The almost universal choice in semiconductor power amplifiers is for a unity gain output stage, and specifically a voltage follower. Output stages with gain are not unknown, 1 but they are not common.

We all know what distortion sounds like. We’ve heard it in heavy metal tunes, cheap iPod docks and the crummy speakers at Taco Bell drive-thrus. And we’ve all read distortion specs on things like ...

Distortion can be great for adding energy to your mix, and in this tutorial, we’re focusing on applying it to specific sounds When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

As we’ve traced our no-nonsense path through the world of Hi-Fi audio, we’ve started with the listener, understood the limitations of the human ear, and thence proceeded to the loudspeaker. We’ve ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Distortion comes in a huge range of slightly different forms, from subtle analogue warmth to ...

This is an excerpt from “Self on Audio,” by Douglas Self, used with permission from Newnes Publishers, a division of Elsevier. For many years I felt that the output stages of power amplifiers ...

It’s been a while since the last installment in our Know Audio series, in which we investigated distortion as it applies to Hi-Fi audio. Now it’s time to return with part two of our look at distortion ...

I learned about cognitive distortions in the 1990s from a book by David Burns called Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. I’d just moved from the faculty wing at U.C. Davis’ law school to serve as the ...