Keep the 'Basics' in mind

In the course of working out the details of getting a project design up and running we oftentimes lose sight of the ‘Basics’. By that, I mean we become so focused on getting the software working correctly that we forget to take another look at our design to ensure that it still makes sense, both musically and electrically, as well as fulfilling the current project goals.

As our projects mature it’s not uncommon to have some scope “creep” occur such as adding more effects, as an example. In this case it would be easy to overlook the order in which the effects will be in the Audio Pipeline (see image below). Some would argue that this detail is already considered by way of making sure it makes musical sense while others may not.

In any event, it makes sense to step back every now and then and take another look at your project at 40,000 feet, per se, and check to see if any basic issues may have arisen in the course of obtaining your desired goals.

Source for image
EffectsPipeline

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I’d argue that you may need another EQ after the Chorus/Delay/Reverb stages to achieve the effect you are after.

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@MikeDB I totally agree with you. I recently completed an amplifier project and the audio chain ended up looking like this:

  1. Hot and Normal input jacks (jack switches select gain range)
  2. Single transistor inverting preamp w/ gain adjust
  3. Non inverting buffer with x2 gain and high pass filter
  4. Inverting optical compressor/limiter w/ drive adjust and low pass filter
  5. Symmetrical hard clipping (diodes) become active at ~50% drive level
  6. Daisy Seed DSP effects (non inverting?)
    • Bypass
    • Tremolo
    • Echo
    • Distortion
  7. Active tone stack (double inverting)
    • Bass
    • Mids
    • Treble
    • Volume
  8. Power amplifier (non inverting)
  9. Speakers

The original design was going to only have echo via a PT2399 until I got my hands on one and decided it was unacceptable in almost every respect of my design goals. I decided it was time to turn to the Makers realm and discover if there were any solutions there that I could use. I had the makings of a Teensy 4.0 solution in my shopping cart when I stumbled upon the Daisy Kickstarter that just closed the week before. I’m extremely pleased with the Daisy’s specifications, speed, and performance. I had already built the tone stack otherwise I would have had the Daisy provide that functionality (next build, definitely).

Back to your comment. I believe that EQ after effects is mandatory and not just to filter artifacts, but also to fit the room acoustics. There are no hard and fast rules around any of this stuff. I added distortion in the Daisy in an illogical order only because it sounded better to me that way.

As an ex-mixer designer, I tend to think of all audio problems as ‘how would I do this on a mixer’ and try to stick to the same order of processing the signal.

I sold my Teensy 4.0 on eBay as soon as I played with the Daisy Seed :slight_smile:

The PT2399 was good in its day but as you discovered things have moved on.

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I did sound reinforcement for my brothers band for years. I’m not musically inclined but I’ve been told that I have a keen ear. :headphones: I wish I had some of your knowledge. I can only imagine the things you know about impedance, current mirroring, and s/n ratios just to mention a few topics.

SuckButton

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I like the Daisy for having an integrated codec. But Teensy is way ahead on software support, documentation and knowledgeable forum activity. Of course, Teensy has had a few years to grow.

Teensy 4.0 never seemed to have the IC pins I needed available on the connectors. But of course since then they’ve fixed that problem with Teensy 4.1. Hopefully this forum will grow over time but we’ll have to wait and see

Well after 52 years of making some very loud and often painful noises I’ve possibly picked up a few good tips. Just ask !