Dear all members of CAA,

Apologies if the following is long, please bear with it while you read.

Not so long ago I came across a thread on CAASQ, from a gentleman by the name of Scott Buwalda. Those who follow IASCA and/or international car audio competitions would've heard that name, along with the likes of Mark Eldridge and off course, Alma Gates for SPL lovers. Mr. Buwalda is a renowed competitor in the USA, specialising in sound quality competitions. He has set up his own company called Buwalda Hybrids International and provides services to the car audio community not only locally in the US but also internationally. One of the ways he's doing this is in the form of International Sound Quality Summit workshop, of which the last one was held in the United Kingdom. For further background info on the company: http://www.buwaldahybrids.com and for further info on the SQ Summit: http://www.buwaldahybrids.com/Sound%20Qual...mit%20Flyer.pdf

I know the man only by reputation and online readings of his exploits and achievements, and was surprised to find out in his website's forum that he is expressing an interest to organise the SQ Summit in Australia and would love to come down under.

Just by looking at the topics that are covered in the SQ workshop made me droll already. To date I have never heard of such a workshop ever being organised in Australia (although I've never been to any VIC meets so I could be wrong), and here's the chance to be educated by one of the world's respected competitors. The opportunity to converse and discuss car audio and SQ with him seems very hard to pass up, hence the reason why I'm writing this.

I've emailed Marc about this, and he was the one suggesting about getting expressions of interest from you folks. So to cut this short: How many of you are willing to take part/sign up for this workshop? If I'm not mistaken in order for a workshop to go ahead it needs at least 30 people per workshop. Scott is scheduling a tour between Sydney, Melbourne and another Oz city but it's all still up in the air.

For the record I am not affiliated in anyway with Scott Buwalda and his company, nor have I met/engaged in discussions both verbally and in writing with him. I'm just another average joe hobbyist who would like to know there is to know about audio, car audio and SQ and this international summit could do the trick. Based from the feedback received from the UK the workshop was great and filled with all the necessary info about the subject matter, and it was very educational for all participants involved.

So before I (or perhaps Marc who is in a much better position than I do) contact Scott I would like to know if anyone is interested in having this SQ workshop? If there are enough number of people who are serious (and I already am) then we can go from there.

Replies are very much appreciated, folks.

Thank you, and best regards,

Bon

PS: Moderators, please feel free to move this topic to more relevant discussion forum should you feel that this is not the right forum for it.

Anyone at all?

i could be

C'mon guys, we really need to get behind this if it is to happen. I can confirm I would be attending (x2).

Looks interesting.
however I can't afford $300 USD, sorry

hmmm, probably should have read the info....$300us?!?!
now its a 50/50...depends on funds (do we all get a tube amp in the goodie bag?)

Personally I don't think that entry fee is set in stone. At the moment I'm just trying to find out if there are people who are interested in this kind of workshop. If there are sufficient numbers then perhaps we can come up with a deal with Scott.

I know for many of you price is the bottom line, but if you would only step back for a moment and look at the audio components that you have been gathering ever since you got into this hobby, how much money have you put into them? A good mid level component set would've set you back more than $300-400 already, not including head units, amps and such. Factor in the cost of installation (or for those who are DIYers, the cost of materials and the time that had been spent installing the components (or in economic terms, opportunity costs of DIY)) and the numbers do turn big. And at the end of the day, should you want to sell your components you're definitely not going to reclaim back what you paid for them.

Whereas it is my firm believe that education is priceless, it stays with you till the end, and applicable to just more than one aspect of life. In the case of the SQ workshop, you'll be gaining a lot of things, things that you might've not known and things that can be applied to any audio system, etc. So maybe it's a tad expensive, but I believe it will be a rewarding, useful experience for all who are serious about their systems. And I know I am serious about mine. According to his workshop schedulue he's pretty much busy until July so if this workshop goes ahead in Australia it won't be until, say, maybe August or September this year. That will give you plenty of time to save up some money for the entry fee (whatever number it may be).

Look, if you're still not sure then go to his website, browse around the forum there or the talkaudio.co.uk forum, look at people's responses, etc. And ask yourself, "am I serious in making my system better sonically? Would it be important and benficial for me to know all these things? Is this hobby of mine be worth pursuing further, and taking it to the nth degree?" If the answer is yes to all of them, then I think this workshop would do good for you.

