly always slower than we think going into each project!Aside from all the many varied domestic duties/distractions that continue to pile up on me without let-up, this month I did something rather unusual to further slow the progress on the current ongoing Tool Box projects just a bit (by about one week). I gave in and accepted a new order and "DaviSqueezed" it in amongst the current, already delayed, work in progress.
The order accepted was for a Parisian client who simply made me an offer I could not refuse for a pair of new DaviSnake microphones . Most of you longtime readers/clients know that I NEVER waver from my policy of placing each client and their orders in chronological order- first in/ first out, no matter who the client or what the situation. In this rare case, I did find the circumstances, which I won't fully go into here, exceptional enough to merit squeezing this order in on priority. Now, I emphasize that I would NOT have done this for another Tool Box project. Again, as most of you know, the only orders that I have ALWAYS worked in amogst the Tool Box projects are those for MasterPiece modules. Since I can usually complete and test a MasterPiece module, sometimes two, in one day, I sometimes accept these orders and work them in with my current project circuit work. I then let them "burn-in" while I get on with my other projects. So, it really does not interfere too much, but rather actually maximizes my time investment when I already have things set up for circuit construction.
Well, it just so happens, this client's request came in at just the absolute perfect time for a DaviSnake "work-in". I was at a point that week where, while I did not have the necessary sustained, daily time block available which would allow for the needed remaining work on the current Tool Box projects, I did have a schedule which would fit perfectly around the construction process for the DaviSnake microphones.I am now using a "new" mini-electret capsule for the element in these mics having lost my source for the original design. And, I am also supporting it with the original, minimal circuitry that was used in the begiinning before I subsequently "updated it" to conform more to traditional circuitry for phantom powered mics. I have to say that my original, UNIQUE circuit design is unbeatable for transparency and it works just fine with 98% of all the available phantom power sources out there. There may be one or two console mic amps that cause some high frequency loading to this circuit (which was the reason for the upgrade attempt) but the majority of "normal" mic preamps marry with the DaviSnake circuitry just fine. Therefore, I will be sticking with this original design which is like no other phantom powered microphone circuitry available anywhere. It is truly a DaviSound exclusive!
The new "snake", the flexible gooseneck mount, contains a built-in XLR connector eliminating the protruding cable of the original design. I will be getting some photos up on the website to illustrate this new "snake" asap. 
Weston Ray swears by the transparency of his original circuit DaviSnakes...
Shown here set up as overheads for drums.
On another note...
I received a rather strange text this month from an unkown/unnamed inquiror. This inquiror wanted to know -
"would you be interested in selling your Ampex 350?"
This was strange for a couple of reasons aside from not including a name or introduction for the sender. In the first place, I never owned a 350 but rather a 351 (they are two slightly different "animals". I did also own a model 300 once). This was back in my earliest strudio days circa 1970 and the ONLY place it is mentioned, that I am aware of, is on our website in the DaviScrapBook section shown in a black and white photo from a very old studio brochure.I bring this up here to emphasize that, while I now accept and WELCOME text messages along with email (which is why I include the text phone number on our site), I DO NOT respond to anonymous texts that do not introduce and name the sender! So, if the sender of that text happens to be reading this post, please always note this and please let me know who you are the next time you send a text. I need names and locations from all legitimate inquirors whether by text or email. I will follow up an email asking for this information when necessary but I will NOT respond to an unidentified text message.
On the subject of the old Ampex workhorses, you can find a lot of information about them at HistoryOfRecording.com .
Here is a very old snapshot of yours truly ...
(back in the "full figure" days!)
examining the Ampex 351 (identical to my old one)
at Sun Studios in Memphis. This very machine's "slap back"
(playback head) echo contributed to the unique sound of their many hits.
Well, that's about it for this edition. Please join me again here next month for another update ... hopefully relating some "DaviSpeedy" progress for a change in all directions!Hayne
February 22, 2021'' DaviShort and DaviShortwave ! '' This will be a short one (at least compared to some of my lengthy "epistles") but, hopefully, an interesting one...albeit certainly a DIFFERENT one!
