Recommendations for YouTube or Udemy courses on electronics relevant to audio?

[carboncomp]

Hi, I learn much better though audio and video due to being visually impaired and was wondering if anyone had some recommendations for courses that would be good for someone wanting to learn more about audio/small signal design and applications.

Kind of at the point where everything I come across is too basic or too advanced. looking for something after the whole Ohms and Kirchhoff's that is not to heavy on the maths and more on practical application.

So far I just been picking a small playlist of something relevant I'm working on, say BJT's or Opamps, but would love to find a more comprehensive playlist or course. 

Any help would be very much appreciated.

[bluebunny]

Not a course per se, but at a quick glance, there's an EEVblog video covering Kirchhoff.  I haven't watched it, but Dave is entertaining and doesn't (in my experience) do too much maths.  Might be worth checking the full list of videos for other useful ones.  (Dave famously explains opamps here.  This one's brilliant.)

[Rob Strand]

Kind of at the point where everything I come across is too basic or too advanced. looking for something after the whole Ohms and Kirchhoff's that is not to heavy on the maths and more on practical application.

Unfortunately it's difficult to go deeper without using maths.   If you don't go deep enough 10 things all look different but if you have a deeper understanding 10 things all look the same because you can abstract out the key points.  You can of course have a wider understanding but that means going outside of audio.   Without being able to abstract out key ideas it's difficult to translate ideas back into the audio.

The "Art of Electronics" book by Horowitz and Hill is very good at getting the ideas across without too much maths.   Probably the best book at doing this.   The internet is OK for filling in the gaps but it's terrible for giving you a good foundation.   The internet has a lot of wrong and stupid stuff whereas books like "Art of Electronics" don't have many faults and presents a cohesive story.

Rod Elliot's site has a lot of good stuff on it.  Audio orientated.  Very few errors.  He also speaks franky about audio topics.  He's not afraid to call out stupid audio myths and give them a good kick in the nuts without blinking an eye.   He only presents a minimum of maths but instead he uses simulations to demonstrate points or show behaviours - all good, it's one way to do complicated things without pages of maths.

https://www.sound-au.com/

[ElectricDruid]

Rod Elliot's site has a lot of good stuff on it.

+1 agree. I know you said you wanted audio or video resources, but this site is one of the best for audio topics. Get a screen reader to read it to you, maybe?

[GibsonGM]

Brian Wampler has some good vids on Youtube that may be of interest.  Then of course, there are many other channels there about designing small signal amplifiers, opamps/BJTs and so on. They vary in 'math detail'.   

You may find that after going over a couple of vids on transistor audio amp design, for example, you start to see some commonalities that aren't 'incredibly' complex, that allow you to do what you want without having to be a physicist.  That's been my experience, anyway.  Start simple! 

[Frank_NH]

In addition to the plethora of online resources (+1 on Rod Elliot's site), I've found that learning how to use a simulator tool like LTSpice has helped me tremendously.  It's like having a "virtual breadboard" which can quickly show you how changes in specific components affect the performance of an audio circuit.  In addition, a physical breadboard is also a great help in understanding electronics as you can see for yourself the "real world" behavior of specific circuits.  And there's nothing more satisfying than having a circuit perform as it should on your breadboard! 

[carboncomp]

The "Art of Electronics" book by Horowitz and Hill is very good at getting the ideas across without too much maths.   Probably the best book at doing this.   The internet is OK for filling in the gaps but it's terrible for giving you a good foundation.   

I actually have a copy sitting on my desk, been using it to help if I can grasp something from a video. It's just a bit of a struggle reading through it in anything more than snippets but is fantastic. 

Get a screen reader to read it to you, maybe?

Good idea, hopping with AI technology screen readers will become a little less like Stephen Hawking reading you a bedtime story.

In addition to the plethora of online resources (+1 on Rod Elliot's site), I've found that learning how to use a simulator tool like LTSpice has helped me tremendously.  It's like having a "virtual breadboard" which can quickly show you how changes in specific components affect the performance of an audio circuit.  In addition, a physical breadboard is also a great help in understanding electronics as you can see for yourself the "real world" behavior of specific circuits.  And there's nothing more satisfying than having a circuit perform as it should on your breadboard! 

Thanks, just started dabbling in LTSpice, good to hear its a worthwhile investment!