Cheers,

Bon

I already told Pete (ultim8DTM5) that i'm in!

count me in guys.. price is not an issue

i wonder what's in the goodies bag for $250US :? hopefully a couple of nice shirts and stuff we don't see over here :wink:
i'm interested in going, just (again) a matter of funding, but considering the last CAASQ related workshop was what back at dbfever ages ago, i think it'd be time to re-edumacate me hearin'

Sounds good.
Where in the post does it say $250 or $300 us?

interested depending on when and where and what is on offer.

so we need like 30people per state and around $200aus or more

and you get a one day seminar?

can we get corperate sponsorship to reduce costs and get some stuff like t shirts for free and other cheap promotional stuff

hmm might work but price would still be an issue

edit: my booboo

ROUGH INDICATION OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN unless we're talking about a totally different thing


[b][i]Sound Quality Summit Event [/i][/b][i]

It will be a single-day seminar, likely on a Saturday, but can be on a Sunday if that works better. It is an interactive event where we cover everything from the fundamentals of sound to application. Here's the course outline:

First session (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours):

Seminar introductions
Audience introductions
Review of course objectives
Sound: "Fundamentals" Discussion - a somewhat introductory discussion of sound that will be used later on to reference and tie everything together. This is, in essence, the practical theories of sound and is important in understanding how we hear, and therefore how to properly set up a sound system.
Sound & Phasing: Discussion of phase.
Sound Pressure Level: Discussion of measurement, where human hearing can readily detect differences, power, compression, distance, etc.
The Human Auditory System: Discussion of the human ear as a transducer, frequency spectrum of human hearing, dyamic range, hearing threshold, automatic gain control, temporal synchronization, accuracy.
Ear Structure – Outer Ear: Signal processing and directional cues.
Ear Structure – Middle Ear: Conversion of acoustic energy into electrochemical impulses and impedance transformation.
Ear Structure – Inner Ear: Pressure waves and wave propagation, the basilar membrane, corti and stereocilia, basilar membrane frequency tuning, discussion of cochlea acting as a "spectrum analyzer", etc.
How We Perceive Sound: Localization, arrival time, amplitude, acoustic shadow, acoustic precedence effect, etc.

Second session (about 1 hour):

Application:This is the transition from theory into application. Discussion of arrival times, sound frequencies, localization (including the lack of the ability to localize low frequency information), wavelength as it applies to inside a car, pure tones and non-pure tones, sensitivity to various frequencies, etc.

LUNCH (provided)

Third Session (about 5 to 5 1/2 hours with a break half-way through)

[/i][i]This is the application of the morning sessions [/i][i]

Imaging
Staging
Tonal Accuracy
Awesome Sound Quality
Bass in Front or Bass in Back?
Electrical Verses Mechanical
Electrical Problems
Mechanical Problems
Problems and Solutions
Phasing
Level Setting
Crossovers
Equalization
Power Supply
Q&A

The Q&A section is supposed to be the last hour to hour and a half. But we will stay until every question has been addressed and hopefully answered.

The conference is very interactive. Only the first session will I speak almost exclusively. But the second and third sessions will be application, hands-on training, listening evaluations, and etc. where the attendees are encouraged to participate. A few small laboratory exercises will also be performed, which is fun for everyone to get involved with. After the seminar, we can get together for dinner, if there's the interest, and have a meet and greet and tip a cup.[/i]

sounds good but i cant justify spending that much money on it.

car audio mean's alot to me but not that much, i rather spend that on upgrade's

or a house.

I'd imagine that you'd get T-shirts for free and stuff, it was mentioned before.

As for corporate sponsorship, that's where people like our moderators could come in. Like I said before, I'm just an average joe who came across this SQ seminar, thought it might be an excellent idea to have in Australia and voice out my opinion and looking for people that might share what I think. If I'm working in the industry or a mid level employee of one of the big brands here then sure, I'll help out. But no, I'm just an ordinary person hoping to know a lot more about car audio than I know now.

Cheers,

Bon

Valid argument, mate. Sure, putting the money aside for a house I can understand, but an upgrade? I could only imagine that you have a great sounding system already, but isn't the idea is to maximise what you've already got? It can be that after attending the seminar you can transform your system from great sounding to sonic nirvana without even replacing any of the components used. And the knowledge that you gain can be applied to other systems that you might come up with in the future. Not saying that your knowledge of car audio is substandard, no. I do not know a lot of it, but I am thrilled to be educated. In the long run, that entrance fee might be not so bad after all, or a lot cheaper for what you might gain.

Maybe it is better if we invite the man himself to come to the forum, how's that? You'll get the answers directly from him, any concern that you might have can be addressed by Scott.

Cheers,

Bon

i can see where you are coming from, i would love to attend but as i said i cant justify spending that amout of money.
personly i rather save the cash and get out there and learn for myself, it's worked so far and got me 2 trophys and i can only improve from here.
im guessing Scott learnt most of what he know's from doing thing's himself and reading everything he can find relating to car audio.

i know i have a ****load to learn, i still think my car was a fluke to get it where it is, but i did learn alot from building it and what i got from it.
i do think i have an added avantage of being in the position i am in here in CAA and knowing the ppl i do (the reason i put myself in pro class) and ill use it as much as i can to increase my knowlage.
but many years ago i knew **** all about car audio, everything i have learnt is from getting my hand's dirty and reading forums such as this

anyway if anyone wants to shout me ill gladly come

Gentlemen:

I am humbled by the response on this thread. I had no idea this thread even existed 1/2-hour ago, until Mr. Bonar Pakpahan alerted me to it.

