Read this interesting article on digital amplifiers. These guys have made a digital amplifier the size of a credit card that can pump out 200W RMS into 8 Ohms, DC to 91kHz. They require virtually no cooling and their efficiency is almost 90%!
LMS holding seminars on the internet
LMS International, the distributors of acoustic and vibration simulation software, are holding a series of free seminars about their products, which you can “attend” through the internet.
Read the article on the LMS web site.
MATLAB release 13 (version 6.5)
Mathworks are shipping MATLAB release 13 – version 6.5.
Read the story on the Mathworks web site.
ABAQUS version 6.3 released
HKS, the developers and distributors of ABAQUS, finite element software, are now shipping version 6.3 of the software.
Read more on the ABAQUS web site
Owens Corning Automotive releases another acoustic insulation material
Owen Corning Automotive, a tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry, has released another product for providing acoustic insulation. The VersaMat product has been used successfully in dish washers, and washing machines. Plans are to use the material in headliners, door panels, under-the-hood applications, trunk storage systems and under carpet heat shields
Read more at the Owens Corning Automotive web site.
Lord Corp develops surface effect dampers
Lord Corporation has developed “surface effect dampers” that absorb energy as a function of displacement. Conventional dampers use oil and absorb energy as a function of velocity. The technology has been applied to engine and body mounts.
Read the story on the Lord Corporation web site.
Dentist drill could be replaced with a microwave
An engineer at the University of Tel Aviv, pulled out the magnetron from a domestic microwave oven and has developed a drill that could one day replace the conventional dentists’ drill.
Read the story on the inScight web site.
FEMTools released for Linux
FEMtools, a finite element software package based on Matlab, has been released for the Linux operating system. Version 2.2 will be the first release for Red Hat Linux 7.3.
Read the story on the FEMtools web site.
Sound Quality
DesignNews magazine has an interesting article on Sound Quality with several automotive examples.
Read the article on the DesignNews website.
Vacuum tube on PC motherboard
AOpen, a Taiwanese manufacturer of computer components, has released a motherboard for PC with a vacuum tube to “improve” the audio output. This product is obviously targeted for a niche market, for those people that find their conventional PC sound cards unsatisfactory