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Component Isolation—Testing and Patent

98.117.181.4

So I have resurrected my turntable and switched from a mid-fi Rotel CD player to the Oppo 980H, which has a more contemporary DAC and is actually a better source than the Rotel. The transport is inexpensive and the unit is light so I have been working, with little cash, to bring its performance up as far as I can to compare it to the turntable as a source. I have added some weight on top, but have also created some isolation feet that employ several materials that are commonly used for isolation. To my ears they are doing a very good job in my mid-fi system.
Question is, does anyone have any suggestions for testing them in a better system, doing any sort of scientific testing, getting patents etc.

Edits: 07/01/09

Follow Ups:

RE: Component Isolation—Testing and Patent - rick_m 09:13:44 07/03/09 (0)
"...have also created some isolation feet that employ several materials that are commonly used for isolation."

I'd suggest not bothering to try and patent whatever it is. One of the basic tests of patent-ability is obviousness to those skilled in the art. While it appears that nowadays they don't bother to think very much in the USPTO, even if they issue one it will be tough to defend if it uses routine materials to perform the routine task that said routine materials are routinely used for.

Just a matter of routine...

Rick
Patents? We have all thought we have reinvented the wheel at one time or other... - dave c 22:29:32 07/02/09 (2)
... and most of us have taken those things out of our systems a year later... roller-philes apart... maybe!
If you can manufacture by the thousand, package and distribute... good luck!!!
It looks curiously like the tip of a pool/snooker cue attached to a furniture foot. with possibly a door stop added.
I don't doubt for a minute that it works, but if you want to test it, and you are friends with a local dealer, take a set to his/her shop and get them to try them under various components; they look as if they should be easy to sit under things...
That will be $5,000 for the consultation.
Thank you!
;-)
- RE: Patents? We have all thought we have reinvented the wheel at one time or other... - jupiterboy 05:32:52 07/03/09 (1)
  Having helped clients develop packaging for hundreds of products that line the shelves of retailers I have some idea regarding the level of involvement required. In reality I would need more than just a set of feet to pull off a business, although I could easily mass produce these.
  
  You have revealed in your post that my picture is fuzzy enough to not give away any details. It is actually the internal workings that can’t be seen that are unusual.
  
  The next step will be to see if they enhance or deteriorate the sound in a variety of systems.
  
  Still, I wonder about when a patent is called for and what aspects of a product design can be protected?
  - you would only need a patent... - dave c 22:32:16 07/09/09 (0)
    ... if the thought of someone else making them worried you!
    I think it may become a long winded and expensive exercise.
    You are right in that I cannot clearly make out what your footer is doing.. mmmm.
    I can only wish you good luck if you go ahead.
RE: Component Isolation—Testing and Patent - David Aiken 23:16:08 07/01/09 (0)
Testing in a better system is easy—just make a couple of sets and take them over to try in someone else's system that's better than yours. If you're in an audio club you probably know a number of people with better systems.

Unfortunately that's just subjective testing. If you want objective tests, scientific tests, then you need access to the right test equipment such as an accelerometer and you need some sort of standardised test procedure. It would be nice if there were a specified standard for testing the degree of vibration reduction in audio equipment but as far as I know there isn't, which means there's no way of accurately comparing your results to the results of any other product. If you're trying to compare test results, the tests you're comparing need to be conducted under identical conditions and that usually only occurs when there is a specified standard test for the purpose/application you're interested in. Provided you don't need comparability, you could test your turntable with the stock feet and then with your feet but if you want to test how well the feet isolate your turntable from floor/rack/shelf borne vibration you need to find some way of ensuring that the level of vibration reaching the shelf from the floor in each case is identical. That may be difficult. You'll end up with some figures but trying to translate the results into some kind of predictor for effects on the sound of a system is likely to be pretty impossible since there's so much variation in the vibratory environment of different systems due to differences in equipment, floors, etc.

Patents: ask the patent office for info about costs and procedures.

David Aiken
Patents = Expensive nt - risabet 20:59:44 07/01/09 (0)
nt

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