TEARDOWN 2019: Resistor Noise in Audio: The Sound of Angels Dancing on the Head of a Pin

Talk by Brewster LaMacchia

The audio business seems to generate no end of snake-oil peddlers with devices that violate the known laws of physics. In this session, we’ll take a look at the most basic electrical component, resistors, and see what audio measurements can tell us about them. There are some “take home” activities you can do on your computer with free software to listen for yourself the effect that noise has on music reproduction.

Bio: Brewster works with digital signal processing (DSP) in communications, industrial, and audio applications. In the 90s he helped developed one of the first tools to support graphical code generation for embedded real-time multiprocessor DSP software. More recently he has worked extensively on consumer playback for the latest 2D & 3D audio formats. As a founder of Clockworks Signal Processing, Brewster focuses on developing open source hardware for large channel count signal processing systems. Outside of electronics, he’s the public outreach coordinator for the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club and organizes events attended by hundreds of people per year to look through volunteers’ telescopes. Brewster is also leading the Learn to solder: Build a 555 Metronome workshop and giving the SignalBlox: Open Source Hardware for Multichannel Signal Processing demo.