Xref: utzoo rec.music.synth:10751 comp.music:579 comp.dsp:434
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!haven!decuac!rayssd!iws
From: iws@rayssdb.ray.com (Ihor W. Slabicky)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth,comp.music,comp.dsp
Subject: Re: Ariel Digital Microphone
Summary: excerpt of article
Keywords: Digital Microphone
Message-ID: <4390@rayssdb.ray.com>
Date: 10 Jan 90 22:40:46 GMT
References: <2782@radio.oakhill.UUCP> <7471@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Organization: Raytheon Company, Portsmouth RI
Lines: 61

In article <7471@pt.cs.cmu.edu>, agn@unh.cs.cmu.edu (Andreas Nowatzyk) writes:

> Some time ago, I had a chance to play with it, but the unit in question
> may have been a prototype or an alpha version, so take the following
> comments with a grain of salt.
> 
> Electronically, the unit is indeed cute. It is a bit warm because it
> consumes a bit more power than you'd like. The LED's are fine and the
> fidelity from electrical signal in to digital out is probably ok
> (golden ear audio nuts will certainly dispute this).
> 
> So if you use an external microphone with this microphone (it has a
> connector for that), you could get quality audio out of it.
> 
> BUT, it you use the build-in microphone elements... They use 2 plain
> electret pressure capsules side by side in a block of foam! Similar to the
> 50cent Radio-Shack special. Channel separation is about nil, and the
> overall quality is marginally better than a telephone. It is really a very
> odd device: state of the art electronics with sub-consumer grade acoustics.


... excerpted from TV Technology, November 1989 issue ...

Ariel Introduces Digital Microphone

The new mic, by Ariel Corp., utilizes two powerful new Motorola
a-to-d chips to sample and convert stereo analog signals to
digital info.  A high quality broadcasting/recording version of
the mic with an AES/EBU standard output will be shown at the
October AES convention in NYCity. 

A special version of the Ariel Digital Microphone, which can only
be used with the NeXT Computer System is on sale now for $595.
The Model DM-N has two electret condenser capsules in an x/y
configuration to pick up analog sounds in stereo.  Two 56ADC chips
convert the analog signals to digital format.  The device has a
dynamic range of up to 92 dB with a total harmonic distortion of
0.005 percent.  The digital mic allows the user to limit the
bandwidth of the acquired signals.  The NEXT computer, through
software selection can adjust the mic's sampling rate to one of
five values from 88.2 KHz down to 5.5 KHz, including the digital
audio standard of 44.1KHz.  The mic also has line level R and L
input jacks for directly connecting outboard equipment through
it's A-to-D conversion circuitry.  Devices range from compact
discs and DAT players can be connected to the mic.

For broadcast and recording studios, Ariel has plans for digital
signal processing that can include computer manipulation of the
mic's characteristics, digital low cut filters, automatic squelching
of feedback, and auto mic mixing.  No signal processing occurs
inside the mic.  The A-to-D conversion has been as close as possible
to the source to eliminate interference, hums, and buzzes.

When asked to compare the sound of the Ariel Digital Microphone to the
top-of-the-line precision studio mics from Neumann and Schoeps, Ariel
begged off, saying no head-to-head comparisons have been made.

(A b/w photo shows the NeXT mic next to the NeXT mouse - the mic is
about twice as long as the mouse and only 2/3 as wide.)

For information from Ariel Marketing, contact Les Listwa at 201-249-2900.