HeyYo_B Has MovedAug 25, 2023
joat

Anybody confused why people still listen to turntables or CD players forget that they never:

- stop working because they can't connect to WiFi
- stop working because they need a firmware update
- stop working because the manufacturer dropped support
- say "if you like Bach you might like Taylor Swift"
- play ads
- recommend "turntable premium"

Aug 24, 2023 at 8:21pmWeb
Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
Of all the niche things I've posted, *this* is the one that takes off? Well fair enough.
Show threadChuckAug 25, 2023
@joat it's just ridiculously relatable. At this point, fools are buying appliances, thermostats, cars, and other relatively important items that all now have this list of problems built in, and they think it's an upgrade. But, these were some of the things that got the foot of "licensure vs. ownership" into the door.
Show threadFlorian SchmidtAug 25, 2023
@joat
You strike a certain chord here...
Show threadCarl S. GutekunstAug 25, 2023
@joat Finally gives me an answer to my kids.
Show threadsophiaAug 25, 2023
@joat
that's because it's the truest toot that ever tooted
Show threadSir David NielsenAug 24, 2023
@joat @DemocracyMattersALot you do have to endure the odd hipster or audiophile though.
Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023

@DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot my favourite audiophool product was a 2 metre $15000 silver power cord, which would somehow magically improve the power quality in that last 2 metres despite it travelling hundreds of kilometres over copper.

But I'll take those guys over the anti-maskers any day.

Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
@DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot the CD demagnetiser was another fun one. And the disc shaver that supposedly balanced the disc for better quality. It's amazing what you can sell to people who don't understand how shit works.
Show threadSir David NielsenAug 24, 2023
@joat @DemocracyMattersALot Einstein supposedly said that only two things were infinite, human stupidity and the universe, and he wasn’t entirely sure about the last one.
Show threadthe vessel of morgannaAug 25, 2023

@joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/49692-paul-pang-ppa-64gb-ssd-with-oxco/

or go look at any other Paul Pang product. we're still thick in the era of audiophile snake oil

Paul Pang PPA 64GB SSD with OXCO

up for sale 2 pieces Paul Pang PPA 64GB SSD with a thick aluplate and with a very precise OCXO clock module. This clock upgrade improves the music in every aspects: depth, stage, resolution, it is a huge upgrade for a PC-based player. Retail price is: 499,- USD Price: 350,- EUR each

Audiophile Style
Show threadWiredfire Aug 26, 2023
@joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot I saw someone preaching the virtual of gold-plates HDMI for the sharpest possible image quality once in a shop. Yeeeeah that’s really not how a digital signal works 😅
Show threadKritnichAug 25, 2023
@joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot i have another strong contender https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/62753-nvme-ssd-designed-for-audiophiles/
NVMe SSD designed for audiophiles

Almost a year in the making, the world's only NVMe M2 SSD designed for audiophiles and music lovers. Designed from ground up, co-develop with controller manufacturer using 3D NAND flash with pseudo SLC mode, external clock oscillator, 200% more PCB copper isolation, milspec PCB stiffness, 300% gr...

Audiophile Style
Show threadJohn PedenAug 25, 2023
@kritnich @joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot I remember seeing one on hacker news where audiophiles got mad that one of the devs for software they used changed the compiler or something and that one compiler sounded better than the other while the other was unlistenable with harsh highs. 💀
Show threadJanCAug 25, 2023

@johnpeden @kritnich @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot That's technically possible but fairly unlikely I guess...

(One compiler might implement higher precision math, for example.)

