Custom
Custom made or custom bent by POTAR
The Hey Jude Sound Urchin
The Hey Jude Sound Urchin Get weird with it! Not your usual Sound Urchin, I took this little Hey Jude music box and mounted it right above the 35mm piezo disc for ultimate impact. The music wire was chosen for its bell-like tone, and you just gotta have a spring these days. Crank the wheel, … Read more
Pitch control for cassette players
06/18/2025 – Recently updated with better explanation. Here is a stripboard layout that I did for cassette player speed mods. It is based on a drawing from the old Casper Electronics website. It only requires a small piece of stripboard (4×6 ) and 5 components. I am sure that there are other ways to affect … Read more
Sound Urchin Composer #005
Sound Urchin Composer series instruments are always a little different They all feature resonant bowls, tiered threaded rods, and the Sound Urchin pre-amplifier circuit but vary based on what is available. #005 features a 5″ Urchin giving ample access to a resonant bowl that was harvested from an industrial fire alarm, it also features our … Read more
Making a large windscreen for microphones on the cheap
I needed bigger wind protection for my handheld recoding setup but scoffed at the high prices for the name brand options. I am a field recording hobbyist (at best), so spending bug bucks is out of the question. After building some smaller, slide-on wind protection for my small capsule mics, I knew I could build … Read more
Had some server issue but I am back!
I had some serious server issues last month but POTAR Design Devices is back! Everything is running smooth, transactions are secure, and I have something new to offer. The newest POTAR one-off, Golden Urchin Bells. Limited Edition : 1 of 1 in this format How do you play it? You can strum or pick the … Read more
DIY Wind Protection for Small Mics
It is no secret that wind can be one of the major obstacles when capturing field sound, especially when using sensitive microphones. Having a dead cat (aka a wind muff, wind jammer, or furry) at your disposable is mandatory.
Building OPA Impedance Buffers
Hot air reflow is so much easier than I thought it would be. The trick to getting everything placed correctly is to eat a good breakfast and not drink too much coffee. I am using these OPA “Alice” circuits in the hydrophones, dual impedance buffers, and Sound Urchin XLR products. They use a high definition, … Read more
Dual OPA Piezo Buffer
I boxed up a couple of the piezo buffers from a previous post. A lot of the time a piezo plugged directly into a recorder or amp is fine. You will get sound. However, most objects really benefit from a piezo buffer circuit. This will be a handy addition to my field bag.