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Stax

Stax

For the record company, see Stax Records. StAX is also an acronym for Streaming API for XML (a Java based API for pull-parsing XML). Stax Ltd. is a Japanese company that makes high end audio equipment. Stax is best known for their electrostatic and electret headphones, called "ear speakers." Electrostatic headphones work just like electrostatic loudspeakers, yet on a smaller scale. To reduce costs, Stax made a line of Electret headphones, which are often confused for their better known electrostatic headphones, but which work on a different principle. Stax is also a Magic the Gathering deck. The naming can be considered to be derived from one of a number of places. The first is a reference to a classic card in the deck, Smokestack. The second is an anagram of an acronym for the phrase "The $4,000 Solution" or "T$4KS" to "$T4KS". This phrase came about because Stax was considered to be a solution to the other popular magic decks that were around when it was concieved and costs roughly four thousand dollars to acquire the cards in the decklist. Lastly, this deck uses several key cards and abuses an artifact of the game known as the Stack. The deck is based around heavy artifact acceleration and extremely powerful artifact control cards, aiming to win with one of many conditions (depending on the deck). Stax is also the name brand of a line of potato crisps sold by Lay's.

External links

- [http://www.stax.co.jp/index-E.html Stax Japanese Web Site- English]
- [http://www.morishita.net/stax.html Web site of Stax' US Importer]
- [http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=173 JSR-173 on StAX]
- [http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/5273.html A Starcity Games Article on Stax] Category:High end audio Category:Loudspeaker manufacturers

Stax Records

right Stax Records was a Memphis, Tennessee based record label that existed from 1959 to 1976. It is known as a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, and as a frequent recorder of early funk and 1960s Chicago blues. Stax is also well known for having some of the first popular racially integrated bands.

History

Satellite Records (renamed to 'Stax' in 1961) was founded in 1959 by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. The first successful artists recorded by Satellite were vocalists Rufus and Carla Thomas, a father-daughter duo whose work attracted Atlantic Records, with whom Stewart made a contract giving ownership of master tapes and first choice on releasing recordings. Another of the early bands signed to the company was a Memphis group, The Mar-Keys, formerly known as The Royal Spades. Shortly thereafter, pianist Booker T Jones joined the label and, along with members of The Mar-Keys, began performing as Booker T. and the Memphis Group; this band's sound exemplified the style that Stax was looking for. In 1962, Stax created a subsidiary label, Volt Records, used for rhythm and blues music. The first artist released by Volt was Otis Redding, their most successful artist. Another hit-making act was Sam and Dave, sent to Stax by Atlantic. Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler frequently brought his artists to Memphis for recording sessions at Stax. In the BBC documentary Soul Deep he reported putting Wilson Pickett and Booker T. and the MGs' guitarist Steve Cropper in a motel room "with a bottle of Jack"; the night's work produced the soul standard "In The Midnight Hour". In 1968, contract renegotiations fell through with Atlantic; Stewart sold the label to Gulf and Western in March of that year. Although Stax had lost their most valuable artists — Sam and Dave, who were signed to Atlantic, and Otis Redding, who had died shortly before the move between companies — they recovered quickly, building on such new artists as Isaac Hayes, whose Hot Buttered Soul album went triple-platinum in 1969. However, Stax's record sales were down overall under Gulf and Western's management. In 1970, Stewart and Al Bell, Stax's sales director, purchased the label back. Stax subsisted on its own for a short period until 1972, when negotiations with Columbia Records began. In 1972, Al Bell and Stax recording artists staged a concert, Wattstax, which drew over 100,000 predominately African-American Los Angelenos. The legendary event, known as the "Black Woodstock," was MC'ed by Reverend Jesse Jackson and filmed by director Mel Stuart (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory). Featuring incendiary performances by Stax recording artists like Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Rufus and Carla Thomas, the Staple Singers, the Emotions, the Bar-Kays, and other greats of soul, R&B, and gospel — plus biting humor from a then little-known Richard Pryor — Wattstax captured a heady moment in early-1970s, "black-is-beautiful" African-American culture, when Los Angeles's black community came together just seven years after the Watts riots to celebrate its survival and a renewed hope in its future. Meanwhile, the future of Stax was not so hopeful. A deal was struck with Columbia, but Stax's profits were cut severely; the company was unable to continue. The last big hit was 'Woman to Woman' from Shirley Brown in 1974. Its success delayed the crunch for several months but, in 1976, Stax finally went bankrupt. Fantasy Records bought the post-Atlantic (post-May 1968) Stax recordings and continued to repackage and rerelease the Stax catalogue. Atlantic still has the rights to the Atlantic-era Stax recordings released up to May 1968, most of which have been reissued by co-owned Rhino Records. Fantasy released a box set titled The Stax Story, which includes Atlantic-era material. Stax, along with the rest of the Fantasy label group, is now owned by Concord Records.

Bibliography

Sample

- Download sample of Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful", released in 1964 on Stax.

External links

- [http://www.history-of-rock.com/stax_records.htm History of Stax]
- [http://www.soulsvilleusa.com/ Stax Museum]
- [http://staxrecords.free.fr/index.htm Stax unofficial website]
- [http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/wattstax/index.html P.O.V. Wattstax companion website] (featuring streaming audio of performances and a podcast interview with director Mel Stuart)
- [http://jpp-product.club.fr/index.htm The Otis Redding French site] Category:Record labels [[Category:Soul music]

Stax

External links

Electrostatic

Electrostatics is the branch of physics that deals with the forces exerted by a static (i.e. unchanging) electric field upon charged objects.

Overview

In electrostatics conditions of charge need not be 'static' and unchanging. Instead 'static' implies that the dynamic portion is being ignored, and we analyze frozen snapshots of the situation. In electrostatics we study e-fields, voltage, and charge but ignore any currents and magnetism which may also be present. Because of its relationship and interaction with magnetism, the two fields are often combined as electromagnetism.

The electrostatic approximation

The validity of the electrostatic approximation rests on the assumption that the electric field is irrotational: :

\nabla \times \mathbf = 0

From Faraday's law, this assumption implies the absence or near-absence of time-varying magnetic fields: :

= 0

In other words, electrostatics does not require the absence of magnetic fields or electric currents. Rather, if magnetic fields or electric currents do exist, they must not change with time, or in the worst-case, they must change with time only very slowly.

Electrostatic potential

Because the electric field is irrotational, it is possible to express the electric field as the gradient of a scalar function, called the electrostatic potential (also known as the voltage). Thus, the electrostatic potential Φ is related to the electric field E by the equation: :

\mathbf = - \nabla \Phi

Fundamental concepts

Coulomb's law

The fundamental equation of electrostatics is Coulomb's law, which describes the force between two point charges: :

F = \frac

The Electric field

The electric field (in units of volts per meter) is defined as the force (in newtons) per unit charge (in coulombs). From this definition and Coulomb's law, it follows that the magnitude of the electric field E created by a single point charge Q is: :

E = \frac

Gauss's law

Gauss' law states that "the total electric flux through a closed surface is proportional to the total electric charge enclosed within the surface." The constant of proportionality is the permittivity of free space. Mathematically, Gauss's law takes the form of an integral equation: :

\oint_S  \varepsilon_o \mathbf \cdot d\mathbf =  \int_V \rho \cdot dV

Alternatively, in differential form, the equation becomes :

\nabla \cdot \varepsilon_o \mathbf = \rho

Poisson's equation

The definition of electrostatic potential, combined with the differential form of Guass's law (above), provides a relationship between the potential Φ and the charge density ρ: :

^2 \Phi = -

This relationship is a form of Poisson's equation.

Laplace's equation

In the absence of unpaired electric charge, the equation becomes :

^2 \Phi = 0

which is Laplace's equation.

Static Charge generation

Charge separation by contact

The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which leads to static electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, e.g., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current (such as the Van de Graaf generator or Wimshurst machine) and used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect. Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.

