DakotaDIY 2015

[JasonP]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

One thing I'd like to add is that, no offense to InDIYana, this event suffered nothing from a lack of competition. There was more time to discuss designs and DIY in general without the "shootout" style.

[maynardg]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

One thing I'd like to add is that, no offense to InDIYana, this event suffered nothing from a lack of competition. There was more time to discuss designs and DIY in general without the "shootout" style.

I have no doubt that the SD event was great. Wish I was closer to it. Jason, your experience has been my experience with events over the past 15 years in FL, IA, IN, IL, AZ, CA, GA, MD. Some like competitions, however, competitions and themes detract from creativity, friendly fun, and learning. My opinion, YMMV. The best events out there, for me, have been DIYIowa after competitions were dropped, and InDIYana before competitions became the norm. DIYIowa is the premier event, IMO.

[audioanarchist]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

Just want to shout out a big thank you to Johnny, Bryan, Jason, and all the sponsors who helped make this event kick ***! Hearing positive remarks on my first ever build was encouraging. I had a great time and I'm making giant leaps in my understanding of how to make great sounding speakers. I won the Viawave ribbon tweeters in the door prize drawing!!! How cool is that?!?! I'm gonna try my best to do something special with them for chicago or Iowa DIY!

P.S. Sorry for falling asleep for awhile! Next time I need to "celebrate" a little less the night before! If my girlfriend cooperates that is. ;)

[jhollander]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

Just down loaded the Demo. Another nice one. Byran was that you? In the first track is that camera shutter noise? Excellent.

[Ron_E]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

P.S. Sorry for falling asleep for awhile!

We don't mind if you fall asleep. It's the snoring that's the problem. ;);)

Does your girlfriend know you're blaming her?

We all had a good laugh and just so you know, the pictures are going to be on the web forever. :D:D:D

Ron

[audioanarchist]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

Does your girlfriend know you're blaming her?
Ron

She is very much aware, I assure you!

[S7910]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

I'd like to thank JR and the guys at MAC for all the work they do to make this such a great event, and also all of the sponsors for their generosity in supporting the community. I grabbed the guitar speakers from the door prize table - this will be an interesting adventure.

Great guys, Great speakers, Great music.

Speaking of music, what did everyone use for their demos? I heard a lot of music that needs to be on my "Must buy this now" list. To start off here's my track list:

Let's Shake Some Dust - Volbeat
The Dream Within - Lara Fabian (from Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within soundtrack)
Leader of Men - Cornbread Red
Vetega Jungle - Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters

[[email protected]]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

Just down loaded the Demo. Another nice one. Byran was that you? In the first track is that camera shutter noise? Excellent.

The camera noise was on the main demo.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

John,

I did the mix this time around. Glad you liked it - some subtly challenging stuff found in there.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

I managed to snap just a few pictures with my phone, but Bill was his usual busy self so we will have his professional level photography hosted on our website before too much longer.

Tragically, I did not take a picture of the food. However - I have plenty of leftovers to eat this coming week

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=f6250626143dee51!846&authkey=!AKbWm5cV7rQ1r8c&ithint=folder%2cjpg

[Ron_E]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

This is my track list:

Yo-Yo Ma - Edgar Meyer - Mark O'Connor - Benjamin
Robert Cray - The Things You Do To Me
Peter Ostroushko - Blues For Marian (Waltz of the Holsteins)
Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir - Praising Chakrasamvara
Norman Greebaum - Spirit In The Sky
Heather Nova - Save A Little Piece Of Tomorrow
Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem - Travelin' Shoes
Marta Gomez - Cielito Lindo

After a fight nearly broke out over who was going to get the only copy of the disk I brought it was decided to put the tracks up on the web. I except BK will do that as soon as he recovers.


I only took one picture of a speaker with my phone and that was JR's Rat Shack creation.



They sounded good and JR's daughter did a top notch job with the finish.

Big thanks to everyone involved who put this together. I heard a lot of great speakers, got to talk to old friends and meet some new people.

Ron

[PWR RYD]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

I think I mentioned this already.... but I really enjoyed the house track this time around. It was a nice mix of different music and each song focused on a specific thing to listen for or revealed a specific challenge for our designs. Ron E was kind enough to let me use his demo disc which began with the 5 min house track then added 10 min of some other awesome music. He even gave me his demo disc to take home! Thank you Ron! Your Iron Driver speakers were one of my favorites yesterday. Really well done. They sounded like $2250 speakers

[johnnyrichards]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

We started the day with a "mini Iron" session - six consecutive designs using the SB19. One was not at Iron and was actually used at Indy in the mini 3-way. Two were actually identical except for cabinet construction and I wanted to make a note about the differences in overall tonality that I noticed. On Ani's lightweight construction, male vocals in particular were noticeably altered over Arlis' version. To my ears, they were different enough to essentially be considered different designs, and I think a great reminder about altering cabinets from original design. That was unique listening opportunity #1

Unique listening opportunity #2 involved two pair of small monitors, each with a ~5" midwoofer and a horn loaded (excuse me, waveguide :p) XT25. One speaker uses a Dayton RS with the XT25SC90, the other uses that Seas with woven poly cone and the venerable XT25TG30. It is rare to have two such extremely similar designs at a show, so I made sure to play them sequentially (thanks, Ed!)

[Ron_E]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

Two were actually identical except for cabinet construction and I wanted to make a note about the differences in overall tonality that I noticed. On Ani's lightweight construction, male vocals in particular were noticeably altered over Arlis' version. To my ears, they were different enough to essentially be considered different designs, and I think a great reminder about altering cabinets from original design. That was unique listening opportunity #1

I thought I heard Ani say the crossovers were slightly different too.

Ron

[Jim Holtz]

Re: DakotaDIY 2015

I'll echo others comments and give a big thanks to JR, Amanda and BK for another excellent DIY event. The food was great, music was wonderful and the opportunity to chat with both new and old friends, priceless. I also want to add, the room acoustics were excellent. No bass boom, there was a flat wall similar to what you'd have in your home (Yah!) and a carpeted floor with a bit of strategically placed "bounce" absorption.

There were lots of great speakers in attendance. I'm always amazed at how much really good sound you can get for less than $250. One of the things I zone in on at DIY events is specific drivers I find interesting. Some stand outs for me were the Eclipse drivers from Meniscus. Very nice sounding drivers! The new ViaWave ribbon from our own Roman Carpenter reminded me of why I'm a ribbon lover. There were several SB Acoustics designs in attendance that stood out to me. All provided exceptional sound quality at reasonable cost. There wasn't a bad sounding speaker at the event but the one that I'm still amazed at is JR's "Radio Shack" remake. :eek: It sounded great!

Great job everyone!

Anyway, I had a lot of fun, got great feedback on the Anthology's with a very big thank you to everyone that commented and look forward to the next DIY event this year.

See you there!

Jim