Show threadChakat FirepawAug 25, 2023
@joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot
OK, that beats the $80/inch speaker cable.
Show threadkasilasAug 25, 2023
@joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot
A shop called Richer sounds in London once explained to me that it was important to never switch around gold-plated banana plugs as the electrons made tracks and resistance would increase if they had to plough new furrows.
Show threadNazaniAug 25, 2023
@joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot
I only wish I still had the "ears of youth" to be able to really tell the difference with any of these products.
Show threadRoth ChildAug 25, 2023
@Nazani @joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot If you're using your ears to try and discern the difference you're probably not a true audiophile, they listen with their souls....
Show threadNazaniAug 25, 2023
@thechildofroth @joat @DavidNielsen @DemocracyMattersALot I reckon my soul is as eroded as my eardrums by now.
Show threadBruce ElrickAug 25, 2023
@DavidNielsen @joat @DemocracyMattersALot
I was going to question this part but you beat me to it:
'... never...
- recommend "turntable premium" '
Show threadKarlAug 25, 2023
@DavidNielsen To be fair, as a TT enjoyer who's not an audiophile, from my point of view, that niche provides an neverending stream of amusement.
Show threadAlexanderMarsAug 25, 2023
@DavidNielsen @joat @DemocracyMattersALot Audiophile Hipsters are an endangered species nowadays. If you actually encountered one in the wild you need to alert the relevant authorities so the hipster can be tagged and cataloged. It’s important to get a proper population count, as habitat destruction and threats from invasive species like the Cryptobro are accelerating due to climate change.
Show threadOzzelot Aug 24, 2023
@joat I'll just add the entire category of offline DAPs to that list
Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
@ozzelot agreed; at home I use moOde on an RPi playing from my NAS but there's some extra complexity there. There is a pleasant visceral quality to putting discs in a player and having a nice VFD to look at. I don't like BT headphones for music and I don't like wired headphones when out and about so I'm a speaker-only homebody where music is concerned.
Show threadOzzelot Aug 24, 2023
@joat I'm alright with wired earbuds, so I just use my Hifi Walker/Xduoo/iPod/phone with foobar/whatever other player I feel like and have a good time.
Show threadDavid 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️NB they/themAug 24, 2023
@joat Those are the same reasons I still have a standalone digital music player. Unless I lose my files, and I have multiple backups, I have no fear of my music getting pulled. Another benefit, for those who care, is the ability to choose a specific version or remaster to listen to.
Show threadPaul CantrellAug 25, 2023

@SailorDisco @joat
Same here: any serious listening, I do from files stored on a local device. And it’s:

• backed up (unlike LP or CD) and files I own, thus recoverable indefinitely (unlike streaming)

• immune to scratches; never skips or pops

• searchable

• able to play >80 min pieces w/o interruption

• better audio quality than either CDs or (sorry, it’s a fact) LPs when ≥96x24 is available

Mid-00s iTunes was secretly the best approach for building a hi-fi music library.

Show threadtokiohotelfan741 :ncas::freebsd: (neet arc)Aug 24, 2023
@joat Me with my cassette decks whose parts are far too complex for 2020s manufacturing that depends entirely on little engineering effort and maximizing economics of scale:


Yeah
Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
@instereo256 I bought a Walkman (actually some other manufacturer, I forget who) just before CDs really took off and killed the cassette. It was a marvel - barely larger than a cassette case, touch buttons, motor-driven everything, a masterful piece of engineering, but obsolete almost as soon as I bought it. It made me sad.
Show threadtokiohotelfan741 :ncas::freebsd: (neet arc)Aug 24, 2023
@joat my Walkman (it's a Sony) is about as thick as three cassettes, but I found it at a second hand store for not that much more than what you would pay for a much worse unit online, I replaced the belt later because it would play a little slower backwards). I use it more often than my iPod Nano, but mostly because I'm just at the stage where I have more cassettes than albums in the Nano
Show threadl a t e | n a t eAug 24, 2023
@joat
True but neither does my phone do any of these things and it contains more music files than I could possibly carry around in CDs
Show threadLaPingvino 🟙 Aug 24, 2023
@joat and if you get a Rick Astley CD he will also never...
Show threadNeky  Aug 24, 2023
@joat plus being able to hold and display the album art is a really good feeling… to me at least.
Show threadPaul SouthworthAug 24, 2023
@joat Plus you get to enjoy all the music you've collected over the years, loads of LPs with big beautiful artwork, plenty of them not streamable, all the collections of LPs people have given you because they don't use them anymore, the tactile joy of cleaning and playing them, watching them spin, etc. So much more to like than simply consumption of the sound product. I feel old now
Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
@pws I like picking up classical CDs from thrift stores for cheaps
Show threadTisTreeAug 25, 2023
@pws @joat Oh the artwork was as good as the music. You could spend forever looking at the detail and beauty of some LP cover art.
Show threadjoatAug 25, 2023

@TisTree @pws I built this for use with my RPi moOde player and it's nice but you're right, it's not the same. I do like to run the CD player and keep the cases beside me to browse.

https://apps.joat.me/page/mpd-display/

MPD Display | Hobby Apps

MPD Display ( / A web page for some of my hobby apps)

