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Review: The Martin MAC Allure

Note: my reviews are highly opinionated, longer than your average Costner film, and prone to digressions. While portions of my reviews appear in print, the versions that appear on this blog represent my own personal opinion, and not the opinion or views of any of the magazines I write for. Think of these as expanded reviews to break out of editorially-imposed word limit for the magazine articles. Our collective taste for novelty is the great driving force of the entirety of the production industry. The musician’s craft is built around innovation of sound; rhythm and harmony made modern to tantalize our auditory tastes with The New. Filmmakers tell tales as old as time with fresh perspectives. And we, as purveyors of visual… Read More »Review: The Martin MAC Allure

On Termination, Part One

(This is an old post, but I do plan on posting an update, someday, when I get a digital scope.) [lighting nerd speak] The USITT PLASA specification for DMX-512A requires that the last physical device in any DMX link, whether it connects to one device or 31 others, be terminated with a 120Ω resistor. This is to prevent unwanted “reflections” coming down the line and corrupting the DMX data. Here’s the theory: DMX-512 signals travel at around 60% the speed of light. Although fast, this is not instantaneous. When a signal traveling at over half the speed of light hits the end of a cable, a percentage of the signal is reflected back down the signal chain. Each digit of… Read More »On Termination, Part One