Greetings from the Bass Pig

[Basspig]

I joined this forum in May 2007, but I have been so busy that I never got around to making my introductory post. I'm on the less frenetic edge of a major symphony recording project, so here it goes...

To many, I am known as Bass Pig; some people like me, some people hate me (that depends on whether you're in the audio or the video business) for my fact-finding missions, but that's my nature: wanting to expose flaws in products and push for corporate honesty and truth in marketing.

My real trademark attribute is my unlimited love for audio, which is manifest in the 29 year old sound system (updated in 2006), which came to be christened "Bass Pig". Contrary to it's namesake, it is very accurate with classical music. But it has attracted quite a bit of attention, both locally and on the internet, perhaps because of its excess.

I'm interested in philosophy, and, by situations of late, politics. As you get to know me, you'll find that I am pretty well-rounded in my interests and knowledge. I'm known as a "jack of all trades", because I've been working in so many fields over many decades. Electronics design is my background, but I am also an amateur musician (keyboard), acoustical science specialist, speaker system designer and cabinet builder. I've been moonlighting as an RF engineer for extra income, but my main post-retirement profession is running my own video/sound recording business.

The big, exciting news of late is that I just finished recording a major symphony orchestra in a major hall, with a conductor from Switzerland and a pianist flown in from Venezuela. I did a 3-camera shoot in high definition and used a custom-built array of surround microphones that I managed to talk the hall's management into letting me fly over the 4th row center at 18' height. I used another stereo pair mounted to light pipes in front of the balcony. Yes, it was a big operation and the concert recording was a huge success, resulting in a new benchmark for high fidelity classical recording, with HD video to boot.

I'm going to go back to my editing now, but I just wanted to take a minute to stop by and make a post and say hello to kindred audiophiles-at-heart.

[Sonnie]

Hello Mark and welcome to the Shack!

What I want to know is are you deaf?



Of course I'm just kidding.

[cynical2]

Welcome to the Shack, Mr BassPig Mark!

I went to graduate school in Cambridge, Massachusetts...and I always wondered what that low rumble was coming from the Southwest. Now I know! It was the BassPig!

Based on your experience, it sounds like you have a LOT to offer other forum members! Hopefully, you'll also pick up some tidbits yourself from the other audiophiles on the board.

Again, welcome!

[Anthony]

Welcome aboard -- be sure to contribute a lot to the subwoofer forums. We have a lot of people who love bass (almost) as much as you do

[Basspig]

Thank you all for a generous greeting.

My hearing is not what it used to be, but I'm told that's pretty normal for my age.
A saving grace is that it is very infrequent that I listen to anything at very high levels. You can get away with a lot more SPLs if it is not a regular recurring habit.

I'm sure many a people have wondered what the cyclic rumbling was, but since I don't subscribe to the local paper, I may never know if they're complaining about it.

I'll definately stop by the subwoofer forums. Looks like some interesting activity in Finland with all that testing going on. Here in the USA, it seems that many folks just don't care about sound quality, and there are videographers in this country who could care less that the bottom FIVE octaves of bass response are missing from their pro-grade video cameras.

My background is in Classical music, and I record symphony concerts, which keeps my ears 'calibrated' as to what a live orchestra sounds like. So anything reproduced that deviates in the slightest from that really irritates me to the point where I can't listen any longer. Being involved in the recording industry (I don't consider myself part of the industry--I consider myself a separate individual industry), I have the opportunity to stretch the envelope in the direction of removing barriers to accuracy and transparency. And believe it or not, subwoofers play an important role in accurate orchestral reproduction, because any coloration in the bass just sounds awful to anyone who hangs around double-bass players all night.

My contributions will be limited to mostly the scientific and theoretical, as most of the world of commercial consumer subwoofers and audio technology is in a different universe from the universe in which I live. That said, being a DIY'er for the past forty some odd years that I've found audio interesting enough to tinker with, I always enjoy a good DIY discussion.

[nova]

Hello Mark, Welcome to the Shack. Sounds like you are busier in retirement than the rest of us are in full time work

[Basspig]

Staying busy and physically-active is what keeps me young. (Secret tip: Bass is the fountain of Youth.)

[Sonnie]

I was watchin' your You Tube video 133db at 16Hz and I'd say you need to change your handle to Basshog...

That was pretty amazing!

[Basspig]

Oh, that... That was a test, which I never want to repeat again. I had such a mess to clean up after that from dust that fell from the ceilings and from things that fell off shelves and broke--all over the house. Thanks to Bassmaxx Technology and CGN Audio Labs for those prototype subwoofers. Mine toured the Nevada and California deserts at "raves" before they changed ownership, where they tested their mettle with 9,000 watt QSC Powerlight amplifiers bridged mono. That YouTube video was quite tame, actually, with probably about 60W going into each driver at the time, guestimated by the -30dB LEDs flickering on the amplifiers driving the ZR18s, producing not even an inch of excursion. The Hemholtz resonators do most of the work below 20Hz.