Customer Reviews: Read 54 more reviews...
 Your Springboard into the DSP World October 22, 2008
"I'll just say that the future of electronics is DSP, and with this book you will not be left behind." (xii)
My response: DSP is still in its infancy, and there is a lot of potential to grow and organize. With this book, you will not be left too far behind.
Since this book is a popular choice for learning DSP, my comments address DSP in general.
Introductory DSP is a hard subject on which to write a textbook. Think Algebra I. It was the most confusing math class in my secondary education, even though I did end up with A+++. You can't just write the field axioms [various transforms and their properties] and expect students to understand them. You have to explain, and it can get really verbose. A half-hearted attempt to justify its study would do a serious disservice to its actual importance. It can spell a disaster if the author doesn't have a full grasp of the subject material.
_Understanding Digital Signal Processing_ (2004) by Lyons does a pretty good job of explaining the concepts. If you are patient, you will learn many techniques for optimizing your filter designs. It also has some useful points of data analysis, for those experimentalist folks, how to improve SNR, resolution of frequency peaks, etc.
But come on, bring in more technology! We are no longer in the era of Cauchy and Riemann. I appreciate your explicit calculations, but would prefer short codes. Surface plots on z-plane are nice. The whole design process in DSP should have some standardized software, just as in analog circuits (SPICE) and digital VLSI layout (Magic).
The book lacks good organization, especially toward the end. It tends to be a collection of topics, rather than a cohesive story. Modular arithmetic should not be an afterthought, but should be emphasized from the very beginning.
In the end, this book is only an introduction. Because it does its job and DSP is so important, I give the book 4 stars.
 wow March 18, 2008
Modern, up-to-date dsp info, this second edition is a must have.
The "Tricks" chapter is outstanding.
Amazing book by an exceptional teacher February 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wouldn't be adding much to other reviews.
A good teacher can make a challenging subject accessible. This is THE book that proves it. It is a very well written introduction/reference to a field that is generally made scary by those who teach it. Any beginning electrical engineer who feels interested in DSP but doubts whether he/she is cut out for it, should read this book. It will dispel their apprehensions.
DSP for the practitioner! February 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I first got hold of the "Chinese copy" of this book in paperback. I liked the book so much that I bought the hardcover real McCoy so I could pay my proper respects to the author and avoid the poor paper and ink bleed-through of the paperback version. It is one of a half dozen books on the subject that I really value.
Unlike some abstract mathematical treatments of the subject, Richard Lyons really connects with the guy who needs to make it happen on the bench. It is loaded with relevant examples and clear figures. I recommend it as a reference for the DSP practitioner and as a first class tutorial.
THE book to use to learn, to understand, DSP August 27, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Richard Lyons for "Understanding
Digital Signal Processing", both editions. I had the great pleasure to
use and learn from the 1st edition about 5 years ago. At that time, I
had the overwhelming urge to convey my appreciation for the wonderful
work. Now that the 2nd edition is out, there is even more reason to
express how much I enjoyed and still enjoy those works.
In particular, the topics are spot on (eg, I needed to learn about CIC
Decimation filters), but most importantly, the exposition is so very
clear and so easy to understand: each step in the progression is made
obvious -- no "and then the magic happens" or "left as an exercise to
the reader" for the important stuff.
The result is an EXCELLENT EXPOSITION. The care and the craft of
carefully showing the intermediate steps makes it real and concrete.
And it is done with a beautiful balance of intuition, observation,
analysis, and math. Why sling equations around when a simple graph
makes things clear? The equations are there, but the pictures are the
teaching tools. Other books discuss the topics. Richard Lyons's books
illuminate the topics.
I'm pleased to be able to purchase these books, and happy that Richard
is being rewarded (getting royalties, for he is DSP royalty) for his
achievements.
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