First, allow me the opportunity to revisit what the course covers in a little more detail, and then perhaps engage a few of the questions raised thus far.

Firstly, the course is about 9 hours in length...a single day seminar. It is laid out as follows:

The course begins with a refresher on general acoustics terminology such as wavelength, intensity, frequency, and etc., sound and phase, how the human interaural system works (including ear structure), automatic gain control, temporal synchronization, localization, ITD, IID, and HTRF, and application. This is the pure theory "background" of the event, and lasts about the first hour.

We will then take a take a 10-minute break, and then re-convene with more advanced topics in acoustics throughout the morning session. Topics include how loudspeakers work (with the use of hand specimens at the front of the class), physics of speaker cones, important speaker physics considerations, discussion of multi-way speaker systems, discussion of acoustic space and the effects of acoustic space, and etc. This discussion is the theory to application "bridge."

We will then take a 1-hour lunch break. I typically supply the food for the attendees, but this is something we can work out later.

After lunch, we then delve deeply into in-car acoustics and application. We begin with a discussion of staging, imaging, and scale, and what to aim for, and then follow that up with a listening exercise using a CD that I have made (12 tracks in total). This CD is included to all attendees. We will use a nearfield home audio system for our listening exercises. We then discuss in great detail imaging/arrival times/intensity differences, staging and localization, tonal accuracy and reference, and finally another listening evaluation using a setup and test CD that I have included within the cost of the seminar (i.e., two CDs are included in the cost of the seminar). From there, we discuss and define electrical and mechanical problems in a car audio environment, and propose solutions, discuss bass localization and bass system solutions, midrange system solutions, and imaging and tweeters.

We will then take our last 15-minute break of the day and finish up on the highest level of in-car acoustics. The discussion will then be toward electrical and mechanical phasing, level setting crossovers, gain structure, crossover overlap and driver separation, zero delay plane, equalization, power supply, and end at approximately 5:30 PM with question and answer time.

A Tour T-shirt is included with the price of the seminar, as well as all of the hand-out materials (a full color brochure), lab exercises, the pair of CDs, and etc.

To respond to the price queries thus far...

The price of $300 USD is for the USA Summits. Remember that I am having to rent out hotel conference room space, fly to the locations of the Summits, rent a car for surface transportation, ship the entire nearfield system to the venue, hotel stay, and etc. All of these expesnes are born by me, and naturally, the cost of admission must cover these expenses. For the international events, things are MUCH different. I usually establish a set price including travel expenses, and rely heavily on a local organization to help promote and host the event, secure a venue, and etc. As a few of you mentioned, it would require some level of corporate sponsorship to work flawlessly.

At the Malaysian seminar last August (http://www.buwaldahybrids.com/Kuala%20Lump...ysia%20SQS.htm), the seminar was coordinated by IASCA, with the help of the local Genesis rep, Auto Tomorrow, and the local Morel rep, Autocraft. IASCA Malaysia coordinated the event and venue, setup and accepted registrations, did the promotion, and etc. And at the recent England Summit (http://www.buwaldahybrids.com/Rickmanswort...land%20SQS.htm), the trip was coordinated by myself with the local assistance of Mark Stringer, but we also got the assistance of the local high-end car audio dealer to use his space for the venue, and English Dynaudio/Diamond Audio rep to help out as well. They are asking for me back, as it was a very worthwhile experience, even for those with 15+ years experience.

Obviously, without local assistance, there would be no way possible I could pull off a seminar from 3/4 of the world away! So, don't be alarmed too badly about the $300 USD price. It might be lower than that, once expenses are all sorted out. But I will point out (shameless plug) that Bonar is right...for the price of 100 square feet of Dynamat, you'll get a significant level of knowledge that will make your cars better, both fundamentally and in their installation/application, that took me 17 years to compile!

You should know that I have been working on this with a gentleman by the name of Peter Banco (Pete Au) to check the feasibility. We were kind of holding off and keeping it quiet for now, as Peter was in discussions with a local high-end dealer rep that was interested in hosting the series. But since we're on the subject, perhaps now is the time to garner support from the enthusiast and competiton community! We could use the help of CAASQ as well, for promotion, and etc. So, if you're interested in a Summit, or series of Summits in Australia, PLEASE continue on with this thread, so we can show outside interests, such as manufacturers and dealer representatives, that this would be a worthwhile endeavor, and further, worthy of "sponsoring."