Triboelectric series

The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged when coming into contact with another, different, material, and are then separated. The polarity and strength of the charges produced differ according to the materials, surface roughness, temperature, strain, and other properties. It is therefore not very predictable, and only broad generalizations can be made. Amber, for example, can acquire an electric charge by friction with a material like wool. This property, first recorded by Thales of Miletus, suggested the word "electricity", from the Greek word for amber, ēlektron. Other examples of materials that can acquire a significant charge when rubbed together include glass rubbed with silk, and hard rubber rubbed with fur.

Electrostatic generators

The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which leads to static electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, e.g., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current and used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect. Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system. : See also: Friction machines, Wimshurst machine, and Van de Graaf generators.

Charge neutralisation

Natural electrostatic phenomena are most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some situations (e.g. electronics manufacturing.) When working in direct contact with integrated circuit electronics (especially delicate MOSFETs), or in the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and discharging a static charge.

'Static' electricity

Static can be a serious nuisance in the processing of analog recording media, because it can attract dust to sensitive materials. In the case of photography, dust accumulating on lenses and photographic plates degrades the resulting picture. Dust also permanently damages vinyl records because it can be embedded into the grooves as the stylus passes over. In both cases, several approaches exist to combat such dust deposition. Some brushes, particularly those with carbon fiber bristles, are advertised as possessing anti-static properties. Also available are handheld static guns which shoot streams of ions to discharge static on records and lenses. Static electricity is a class of phenomena involving objects with a net charge; typically referring to charged objects with voltages of sufficient magnitude to produce visible attraction, repulsion, and sparks. Natural electrostatic phenomena are most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some situations (e.g. electronics manufacturing.) When working in direct contact with integrated circuit electronics (especially delicate MOSFETs), or in the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and discharging a static charge (see electrostatic discharge). Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system. Static electricity is an important element in the biological process of pollination by bees, since the charge on a bee's body helps to hold pollens to it.

References

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External links and further reading

;General
- [http://www.rmcybernetics.com/science/high_voltage/hv.htm RMCybernetics - High Voltage Physics] Homemade projects & experiments.
- "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4252692.stm Man's static jacket sparks alert]". BBC News, 16 September 2005.
- "[http://www.electrostatics.com/page2.html Static electricity cause effects and solutions]" ElectroStatics, Inc. ;Essays and books
- William J. Beaty, "Humans and sparks; The Cause, Stopping the Pain, and 'Electric People". 1997.
- Dampier, William Cecil, "The theory of experimental electricity". Cambridge [Eng.] University press, 1905 (Cambridge physical series). xi, 334 p. illus., diagrs. 23 cm. LCCN 05040419 //r33
-

Electret

Electret (formed of elektr- from "electricity" and -et from "magnet") is material that has a permanent electric charge polarisation. The magnetic equivalent is a permanent magnet. Oliver Heaviside coined this term. Electrets are quite common in nature. Quartz, for example, is a naturally occurring electret. Electrets are composed of positively charged atoms and negatively charged atoms. If arranged correctly, the formation of these atoms leads to the permanent electric field. Polarised material consists of atoms or molecules with electric dipole moment. It can be produced by cooling down material composed of long molecule chains with electric dipole moment so that so-called domains are formed. There are two types of electrets:
- Real-charge electrets concentrate the positive charge carriers on one side of the object and the negative ones on the other side.
- Dipolar-charge electrets have homogenous distribution of electric charge through the object, but their carriers, dipoles, are aligned. These are also known as ferroelectric materials. Some dielectrics are capable of acting both ways. There is a similarity between electrets and capacitors; the difference is that in capacitors the polarization of the dielectric is only transient, dependent on the potential applied on the dielectric. Some materials display ferroelectric effect, react to the external field with hysteresis; these can retain the polarization over time even without external charge, and are used in ferroelectric capacitors. Electret is prepared by cooling a suitable dielectric material in a strong electric field, after heating it to a high temperature. This process repositions the charge carriers or orients the dipoles in the material, then fixes them in position. The effect is not permanent, the charge decays exponentially, but the decay process is slow, in order of decades to centuries at normal temperature. The materials used for preparation of electrets are usually waxes, polymers or resins. One of the recipes consists of 45% carnauba wax, 45% white rosin, and 10% white beeswax, melted, mixed together, and left to cool in a static electric field of several kilovolts. Most of commercially produced electrets are based on fluoropolymers (eg. amorphous teflon) machined to thin films. Electret materials have recently found commercial and technical interest. For example, they are used in one form of microphone and in copy machines. They are also used in some types of air filters, for electrostatic collection of dust particles, and in electret ion chambers for measuring ionizing radiation.

Patents

- Nowlin, Thomas E., and Curt R. Raschke, , "Electrets" Category:Condensed matter physics Category:Electrical phenomena Category:Materials

Smokestack

A chimney is a system for venting hot gases and smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. They are typically almost vertical to ensure the hot gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion through convection. the space inside the chimney is called a flue. Chimneys may be found in buildings and steam locomotives and ships (for the latter, the US term is smokestack) The term chimney may also be applied to natural features, particularly in rock formations.

History

Romans used tubes inside the walls to draw smoke out of bakeries but real chimneys appeared only in northern Europe in the 13th century. Industrial chimneys became common in the late 18th century. Chimneys have traditionally been built of brick, both in small and large buildings. Early chimneys were of a simple brick construction. Later chimneys were constructed by placing the bricks around tile liners. To control downdrafts venting caps (often called chimney pots) with a variety of designs are sometimes placed on the top of chimneys.

Construction

Due to brick's limited ability to handle traverse loads, chimneys in houses were often built in a "stack", with a fireplace on each floor of the house sharing a single chimney, often with such a stack at the front and back of the house. Today's central heating systems have made chimney placement less critical, and the use of non-structural double-wall metal piping allows it to be bent around obstructions and through walls. In fact, modern high-efficiency furnaces do not require a chimney and can vent sideways through a wall. central heating Industrial chimneys were typically external structures, as opposed to being built into the wall of a building. Most often they were located near a central boiler, and the gases carried to it with external ductwork. Today the use of single-pour concrete has almost entirely replaced brick in this role. They can be quite tall. The height is to ensure the pollutants are dispersed over a wider area to meet legislative or safety requirements. An exhaust pipe serves a similar function to a chimney in moving machinery. The crucial difference is that, in an exhaust pipe, the waste gases are forced out under pressure, while in a chimney, the gases are carried out by convection.

Drawbacks

A characteristic problem of chimneys is they develop deposits of creosote on the walls of the structure when used with wood as a fuel. Some types of wood, such as pine, generate more creosote than others. Deposits of this substance can interfere with the airflow and more importantly, they are flammable and can cause dangerous chimney fires if the deposits ignite in the chimney. Thus, it is recommended—and in some countries even mandatory—that chimneys be inspected annually and cleaned on a regular basis to prevent these problems. The workers who perform this task professionally are called chimney sweeps. chimney sweep high, serving Trbovlje coal power station]] Masonry (brick) chimneys have also proved particularly susceptible to crumbling during earthquakes. Government housing authorities in quake-prone cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles now recommend building new homes with stud-framed chimneys around a metal flue. (Bracing or strapping old masonry chimneys has not proved to be very effective in preventing damage or injury from earthquakes.) Perhaps predictably, a new industry provides "faux-brick" facades to cover these modern chimney structures. Other problems include "spalling" brick, in which moisture seeps into the brick and then freezes, cracking and flaking the brick and loosening mortar seals. flue, by Antonio Gaudí.]]

Dual-use chimneys

Some very high chimneys are used for carrying antennas of mobile phone services and low power FM/TV-transmitters. Special attention must be paid to possible corrosion problems if these antennas are near the exhaust of the chimney. In some cases the chimneys of power stations are used also as pylons. However this type of construction is not very common, because of corrosion problems of conductor cables.

