I can't say that I entirely agree. Sure, the sonic impact is zilch, but it is worth making the right decision upfront, rather than having every kit builder be forced to implement a work around as a result of making an expedient, but impractical, decision just to keep things moving. If you read equipment reviews, people tend to spend as much time on the practicalities of a device as they do on the sound quality. Maybe that reflects misplaced priorities, or maybe it reflects real life. Stuff that is irritating to use in practice winds up being an annoyance, even if the sound is great.
Personally, I like the idea of being able to switch the display on and off. That seems way more useful that a system that would force you to plug or unplug the display module. And it also seems much simpler than implementing a dimming mechanism.
As for the kind of display, I'm indifferent, as long as it is useful and easy to understand. If two rows of the red and green LEDs are the simplest way to do it, I can live with that, although I can't say that I love it.
I do like the idea of using different color LEDs for different sample rates. If you know what color you expect to appear, it would be obvious if a different color lights up as the sample rate changes. Just so I understand, what is it that makes this difficult? Are you saying that the problem is that (A) in order to get 8 different colors, you would have to use multi-color LEDs (because there aren't enough different kinds of single-color LEDs), which in turn requires a complex circuit in order to change their color, or are you saying that (B) because different color LEDs have different characteristics (e.g., in terms of the voltage drop), you would have to design the circuit to compensate for those differences, which would then be complicated?
Offhand, I seem to remember the following colors being fairly common among single-color LEDs:
1. Red
2. Orange / Amber
3. Yellow
4. Green
5. Blue
6. Purple / Violet
7. White
If you need 8, I would be fine with just doubling up on one color. You could either (i) double up on the two least-common sample rates, or (ii) double up on the first and last sample rates, with the assumption that people can figure out which one is lit based on position (something that is easier when comparing, say, position #1 vs. #8, than it is when comparing position #3 vs. #4).
Thanks for your work on this, John.
Best regards,
Adam
