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PNW Section's December meeting was a Zoom with noted audio engineer/repair tech/educator Eddie Ciletti, joining from his base in Minnesota USA. Despite the title, a wide-ranging discussion of audio gear and repair topics occurred. A worldwide audience of about 41 AES members and 17 others attended.
Eddie Ciletti has been a (mostly) self-employed audio technician for nearly 40 years. Prior to venturing out on his own, he was a technician for producer/engineer Eddy Offord, R/Greenberg Associates, Bearsville Studios, Atlantic Studios, and Record Plant Recording Studios, where he was part of the team that produced Live Aid. He is also an independent recording and mastering engineer, and spent 10 years as an analog recording and electronics instructor. He has extensive expertise in analog, digital, and disc recording equipment. In lieu of cakes, he prefers baking tapes.
Many audio repair people attended, no doubt to discuss (commiserate?) about the business. Attendees were welcome to post questions/comments in Zoom Chat, or to unmute and ask on-screen. Discussions included aspects of the repair business such as a shortage of good techs, lack of documentation on new gear, finding vintage parts, and dealing with customer expectations.
Another discussion led to use of gear for "color" and what it is, including transformers, impedances, tubes, distortions, use of negative feedback in circuits, and mic construction.
More talk involved what in audio gear breaks the most, including power supply construction, and cold vs. hot current consumption. Different versions of classic gear occur, and Eddie lamented that his name has been falsely associated with repaired gear. Getting started in repair was another topic, and Eddie suggested the classic RCA tube manual, building kits, getting an oscilloscope (he prefers analog) and signal generator to study circuits, among other things.
Eddie wrote audio tech articles for several years for both EQ and MIX magazines, and he was asked about that history. He thought he was lucky to have good, audio-knowledgeable editors.
Also discussed was sticky shed and tape baking, tape machine repair, archiving transfers, and disk cutting lathes and repairs. Asked about troubleshooting approaches, Eddie gave many tips, from comparing to known good channels, to capacitor and potentiometer replacements.
The main portion of Eddie's discussions ran over 3 hours, with another hour+ of audience self-introductions/comments.
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