Cooling Tower used as chimney

At some power stations, which are equipped with plants for the removal of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, it is to possible to use the cooling tower as chimney. (At plants without flue gas purification strong corrosion would arise in the cooling tower). This is realized in Germany at the Power Station Staudinger Grosskrotzenburg and with the Power Station Rostock.

Remarkable Chimneys

Weblinks

- [http://www.kongres.elektra.ru/FOTO/10.jpg Power Station Konakovskaya GRES, at which chimneys serve as electricity pylons] Category:Architectural elements ja:煙突

Lay's

Lay's is the name of a brand of potato chips, owned by Frito-Lay. Frito-Lay =Flavors=

USA Flavors

It currently comes in the following flavors in the United States:
- Classic Potato Chips
- Sour Cream & Onion
- K.C. Masterpiece BBQ
- Cheddar & Sour Cream
- Hidden Valley Ranch
- Salt & Vinegar
- Flamin' Hot
- Dill Pickle
- Límon

Canadian Flavors

Lay's also prepares chips that can only be found in certain regions of the world. Most notably is Canada with the following flavors:
- Dill Pickle
- Ketchup
- Poutine
- Pizza
- Fries 'n' Gravy
- Roast Chicken
- Smoky Bacon
- Salsa
- Sea Salt and Pepper The success of these flavors in Canada sometimes leads to a limited time offering of a flavor in the United States. "Dill Pickle" has recently started to appear in the United States as well. =Greek & Cypriot Flavors= Lays in Greece and Cyprus are made and packed by Tasty Foods and Corina Snacks LTD respectively. Most notably is Greece and Cyprus with the following flavors:
- Classic Potato Chips
- Mediteraneas
- Ruffles
- Cheetos
- Doritos
- and others =International Flavors= Some other international flavors include:
- Sour Cream & Onion (USA)
- Hot & Sweet Chili (South America)
- Cilantro Surprise (Australia)
- Magic Masala (India)
- Regular (International) India Frito-Lay also sells "baked" versions of some Lay's products. These baked products are marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional chips. =External links=
- [http://www.frito-lay.com/fl/flstore/cgi-bin/products_lays.htm Frito-Lay.com] Category:Snack foods Category:Frito-Lay brands

Electrostatic

Electrostatics is the branch of physics that deals with the forces exerted by a static (i.e. unchanging) electric field upon charged objects.

Overview

The electrostatic approximation

The validity of the electrostatic approximation rests on the assumption that the electric field is irrotational: :

\nabla \times \mathbf = 0

From Faraday's law, this assumption implies the absence or near-absence of time-varying magnetic fields: :

= 0

Electrostatic potential

\mathbf = - \nabla \Phi

Fundamental concepts

Coulomb's law

The fundamental equation of electrostatics is Coulomb's law, which describes the force between two point charges: :

F = \frac

The Electric field

E = \frac

Gauss's law

\oint_S  \varepsilon_o \mathbf \cdot d\mathbf =  \int_V \rho \cdot dV

Alternatively, in differential form, the equation becomes :

\nabla \cdot \varepsilon_o \mathbf = \rho

Poisson's equation

The definition of electrostatic potential, combined with the differential form of Guass's law (above), provides a relationship between the potential Φ and the charge density ρ: :

^2 \Phi = -

This relationship is a form of Poisson's equation.

Laplace's equation

In the absence of unpaired electric charge, the equation becomes :

^2 \Phi = 0

which is Laplace's equation.

Static Charge generation

Charge separation by contact

Triboelectric series

Electrostatic generators

The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which leads to static electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, e.g., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current and used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect. Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena. Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system. : See also: Friction machines, Wimshurst machine, and Van de Graaf generators.

Charge neutralisation

'Static' electricity

References

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-
-

External links and further reading

Electrostatic loudspeaker

Electrostatic loudspeakers use a thin flat diaphragm usually consisting of a plastic sheet impregnated with a conductive material such as graphite sandwiched between two electrically conductive grids, with a small air gap between the diaphragm and grids. The diaphragm is usually made from a polyester film (thickness 2-20 µm) with exceptional mechanical properties, such as Mylar. By means of the conductive coating and an external high voltage supply the diaphragm is held at a DC potential of several kilovolts with respect to the grids. The grids are driven by the audio signal; front and rear grid are driven in counterphase. As a result a uniform electrostatic field proportional to the audio signal is produced between both grids. This causes a force to be exerted on the charged diaphragm, and its resulting movement drives the air on either side of it. In all but a few modern electrostatic loudspeakers the diaphragm is driven by two grids, one on either side, because the force exerted on the diaphragm by a single grid is non-linear, thus causing harmonic distortion. Using grids on both sides cancels out non-linearity. The result is near complete absence of harmonic distortion. The grids must be able to generate as uniform an electric field as possible, while still allowing for sound to pass through, and should be perfectly flat. Suitable grid constructions are therefore perforated metal sheets, a frame with tensioned wire, or wire rods. To generate a sufficient field strength, the audio signal on the grids must be of high voltage. Current is only needed to charge the capacitance between both grids. This makes this type of speaker a high-impedance device. In contrast, a modern electrodynamic cone loudspeaker is a low impedance device driven by current. As a result, impedance matching is necessary in order to use a normal amplifier. Most often a transformer is used to this end. Construction of this transformer is critical as it must provide a constant (often high) transformation ratio over the entire audible frequency range. Advantages of electrostatic loudpseakers include very fast transient response due to the extremely light weight of the diaphragm, and exemplary frequency response (both in amplitude and phase). Transparency is usually better than in electrodynamic speakers because of the large radiating surface. Since most electrostatic speakers are tall and slim designs without enclosure they act as a vertical dipole line source. This makes for totally different acoustic behaviour inside rooms. Planar (flat) types tend to be very directional which gives them superb imaging qualities, on the condition that they have been carefully placed relative to the listener. Curved panels have been built, making the placement requirements a bit less stringent but sacrificing stereo imaging somewhat. Disadvantages include a lack of bass response (due to phase cancellation from a lack of enclosure, and the unfeasible physical requirements to reproduce low frequencies with a vibrating taut film), and sensitivity to ambient humidity levels. While bass is lacking quantitatively it is often of much better quality than that of electrodynamic (cone) systems. Phase cancellation can be remedied by electronic equalization (a so-called shelving circuit that boosts the region inside the audio band where the generated sound pressure drops because of phase cancellation). The lack of bass is often remedied with a hybrid design utilizing a dynamic loudspeaker handling lower frequencies with the electrostatic diaphram handling middle and high frequencies. Many feel that the best low frequency unit for hybrids are transmission line woofers or horns, since they possess roughly the same qualities (at least in the bass) as electrostatic speakers, i.e. good transient response, almost no box colouration, and flat frequency response. The directionality of electrostatics is also a disadvantage in that it means the 'sweet spot' where proper stereo imaging can be heard is relatively small, restricting the number of people who can fully enjoy the advantages of the speakers simultaneously.

Commercial speakers

The first commercial design was the Quad ESL-57 designed in England by Peter Walker, founder of Quad Electroacoustics of Huntingdon, in 1955 and put into commercial production in 1957. This highly-regarded and elegant-looking loudspeaker, originally intended for mono use, remained in production until 1985 and 54,000 units were sold. In 1981 Quad introduced the ESL-63 as a successor to the ESL-57. This model remained in production until 1999 and sold 35,000 units. The ESL-63 attempted to address amongst other things the deficiency in bass reproduction of the 1957 design and its extreme directionality. In 1999 Quad introduced the ESL-988 and the ESL-989, currently in production. Other manufacturers currently producing electrostatic loudspeakers include Martin-Logan and Sound Lab in the United States. Martin-Logan build hybrid designs with conventional subwoofers. Final and Audiostatic are two less well-known Dutch manufacturers. Quad revealed a new electrostatic loudspeaker at the Milan audio show in September 2005. This retained the vertical rectangular shape of the 989 but marked a return to the slight backward tilt of the original ESL 57, supported by a strut behind the speaker. Category:Electrostatics Category:Speakers

Audiophile

An audiophile — literally, one who loves to hear — is a person dedicated to high-fidelity sound reproduction and achieving high-quality results in the recording and playback of music. Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of the chain — the initial audio recording, the production process, and the playback, which is usually in a home setting. High-end is commonly applied to audiophile vendors, products, and practices. There is great skepticism inside and outside the audiophile community as to whether these practices and products have the claimed effects on the listening experience, and there are often accusations of self-delusion. The skeptics are referred to as objectivists. Those who generally subscribe to audiophile values are referred to as subjectivists. People on both sides of the debate concede that since many audiophiles are laymen, they are vulnerable to exploitation by fanciful claims made by unethical vendors.

