Jim Pennock Email & Phone Number

Salt Lake City, Ut, Us

Working in a variety of capacities as a consultant, business development and audio expert in the musical instrument, music education, film and recording studio industries I help develop new products, business ventures, and technologies.

Stamford, Connecticut, Us

Responsible for helping to drive the technological advancements for Harman Music Group (HMG), managing a team of engineers dedicated to new product platform development, ASIC design, and DSP algorithm design. I took on many out-of-the-box rolls within Harman focusing on new business development and expansion of HMG into new industries including TV and film, developing industry partnerships with MI software companies, and strategic acquisitions. Expanded the reach of the HMG signal processing expertise in active acoustics into the automotive/lifestyle arm of Harman developing the successful Virtual Venues in-car DSP platform.

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I managed a smaller group of engineers to provide a dedicated focus on technologies to drive new product advancements for all brands in the Harman Music Group. Examples include: researched and developed flashROM based recording platform, USB interface / driver development, and PC streaming audio technology, used in the DigiTech GSP products resulting in a new category of “Guitar Workstation” products with built in hands free recording capabilities. Developed patent for PC to guitar processor interactive interface. Designed and developed the famous "AudioDNA" chip that is used by many brands within Harman International including DigiTech, dbx, Lexicon and Sound Craft. Built and maintained strategic OEM relationships with PC and MAC audio recording software companies to include additional software content with our streaming audio products for Lexicon and DigiTech. In 2005, I pursued and landed an OEM agreement with Wenger Corporation to develop a custom virtual environment simulator. This was the first OEM contract for Harman Music Group and helped boost revenues for the company. I hired and managed additional staff for the project. In 2007, I helped drive the design and developed of the "AudioDNA2" DSP ASICs adding many advanced capabilities to the original AudioDNA design resulting in four unique new DSP architecture patents.

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I developed the new product plan and engineering portion of the business plan for the DigiTech and Johnson Amplifiers brands. I helped define and flush out the full line of 10 new Johnson amplifier products.Harman moved the Lexicon Pro division to Salt Lake City. I quickly adapted to the opportunity and with minimal additions to the engineering department I helped define and design a new series of products for the Lexicon brand while maintain a good flow of new DigiTech products as well.

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Harman International (NYSE - HAR) purchased DOD electronics in 1993. I managed the engineering team of hardware and firmware engineers focused on development of new products for the DigiTech, DOD, and Johnson Amplification brands collectively known as the MI Group. I was also a member of a two person team developing ASICs to be used in the next generation of products. The DigiTech Studio line of reverb processors and the XP pedals including the famous Whammy pedal and Space Station were notable new designs.By 1996 the engineering department for the MI Group grew to over 15 hardware, firmware, DSP, and PC engineers as complexity of new products increased. Using this team of engineers we launched a new guitar amplifier brand called Johnson Amplification that helped create a new product category of DSP based modeling guitar amplifiers.

I managed an engineering team that grew to 10 engineers devoted to rapid definition, design, and development of products for the DigiTech brand. With an average output of 5 to 8 new products every year this team was one of the most prolific. Notable products include the TRS24 which was the industry first product with fully customizable DSP effects routing, and the GSP2101 and RP6 that merged the older techniques of audio design using vacuum tube audio gain circuits (highly regarded in the music industry) with the latest in digital DSP technology.

As DOD Electronics grew we added staff and I took on the hiring and managing of additional engineers in addition to my regular DSP, ASIC and software engineering design duties. Product development for me and my team primarily focused on the DigiTech line of guitar, vocal, and recording studio products. I managed from 3 to 7 engineers and the company grew quickly.

Became proficient and innovative in developing new custom DSP algorithms including EQ, guitar overdrive distortion, delay, chorus, reverb, etc. To add additional DSP functionality and drive product costs lower a co-worker and I designed our own audio DSP chip and had an ASIC custom fabricated to our specifications. With a firm belief in us from the owners of the company, this was the start of an extensive custom audio ASIC program that continues to the present day.

First job after receiving my BSEE degree; with my digital design knowledge in a largely analog audio world where the cost of designing digital audio was dropping rapidly. Quickly learned a lot about audio DSP. Designed hardware, wrote firmware and DSP for many digital audio effects products including the DSP-128 which was the first multi-effect processor in the music industry (first year sales of this product doubled the size of the company), and the GSP-5 which was the first guitar multi-effects product and the first to feature guitar overdrive distortion done completely digitally.