21–30 of 48 posts
At least if wearing it out in the fastest manner possible counts as "blowing" it, that could work...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The audio mixer is dependent on the speakers, not the other way around. The speakers should be able to handle anything the mixer is able to throw at it. If they aren't, that's fault on the speakers' part.
I think this is a grey area depending on your setup and listening preferences. I have ~2kW of RMS amplification available to my floorstanding loudspeakers and subwoofer. There is a lot of DSP/EQ protection in between my HTPC and the mechanical drivers in the speakers. Despite all of this, I have had incidents where the software glitches out and plays the un-decoded DTS/DD stream. If you have your volume set at or nea…
What would happen if you sent a random stream of ones and zeros to the PC speaker? Wouldn't that be equivalent to the PC speaker producing square waves at all the frequencies which it can produce? At least if wearing it out in the fastest manner possible counts as "blowing" it, that could work...
Easily one of the more unpleasant experiences of my life (and I’ve broken bones). Something about the sound triggered a very specific Synesthesia. I smelled a burning smell for half a day.
So… in addition to blowing speakers, you can also blow minds.
Why don't all speakers have some circuitry that blocks any signal that could blow out the speakers? This has always seemed like an absurd state of affairs. It should not be possible to damage speakers by turning the volume too loud.
Now I wonder if a piezo beeper would be more plausible or less plausible to blow?
piezo beepers typically have a resonance frequency where they are much louder. Run it at that frequency for too long and the pizeoelectric coating delaminates from the metal disc of the speaker, leading to failure. So, yes, you can probably blow them from software if you're willing to have it turned on for a few days continuously.
What would happen if you sent a random stream of ones and zeros to the PC speaker? Wouldn't that be equivalent to the PC speaker producing square waves at all the frequencies which it can produce? At least if wearing it out in the fastest manner possible counts as "blowing" it, that could work...
In the late 90s and early 2000s, I remember two distinct occasions where a computer tried to play a data cdrom as if it where an audio CD through my headphones. Easily one of the more unpleasant experiences of my life (and I’ve broken bones). Something about the sound triggered a very specific Synesthesia. I smelled a burning smell for half a day. So… in addition to blowing speakers, you can also blow minds.
Why don't all speakers have some circuitry that blocks any signal that could blow out the speakers? This has always seemed like an absurd state of affairs. It should not be possible to damage speakers by turning the volume too loud.
Because knowing exactly how much signal is too much is really hard. When using the speaker, for some purposes you want absolutely max volume - that involves getting the physical parts of the speaker moving fast and far. Yet move them slightly too fast or too far or do that too often and it'll physically break. Odd effects like resonance mean two very similar looking signals can have widely different physical effects.…
(Of course, you could feed always feed such an absurd amount of power that it would break even the protective circuits, but that ultimate vulnerability is just inherent in the nature of electronics).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because knowing exactly how much signal is too much is really hard. When using the speaker, for some purposes you want absolutely max volume - that involves getting the physical parts of the speaker moving fast and far. Yet move them slightly too fast or too far or do that too often and it'll physically break. Odd effects like resonance mean two very similar looking signals can have widely different physical effects.…
In no other high-end consumer product would that unreliability be tolerated. Why would you ever run your speakers at a volume that might blow them out depending on what the next bar of the song sounds like? Are you pre-screening every single bit of audio that will get played over your speakers? Otherwise, you should never run speakers at a borderline volume. This protection should be built in to the speaker. No matte…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because knowing exactly how much signal is too much is really hard. When using the speaker, for some purposes you want absolutely max volume - that involves getting the physical parts of the speaker moving fast and far. Yet move them slightly too fast or too far or do that too often and it'll physically break. Odd effects like resonance mean two very similar looking signals can have widely different physical effects.…
In no other high-end consumer product would that unreliability be tolerated. Why would you ever run your speakers at a volume that might blow them out depending on what the next bar of the song sounds like? Are you pre-screening every single bit of audio that will get played over your speakers? Otherwise, you should never run speakers at a borderline volume. This protection should be built in to the speaker. No matte…