Core values

Perhaps the clearest and most widely-accepted statement of audiophile values is due to Harry Pearson, longtime editor of The Absolute Sound: "We believe that the sound of music, unamplified, occurring in a real space is a philosophic absolute against which we may judge the performance of devices designed to reproduce music." Audiophiles widely share the belief that even the world's best music-reproduction equipment currently falls far short of this ideal. Even given agreement on the goal, opinions vary widely among designers and listeners on how best to achieve it. If there is one shared design principle, it is minimalism. Given that capturing, storing, and playing back music inevitably degrades it, the fewer and simpler the stages, the better. For example, audiophile gear almost universally lacks tone controls, since it is felt that these can only degrade the audio quality while moving the sound away from the ideal. Audiophiles agree that the room in which the playback system works is of great importance to the sound quality. There is a wide variety of room-treatment products available to address this issue, and extreme audiophiles are known to use purpose-built listening rooms.

Consumer practices

Audiophiles regularly listen to music from compact discs (CDs), records, and frequency-modulation (FM) radio. Currently, CDs are the most common source of high-quality music, and thus the CD player will serve as the primary source component. A small minority of people, however, still buy and use records: turntables, tonearms, and cartridges are among the most exotic and lavish high-end audio products. The debate is particularly harsh in this area with analog proponents claiming a warmer analog sound and loss of information in the sampling process in digital sound while digital proponents decry analog formats as lacking dynamic range and frequency response. Newer formats such as DVD-Audio and Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) attempt to compensate for the alleged sampling loss by increasing the sampling rate to 96 kHz or higher. (The 44.1 kHz sampling rate of the CD format allows the CD to go over the human hearing range — about 22 kHz instead of the required 20 kHz.) Despite the current trend in favor of MP3s, AACs, and other compressed-audio formats, some audiophiles dislike listening to compressed music due to the lossy-compression schemes generally used. Some audiophiles who own a digital-audio player will attempt to encode their music at high bit rates or use lossless-compression algorithms such as WMA Lossless, Monkey's Audio (APE), Apple Lossless, or FLAC. Many audiophile systems separate the functions of the preamplifier — which selects audio signals and has a volume control — and the power amplifier, which takes a line-level audio signal and drives the loudspeakers. Some audiophiles use, rather than one stereophonic power amplifier, two monophonic power amplifiers in a monoblock configuration. Some audiophiles use no preamplifier. They connect a CD player that has a variable output to a power amplifier. Some go even further and use multiple amplifiers per loudspeaker to drive the woofer, midrange, tweeter, and so on. There are, however, those who claim advantages in the use of integrated amplifiers that combine the functions of a preamplifier and a power amplifier in a single box, arguing on the basis of an appeal to minimalism. Audiophile amplifiers are available based on solid-state (semiconductor) technology, vacuum-tube technology, or hybrid technology — semiconductors and vacuum tubes. The amount of power required is moot. Very low power single-ended triode tube amplifiers are often claimed to provide superb sound when paired with appropriately sensitive loudspeakers. On the other hand, there are others who use solid-state amplifiers rated at over 1000 watts RMS per channel. Subjectivists generally believe that tube amplifiers, despite the much higher distortion, produce a more faithful and detailed reproduction in comparison to solid-state amplifiers. Objectivists respond that this is largely a matter of opinion and personal taste, not proper reproduction of sound. Tube amplifiers, however, are heavily used in music production, primarily in guitar amplifiers because of their soft clipping when overdriven, compared to solid-state circuitry. Audiophile loudspeakers use a wide variety of technologies and range in size from tiny to room-filling. The availability of high-priced, exotic designs is most extreme in the loudspeaker category. It is perfectly possible to spend more than $100,000 USD on a pair of high-end loudspeakers. There is a wide variety of accessories used by audiophiles in the hope of getting better sound. Most common are expensive interconnection cables used for electrical power, line-level, loudspeaker, and digital-signal applications. Other accessories include filters to clean the electricity used by the gear, equipment stands, and room treatments.

Professional practices

Audiophiles tend to hold commercial-music recording practices in low regard. Particularly in the pop-music domain, most recordings are based on the heavy use of multitrack technology, the studio dominated by a huge mixing board with as many as eighty channels, each channel operating in the digital domain and subjected to a wide variety of tonal and "effects" processing. Audiophiles believe that this complex signal chain degrades the quality of the signal and lessens the spontaneity and integrity of the musical performance. There are some professional musicians and audio engineers that agree with this view. Currently-active recording artists who apply audiophile recording principles include Neil Young, the Cowboy Junkies, and the White Stripes. Techniques applied by audiophile recording engineers include the use of exotic high-end microphones, the use of a smaller number of microphones rather than the use of a greater number of microphones, the use of tube-driven electronics rather than the use of solid-state electronics, the use of a minimum amount of processing in the production chain, or the use of no processing in the production chain.

Current trends

In terms of revenue, the high-end electronics business is dominated by home theater rather than high fidelity. Almost every major vendor has a full line of home-theater products. Audiophiles are interested in newer higher-bandwidth digital-recording formats such as SACD and DVD-Audio. These formats encode music at data rates of 24-bit / 96 kHz or even 192 kHz compared to 16-bit / 44.1 kHz for CDs and thus are referred to as high-resolution audio formats. Because manufacturers have failed to agree on a single format, because there are relatively few releases in these formats, and possibly also because audiences consider CDs to be good enough as is, acceptance so far has been limited.

Objective versus subjective

Almost every audiophile belongs to one of the two camps. Objectivists believe that gear, accessories, and treatments must pass rigorously-conducted double-blind tests to meet the claims made by their adherents. Subjectivists, however, believe that biased listening is adequate for discovering the true worth of a device or treatment.

