[Elecraft] My K3's hissy and noisy audio

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

> The K3 apparently has the same sort of energy on its audio 
> output, but because it is so many dB down, when the news 
> broke it was dismissed as a non-issue.

There are several issues here that cloud the discussion.  
The K3 uses different audio amplifiers for the speakers and 
headphones.  One person may be talking about headphone audio 
while another talking about the speaker audio.  

Even when discussing only headphone audio there are very 
significant differences depending on the impedance of the 
headphone elements due to the high pass characteristics 
of the 10 uF coupling capacitors - as documented by W9AC - 
as well as differences in the noise and distortion in the 
the headphone amplifier depending on load impedance.  In 
addition, the response and efficiency of the headphones 
as well as the hearing of the individual all play a role. 

Once speakers are added to the discussion it brings a 
whole new group of concerns ... including a different 
amplifier and a wide variety of speakers and enclosures. 

73, 

   ... Joe, W4TV 
 




> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of VR2BrettGraham
> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 3:03 AM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] My K3's hissy and noisy audio
> 
> 
> This discussion reminds me of how fatiguing I found the 
> TS-950S to use.  I could not do a contest without getting a 
> splitting headache.
> 
> The K2 helped me figure out why, one day after yet again 
> mucking about with BFO settings & dealing with lumpy/bumpy 
> filter passband & impossible quest to reasonably balance 
> sound with high & low-side BFO injection, I inadvertently put 
> an audio spectrum analyzer on the 950's output.
> 
> Now this is from sample of quantity one, but that 950 had 
> energy in its audio output well above bandwidth of interest.  
> The K2 did not, nor did an IC-765 I was also using at the 
> time.  Only the 950 was literally painful to use after as 
> short a time as a few hours.
> 
> The K3 apparently has the same sort of energy on its audio 
> output, but because it is so many dB down, when the news 
> broke it was dismissed as a non-issue.
> 
> Some folks have better hearing than others.  Reproduction of 
> the sound can also vary due to differences in speakers & 
> headphones. All the variables could add together enough to 
> reach the point where the effect is noticeable; they just as 
> easily combine to something less.
> 
> I hope Elecraft looks at issues like this more objectively 
> than its user community appears to sometimes.  And cheers to 
> those who will say what some don't want to hear, is the only 
> way things can get sorted out.
> 
> 73, ex-VR2BG/p.
> 
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