[GibsonGM]

There's a 'simulation' section here, if you have questions about LT Spice!

[FSFX]

- but would love to find a more comprehensive playlist or course. 
Any help would be very much appreciated.

This document of mine has a lot of links to videos and tutorials.

www.fleetingspider.com/files/wtge24.pdf

[marcelomd]

Good idea, hopping with AI technology screen readers will become a little less like Stephen Hawking reading you a bedtime story.

Never mind AI. I want some kind of neural IO interface so I can use the computer without having to sit in front of it.

More seriously. Bedtime story? Last time I heard a screen reader from a (completely) blind person it sounded like some coded protocol. Brrrrp brrrrp brrrrp. Read the entire screen in about 1 second. Super cool.

[ElectricDruid]

Thanks, just started dabbling in LTSpice, good to hear its a worthwhile investment!

There's a 'simulation' section here, if you have questions about LT Spice!

Seconded, if you have queries about it (and it's definitely among the most "non-obvious" bits of software in the world...) ask here, because a lot of people use it. For example, I just did some frequency responses with it, over in this thread:

https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=130693.msg1268275;topicseen#msg1268275

It's a handy tool, for sure.

[carboncomp]

This document of mine has a lot of links to videos and tutorials.

www.fleetingspider.com/files/wtge24.pdf

Thank you, will work my way through page 6!

Seconded, if you have queries about it (and it's definitely among the most "non-obvious" bits of software in the world...) ask here, because a lot of people use it. For example, I just did some frequency responses with it, over in this thread:

https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=130693.msg1268275;topicseen#msg1268275

It's a handy tool, for sure.

Thank you, very much appreciated.

[bartimaeus]

Just going to repeat what's been said, but nothing taught me more than sketching classic circuits in LTSpice and tweaking them to see what breaks. Be prepared to spend some time learning the oddities of using Spice, but it's well worth the investment.

This might be helpful as well (note the links to a bunch of different pedals): https://cushychicken.github.io/posts/ltspice-tube-screamer/

[CheapPedalCollector]

Lantertronics - Aaron Lanterman youtube is great, but he's a professor and it's heavy on maths. He does enjoy musical electronics and has plenty of videos on them and also basic circuits and the math for them. You probably won't get a whole lot out of them without known what Thevenin theorem equivelents are and similar things as he uses that stuff quite a lot to explain things.

You can always take/learn the math on like Khan academy or something too.

[FSFX]

Lantertronics - Aaron Lanterman youtube is great, but he's a professor and it's heavy on maths. He does enjoy musical electronics and has plenty of videos on them and also basic circuits and the math for them. You probably won't get a whole lot out of them without known what Thevenin theorem equivelents are and similar things as he uses that stuff quite a lot to explain things.

Aaron's stuff is a bit advanced and uses a lot of mathematical analysis so may not be suitable for real beginners but I agree that his video tutorials are some of the best out there.
He is a very approachable and friendly guy, highly respected by all of his students and peers. I often have an online chat with him discussing some of his videos and and have assisted him in some of his research and analysis of old pedal circuit designs in the past.

Aaron's Youtube channel is one of the sites that I recommend in the document that I posted a link to above.

Another excellent resource is the Gitec Forum: http://www.gitec-forum-eng.de/the-book/
This is a great book written by another university professor with a passion for music and music technology.

[guamfw]

If you're into audio electronics, I highly recommend checking out YouTube channels like "AfroTechGuru" and "ElectroSoundHacks." They share awesome tutorials and project walkthroughs that are super helpful in learning the ropes.

[PRR]

> YouTube channels like "AfroTechGuru" and "ElectroSoundHacks."

You may have hallucinated that??

[Gargaman]

You may have hallucinated that??

AI (on drugs)

[Ripthorn]

I've been making a series of videos that seek to explain the basic building blocks of guitar effects. It's assumed at people who have some experience, but who aren't experts. It might help you. Here's the first video.

[antonis]

No YOUTUBE or any other figurative/imaging demo but, IMHO, brief & comprehensive Ray Marston articles..

https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/bipolar_transistor_cookbook_part_1
(all the way down to part
https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/fet_principles_and_circuits_part_1
(all the way down to part 4)
https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/op-amp-cookbook
https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/op-amp-cookbook-part-2