For what it's worth: This isn't a new discovery. There
was a time when some of us actually used the EMI from
computers as a debugging tool. With practice, we could
recognize the sound of different parts of our program and
get a rough idea of what it was doing.

At the time we were mostly using AM radios as our pickups...
so an AM loopstick antenna might work well for your experiment.

So my question is this: is it possible to build a device, or modify a
microphone, so that it picks up ONLY the electromagnetic interference,
but no actual sound?

For what it's worth: This isn't a new discovery. There was a time when
some of us actually used the EMI from computers as a debugging tool.
With practice, we could recognize the sound of different parts of our
program and get a rough idea of what it was doing.

At the time we were mostly using AM radios as our pickups... so an AM
loopstick antenna might work well for your experiment.

And even more bizzare, the really high-speed printers
(like the IBM "train" printer) hit the hammers so fast
that they would also produce quite loud musical notes
and people wrote code to play songs on them. The managers that ran the
computer rooms were generally
not amused.

Actually, that's just what I'm hoping to do: build a sort of EMI-only
"microphone" to use as a computer stethoscope. I figure that a computer
technician, with this tool and some practice, could hear and immediately
recognize the EMI signature of a dying power supply or other bad
component

BTW, if you're interested in this sort of silliness, you really owe to
to yourself to dig into the early years of electronic music and musique
conrete. There some stuff that's unlistenable ("lab notes" from failed
experiments) but there's also some that's Good Stuff, and it'll teach
you a lot about how synthesis evolved to where it is now.

Has anyone here tried these small powered monitors? How do they sound?

How do they compare with others of similar size and price, such as the
M-Audio DX4 monitors? (One important spec is better on the Samsons-25 watts
per channel, vs. 18 watts per channel on the M-Audio. But of course, power
isn't everything.)

In article <%763g.1295$yI1.742@trnddc04>, MS <ms@nospam.com> wrote:
Has anyone here tried these small powered monitors? How do they sound?

How do they compare with others of similar size and price, such as the
M-Audio DX4 monitors? (One important spec is better on the Samsons-25
watts
per channel, vs. 18 watts per channel on the M-Audio. But of course,
power
isn't everything.)

I heard them briefly, and the midrange just wasn't very natural. But
then,
I didn't find vocals on the DX4 to sound very good either. I think I
would
pick the NHT Super Ones over any of them.
--scott

Those NHT Super Ones aren't powered speakers, are they?

What about the midrange on the Samsons sounded unnatural to you?

In article <Zp83g.1137$0z.285@trnddc01>, MS <ms@nospam.com> wrote:

Those NHT Super Ones aren't powered speakers, are they?

No, so you need to throw an amp on them.

"Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com> wrote in message
news:e2j4b0$da7$1@panix2.panix.com...
In article <Zp83g.1137$0z.285@trnddc01>, MS <ms@nospam.com> wrote:

Those NHT Super Ones aren't powered speakers, are they?

No, so you need to throw an amp on them.

Not really comparable though, as I was looking at small powered speaker
sets, like the two I mentioned. It appears to be in quite a different price
range as well.

Good to know about some quality bookshelf speakers, although not really what
this thread is about.

Who here has heard these? What do you think of the quality of its musical
reproduction?

Are there other similar products, from different brands? Small stereo PAs
that provide decent musical reproduction, where the sections attach
together
for easier portability? If so, how do they compare with the Fenders?

Who here has heard these? What do you think of the quality of its musical
reproduction?

Are there other similar products, from different brands? Small stereo PAs
that provide decent musical reproduction, where the sections attach together
for easier portability? If so, how do they compare with the Fenders?

Can you say "JUNK"? OK if you are a no talent working a piano bar