[sci.electronics] compander info requested

davidw@lpi.UUCP (David Weisman) (10/20/86)

Has anyone developed a good general audio compander?  I have several
ideas on how to design one, but was looking to save some time.

Thanks very much.

David W.
...harvard!axiom!lpi!davidw

keithe@tekgvs.UUCP (10/23/86)

In article <176@lpi.UUCP> davidw@lpi.UUCP (David Weisman) writes:
>Has anyone developed a good general audio compander?  I have several
>ideas on how to design one, but was looking to save some time.
>
By all means get copies of application notes from Signetics and from
National. These will save you a lot of wheel-spinning.

keith

rick@mips.UUCP (Rick Frazier) (10/29/86)

> Has anyone developed a good general audio compander?  I have several
> ideas on how to design one, but was looking to save some time.
> David W.

I purchased an audio compander kit about nine or ten years back that
I used for years on my reel-to-reel tape deck.  I think it was made by
Phoenix Systems (or some such name, I haven't used it or the deck for
a couple of years now).  It used a single ic and a handful of caps and
resistors and either compressed or expanded (selected by a switch) by
a factor of about 2:1.  As one might suppose, it was somewhat level
sensitive, so the output of the tape deck had to be adjusted to match
the compressed level the compander sent to it, but worked pretty good
at lowering the aparrent tape hiss -- really dropped the noise down there.
I also had a bit of fun with it on fm stereo broadcasts, particularly on
a few stations that seemed to over compress their signal....

Send me a mail message and I'll send you the company name and the ic they
used, maybe they're still around.  (It'll take a bit of digging, I think it's
buried somewhere in the back of an "unused" closet at home.)
On the other hand, you might just get lots of responses of currently 
available units or designs.  Let me know if you want me to look.

Another avenue might be to look in the radio-electronics type hobby magazines
for an ad...I don't hold much hope for this, as the advent of better tapes
and the proliferation of the compact disc seem to have cut down on this sort
of thing....but 'ya never know.....

-- 
--Rick Frazier--  DISCLAIMER: The above is individual opinion (the result of my
imperfect recall of facts, real or imagined) in no way representing anyone else.
UUCP:  {decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!mips!rick         DDD: 408-720-1700 x278