First a vinyl revival, now a cassette comeback..

[flashgordon1952]

Pretty sure mine ain't, used on wi-fi only with location switched off
But then, I've got no photo ID, so I don't exist anyway.

I never switch on my location as a matter of principle why do they want to know anyway ??? perhaps i am a Russian spy working for the Martian empire (ie North koreans)

 

[Al ears]

Pretty sure mine ain't, used on wi-fi only with location switched off
But then, I've got no photo ID, so I don't exist anyway.

It is.....

 

[James105]

I didn't get an alert via cellular, or WIFI and the phone's WIFI emergency alert option is enabled. I disabled this and then enabled it again and checked the alert history, but no sign of it. Unsure how I get notified if Putin gets annoyed, or we get some sort of terrorist threat. Earthquake alerts are not available in my region, which means the whole of Britain probably. The weather could turn nasty, but not within a really short period that the news channels wouldn't know about it. The only other threats, could be aliens arriving, or perhaps a massive rock on its way to earth. A bit worrying really, if we do need this alarm and many people are left out.

I got it on two phones and an apple watch, but my sister and brother in law didnt, turns out my wall clock is a minute slow

 

[Gray]

turns out my wall clock is a minute slow

Are you sure it is?
Some people reported getting the alarm a minute early (others late, some not at all).

 

[WayneKerr]

Are you sure it is?
Some people reported getting the alarm a minute early (others late, some not at all).

I was in a snooker hall at the time and everyone's phone went off at the same time... except mine... I never leave the house with it... hate mobiles

 

[James105]

Are you sure it is?
Some people reported getting the alarm a minute early (others late, some not at all).

How would I know, am I living in the past? but the oven said 15:00 when I walked in the kitchen, but that could be the future.

 

[Gray]

It is.....

I know the ISP obviously knows my address (though they'll never have a legitimate reason to pass that on).

I'm not with any phone service provider (no SIM fitted in the phone) and the location of my phone is switched off.
So who is it that knows where my phone is?

 

[Gray]

... I never leave the house with it... hate mobiles

And there was me thinking I was alone in that.

(Most people are never without the things).

 

[Gurichi]

This made me remember the Chvrches cassette I got for christmas, I should listen to that soon.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

As there's a thread about the phone/emergency thing, it probably makes sense to move further discussion of it there.

 

[DCarmi]

Pretty sure mine ain't, used on wi-fi only with location switched off
But then, I've got no photo ID, so I don't exist anyway.

We are off topic here but your ISP will know your location and depending on the ISP they may be able to track you via other wifi hotspots (e.g. BT, Virgin etc). Your phone's wifi has a unique identifier.

Also you won't be voting in any election or referendum in the future, without photo ID.

 

[Gray]

Also you won't be voting in any election or referendum in the future, without photo ID.

Yes I'm aware of that 👍
(Myself and quite a few others).

 

[Cricketbat70]

The APM22ES were quite interesting speakers. Even Sony's most commercial, mainstream kit had a reasonable level of audio quality and I would say the same for Technics. I remember selling their GigaJuke systems when I worked at Preston and Bolton Sony Centres, and they made a decently musical sound for what they were.

Formats with moving parts Vs purely digital... It's isn't as simple as saying that components with moving parts will fail. If something is built well in the first place and is used with care it will last a long time, and is mostly easy to repair - replacement belts (turntable, CD player and cassette), greasing etc. Repairing some CD players is becoming increasingly difficult but there's generally plenty of bits out there if you look in the right places.

The lack of moving parts in digital formats does bring longevity advantages in some respects, but changes in licensing agreements and the withdrawal of firmware updates as components age is a very real challenge. Eg. If Denon made a business decision to cease HEOS and begin using BluOS, could this eventually condemn a very good product such as the PMA-900HNE to life as a standard integrated with digital inputs?

Standards change very quickly in the digital world, and some products have a certain level of obsolescence almost built in from the beginning. Look at Apple when they stop supporting an older version of iOS.

