At last... (Audiolab) - part VII
- Thread starter Joe P
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JohnW
pfm member
MDAC PSU first before we are ready with the Amps - tooling has yet to be opened...
John
JohnW
pfm member
Hi Jem,
No, I'll be Emailing poeple on the Pre-Order list tonight / tommorow to confirm collection details,
John
russel
./_dazed_and_confused
Hi Russel,
I did say with a "Twist"
The design will combine the advantages of CROSS coupled Class A MOSFET stage with brute force...
As I say, more when we decide if we are going to Patent the topology or not...
John
I would be careful about patenting, a world wide patent would cost about 100K USD. If you want to enforce it, well how much have you got?.
If its really good maybe an IC manufacturer as a partner. Good news about the MDAC, thanks!
JohnW
pfm member
Yes, thats the issue...
russel
./_dazed_and_confused
I am intrigued, will you be selling boards only for the hoobyist?.
Gosh, is it really that much? What chance a small-time inventor who comes up with a world-beating idea?
Didn't Quad patent the original current dumping topology back in the day? I'm sure that they wouldn't have spent 100K (adjusted for nineteen seventies pricing).
anubisgrau
pfm Member
what's the reason that inputs on USB & optical are limited to 96/24 while SPDIF is 192/24 ?
(i remember this was explained somewhere in one of the threads but god knows where)
(i remember this was explained somewhere in one of the threads but god knows where)
russel
./_dazed_and_confused
Yes, it costs a lot for world wide. The main issue is for enforcement, a big company will just sit it out until you go bankrupt.
As a small inventor you have no chance, the best way is to go into partnership with a big company, who may well screw you anyway.
JohnW
pfm member
Are you referring to the MDAC? The optical does function to 192kHz, its just most optical sources and Cheap Plastic Fiber are so bad that its not a reliable connection - so rather then having to constantly field customer complaints that the MDACs Optical connection does not work at 192kHz (due to no fault of our own) - we have just rated them to 96kHz.
USB is limited due to the USB1.1 hardware Spec. Our hardware is designed using the TAS1020B which is a USB 1.1 device (A maxim of 12Mbps, which is just a tad too slow for 192kHz Audio Streaming).
John
Bolle
pfm Member
Any chance of adding a 12V DC trigger out to the 'smart' PSU? To make it perfect as pre/DAC with power amps or active speakers?
JohnW
pfm member
anubisgrau
pfm Member
yes MDAC, thanks - any thoughts re possible USB2.0 update which should (i guess) fix the issue?
Bolle
pfm Member
Great idea - Yes
Thank you - ashamed I did not think of it...
John
I'll forward you my address where you can ship my complimentary MDAC, so we can settle this case of Audiolab using my ideas outside of those nasty courts...
Keep up the good work and communication with potential users!
Start with European patent - it provides single point of coverage in what you'd probably intend to be your major market and provides prior art for other locations, whether you decide to pursue in those locations or not.
Biggest problem with patents is they are very time consuming to write and progress - and John, you have so much free time!
And, as Apple et al. are demonstrating, very expensive to defend rather than register.
At least if you've got a patent then at least you've got IP that you can clearly demonstrate as your own, whether you choose to defend it or not. If you don't submit a patent application you've got nothing to defend and it's much harder (financially impossible?) to demonstrate legal ownership of the design concept.
It also gives you something solid to licence when in a consultant designer role.
sergeauckland
pfm Member
Back in the 1970s, I worked for a company that didn't patent anything. All their inventions were published in Wireless World or the RTS Journal so that nobody else could patent the idea. They figured that there was no way they could fight Sony or JVC on a patent infringement, so by publishing they were as well protected, and anyway, so many modern inventions have a finite and fairly short lifetime before they're obsolete, so by the time another manufacturer had caught on, they'd moved on. It worked for them.
S.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
By patenting you are declaring your secrets. Someone else only has to get around the wording of the patent and modify your design accordingly and they have nicked your design.
JohnW
pfm member
I agree with all your comments concerning patents - I’ve already been though the process a couple of times, after working so hard, I'd hate to see the topology copied - but there are so few real HiFi companies left, one would have to ask who would really bother?
Its quite "clever" little circuit with many small tricks that are not so obvious - I'm not sure anyone who would copy it would understand what’s going on anyway. They would soon destroy its performance though total ignorance...
I've had the circuit since around 1997 (I developed it in the summer months after returning to Europe after the Hong Kong Handover) – so its time I'd did something useful with it...
John
Its quite "clever" little circuit with many small tricks that are not so obvious - I'm not sure anyone who would copy it would understand what’s going on anyway. They would soon destroy its performance though total ignorance...
I've had the circuit since around 1997 (I developed it in the summer months after returning to Europe after the Hong Kong Handover) – so its time I'd did something useful with it...
John
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