Regards,

Scott

Thank you Scott, for taking the time to write it all up. And as far as "stirring the pot" goes, this is all I can do. Everything else arising from now on will be out of my hands and my abilities.

And yes, Bonar Pakpahan is my full name. You'd be surprised if I told you that I am not an Aussie citizen nor a permanent resident. I'm here on a student visa, doing my postgrad degree at Melbourne Uni and I'm from Indonesia. So let's say that I am that bit familiar with high end audio installs...

Cheers,

Bon

And here's a post from the BHI bulletin board...

http://www.buwaldahybrids.com/phpBB/viewto...topic.php?t=219

Cheers mate...

We'll be in Indonesia eventually...perhaps later this year

Scott

I'll add something to this shortly. But firstly welcome Scott.

I will definatly support this. Count me in
peace
Cyberpunky

Welcome Scott
You guys have my support on this also.
I have much to learn about Car Audio and Sound Quality so I can JUST justify paying these kinda dollars if it means I learn something useful!

OK aounded good. I will be there if it is in Syd

Tremendous response thus far! Please keep the feedback coming!

Fortunately, we have time on our side (at least in the interim), so there's ample opportunity to get outside manufacturer/dealer rep interest in hosting/co-hosting an event or three...

Speaking of event locales, we had originally thought of doing a three-city tour (it it's feasible)...Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Do these cities sound like good target host cities?

Scott

Sydney would be a good place to start, as every international flight bound to Australia stops at Sydney. But then I have to travel interstate with my car, if only to get the chance of having my system appraised by you, Scott. Otherwise that 70 dollar something Virgin flight from Melbourne would have to do. Unless of course, the Melbourne seminar can happen too...

Cheers,

Bon

I could be interested if a decent cable ****fight was involved

x2

id definitely be interested in attending this..

i would love to learn about all the SQ 'topics' and how i could judge them as i am hearing impaired, mainly in the higher frequencies.. it would be a good learning experience for me to hear high quality gear, and whether i can actually hear as good as all you guys, altho my hearing aides will be like EQ's.. and to learn about sq in general..

BRING IT ON I SAY!!!

depending on price and when it is
i shalt be interested

Count me in!

count me in

Melbourne. I'm in.

Obviously you would need to asess(sp) expressions of interest but Id suggest Melb and Sydney would tend to be viable. Brisbane has a fairly large SQ scene so may be viable as well but is a lot smaller city, so may not have numbers required. Anyway thats just speculation but if you have to pick just one make it Melbourne lol(totally unbiased opinion ) please please please
peace
Cyberpunky

Agree!! (so I don't have to travel far...)

Cheers,

Bon

OK guys, keep 'em coming. I will link this thread to a distributor that I think will be interested in hosting/co-hosting the event series. There seems to be a significant enthusiast/competitor response, paired with retailer membership and attendence...this would be massively successful.

Scott

i'll be in with it. and being a rep here in qld, i'll be able to get support from my retailers to attend. i did iasca and qasca training and judging here in qld about 8yrs ago when car audio was BIG.

Retailers will be the key to the success of this endeavor! Thanx for your support!

Scott

Scott, I'm still yet to add my thought and suggestions to this (damn new site taking up all my time), but I have already been contacted by two distributors who have expressed interest / curiosity in partly sponsoring the Australian leg of the tour.

I also know that if I put this to the retailers that we are associated with, they will definately jump on it. So right now I guess what I am saying is we could guarantee 30 people or more here in Melbourne for this to go ahead.

I then think the distributors could take care of moving you around to other states, especially if our state reps could get on to ensuring 30 in each of their states through the CAA memberbase and our associated retailers etc.

I think the point is, this could definately happen. The question is when, exactly at what cost to interested parties, and the finer details of it so we can actually start promoting it.

Feel free to discuss any finer details with me personally at audio@caraudioaustralia.com if you wish.

Marc

I would probally agree Cyber we do seem to have a large SQ community up here Im sure we could get a fair few guys who would be interested but not 30 willing to pay money.

I would be go for sure if it was in Brisbane, may think about going down to Sydney but I'd have to think hard cos I'm already flying to Melb for a week in June then a week up at Darwin in July so I may be pressed for money/holidays.

food provided would be good....dont listen very well after long boring day at uni

the price thing might put a few people off though

Just for future reference. Autobarn Bundaberg are in too (QLD)

I would be interested if Brisbane was on the cards..... depends alot on price though

sounds like a good idea - might even consider driving the accord for a little 1000km drive to sydney for it ( but having one in brisbane sounds better )

Count me in. Just let me know the time and the place.

i'm there

Anywhere is fine with me. Sydney will be even better!!! I am in for this, learn and learn. Cable must be in the topic.