Objectivists' criticisms of subjectivism in audio

- Every properly conducted and interpreted double-blind test has failed to support subjectivists' claims that they can easily perceive significant differences between devices. Measurements predicted that these devices should sound identical. [http://www.mastersonaudio.com/audio/20020901.htm]
- Biased listening tests are notoriously unreliable. Thomas Edison, for example, showed that entire theater audiences were unable to distinguish between the sound of an orchestra or a playback by his recording system, which today would be regarded as ludicrously poor in quality. Similarly, the first CDs and CD players were accepted for their outstanding sound; these CDs and CD players today are regarded as fatally flawed while analog systems from that period have not similarly fallen in subjectivists' assessment of quality. [http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledisondiscphpgraph2.htm]
- Similarly, repeatability is poor for evaluation of components between various listeners or even the same listener under different circumstances. This contrasts with the superficially similarly esoteric oenophile world, where repeatability of blind tests is surprisingly good.
- Measured-audio distortion is immensely higher in electromechanical components such as loudspeakers, turntables, tonearms, and cartridges than in purely electronic components such as preamplifiers and power amplifiers, making it hard to believe that very subtle differences in the latter can have an appreciable effect on music quality.
- Similarly, the acoustic behavior of the listening room, the interaction between loudspeakers and the room's acoustics, and the interaction between an electromechanical system such as a loudspeaker and an amplifier are much more variable than the variation between electronic components. Thus the "difference" in sound quality between amplifiers is actually the ability of an amplifier to control the behavior of difficult loudspeakers well or a lucky combination of loudspeaker, amplifier, and room that works well together. [http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/assets/download/AmpSpekerInterface.pdf]
- Minute differences in loudness have been demonstrated to be perceived as differences in sound quality, with the slightly-louder system sounding better. Sound levels must be matched to within 0.1 dB using an adequate test signal such as a pure tone and a measurement device such as a voltmeter, a soundcard, or a sensitive sound-pressure meter when comparing systems if the results are to be valid. This is usually not done.
- Subjectivists often totally disdain all attempts to categorize differences in sound using measurements. They have repeatedly ignored the work of such audiophile engineers as Bob Carver, who has repeatedly shown that by tailoring the transfer function of any system with a relatively simple sound-shaping network, they can make it sound indistinguishable from any other system as requested. [http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/letters/0404.htm] [http://www.audio-ideas.com/interview/carver.html]
- The relatively-soft distortion of overdriven vacuum-tube amplifiers is regularly used in high-end guitar amplifiers, because the loss of fidelity is intentional and characteristic of the electric-guitar sound. Solid-state amplifiers are often not used for guitars due to the harsh sound created by an overdriven solid-state amplifier. In high fidelity, subjectivists often prefer vacuum-tube electronics over solid-state electronics, because even though they have inferior measured performance, the subjectivists claim a warmer or more musical sound. Vacuum-tube amplifiers are attacked as vastly inferior because, in addition to their substantially higher total harmonic distortion, they require rebiasing, are less reliable, generate more heat, are less powerful, and are usually more expensive. [http://www.mastersonaudio.com/letters/200202.htm]
- Subjectivists regularly make strong claims for the allegedly superior quality of analog-music reproduction from records played on turntables compared to modern digital-music reproduction from CDs played on CD players. They prefer this analog sound even though digital sound has no clicks, pops, wow, flutter, audio feedback, or rumble, has a higher signal-to-noise ratio, has a wider dynamic range, has less total harmonic distortion, and has a flatter and more extended frequency response. [http://www.soundstageav.com/mastersonaudio/20050415.htm] [http://www.mastersonaudio.com/audio/20030101.htm]
- Audiophile equipment designers can obsess over seemingly irrelevant details, for instance, the almost universal requirement to reproduce frequencies higher than 20 kHz even though some sources will not reproduce anything higher than 15 or 16 kHz such as records and FM radio. Many audiophiles cannot even hear up to 15 kHz. [http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/hearing/hearing.html]
- Some subjectivists' practices seem driven by fashion, such as the late eighties vogue for marking the edges of CDs with a green felt marker or the practice of suspending cables above the floor on small racks. Objectivists argue that the laws of physics are not subject to fashion. [http://www.snopes.com/music/info/greening.htm]
- The prices of audiophile products can seem remarkably high, even if one believes in the benefits conferred. It is quite possible to spend over a hundred thousand dollars for loudspeakers, tens of thousands for amplifiers and CD players, and more than a thousand dollars for a power cable. [http://www.stereotimes.com/acc122602.shtm] [http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/jpslabs_kaptovator.htm]
- Vendors of audiophile products regularly make fanciful and unscientific claims for the results produced. Tice Audio once sold what appeared to be an ordinary clock radio which, it was claimed, would improve the quality of a playback system if plugged into the same electrical circuit. This was supposed to cause some mystical change in "electron energy." Vendors such as Shun Mook market a variety of disks and clamps which, when attached to audio components, are claimed to improve sonic performance. [http://www.mastersonaudio.com/features/20021101.htm]
- In particular, vendors of audio cables have been prone to claims and to pricing which strain credulity. There have been audio cables which are filled with water, which glow in the dark, and which come with a separate AC cord which must be plugged in to power the workings of the cable. Those versed in the physics of electrical conductivity often find the prices paid for cables to be laughably high and at best consider them a form of jewelry. [http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/cablessciencereligion.php]
- Some subjectivists' claims, while superficially based on accepted physical principles, apply them to circumstances where they are irrelevant. For instance, the skin effect, which relates the efficiency of cables to the frequency transmitted, is often applied to audio frequencies where it is insignificant. [http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/audio/skineffect/page1.html]
- The overwhelming majority of the most outspoken subjectivists, including reviewers, columnists, and "pundits," lack engineering training and objective credentials. This gives rise to a credibility problem, and most will fully admit a lack of understanding as to the technical merits of what they are analyzing, but nevertheless praise a product's innovation and performance.
- Subjectivists often claim that home-theater sound is inferior to high-fidelity sound, even though double-blind tests have shown that this is wrong. Many subjectivists believe that the sound from records is superior to the sound from home theater. Subjectivists often look down on home-theater sound even though many subjectivists accept FM radio as high fidelity. [http://www.soundstageav.com/mastersonaudio/20050201.htm] Overall, the subjectivists' world is looked upon by objectivists as being a hotbed of gullibility and fraud, its marketing engine driven primarily by either a constant desire for one-upmanship or a more benign desire to tinker with equipment. In particular, the tinkering drive is fed by wild claims for minor parts of the system such as cables. Objectivists, however, are often harshly dismissed by subjectivists as meter men — people who simply refuse to recognize what the subjectivists consider obvious. The debate is rather heated in certain quarters, and even James Randi chimed in on the issue. [http://www.randi.org/jr/112604yes.html#4]

Subjectivists' criticisms of objectivism in audio

- There are problems in applying double-blind methods to comparisons of audio devices. Subjectivists believe that a relaxing environment and sufficient time measured in days or weeks is necessary for the discriminating ear to do its work. The introduction, moreover, of the switching apparatus, involving as it does either another metal connection at the switch or another level of electronic processing with solid-state switches, obscures the differences between the two signal sources being tested.
- While tubed electronics are less linear than solid-state electronics at high-signal levels, they are much more linear at low-signal levels — less than one watt. Most musical signals spend most of the time at these low levels. Subjectivists claim that: "The first watt is the most important watt."
- Total harmonic distortion has been proven by scientific testing to correlate poorly with perceived sound quality. The type of distortion is more significant. For instance, distortion by even harmonics has been shown to be less objectionable than distortion by odd harmonics.
- In general, proponents of high-technology solutions, such as the earliest CDs, dismiss complaints of subjectivists on the grounds of the new systems' ideal behavior rather than on the grounds of the new systems' actual behavior. Often this is followed by the introduction of newer, improved components which are sold as lacking the problems of the prior generation, which were described as audibly perfect at the time. For instance:
- In defense of their preference for analog formats over digital formats, subjectivists point out that the process of converting a bit-stream to an analog waveform requires heavy filtering to remove spurious high-frequency information and that it should be expected that such filtering should involve some signal degradation and a large amount of phase shift in the passband. They point out that commonly-used consumer-grade digital-to-analog converters (DACs) exhibit very poor linearity at low levels. Both problems, at first dismissed, were then addressed by such solutions as digital filtering, oversampling, and the use of 20 or more bits DACs. The introduction of the new higher-bandwidth high-resolution music formats is a tacit admission of the reality of this issue. Musician Neil Young, for example, is a harsh critic of the sound of the original CD format but has approved of the sound of the newer SACD format with its greater safety margin between its ideal behavior and the requirements set by the limits of human hearing.
- Long before universal acceptance, subjectivists believed that sound quality was degraded by large levels of negative feedback in amplifiers. Subjectivists believed that, while negative feedback was indeed beneficial to amplifier stability and produced good test results using steady-state waveforms, it was inherently problematic for constantly-changing waveforms such as those that occur in music. This results in amplifiers that test well and sound bad.
- Long before universal acceptance, subjectivists were insistent on the improvement in sound they heard with higher-quality capacitors such as those made with tantalum. Sound quality improved when inferior large electrolytics or paper capacitors were replaced or bypassed with these improved capacitors in the signal path. Subjectivists believe that the inferior capacitors were due to significant inductance caused by their spiral-wound construction which interferes with the passage of the highest audio frequencies.
- Subjectivists were experimenting with improved power supplies for CD players. They wanted the digital section around the DAC to be isolated from the CD drive's mechanical section and hence improve sound quality. They were concerned that the power supply's voltage fluctuations produced by the motor's load would affect the digital section's internal digital clock and that such digital-clock jitter would cause audible distortion. This was explored by subjectivists long before it was validated by manufacturers.
- Although clearly audible levels of very objectionable distortion was demonstrated early in the digital-audio era by simply running a signal source through an analog-to-digital converter and the result through a digital-to-analog converter and electronically subtracting that result from the source, this demonstration was ignored by the digital-audio proponents. This is similar to subjectivists ignoring the results of double-blind tests that showed no ability to detect subtle differences between different devices in listening comparisons.
- Subjectivists were experimenting with room acoustics long before component manufacturers began to consider them a factor.
- Subjectivists noted the differences in response speed between various loudspeaker drivers used in a single loudspeaker system and began experimenting with fewer drivers, stepped loudspeaker boxes, and so on.
- Many vendors and retailers offer free trials or money-back guarantees if their products are unsatisfactory, and they remain in business.
- Despite a lack of an electrical-engineering degree, scientific training, formal education, or technical knowledge, experienced listeners can be relied upon for subjective advice on how equipment sounds and whether it is worth the money. Having said all this, many subjectivists admit that their pastime does contain a measure of cultish behavior and in particular that there is charlatanry among some vendors. Unfortunately, the gulf between purist subjectivists and purist objectivists continues. Audio magazine, one of the few which combined lengthy listening reviews with lengthy technical analysis of measurements, has ceased publication.

