Paris, France. Texas Instruments, a leader in digital signal processing technology and chip manufacturing, will host he first European DSP Education and Research Conference, starting tomorrow (Sept.25) in Paris.

The two-day conference will be held at the École Superieure Ingenieurs d’Electrotecnique et d’Electronique (ESIEE) in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday (Sept. 25/26). It will feature papers from 31 universities across Europe in addition to three from TI itself. There will also be two workshop sessions and parallel daily presentations by third-party TI DSP solutions providers.

Scheduled presentations cover subjects including parallel processing, image processing, communications and speech processing, digital control, and noise cancellation. Admission to the conference is free for all members of the academic community.

Sunnyvale, CA. With audio CD demand slowing down throughout the world, Nimbus Manufacturing Inc. is focusing its expansion plans on CD-ROM and DVD capabilities.

Last week, Nimbus announced that sales and profitability for the 2nd quarter of its fiscal year, ending September 30, would be lower than expected. This was largely due to high inventories of audio CD’s at retail outlets, resulting in low fall re-order rates.

Yesterday, Nimbus announced the expansion of the CD replication capability in its Sunnyvale plant. The new CD replication lines provide a capacity of more than 20 million units annually at the Sunnyvale facility, which began producing discs on August 1st.

“Our goal is to become the number one independent CD replicator in the world,” commented Lyndon J. Faulkner, Chairman, Nimbus CD International, Inc. “The added CD capacity in Sunnyvale means we’re one step closer to reaching that goal with a total production capability of over 200 million discs annually worldwide.”

Nimbus will also be introducing DVD manufacturing capability this week at its main manufacturing plant in Charlottesville, VA. “That will make us the first independent CD replicator currently offering a true, full range of optical disc products in the U.S.,” said Faulkner.

“We’re witnessing a large-scale migration to compact disc by the software and entertainment industries,” said David J. Trudel, Executive V-P of North American operations. “The addition of CD replication to our west coast facility completes the critical supply chain demanded by the market.”

Amek Systems and Controls Ltd. has announced the latest outboard module in the System 9098 range of its “by Rupert Neve, the Designer” product line.

The 9098 Dual Compressor/Limiter features a signal path designed throughout by Rupert Neve. It uses the same circuit techniques employed in the 9098 Production Console and other System 9098 devices such as the RNEQ Mic Pre/EQ and RCMA remote-controlled mic amp. However this versatile Compressor/Limiter also retains the character of his classic designs of the late 60’s and early 70’s, notably the 2254.

Digital processing is used in the System 9098 Dual Compressor/Limiter control circuitry, but the audio signal path is a “Virtual Class A” analog design throughout. Very accurate control of the envelope parameters is ensured by the use of a precision RMS converter allied to digital control of the sidechain.

Other key principles of the new unit include extended frequency response and careful attention to the design of the transformer-coupled input and output stages to virtually eliminate RFI and grounding problems.

The System 9098 Compressor/Limiter is a 2U rack-mounting unit designed to complement other units in the System 9098 range. It offers two identical channels of signal processing. The sidechains may be linked for stereo operation. Each channel provides independent control of Compressor and Limiter functions, and they may be used together to create a dual-slope device.

The Compressor section offers adjustment of threshold (-30 to +12dBu), Ratio (1.5:1 to 20:1), attack (0.3mS to 150mS) and release (100mS to 5S). Switches are provided for selection of hard or soft knee and auto-release modes. The Limiter section provides for independent adjustment of threshold (0dBu to +20dBu) and release (50mS to 1S), with two switched attack times.

In accordance with Mr Neve’s traditional designs, each channel incorporates a large illuminated moving-coil VU meter which can be switched to display gain reduction, input or output signal levels or sidechain signal, in external mode. Operation of the Limiter section is indicated by an LED.

All inputs and outputs of the unit, including the sidechain access points, are balanced on rear-panel XLR connectors. The main inputs and outputs use transformers, while the sidechain send and return use Mr. Neve’s well-known TLA (Transformer-Like Amplifier) design.

A unique capability offered by the System 9098 Dual Compressor/Limiter is its Ambience Mode. This innovative feature permits the effective reduction or removal of unwanted background noise or excessive ambience and reverberant fields, during recording, or even afterwards.

Ambience Mode is not simple gating. It actually puts the unit into a different internal configuration and reduces or even removes unwanted signals below the Threshold. Careful adjustment of attack and release controls optimizes the effect. This feature may be used to remove unwanted background noise on field recordings, or to make reverberant recordings sound as if close-mic’d in a dead area.

Woodinville, WA. Mackie Designs Inc. today announced the appointment of Stephen J. Ripp as Chief Operating Officer.

Ripp has over 22 years of experience in manufacturing and consumer electronics-related businesses, most recently as President and CEO of Major Paint Co., a subsidiary of Corimon Inc. Prior to his position at Corimon, Ripp was with Sunbeam Corp. as V-P of Operations and Logistics, and before that he was Director of Operations with Black and Decker.

His challenge at Mackie is to steer the operations of the fast-growing audio manufacturer as it expands its product line, and enters new global markets. International growth is one of Mackie’s major corporate goals. Earlier this year, the company appointed Tami Periera to the new position of V-P, International Sales and Marketing.

“Stephen has both the international and domestic manufacturing and distribution expertise that will benefit our company as we grow our business and begin to implement our long-term plans for diversification,” said CEO and President Greg Mackie. “His financial acumen and strategic marketing skills will be instrumental in achieving our company goal of being a global leader in the professional audio products industry. He has exhibited excellence and respected leadership qualities at growing companies, and we feel he will add experience and depth to our management team.”