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Books to help learn about electronics

 
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etwaudio
audio school graduate


Joined: 22 Jun 2012
Posts: 10
Location: Washington State

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:42 am    Post subject: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

Hey all, I've decided to try and learn more about building and repairing studio gear to diversify a bit. Does anyone have any recommendations for books to help me with this? I checked out a couple of books on electrical engineering from my local library, but I'd like to know what other people have done to learn about this aspect of the studio. Are preamp kits like these (http://www.seventhcircleaudio.com/index.htm) fun/useful tools for learning about this stuff?

Thanks!
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Erik Takuichi Wallace
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kslight
george martin


Joined: 13 Oct 2009
Posts: 1279

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:57 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

Quote:
Are preamp kits like these (http://www.seventhcircleaudio.com/index.htm) fun/useful tools for learning about this stuff?


In my experience that kits while fun, are more "paint by numbers" and less of a learning experience (unless the SCA kits are different...you don't learn WHY any component is chosen or why it is where it is...) unless you need experience soldering.
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rhythm ranch
moves faders with mind


Joined: 07 May 2003
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Location: Corrales, NM

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:39 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=75049
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Tragibigzanda
steve albini likes it


Joined: 08 Mar 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:46 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

I really loved working with this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3814337
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Alex C. McKenzie

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dfuruta
buyin' gear


Joined: 08 May 2009
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Location: mpls

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

This isn't a book, but you might want to look at the MITx program (now part of EdX). They'll be offering a free, online introduction to electronics course in the fall. I took the pilot run of the course this last spring. It's pretty theoretical and mathematically-based, but I learned a lot. You need to be comfortable with calculus and basic differential equations, though.
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george martin


Joined: 13 Oct 2009
Posts: 1279

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:46 pm    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

Tragibigzanda wrote:
I really loved working with this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3814337


I have one of those in my basement... I actually did go through most of the projects in the book for this...

While I think I learned SOMETHING out of it, I'm still not as comfortable with electronics (as far as design goes) as I wish I was. I wish I could find the learning tool that really makes it click for me.

Quote:
You need to be comfortable with calculus and basic differential equations, though.


This is probably why I gloss over when I read about electronics...
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AndersonSoundRecording
audio school graduate


Joined: 12 Sep 2011
Posts: 18
Location: Big Apple

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:29 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

This one helped me out when I was first trying to learn about this stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Electricity-Electronics-Gibilisco/dp/0071377301

I treated it like a class: I read it cover to cover a chapter at a time and took all the quizzes and tests.

Not that I'm all that great with electronics, but this really helped my understanding quite a bit, especially with regards to impedance, capacitors and inductors.
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I heard they inserted a Jimmy Hendrix into the chain somewhere before the preamp.

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ricercar.record
alignin' 24-trk


Joined: 09 Oct 2009
Posts: 69
Location: Austin, Tx

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 2:38 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

Quote:
This isn't a book, but you might want to look at the MITx program (now part of EdX).

I also found this a while back when I was amassing books and resources for my own learning. Some that I have found to be great, and am still reading/going through so still much to learn...

General Electronics & Electrical Engineering 101:
The Art of Electronics, Horowitz and Hill
Student Manual for the Art of Electronics, Hayes and Horowitz
Practical Electronics for Inventors, Paul Scherz
Electronics Fundamentals: Circuits, Devices, and Applications, Floyd
Building Power Supplies: Useful Designs for Hobbyists and Technicians, David Lines

More Audio specific:
Small Signal Audio Design, Dougles Self

also I found these other online lectures around the same time I came across the MIT lectures, NPTEL Electronics for Analog Signal Processing - http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?subjectId=117106087

this reminds me I need to get back to reading instead of recording and mixing my brain away Wink
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etwaudio
audio school graduate


Joined: 22 Jun 2012
Posts: 10
Location: Washington State

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:54 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

Thanks everyone! You've been really helpful. I'll look into these sources and I guess try and take a few calculus courses.
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dfuruta
buyin' gear


Joined: 08 May 2009
Posts: 513
Location: mpls

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:52 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

e.wallace2112 wrote:
I'll look into these sources and I guess try and take a few calculus courses.


If you're interested in brushing up on your math, the lessons at khanacademy.org are thorough and easy to follow. They start with elementary school stuff and go up through basic differential equations and linear algebra.
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The Scum
dead but not forgotten


Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 2009
Location: Denver, CO

PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:00 am    Post subject: Re: Books to help learn about electronics Reply with quote

At this point, I'm kinda conflicted on the Art Of Electronics. It's great if you need to work from the physics on up to circuits. but half of the book is dedicated to somewhat dated digital stiff, building an 8080-ish computer from scratch. Great if your goal is to become a computer architect...maybe not from an audio perspective.

The Student Manual, though, is really great, even if you skip the digital stuff. The most accessible guides to biasing transistors and opamps I've ever read.

Of course, maybe it takes the pair of them to make a complete course.

The Self Small signal book is great.

Bob Pease's Troubleshooting Analog Circuits is another great book. Jedi-level knowledge. As are all of his old monthly columns for EDN.

So it Henry Ott's Noise Reduction book.

And Jung. And Fredriksen. Though they're not Pease, nor Ott.

The assorted Forrest Mims and Don Lancaster books are all worth having on the shelf.

The old Audio Cyclopedia is a good reference to have around, though mainly for a historical perspective. The newer Handbook for Sound Engineers refreshes the concept.

There are some good online & vendor specific resources to track down, too.

National Semi's Audio/Radio Handbook is good. As are many of NS's old datasheets...particularly the old opamp and FET ones...lots of useful circuits in the app notes!

TI's Opamps for Everyone is a classic, and was free as a PDF last I checked.

All of the stuff (datasheets, appnotes, whitepapers, etc) from THAT and Jensen transformers are worth reading.

And the Audio Precision measurement whitepapers are good, too.

I'm also a fan of Nelson Pass...who has regular columns in Audio Xpress magazine, and a number of articles around the web. Starting at passdiy.com.
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