External links

- [http://www.theabsolutesound.com The Absolute Sound.] Second oldest and second most prestigious subjectivist high-end magazine.
- [http://www.audioasylum.com/index.html Audio Asylum.] "Inmates" discuss all that is high-end.
- [http://www.audiocircle.com AudioCircle.] Discussion forum.
- [http://www.audiocircuit.com The Audio Circuit.] Information on and user reviews of loudspeakers, headphones, amplifiers, and playback equipment.
- [http://www.audiogon.com Audiogon.] Marketplace and discussion forum.
- [http://www.audiophilia.com Audiophilia.] Equipment reviews and articles of general interest to audiophiles.
- [http://www.high-endaudio.com/magaz.html The Audio Press.] Criticism of industry and subjectivist magazines and reviewers.
- [http://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/ Boston Audio Society.] Scientific approach to the hobby.
- [http://bruce.coppola.name/audio/Amp_Sound.pdf Do All Amplifiers Sound the Same?] PDF file.
- [http://www.head-fi.org Head-Fi.] (Head Fidelity.) Discussion forum for high-fidelity products with an emphasis on headphones and portable audio.
- [http://www.vxm.com/21R.64.html Lies, Damn Lies, and Cables.] The wire controversy.
- [http://positive-feedback.com/ Positive Feedback Online.] Print magazine that merged with audioMUSINGS and morphed into an online forum for the audio arts.
- [http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/ampins/pseudo/subjectv.htm Science and Subjectivism in Audio.] Technically-detailed article by the objectivist Douglas Self.
- [http://www.6moons.com/ 6Moons.com.] Online magazine.
- [http://www.stereophile.com Stereophile.] Largest, oldest, and most read subjectivist magazine includes online reviews and articles.
- [http://www.stereotimes.com StereoTimes.] Equipment reviews and articles of general interest to audiophiles.
- [http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf The Ten Biggest Lies in Audio.] PDF file.
- [http://www.tnt-audio.com/ TNT-Audio.] Independent, non-profit, Internet HiFi review, since 1996. Category:Audio storage Category:Music Category:High end audio

Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering (colloquially "Magic" or "MTG"), is a collectible card game created by Richard Garfield, Ph.D. and introduced by the company Wizards of the Coast in 1993. Magic inspired an entirely new game genre, and has an estimated six million players in over seventy countries worldwide, as well as a successful Internet version. The game is a strategy contest not unlike chess, but like most standard card games includes an element of chance due to the random distribution of cards during shuffling. Each game represents a battle between very powerful wizards called "planeswalkers" who use magical spells, items, and fantastic creatures. Though the original concept of the game drew heavily from the motifs of traditional fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Magic as a game bears little resemblance to role-playing games. The game has an official tournament system, in which the game is played for cash and scholarship prizes, and the game has a number of professional players. The cards themselves also have value, much like other trading cards, but in this case based on both scarcity and game play potential.

History

When Peter Adkison, then CEO of the fledgling Wizards of the Coast games company, met Richard Garfield, then a graduate student who would become a mathematics professor, it was to discuss Garfield's new board game Roborally. Adkison was not very keen on the idea, as board games are expensive to produce and difficult to market. He did enjoy Garfield's ideas and mentioned that he was looking for a portable game that could be played in the downtime that frequently occurs at gaming conventions. Garfield returned later with a prototype he had been working with on and off over the last few years under the development name of Mana Clash. Adkison immediately saw the potential of the game and agreed to produce it. Role-players were enthusiastic early fans of Magic, but the game achieved much wider popularity among strategy gamers. The commercial success of the game prompted a wave of other collectible card games to flood the market in the mid-1990s. Many of them were poorly designed and failed both commercially and in popularity. Although Magic's gross card sales have been surpassed in recent years, particularly by Japanese import games based on the Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! franchises, Magic's popularity continues to grow steadily. In 1996, Wizards of the Coast established the "Pro Tour", a circuit of tournaments where players can compete for top prizes in excess of US$30,000 for a single weekend-long tournament, with a total purse of over US$200,000. Sanctioned by the DCI, the popular series of tournaments adds an element of prestige and weight to the game by virtue of the large payouts and media coverage from within the community. The system is similar to the ones used in golf, tennis and other professional sports. The company publicizes good players who win frequently in order to create a "star" system, and examples to which other players to follow and aspire. In 2002, an official online version of the game was released. While less functional methods of online play have existed, Magic: The Gathering Online was the first to capitalize on this interest. It has features which were lacking from previous methods; specifically, it handles game rules correctly. The online version has been a runaway success for the company and has inspired similar products from many popular collectible card games.

Awards

- 1994: Origins Awards for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1993 and Best Graphic Presentation of a Boardgame of 1993
- 1999: Inducted alongside Richard Garfield into the Origins Hall of Fame
- 2003: GAMES Magazine selected it for its Games Hall of Fame

Game play

GAMES Magazine In a game of Magic, two players are engaged in a duel. A player starts the game with twenty "life" points and seven cards in their hand. If a player is reduced to zero life, that player loses the game. The object of Magic is to be the last surviving player. Players fight each other by casting spell cards by drawing upon mana, or magical energy, from Land cards. There are two basic types of spells: those which become a "permanent", which stay on the table once they have been played, and those which affect the game immediately and are then put into their owners' graveyards. The types of cards are: Permanents
- Lands: The basic resources of the game. Players may play only one land per turn.
- Creatures: Magical beasts or warriors that can attack the other player or be used for defense.
- Artifacts: Machines, automatons, magical items and weapons which can enchance creatures, provide useful abilities, or create unusual effects.
- Enchantments: Lasting magical effects which modify the game environment or a specific permanent. Non-Permanents
- Instants: Spells which have a one-time effect and are then discarded. Instants may be played at almost any time, and as such are valued for their versatility.
- Sorceries: Spells similar to Instants, except may be played only during the player's own turn. Each player has a library, or draw pile; a hand containing cards drawn but not yet played; an area on the table for his or her permanents; and a discard pile called the graveyard. Players may never look into the libraries (unless a card's ability allows you to do so) and may see only their own hands, but may normally view all the other cards on the table without restriction. Some spells have effects that override normal game rules (e.g., allow you to play more than one land per turn). The so-called "Golden Rule of Magic" is that if a card's text conflicts with the rules, the card has priority. Resolving interactions between conflicting spell effects is one of the more difficult aspects of game play. A detailed rulebook exists to clarify these conflicts.

