Small Signal Audio Design: 4th edition

Page updated: 22 Jan 2024

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Here is the Fourth Edition of my book on with audio small signal design, which is the amplification and control of audio in the analogue domain, where the operations are performed with op-amps or discrete transistors, usually working at a nominal level of 1 Volt or less. It is a unique collection of detailed information on small-signal audio, and has now been enlarged by 50%. All of the new material is wholly original and derived from my own researches; most of it has never been published before.

From any good/big bookshop, or via Routledge/Taylor & Francis or Amazon. See links below:

816 pages ISBN: 978-1-032-36627-2 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-032-36625-8 Paperback ISBN: 978-1-003-33298-5 ebook Published by Focal Press, an imprint of Routledge/Taylor & Francis Learn more about purchasing this book from: The Taylor & Francis Site The Routledge site Amazon UK . So much has been added to this edition that it is difficult to summarise, but the new material includes: Ch 1: Balanced and unbalanced signals; the deeper meaning Ch 1: Internally balanced design Ch 1: 600 Ohm lines Ch 1: Opamp-based power amplifiers Ch 1: Tin and its uses Ch 1: Printed Circuit Board technology Ch 1: Microphony in electrolytic capacitors Ch 3: Emitter-follower stability Ch 3: JFET source-followers Ch 3: CFP-follower stability Ch 3: Three-transistor shunt-feedback amps with current-injection Ch 4: More opamp types examined Ch 4: Opamp output biasing for reduced distortion Ch 6 Amplitude peaking and Q in lowpass and highpass S&K filters Ch 6 Sallen & Key bandpass filters Ch 6 Sallen & Key notch filters Ch 6 Distortion in Sallen & Key filters Ch 6 Mixed capacitors in low-distortion Sallen & Key filters Ch 6 Other notch filters Ch 6 Higher order filters Ch 6: Switched-slope filters Ch 10: Opamp arrays for MC preamps Ch 12: Piezoelectric guitar pickups Ch 13: Active gain controls plus passive attenuators Ch 15: One-band tone controls Ch 17: Electret microphones Ch 17: The simple hybrid mic preamp: Noise, Distortion, CMRR Ch 17: Why phantom power is 48V Ch 17: Hybrid microphone preamplifier: mic/line without switching Ch 17: Mic preamps for digital mixers Ch 18: Alternative unbalanced and balanced inputs Ch 19: More on noise in balanced outputs Ch 19: The:-6dB economical balanced output Ch 19: Output impedance synthesis Ch 21: Signal switching with MOSFETs Ch 21: DG411 analogue gate series switching Ch 25: Ultra-low-noise regulators Ch 27: The Design Sequence: Prototyping, safety NEW CHAPTER

The first few chapters cover the principles of high-quality small-signal design, moving on to look closely at first hifi preamplifiers, and then mixing consoles. These two genres were chosen partly because they are of wide interest in themselves, but mainly because they use a large number of different functional blocks, with very little overlap between them. They cover a wide range of circuit functions that will be useful for all kinds of audio systems. You will find out how to adapt or design these building-blocks, and how to put them together to form a system. You should then be able to design pretty much anything in the small-signal audio field. THE CHAPTERS: Chapter 1: Basics Chapter 2: Components Chapter 3: Designing with discrete transistors Chapter 4: Opamps and their properties Chapter 5: Opamps for low voltages Chapter 6: Filters Chapter 7: Preamplifier architectures Chapter 8: Gain stages Chapter 9: Moving-magnet phono amplifiers Chapter 10: Moving-coil phono amplifiers Chapter 11: Tape machines Chapter 12: Guitar preamps Chapter 13: Volume-controls Chapter 14: Balance controls Chapter 15: Tone controls & equalisers Chapter 16: Mixer architectures Chapter 17: Microphone input amplifiers Chapter 18: Line inputs Chapter 19: Line outputs Chapter 20: Headphone amplifiers Chapter 21: Signal switching Chapter 22: Mixer subsystems Chapter 23: Level indication & metering Chapter 24: Level control & special circuits Chapter 25: Power supplies Chapter 26: Interfacing with the digital domain Chapter 27: The Design Sequence NEW CHAPTER SAMPLE CHAPTER CONTENTS Chapter 9: MOVING-MAGNET PHONO AMPLIFIERS Cartridge types The vinyl medium Spurious signals Other vinyl problems Maximum signal levels from vinyl Moving-Magnet cartridge sensitivities Overload margins and amplifier limitations Equalisation and its discontents The unloved IEC Amendment The 'Neumann pole' MM amplifier configurations Opamp MM input stages Calculating the RIAA equalisation components Implementing RIAA equalisation Implementing the IEC amendment RIAA series-feedback network configurations RIAA optimisation: C1 as a single E6 capacitor 2xE24 C1 as 3x10nF capacitors 2xE24 C1 as 4x10nF capacitors 2xE24 The Willmann Tables C1 as 3x10nF capacitors 3xE24 C1 as 4x10nF capacitors 3xE24 Switched gain MM RIAA amplifiers Switched-gain MM/MC RIAA amplifiers Open-loop gain and RIAA accuracy Passive and semi-passive RIAA equalisation MM cartridge loading & frequency response MM cartridge-preamplifier interaction MM cartridge DC and AC coupling Noise in MM RIAA preamplifiers Hybrid MM amplifiers Balanced MM amplifiers Noise in balanced MM amplifiers Noise weighting Noise measurements Cartridge load synthesis for lower noise Subsonic filters Subsonic filtering: Butterworth filters: Subsonic filters: elliptical filters Subsonic filtering by cancellation Ultrasonic filters A practical MM amplifier: #3 CHAPTER 11: TAPE MACHINES The Return of Tape A brief history of tape recording The basics of tape recording Multitrack recording Tape heads Tape replay Tape replay equalisation Tape replay amplifiers Replay noise: calculation Replay noise: measurements Load synthesis Noise reduction systems Dolby HX-pro

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