Analogue Optical Cable

maltingsaudio

Iconic Sound

Iconic Sound has developed the world’s first analogue, jack-to-jack, optical guitar cable, whereby no modification to either the guitar or the amp is required for use. The new cable boasts zero capacitance, zero loading, electronic safety and an almost infinite life span, amongst a host of other features. The signal is not digitised in any way and is not on any kind of carrier.

Furthermore, the technology at work in the cable has the ability to be adapted to all areas of the audio industry, such as microphones, studio patch bays, speakers, and any audio connectivity cabling.

With two patents pending worldwide, Iconic Sound is currently holding talks with a number of guitar cable manufacturers regarding the licensing of the product, whilst also looking to license the technology to headphone, speaker, microphones, patch bay, and other related audio companies.

Website: http://www.iconicsound.com/

digitalscream

#1 - I can't imagine they're going to be cheap by any stretch

#2 - I'm not sure I'd trust an optical cable's longevity on a stage with all the other idiots musicians on there...

Hertz32

cool idea, but can't help but think it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist...  

Rocker

It is a bit early in the year for an April Fools joke my friend.

bertie

digitalscream said:

#2 - I'm not sure I'd trust an optical cable's longevity on a stage with all the other idiots musicians on there...

this,   my experience of optical cables,   durability isnt(wasnt) high on its list of attributes.............. 

digitalscream

Besides which...take a look at the digital wireless solutions out there - they have to have an option to attenuate the treble, because lossless transfer between guitar and amp actually doesn't sound that great.

Skipped

Not Curly enough.

strumjoughlamps

Plus those plugs are huge and take batteries,  very cumbersome in strat type sockets I would have thought.

monquixote

I'm quite interested to see something modern using analogue optical. 

That goes back to Laserdisk.

stickyfiddle

I'm sceptical at best. I can't imagine any situation where this is inherently better than a short guitar lead.

holnrew

I don't understand how it works.

littlegreenman

I'm holding out for Russ Andrews to start making guitar cables

monquixote

holnrew said:

I don't understand how it works.

A magnetic pickup converts the deflection in a wire in a magnetic field into a corresponding voltage. The voltage is proportional to the deflection of the wire. In this device the light intensity is proportional to the deflection of the wire. 

It's the same principle as the optocouplers you find in compressors just with a fibre between the two ends. 

PolarityMan

What colour light?

holnrew

monquixote said:

holnrew said:

I don't understand how it works.

A magnetic pickup converts the deflection in a wire in a magnetic field into a corresponding voltage. The voltage is proportional to the deflection of the wire. In this device the light intensity is proportional to the deflection of the wire. 

It's the same principle as the optocouplers you find in compressors just with a fibre between the two ends. 

Ah, thanks.

maltingsaudio

littlegreenman said:

I'm holding out for Russ Andrews to start making guitar cables

He does £70 http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=6030&customer_id=PAA2186019014291WWVJCQVUQXNOKRIF

littlegreenman

maltingsaudio said:

littlegreenman said:

I'm holding out for Russ Andrews to start making guitar cables

He does £70 http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=6030&customer_id=PAA2186019014291WWVJCQVUQXNOKRIF

That's faaaaaaar too cheap to be any good, I want the same standard as his hi-fi stuff!

fretmeister

Necro thread.

this is on Dragons Den now!

fretmeister

Holy shit! Someone gave them £70,000 investment.

they should have asked on here!

thermionic

If you want to know how they do it, it's all disclosed in detail here.

Sporky

bertie said:

digitalscream said:

#2 - I'm not sure I'd trust an optical cable's longevity on a stage with all the other idiots musicians on there...

this,   my experience of optical cables,   durability isnt(wasnt) high on its list of attributes.............. 

Optical fibre has a higher breaking strain than many copper cables. We do a demo of this by putting a loose knot in an optical fibre cable (it works with our own or with commercial off the shelf stuff - no tricks) that's carrying a high resolution video image to a monitor. We then get people from the audience to pull the knot tight - as tight as they can. No-one has ever broken the cable or disrupted the image. It's not a set-up - the stuff genuinely is this strong.

The glass core is very fragile, but once it's wrapped in kevlar and sheath it's very, very strong. Bung all of that into an overall jacket like a guitar cable and it'll be stronger than a conventional guitar cable.

The stuff in the patent is interesting in that it's a very simple circuit. I am not a patent lawyer, but I am surprised it was awarded as there's significant prior art.