Deck construction

A player needs a deck ready before he or she can play a game of Magic. Beginners typically start with only a starter deck, but over time, more cards are added to the player's stock through purchases or trading with other players. Due to the many possibilities, two players seldom play with the same decks. Normally, decks are required to be at least sixty cards. Players may use no more than four of any named card, with the exception of the "basic lands" that act as a standard resource in Magic. When deciding which cards to include, it is often beneficial to use the minimum deck size, combined with the maximum number of card copies, so that the most useful cards are drawn more often. A proper balance of lands to spells is also important in creating an effective deck. A deck must have a large enough number of lands so that they are drawn in a timely manner. In a sixty card deck, it is usually best to have 20 – 24 land cards and 36 – 40 spells (either creature spells, enchantments, instants or sorceries). Although five colors of spell are available, it may help to play just one or two in a deck so that the color of spells drawn will match the color of mana available. On the other hand, the five colors each have different strengths and weaknesses, and playing more colors may help create a more well-rounded deck. The decision on what colors to use is vitally important, and successful decks have used nearly every combination of colors.

The colors of Magic

Most spells come in one of five colors: white, blue, black, red, or green. To play a spell of one color, mana produced by a land of the appropriate type is required. The equilibrium among the five colors is one of the defining aspects of the game. The various strengths and weaknesses of each color are attributed to the fact that each color represents a different "style" of magic. Because the trade-offs between the abilities of each color are integral to keeping the game balanced, it is helpful to discuss the various color philosophies.
- White is the color of equality, order, law, righteousness, and light (although not necessarily "goodness"). Typical white creatures include knights, soldiers, clerics, and angels. Within the game, white's strengths lie in protecting and enhancing its creatures, healing damage, and imposing restrictions on the other players. White's weaknesses include its difficulty in removing the opponent's permanents through direct removal, and the fact that many of its most powerful spells affect all players equally. At its best, white is just and protective. At its worst, white is fascist and absolute.
- Blue is the color of knowledge, illusion, reason, ingenuity, and trickery. Typical blue creatures include wizards, faeries, and air and water spirits. Blue's cards are best at letting a player draw additional cards, stealing control of opposing creatures, sending permanents back to their owner's hands (informally called "bouncing"), and countering (canceling) spells as they are being played. Blue's weaknesses lie in that it has the weakest creatures of any color and only limited ways of dealing with opposing threats once they have entered play. At its best, blue is smart and progressive. At its worst, blue is treacherous and cold.
- Black is the color of death, darkness, plague, selfishness, ambition, and greed (although not necessarily "evil"). Typical black creatures include rats, zombies, demons, and necromancers. Within the game, black cards are best at killing opposing creatures, making players discard cards from his or her hand, and raising creatures from the dead. Black's weaknesses include its inability to destroy enchantments and artifacts, and the fact that many of its best spells harm the player using them. At its best, black is ambitious and unashamed. At its worst, black is enslaving and devouring.
- Red is the color of destruction, war, passion, chaos, and anger. Typical red creatures include goblins, barbarians, dragons, and earth and fire spirits. Red is one of the best colors for destroying opposing creatures, trading long-term resources for short-term power, and for playing spells that reduce the opponent's life points (so-called "burn" or "direct damage"). Red also has the vast majority of cards that involve random chance. Red's weaknesses include its inability to destroy enchantments and the random or self-destructive nature of many of its spells. At its best, red is passionate and decisive. At its worst, red is destructive and short-sighted.
- Green is the color of life, nature, growth, instinct, and interdependence. Typical green creatures include beasts, elves, insects and druids. Green has powerful creatures, numerous ways to destroy artifacts and enchantments, spells that increase a player's life total, and permanents that produce mana more quickly than other colors. However, green has difficulty removing opposing creatures from play, and nearly all of its strategies are creature-based. At its best, green is instinctual and growth-centered. At its worst, green is vicious and unthinking. The colors can be seen on the back of the cards, in a pentagonal design, called the "color wheel". Starting from the top, going clockwise, they are: white, blue, black, red, and green. These can sometimes be abbreviated as W, U, B, R, and G respectively. The colors adjacent to each other on the wheel are "allied" and have similar, complementary abilities. For example, blue has few efficient, aggressive creatures in general, but does have a relatively large number of flying creatures. White and black, being next to it, also have many flying creatures. Red and green are opposite blue and have very few flyers. The two non-adjacent colors to a particular color are "enemy" colors, and are thematically opposed. For instance, red is the color of chaos, while white and blue are the colors of order and logic. The R&D team balances the power between the five colors by using the [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mc3 Color Pie] to define the strengths and weaknesses of each. Each color, as noted above, has its own distinct attributes and the pie is used to put new cards where they belong, so that one color does not impede on the territory of another. A series of five articles written by Mark Rosewater describing each color in depth can be found at the game's official site at [http://www.magicthegathering.com MagicTheGathering.com]: [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr57 The Great White Way], [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr84 True Blue], [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr109 In the Black], [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr133 Seeing Red], and [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr43 It's Not Easy Being Green].

Variant rules

While the primary method of Magic play is one-on-one using standard deck construction rules, casual play groups have developed many alternative formats for playing the game. The most popular alternatives describe ways of playing with more than two players and change the rules about how decks can be built.
- Multiplayer — The simplest format is the free-for-all, where players sit in a circle and combat those around them to be the final surviving player. One popular variant is "Rainbow" (or "Five-Player Star") and involves exactly five players, each one playing one of the colors of Magic and trying to defeat the diametrically opposed ones. Team-based play is also extremely popular. "Two-Headed Giant" is a team game where pairs of players share turns and life totals. In "Emperor", two teams, each generally composed of three or five players, play to ensure their central player (the "emperor") outlasts the other. In June 2005, rules for handling multiplayer games were added to the official rulebook, and "Two-Headed Giant" team play is one of the first multiplayer variants to be sanctioned.
- Vanguard — In this variant, each player has a special card that affects the game. These cards change the players' starting life total and cards in hand, and have additional effects as well. Vanguard initially began with special oversized Vanguard cards, released as part of various promotions. Although three cycles of cards were made, interest never caught on due to relatively low production and lack of sanctioned tournaments. Vanguard was reborn online, with a player's avatar filling the role of the oversized physical cards. Players are given a standard set of avatars and can receive more as entry and high-finishing prizes in release events. The wider availability online, combined with occasional tournaments, has made online Vanguard more of a success than its physical predecessor
- Alternative deck construction — Various alternative rules can be used to govern the construction of decks. In one system, players are allowed to use only one of each card instead of the usual limit of four; this is called "Singleton" or "Highlander" ("There can be only one"). In the [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/jm67 "Pauper's Deck"] or [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/feature/58 "Peasant Magic"] variants, the more powerful rare cards are not allowed, and players must construct decks using only the more commonly available cards as a way of balancing the games for players on a budget. In [http://www.5-color.com "5-Color"] or [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/magiconline/prismaticprimer "Prismatic Magic"], players must build very large decks (at least 250 cards) and accommodate a minimum number of cards of each color, usually twenty. In order to alleviate problems with the mana resource system, some play variants include rules for building decks without lands. These variants often include other compensating controls, such as restricting players to one spell per turn (as in "Type Four" or "DC-10"), or in using spell cards themselves to be played as lands and produce matching colored mana. [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/feature/132 "Mental Magic"] uses a stack of whatever cards are at hand as decks for each player. Play is normal except that the cards in their hand can be played as any card in the game with the same mana cost, but each such card can only be used once per game.