Although many of our visitors may not consider this at all about AUDIO ...(certainly not "pro audio" in any case)... I beg to differ! Radio is, indeed, audio ... just the first ever WIRELESS audio and it probably did more for the advancement of audio technology early on than anything else ever has. So, while this little February edition focuses on "radio audio", I promise that next month we will turn our full attention back to DaviSound Professional Audio creations- bigtime!
Meanwhile, after reading this update post, I do urge you to follow the link to the recent "radio" web page just added to our site and check it out... this is especially so if you are at all technically inclined and one of our DIY audio followers since you will find some very interesting audio related "DaviSecrets" embedded in our little article about a unique, DIY radio receiver.
The theme of this month's News Update was prompted by an email received not too long after last month's edition which was related to the effects of today's modern radio "propaganda" programming on the sad state of our current American society. (In case you missed it you can scroll down, right below this month's edition, to find it. As longtime readers are aware, the way this News Updates page works is that I post each new update in succession "on top of" the prior month's update. Or you may use our new included "feature", an ongoing page index located at the top of the page which will link you to the particular month's entry that you may be looking for.)
The email that I refer to was from a very young lady (aged nine to be exact). It was very well written and it took me to task just a bit for my, somewhat, "negativity" regarding the state of today's shortwave radio broadcast bands! She was, no doubt, encouraged by her father to write after he read last month's post since he is one of our longtime, European clients who has purchased numerous MasterPiece Modules as well as our old "Tech Reports" (eventually to be republished as "DaviSecrets") over the years . Anyway, it turns out that this young lady is an avid shortwave listener and quite an enthusiast. She pointed out to me that there was still plenty of good, positive programming available on shortwave if you just take the time to search and listen for it and she reminded me that the "searching" (tuning around the bands) is the fun part of it .. a "sport" akin to a more "civilized" version of hunting and fishing!
She further went on to say that I should post a web page documenting the construction of that primitive radio receiver, that I had talked about on several occasions in these News Updates, which had given me so much enjoyment over the years (this, no doubt, also prompted by her dad!)
Well, inspired by her email, I took the time to dig through my old backup files and found just such a web page done many years ago as a tribute to that very special, simple, receiver. I had posted the page on my site back in the old AOL days in the late 1990s but had never done anything with it since AOL disbanded. Thus, I am pleased to tell her, and all who may be interested, that this page has now been briefly edited and ammended and posted here on the DaviSound site to be linked from our DaviSides web page (of course there will be a link to it from this update, here below, as well).
It is the story of the "Barndoor Receiver", a finalized version of that very early prototype which I used on my workbench for many years which I eluded to here last month. It is a detailed, construction article which includes schematics, layout, parts lists and even some new diagrams of subsequent, slightly more "sophisticated", TRF receivers (TRF refers to "Tuned Radio Frequency").
To hopefully whet a few appetites, here are just two of those five, newly included circuit additions that you will find in this latest version of the web page-Hopefully, this page might inspire a few new SWLs (code name for "Shortwave Listeners) and even a few DIY constructors! I have already emailed a "thank you" reply to this special young lady for encouraging the old "glass half full optimist" to remain that way, at least in terms of radio. While she can no longer hear such worldwide stations as the old Voice Of America, Radio Moscow, Radio Canada, the BBC and many others that the article refers to, she was most correct in pointing out that we still have some interesting broadcasts out there if you take the time to "hunt" and research their schedules. Among these are several in the USA including WTWW, WRMI, WWCR and WBCQ. WRMI also serves as an International broadcast relay station which allows you to hear programming from other countries that may not otherwise be available. WTWW carries on the tradition of "old style" Top 40 (oldies) radio and typically does it VERY well in addition to airing SWL and HAM radio special, technical programming at times, especially weekends. 
