can this be called passive?

I know technically its got a power supply, but thats to drive the opto couplers, a more informed oppinion from you guys would be appreciated.
http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/DIY-Lightspeed-Passive-Attenuator/

I think im gonna build one.

AFAIK that's passive....and above all it has: perfect clarity, a widened soundstage, separation of instruments, and seemingly infinite detail 


Somehow they've managed to squeeze in a little engineer who takes care of remixing the input signal to achieve the above .... 

Any spec regarding the max attenuation with this design?

Thanks.

radiance said:

AFAIK that's passive....and above all it has: perfect clarity, a widened soundstage, separation of instruments, and seemingly infinite detail 


Somehow they've managed to squeeze in a little engineer who takes care of remixing the input signal to achieve the above .... 

Click to expand...

BS

should be:

***YOU CAN SEE THE SOUND***

It uses active devices... but is "passive" in the respect that it won't respond if you poke it with a stick.

JR

politically correct would be to say "passive audio path"

It can be called Shirley if that makes you happy.

JD 'a rose by any other name' B.

jdbakker said:

It can be called Shirley if that makes you happy.

Click to expand...

It is passive, as a motorized pot is, but WTF?

radiance said:

perfect clarity, a widened soundstage, separation of instruments, and seemingly infinite detail

Click to expand...

Sounds like I'd want two of them to put in series for "seemingly infinite detail" squared and then sell all my other gear

But now more seriously. Attentuation (100K pot to max) would be to seemingly infinite, meaning silent in this case? Guess not. However, I wonder how the Silonex optos will change the sound. It is "lightspeed", yes, hmm, but optos usually react a bit sloppily, no? At least they tend to do so in compressors. Actually this looks very much like the basic circuitry of an opto compressor but without attack, release, ratio or threshold... (like What compressor, Joecheap, etc.)

Please build it and let us know.

s

boji said:

Click to expand...

Not only you see our sound, but you can also touch it.

And, wait for the best part.

All included in the price.

Aha? Light speed? With LDR's attack and release times? I guess it is good for...uhhh....

...hmm. What is it good for?

Light... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzohKci582w

"passive preamplifier"

Ok now I get the idea. But really what I wonder is...

Will it blend?

Preamplifier is passive because the Light is active.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoRV7PGNMgk

So do any of you experts reccomend it for attenuating the sound from my audio interface to my pream monitors?
Or would I be better off with a classic stereo attenuator full of resistors?

Considering how easy it is to build a conventional attenuator, I can't figure out why you'd be interested in this device? I guess it'll have better resolution than one with modestly priced switches (i.e. 24-pos, as opposed to Shallco or the like with 64 positions). However, what price time for ordering the bits and assembling?

Also, why aren't there THD figures on the link?

Could be interesting for an opto comp though. Any reason why not?

Justin