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About Scott Dorsey

Scott Dorsey has a degree in electrical engineering, during the pursuit of which he worked in the broadcast and recording industries. After several years working at a major studio, he took a job with a defense contractor. This left him time to do live concert recording for acoustical music and to design and build audio devices for personal use and on contract to several audio manufacturers and importers. Scott is a regular contributor to several audio magazines. He has been publishing equipment reviews and DIY projects since the mid-1980s. He is probably best known in the general audio community for his retrofit electronics designs in inexpensive Oktava, AKG, and Feilo microphones.

All items written by Scott Dorsey

Remote Recording in the Rock Era: David Hewitt’s On the Road

May 17, 2023 by Scott Dorsey

Remote Recording in the Rock Era: David Hewitt’s On the Road

For an enjoyable suggestion, after you finish reading audioXpress, Scott Dorsey reviewed an interesting book written by David Hewitt, one of the many well-known engineers who made history doing live recordings of rock concerts during the 1970s and 1980s - and continued to pioneer this approach to make great recordings of live events. On the Road: Recording the Stars in a Golden Era of Live Music, is an interesting first person testimony of some of the greatest moments in music recording history. This article was originally published in audioXpress, April 2023.

You Can DIY! Use Brüel & Kjær Instrumentation Microphones for Recording

November 4, 2021 by Scott Dorsey

You Can DIY! Use Brüel & Kjær Instrumentation Microphones for Recording

In this article, Scott Dorsey shares his unique experience-based tips for converting a classic Brüel & Kjær measurement microphone system into a valuable recording microphone. Vintage instrumentation Bruel's (the ancestors of the DPA's) are great microphones that can be found on the surplus market and are appropriate to use for recording applications, if you know which ones and how to convert them. This article was originally published in audioXpress, July 2016.

Altec Lansing’s Voice of the Theatre Speakers - What You Need to Know

June 14, 2021 by Scott Dorsey

Altec Lansing’s Voice of the Theatre Speakers - What You Need to Know

A design by John Hilliard, Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre systems originally targeted movie theaters. The entire series was gradually expanded for use in general sound reinforcement and later converted in extreme high-end audio segments for hi-fi home use. Dorsey knows cinema sound inside and out, and in this article he shares his personal thoughts about these highly valued horn designs, and provides valuable tips on how to restore them. This article was originally published in audioXpress, September 2020.

Repairing Switching Mode Power Supplies

May 23, 2018 by Scott Dorsey

Repairing Switching Mode Power Supplies

In this article Scott Dorsey tells us how to repair Switching Mode power supplies. As he explains, "there are a lot of books and articles out there about how to design a switching supply, but not many on fixing them. As switching supplies become ubiquitous in electronic devices today, it becomes that much more important to understand how they work and just as importantly how they fail." This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2018.

You Can DIY! Reamplification Revisited

May 25, 2016 by Scott Dorsey

You Can DIY! Reamplification Revisited

In 2014, audioXpress invited Scott Dorsey to update his popular reamping project that modeled the source impedances of a couple typical guitar pickups. He wrote the original article more than a decade ago for Recording magazine. In “Reamplification Revisited,” Scott brought us an updated version of his Kludge reamplifier box with added detail. This article was published in audioXpress, January 2015.