And, I should also mention that the "medium wave" band (AM broadcast band) is not ENTIRELY all propaganda and that there are still a few offering positive entertainment programming. For example, when I am working at night, I often try to catch the "Oldtime Radio" dramas and comedies aired each night at ten pm EST on CFZM (formerly CHWO), 740 AM, Toronto. And, of course, there are a few others still out there offering something besides political negativity if you just take the time to search. In my hometown, we are lucky to still have one of the last holdout, "mom and pop" stations still doing well and programmed beautifully for a small market by my old friends, Carole Riser Murray (program director) and Jimmie Coggins (owner/manager). This station is my old radio "alma matter", WKDK. There are still a few of these scattered around the country and, if you are lucky enough to have one in your area, I encourage you to give them all the support that you can. Believe me, in this day and age of conglomerate takeover, they deserve all the support that their communities can offer them!
SO...
While not so "DaviShort" after all, this concludes my tribute to RADIO for awhile and it also concludes this month's News Updates. As I said early on, I do plan more extensive DAVISOUND PRO AUDIO NEWS in our next edition so please join me here for that next month (somewhere around the "ides of March" I hope).
In closing I should mention, again, that I have now added an ongoing "clickable" index to the top of the page where you may instantly go to any previous month's post without having to scroll the page. This, too, was prompted by a reader email who was asking about one of my old topics and where he might find it to go over it again. I was ashamed to tell him that I was not sure what year it was posted, let alone which month. This led me to adding the top-of-page index which should have been included on the News Updates pages all along. At least, it should make finding future posts much easier in the months and years ahead.
That's it for this edition "boys and girls" and, as always, I thank you for "listening" (reading) and urge you to please "tune-in" here again next month "same time (generally speaking) same station" for another DaviSound News Update!
OH ... and here is that link to the new "magical" page we have been talking about!
The BARNDOOR Radio Receiver
Hayne
January 15, 2021'' DaviStarted and DaviSad DaviStation" - 2021 ! ''
Well, here we go again! Even though this year has started out even worse as far as the political wake being left behind with the terrible tragedy of events in our nation's capitol, I still feel the hope of the New Year and believe we are headed for better things ... IF we can silence ( or best yet, get everyone, including their sponsors to IGNORE!) those incessant spewers of hate propaganda all over American talk radio.Yes, this will be just a bit of a "DaviSermon" but I do promise to keep it VERY "DaviShort"! The last thing I EVER want to do is to turn this platform into a political forum of any sort. But, like most of you, I was sickened by the recent events in Washington and I just can't help but offer some observations here, out front, since it also ties in with another of my lifelong passions and loves - RADIO.
Most of you are already aware of my past, varied, broadcast career and subsequent ties thereto. I also mentioned in a prior update last year (now moved to News Archives ) about my fascination with simple homebrew TRF radio receivers hooked up to a 50' longwire antenna and the shortwave, and medium wave, AM reception they bring in to reward their constructor. I have been entertained on many a long winter night, in days long past, by listening to these homemade receivers while I sat and worked at the soldering table. I say days long past since it is very hard to find that kind of entertaining radio anywhere nowadays.
Where there used to be dozens and dozens of stations across the shortwave broadcast bands providing colorful information from the various countries they emanated from, now many of these stations have disappeared entirely from the airwaves due to the internet and the ones that are left are, you guessed it, primarily propaganda machines just like their mediumwave (AM broadcast band) counterparts. It's all either extreme rightwing, hate propaganda, maniacal conspiracy theorists, or paid religious fanatics! The standard AM broadcast band is no better. I received a new all-band receiver the other night and, while testing it, I manually scanned every broadcast frequency from 520 kHz all the way through 1710 kHz, and I want you to know that on all but four stations I picked up, there was an assortment of ranting, raving Rush Limbaugh "wannabes" spitting their garbage out all across the dial! And of course, they would not be doing it if they did not have an eager, addicted audience for it and sponsors who cater to them. And the sad thing is, it is not just the fanatics who are insprired by it all. It has worked to "mind numb" many, otherwise, good intentioned people who have been megadosed with it day in and day out over too many years.
