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by Benchmark Media Systems March 23, 2020 6 min read
How fast things can change!
This application note will be a departure from normal. I will make a few observations about the current situation and then look at the nuts and bolts of how we reconstructed our operations in less than 48 hours. Benchmark is 100% operational, but nothing looks the same as it did last week.
It is March 23, 2020 and we are currently battling the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It has found its way to New York State and our State and Federal governments have declared a state of emergency. New York State has been declared a federal disaster area and our Governor has ordered that most businesses send their entire staff home. This seems to be a serious situation and things are changing quickly. Life is anything but normal!
Like everyone else at Benchmark, this is my first day in my new home office. In less than 48 hours, Benchmark has transitioned from a traditional work environment to one where our entire office staff works from home. We are connected by computer networks, video conferencing, email, messaging and VOIP telephones. Most of us even have our Benchmark audio components set up so that we can listen to music and conduct collaborative sessions without struggling with poor audio. In the short term, our new offices are the new normal.
In our headquarters, I could look through my office windows and see most of the other offices and a portion of the manufacturing floor. Now I am looking out my windows overlooking the snow-covered fields on our farm.
As I look around our community, restaurants, schools and churches are all closed but the liquor stores are open. It turns out that liquor stores are classified as "essential businesses". Who knew?
In New York State, day care centers and public transportation have also been classified as "essential". Nevertheless I don't think I would want to be in either of those places! When asked about the reasons for keeping public transportation open, Governor Cuomo replied "people need a way to get to the hospital". Wow! Stay well and stay off of the trains and buses!
The grocery stores are open and are doing record business. It is a good time to be in the grocery business. They are having a hard time restocking quickly enough to meet the record demand. Some items are hard to find. Who would have guessed that the hottest item would be toilet paper? There are definitely some people who will not need to buy any toilet paper for the next few years! The bright side is that some of the people who were laid off by restaurants are being hired by the grocery stores. Every crisis has winners and losers.
As we look around the world China claims they are returning to "normal", Singapore seems to have escaped the worst, but Italy is deep in the middle of a very serious crisis. Will the USA be the next Singapore or the next Italy? Time will tell. Things are not good in New York City, but we are doing well here in the rural areas of the state.
Most members of the medical community are taking a very cautious approach and are warning that this is very serious. A minority are saying that this is no worse than a bad flu and that we are victims of incomplete statistics. Again, time will tell.
It is clear that we need to find the proper balance between over reacting and failing to react. We seem to be faced with a difficult choice between two bad options. If we over react we may kill the economy but live to tell about it. On the other hand, if we fail to react, we will die and the economy won't matter.
As an engineer I try not to choose the lesser of two evils. If all of the choices are bad, I keep looking for a solution. More often than not, we can find a solution that makes us stronger, better, and more resilient.
Stop asking yourself how you will survive!
Ask yourself how this crisis will make you better.
To do this, ask yourself the following questions:
For Benchmark these questions are answered as follows:
Here is a photo of Michael's home office:
We have redundant internet connections at the main office. These connections come from two different providers and enter opposite ends of the building from two different streets. We use redundant fail-over firewalls, switches, and servers. We have on-site and off-site backups of every computer on the network (not just the servers). Even the off-site computers are backed up daily. The goal is to minimize down time and maximize our resiliency to withstand the unexpected.
Our VOIP phones can be plugged into the internet almost anywhere in the world and they act as if we are in our main office. We can see who is on the line and we have all of the exact features that we have when we are in the main office. Our phones ring both places at the same time.
Several of us have iPads on our desks that show all of our security cameras. This keeps the remote workers in touch with what is happening in the main office.
An internet connected doorbell, electronic lock and intercom system allows us to accept deliveries without being at the office.
We all have headphones in our home offices so that we can have collaborative sessions without the usual echo and feedback problems. Headphones are essential. They can also provide some isolation from noise and distractions.
Most of us have Benchmark DAC3 D/A converters connected to our computers. These provide top-quality output to our HPA4 headphone amplifiers and AHB2 power amplifiers. These Benchmark components are everyone's favorite part of our home offices. I am streaming music from Tidal using a Roon server. We are not just surviving!
It is now time to quit for the day. I am hitting the time clock and walking out of my home office for the day. It is a very short commute, one stairway and about 10 steps. I am going home to spend some time with my family and I won't be back until tomorrow morning.
Stay safe and don't just survive. Figure out how to be a winner not just a survivor!
by Benchmark Media Systems June 06, 2023 2 min read
At the 2023 AXPONA show in Chicago, I had the opportunity to see and hear the Hill Plasmatronics tweeter. I also had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Alan Hill, the physicist who invented this unique device.
The plasma driver has no moving parts and no diaphragm. Sound is emitted directly from the thermal expansion and contraction of an electrically sustained plasma. The plasma is generated within a stream of helium gas. In the demonstration, there was a large helium tank on the floor with a sufficient supply for several hours of listening.
by John Siau June 02, 2023 2 min read
I asked ChatGPT to review the Benchmark AHB2, and I was shocked at the results!
It turns out that ChatGPT wrote a review by gleaning information from the many publicly available reviews of the AHB2. I recognized phases and sequences of words that had appeared in prior reviews, and yet the text was new, original, and well written. The ChatGPT review seemed to summarize the collective impressions of the reviewers without directly quoting any particular reviewer.
It should be possible to ask ChatGPT to write a review on any well-known product and the result will be an AI-generated review that reflects the collective opinions of many human reviewers.
These AI-generated reviews may be more useful than traditional search results!
If I am not mistaken, ChatGPT seems to have golden ears!
Here is my dialog with ChatGPT:
John Siau:
Write a review of the Benchmark AHB2 complete with listening impressions.
ChatGPT:
Title: Unleashing Sonic Purity: A Review of the Benchmark AHB2 Amplifier
Introduction: The Benchmark AHB2 amplifier has gained a reputation for its exceptional audio performance and unwavering dedication to sonic purity. In this review, we delve into the heart of this powerhouse amplifier, exploring its features, design, and most importantly, the listening impressions it evokes...
by Benchmark Media Systems May 30, 2023 7 min read
Today, Benchmark's John Siau and OpenAI's ChatGPT had a conversation about star-quad cables. It turns out that ChatGPT got quite a few things wrong, but learned quickly when these errors were pointed out by John Siau.
ChatGPT is quick to recognize mistakes, and quick to provide detailed corrections. In each of the first few corrections, additional errors were made. As each of these were pointed out, ChatGPT began to provide accurate information.
Here is my conversation with ChatGPT:
John Siau:
How do star-quad cables reject interference?
ChatGPT:
Star-quad cables are designed to provide improved rejection of ...