Show threaddj2mnAug 24, 2023
@joat @kcarruthers this crosses over with the reasons I mainly watch free to air TV. I mostly don’t watch the commercial stations, but when I do it’s nice to know I’m the only person that knows whether I’m looking at (let alone registering any interest in) an ad.
Show threadSubhendu GhoshAug 24, 2023
@joat you do have to buy new needles for the turntable if you play it too much
Show threadmjc0961Aug 24, 2023
@joat They never have licenses that expire either. I don't have to worry about a CD I enjoy listening to just up and disappearing from my collection.
Show threadkikebenllochAug 24, 2023

@joat Lovely common sense. In general:

Please 👏 own 👏 the 👏 technology 👏 you 👏 paid 👏 for 👏

Show threadRealGravitas -Citizen SaboteurAug 24, 2023

@joat Don’t kid yourself tho. I remember the old days when the hifi sales guy was trying to talk me into big-ass Infinities. And of course a honking ass amplifier to drive em.

That sound was so good!!

Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
@CWilbur quality costs. But yeah, there was just as much marketing, market differentiation, feature hype and other bullshit back then as there is now... but at least once you bought it, it stayed the same.
Show threadMateusz UrbanowiczAug 24, 2023
@joat this, and also dedicated MP3 players too. I’m sporting my SONY mp3 Walkman almost exclusively 👍 plays any file and has headphones jack too.
Show threadIzzyAug 24, 2023

@joat Not to forget that you

- won't lose your collection because your account was closed
- see parts of your collection disappear as they have been dropped from the catalogue of the provider or received some take-down notice
- can no longer play them because you need to upgrade your account first
- won't get nagged to accept the new ToS

Show threadjoatAug 24, 2023
@IzzyOnDroid to be fair, you can't scratch Spotify and discs can be stolen. Although perhaps not these days because almost nobody wants them.
Show threadIzzyAug 24, 2023
@joat to be fair, too, there's also the local collection of MP3, OGG, FLAC & Co 😉 Including its backup(s) of course.
Show threadCarlos SolísAug 24, 2023
@joat
All of those reasons are perfectly understandable... and also achievable with a local repository of CD rips!
Show threadProtofox RileyAug 24, 2023
@joat hell you say that, pro-ject turntables just released a bluetooth enabled turntable soooo
Show threadAir AdamAug 25, 2023
@joat or stop playing an album because of a falling-out between the player company and the copyright holder!
Show threadCavedale RhônesAug 25, 2023
@joat And in the case of DVDs, fast forward and rewind actually work.
Show thread🦃 Kat Callahan  🦃Aug 25, 2023

@joat

Most people I know, perhaps because of my age, don't use streaming much, and if they do, not exclusively.

I listen to vinyl, CDs, local digital files on multiple devices, and my preferred format is actually MiniDisc (the discs are still being made by Sony).

Zoomers might listen to streaming more than anyone else, but I haven't looked into it.

Show threadblake shaw 🇵🇸Aug 25, 2023
@joat while I collected vinyl for the longest time, I used to listen to my dad's old 8-track collection, and nothing sounded sweet.
Show threadhuxley(fur) / LaeliaAug 25, 2023

@joat ok yeah but sometimes you have to lick the cartridge and other times the cat jumps on it and you can never listen to that music again

(❤️ vinyl)

Show threaddynamicAug 25, 2023

@joat

When my kid seemed old enough for the kind of Fisher Price audio equipment I had when I was a kid, I researched what equivalent technology exists today. Surely there was an MP3 player with nice big tactile buttons for little hands. There was nothing. Possibly one or two audio-players intended for kids that used proprietary formats and required you to buy media from their stores, and eff that.

The result: my kid's first self-regulated audio was cassette tapes I recorded off YouTube.

Show threadSofia ☭🇧🇷☭Aug 25, 2023
@dynamic @joat omg, that reminds me, I saw this at an antique store the other day! 🤣
Show threaddynamicAug 25, 2023

@sofiav @joat

Amazing.

Show threadbelikekramerAug 25, 2023
@joat
Show threadMichael GemarAug 25, 2023
@joat Counterpoint: I can explore a vast amount of music, far more than I could ever afford to buy, with a subscription service. Which means I am far more willing to try out new artists and genres than I would be if I had to buy a CD.