And, most importantly, I'm not talking about honest political debate here, I'm talking about "brainwashing" based upon outright lies and distortions amplified day after day. I don't know what's worse with these people, whether they actually believe what they're spewing or whether they know they are pandering to their audience ... I'm afraid its a little of both.
This is why I stuggle to maintain a positive hope for a better outcome. I think the cause of much of what we have seen called the "great divide" now among Americans is directly caused by media propaganda. To me it has been an obvious concern for MANY years. As I scanned the shortwave bands a week before the tragic event in Washington, I actually heard some of these maniacal hate-mongers calling for exactly what happened a week later ... EXACTLY what happened! This is being allowed on American sanctioned broadcast stations with no concern by the FCC, or the NAB, or the very sponsors that pay for it all! Yes, to me, it is especially a "DaviSad" turn of events to see my lifelong beloved medium, which once was filled with nothing but positive, uplifting programming governed by a principled fairness doctrine, now entirely nothing more than a forum for negative, narrow mindedness ( to put it mildly). But, unfortunately, such is the current state of our society in the year 2021.
There has been some sign of hope in the days following our recent tragedy since many sponsors, and at least one broadcast conglomerate, have vowed to pull the plug on some of these self-styled, would-be demigods if they do not cease and decist. However, I have my doubts whether this will last.
But, as the, almost eternal, optimist, I do continue to have HOPE for the future and I see the recent election as a step in the right direction. I just hope the other political party can, finally, start thinking with their brains instead of their emotions and open their eyes, ears, hearts and minds to something besides selfish greed and the loathing of their neighbors who don't see things in the same, one-sided manner that they do. Fortunately, a few of them in congress have already stepped up and bravely separated themselves from their, cowardly, self-serving counterparts. Again, just maybe this is a step in the right direction albeit a small, and possibly temporary, one.
Okay...here endeth the "DaviSermon"! Now on to better, and more positive, things!
I mentioned last time ("last year"), that I had a few new additions that I wanted to include in an update to our DaviStories page as soon as I could get the time to collate it all. One such addition is from the current commissioner of our latest Tool Box project, a new TB-4, Dave Rust of Indiana. Dave has sent me some photos of his collection of DaviSound gear which I am pleased to share with you here below.
The photo just direclty above is of one of our most RARE pieces since only a couple of these were ever made. I called this faceplate style the "DaviStone" model since the unique paint finish resembled cut granite. I was pleased to see that the finish on this one had survived after all these many years! Unfortunately, I no longer offer the "DaviStone" style faceplate so this truly is a collector's item, as are many of our handmade, pro audio pieces. I invite you to click the link above and check out this unique piece on its introductory page. I believe you will find it worth the visit if you have never seen it before.
I want to thank Dave for sharing these photos with us. I can tell that he has taken meticulous care of his collection and I look forward to presenting him with his new DaviSound TB-4 sometime soon in the first quarter of this new year!
I hope all of you are doing well as we head onto a new slate of things to come. I thank all of you for joining me here again for yet another year of DaviSound News Updates. I truly hope that all of them will be GOOD NEWS updates, in all directions, for all of us. I certainly plan to have some interesting audio gear to display for you here in the months to come as I get closer to finishing a couple of our longest ongoing custom mixer projects as well as our other Tool Box projects along the way. And, yes, the rumor is true ... I am thinking of offering a guitar amp, or two, sometime in the not-too-far future!
So, until next time, thanks for "tuning in"! I promise no "propaganda" to be had on THIS "station". There are no long, slow loading scripts, no outside advertisers to distract you, no pop-ups, no "like us on Facebook" and "follow us on Twitter", or none of the aggravating formats now utilized in cookie-cutter fashion all over the web these days...never here! Just good, old fashioned, fast loading html! So please join me again next month, "same station", for more news updates ... from DaviSound!
Happy New Year!
Hayne
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