Audio – Graves On SOHO Technology

Is there a MiniDisc Revival?

I loved the Sony MiniDisc! In the mid-90s I had some MiniDisc gear. So when I recently heard rumor of a MiniDisc revival, I was interested.

To get started in MiniDisc, I bought a starter set known as MD Bundle 4. I bought this in the summer of 1996, at the The Sony Store at Premium Outlet Mall in Grove City, PA just north of Pittsburgh. At the time, I was working a large project at KDKA-TV2 in Pittsburgh. That project saw me driving between Toronto and Pittsburgh repeatedly over a period of several months.

The bundle included a Sony MDS-JE510 recorder and an MZ-E40 portable player. I also bought the brand new Sony MDR-NC10 noise cancelling earbuds.

Holiday Project: Lyrion Media Server & Spotify

December 29, 2025
Michael Graves
Audio

This week saw me spending some time to get Lyrion Media Server working with Spotify again. I started using Logitech’s Squeezebox series streaming music players since the Squeezebox 3 was introduced in 2005. Lyrion Media Server is community supported version of what was once known as Logitech Media Server.

Of course, the Logitech hardware eventually died. Electrolytic capacitors eventually age. Our fleet of SB3 were eventually replaced with a handful of Raspberry Pi running PiCorePlayer. Both Lyrion Media Server and PiCorePlayer are open source.

Originally, LMS was all about playing stream from a local library of music. That didn’t last very long. As streaming music sources appeared online the software was extended to include these services. While I’ve used Pandora and Radio Paradise in the past, more recently I access a paid Spotify account by way of Michael Herger’s excellent Spotty plug-in for LMS.

Further Revisiting the Alto Professional Presenter

October 12, 2025
Michael Graves
Audio

I’ve described my use of the Alto Professional Presenter twice before. My typical use case is straightforward. I need a podium & PA for the regular public meetings of our civic association that are typically held in a nearby church. Given that I abandoned the included gooseneck microphone, it works quite well.

Recently, I’ve used it in a couple of different ways.

Revisiting the Alto Professional Presenter

August 15, 2025
Michael Graves
Audio

Late last year I detailed my quest to find a small public address system for use by our local civic association. I settled upon the Alto Professional Presenter, which is a portable, battery operated PA in the form of a podium. What follows are some notes about how I’ve used it over the past nine months, and some recent tweaks to the setup that have made me irrationally happy.

While I was initially quite enthusiastic about the product, that proved to be substantially unwarranted. Out-of-the-box it’s actually quite terrible. It’s a nice idea, poorly executed.

The major problem is the included gooseneck microphone. You can’t turn the device up loud enough to be useful without generating feedback. As a practical matter, the position of the microphone is fixed relative to the front-facing speakers. Also, I suspect the microphone suffered from being physically connected to the podium. The physical connection increases the likelihood of feedback, as vibration was passed directly to the gooseneck.

Real World Experience with Alto Professional Presenter

November 24, 2024
Michael Graves
Audio

Last week I detailed my quest to find a small public address system for our local civic association meetings. This week I got to try out my new solution at two separate events. I learned a few things along the way.

An Elegant Solution to Meeting Audio: Indoors & Outside

November 8, 2024
Michael Graves
Audio

I never really wanted to lead anything. In fact, I spent my career trying to be the second or third in-charge. The guy one tier down the org chart who got stuff done. However, back in May of this year I was once again elected to the board of the Woodland Heights Civic Association. From 2017-2021 I was on this board as director of Communications. This time around I was elected president. I was weak and allowed myself to be talked into it.

The member’s meeting (pictured above) where the election was conducted was held outdoors in a nearby park. It was May, so the weather was nice. It wasn’t yet too hot.

The outgoing president used a small, battery operated, PA system to be able to address the gathering of a few dozen. It looked like a tiny guitar practice amp. It had a wireless microphone with a very limited range. I suspect it was Bluetooth based. The range seemed to be about 6 feet. Take two steps away from the amp, or even turn to face away from the amp, and the signal faded. That made things a little awkward, but the business got done.

Given my background, I’m fussy about AV stuff. This experience stuck in my mind. It started me on the lookout for a better solution for meeting sound. Preferably one that was suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.