Organized play

Type Four are competing for an invitation to a professional tournament in Nagoya, Japan.]] Magic: The Gathering has grown a lot since it was first introduced in 1993, and a large culture has developed around the game. Magic tournaments are arranged almost every weekend in gaming stores. Larger tournaments with hundreds of competitors from around the globe sponsored by Wizards of the Coast are arranged many times every year. Large sums of money are paid out to those players who place the best in the tournament, and the winner receives sums upward of US$50,000. A number of websites report on tournament news, give complete lists for the most currently popular decks, and feature articles on current issues of debate about the game. The Duelists' Convocation International (or DCI) is the organizing body for professional Magic events. The DCI is owned and operated by Wizards of the Coast. There are two basic types of organized play, Constructed and Limited.

Constructed

In Constructed tournaments, each player comes with a pre-built deck. Decks must consist of no fewer than 60 cards, and no more than four of any one card (the basic land cards may be used in any quantity). Various tournament formats exist which define what card sets are allowed to be used, and which specific cards are disallowed. Additionally, a 15-card sideboard is permitted, from which a player may tweak his or her deck during a match to better deal with their opponent's strategy. Following the first game of a best-of-three match, each player is permitted to replace any number of cards in his or her deck with an equal number of cards from his or her sideboard. The original deck configuration is restored at the conclusion of the match. There are various formats in which Constructed tournaments can be held. They include Vintage, Legacy, Extended, Standard, and Block. The latter of the list uses the three sets from any given Cycle. Since these formats are constantly changing and adapting to new sets, more comprehensive rules for each format can be found at the DCI website.

Limited

Limited tournaments are based on a pool of cards which the player receives at the time of the event. In sealed deck tournaments, each player receives 75 cards from which to build their deck. In a draft, players are seated around a table and select cards out of packs in some fashion, each ending up with 45 cards. Any number of basic lands may be added to the deck in both cases. The decks in limited tournaments need only be 40 cards; all the unused cards function as the sideboard.

Product information

Magic: The Gathering cards are produced in much the same way as normal playing cards. Each Magic card, approximately 63 x 88 mm in size (2.5 by 3.5 inches), has a face which displays the card's name and rules text as well as an illustration appropriate to the card's concept. Over 7000 unique cards have been produced for the game, with about 600 new ones added each year. Each player builds a deck of cards, chosen from those which he or she owns (with certain restrictions as discussed below) to be used in a duel against an opponent. The first Magic cards were printed exclusively in English, but current sets are also printed in Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. Magic cards are released in two types of sets: the game itself, also called the base set or core set, and various expansion sets. The base set is periodically revised, with the rules, card artwork, and even card list itself being changed; nine editions of the base set have been made so far, each containing anywhere from 302 to 449 cards. Expansion sets are the sets in which new cards are first printed, and they once consisted exclusively of new cards; but now, almost a third of them are large "stand-alone" expansions, which contain a few reprints of already-existing cards and can be played without the base set. Each stand-alone expansion is also associated with two smaller expansion sets of its own (except Ice Age, which only had one smaller expansion). Each such trilogy of sets is called a "Cycle" or "Block". The most common size for a stand-alone expansion set is 350 cards, with newer sets being slightly smaller; the most common size for a non-stand-alone expansion set is 143 cards, with newer sets being slightly larger. The biggest rules change in the game's history came with the Sixth Edition of the base set. The game was not originally designed to have expansion sets, so its rules were not designed to accommodate new cards and mechanics. Spell timing and other issues had become quite complicated by 1999 due to the somewhat inelegant ways in which unforseen interactions had to be dealt with. Wizards of the Coast decided that the best solution was to rewrite the rules from the ground up, regardless of how previous cards had been worded or how poorly those wordings would work under the new rules. Other changes were made to card formatting and terminology, and one creature ability was removed from the rules entirely (it was reinstated later). Sixth Edition also removed more cards from the base set, and for weaker reasons, than any other revision up to that point. Reactions from the game's fans were extremely varied. A few agreed or disagreed with all of the changes, but most fans agreed with some changes and disagreed with others. Some had very strong feelings about the changes, while others pointed out that they made very little functional difference. A large number of fans permanently quit at around this time, though whether this was mostly due to the rules changes or the so-called "combo winter" is still debated. In 2003, starting from the Eighth Edition, the game went through its biggest visual change since its creation--a new card frame layout was developed to allow more rules text and larger art on the cards, while reducing the thick, colored border to a minimum. Contrast and readability were improved by using black type instead of the previous white, a new font, and partitioned areas for the name, card type, and power and toughness. The classic "beveled" adges were replaced with a smoother, rounded-looking edge. As with Sixth edition, not all fans agreed with a change that they saw as sacrificing the game's flavor for the sake of minor improvements to functionality. Many players quit the game, or at least threatened to, when this change was announced; a smaller number kept playing, but only with older cards.

Secondary market

There is an active secondary market in individual cards among players and game shops. On eBay, for example, there are an estimated 30,000 Magic: The Gathering card auctions running at any one time. Many other physical and online stores also sell single cards and price guides like findmagiccards.com can provide up to the minute price information. The game cards are published by Wizards of the Coast in varying quantities – a standard booster pack contains eleven common cards, three uncommon cards, and one rare card. The prices of individual cards vary accordingly. Common cards rarely sell for more than a few cents. Uncommon cards and weak rares typically cost under US$1. The most expensive cards in Standard tournament play usually cost approximately US$10-20. The most expensive card is generally considered to be the Black Lotus, with certain rare printings as of 2005 rising above US$3000. A small number of cards of similar age, rarity, and playability, chiefly among them the other cards in the so-called "Power Nine", routinely reach high prices as well. In 2003, after the rotation of the Extended tournament format and in combination with the first Type 1 Championships, the prices for such old, tournament-level cards underwent a large, unexpected increase. As new sets come out, older cards are occasionally reprinted. If a card has high play value, reprinting will often increase the original version's price, because of renewed demand among players. However, if the card is primarily attractive to collectors, reprinting will often decrease the original version's value. To help protect the collectible value of many old cards, Wizards of the Coast has formulated an official "Reprint Policy", which details certain cards that are unavailable to be printed again. [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/products/ReprintPolicy]

Artwork

Each card has an illustration to represent the flavor of the card, often reflecting the setting of the expansion for which it was designed. Since its inception, Magic has used exceptionally high-quality art on its cards, by many well-known fantasy and science-fiction illustrators. Notable artists who have contributed art for Magic cards include John Avon, Brom, John Coulthart, Mike Dringenberg, Kaja Foglio, Phil Foglio, Frank Kelly Freas, Donato Giancola, Rebecca Guay, John Howe, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ron Spencer, Bryan Talbot, Christopher Rush, Kev Walker, Michael Whelan, and Keith Parkinson.

Stax

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History

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Sample

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Stax

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Electrostatic

Overview

The electrostatic approximation

Electrostatic potential

Fundamental concepts

Coulomb's law

The Electric field

Gauss's law

Poisson's equation

Laplace's equation

Static Charge generation

Charge separation by contact

Triboelectric series

Electrostatic generators

Charge neutralisation

'Static' electricity

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References

External links and further reading

Electret

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Patents

Smokestack

History

Construction

Drawbacks

Dual-use chimneys

Cooling Tower used as chimney

Remarkable Chimneys

Weblinks

Lay's

USA Flavors

Canadian Flavors

Electrostatic

Overview

The electrostatic approximation

Electrostatic potential

Fundamental concepts

Coulomb's law

The Electric field

Gauss's law

Poisson's equation

Laplace's equation

Static Charge generation

Charge separation by contact

Triboelectric series

Electrostatic generators

Charge neutralisation

'Static' electricity

See also

References

External links and further reading

Electrostatic loudspeaker

Commercial speakers

Audiophile

Core values

Consumer practices

Professional practices

Current trends

Objective versus subjective

Objectivists' criticisms of subjectivism in audio

Subjectivists' criticisms of objectivism in audio

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Magic: The Gathering

History

Awards