Speaking of firmware updates etc and how quickly a streaming device can be dated, I bought relatively early into the streaming idea and got a Denon RCD-N7 CEOL system it had one firmware update and that was it. It plays CD's well and will stream from my NAS drive but as to online services lastFM is it. In hindsight I should have waited for the at least the N9 when Spotify and other online services were added. I always hoped for an update that would add online services. I ended up buying a Sonos Connect amp for streaming (as I work for a company that sell Sonos and in the early days Sonos did a deal where anyone who worked for a Sonos retailer could buy 2 items at half retail price) I relegated the Denon to just CD playing duties. Then Sonos decided to brick old Sonos devices when they updated the app, as everyone knows, after an outcry from Sonos customers, they said we'll do two apps if you have old equipment use version one of the app and it will still work. Well guess what I kept to version one and my Sonos is still bricked, it's now just sitting in the bottom of my wardrobe glad I didn't pay full retail price. Now for streaming online music services I have two Chromecast audios, oldish tech but work perfectly. I have a third unopened Chromecast audio and I am contemplating taking it to work, we currently stream from our phones via a harmen Kardon Bluetooth adapter connected to my very first amp a Denon PMA250 MK2 30+ years old.

 

[matthewpianist]

Speaking of firmware updates etc and how quickly a streaming device can be dated, I bought relatively early into the streaming idea and got a Denon RCD-N7 CEOL system it had one firmware update and that was it. It plays CD's well and will stream from my NAS drive but as to online services lastFM is it. In hindsight I should have waited for the at least the N9 when Spotify and other online services were added. I always hoped for an update that would add online services. I ended up buying a Sonos Connect amp for streaming (as I work for a company that sell Sonos and in the early days Sonos did a deal where anyone who worked for a Sonos retailer could buy 2 items at half retail price) I relegated the Denon to just CD playing duties. Then Sonos decided to brick old Sonos devices when they updated the app, as everyone knows, after an outcry from Sonos customers, they said we'll do two apps if you have old equipment use version one of the app and it will still work. Well guess what I kept to version one and my Sonos is still bricked, it's now just sitting in the bottom of my wardrobe glad I didn't pay full retail price. Now for streaming online music services I have two Chromecast audios, oldish tech but work perfectly. I have a third unopened Chromecast audio and I am contemplating taking it to work, we currently stream from our phones via a harmen Kardon Bluetooth adapter connected to my very first amp a Denon PMA250 MK2 30+ years old.

This is why I won't go beyond my Bluesound Node 2i or an Audiolab 6000N/7000N for streaming. If I get a few years out of a device at that price I can deal with eventual obsolescence, but if I've paid more that would be much harder.

I think it's a matter of where the costs lie. Traditionally we've all purchased the best hi-fi we can afford, and the ongoing costs have been buying physical media. In the streaming world the monthly costs are lighter and we have access to endless amounts of music, but we face having to update that part of our system more frequently than we would like, or risk struggling to access the music. Then there's the problems of remuneration for the artists who create the music in the first place.

 

[Cricketbat70]

This is why I won't go beyond my Bluesound Node 2i or an Audiolab 6000N/7000N for streaming. If I get a few years out of a device at that price I can deal with eventual obsolescence, but if I've paid more that would be much harder.

I think it's a matter of where the costs lie. Traditionally we've all purchased the best hi-fi we can afford, and the ongoing costs have been buying physical media. In the streaming world the monthly costs are lighter and we have access to endless amounts of music, but we face having to update that part of our system more frequently than we would like, or risk struggling to access the music. Then there's the problems of remuneration for the artists who create the music in the first place.

That's why I've started using physical media again at home. I've just taken my CD recorder into work this morning to see if it can be fixed. It worked perfectly the last time I used it but I've had it stored under my bed since I bought the Denon CEOL. The tray now won't open, it was a known fault of this Philips model when I bought it

 

[podknocker]

I'm avoiding any technology requiring moving parts, vinyl, cassette, CD etc. Streaming's the future and no moving parts. The convenience, sound quality and portability cannot be found in older formats. I have access to 80 million tunes and podcasts, using my PC, to control the app on the laptop, or from the phone, with decent headphones. I don't understand the interest in vinyl, cassette, or even CD now, when it's less reliable, not as portable and more expensive to build a collection. You also need the storage space. I plug my Sennheiser HD600 into my smartphone and I have millions of tunes to choose from and I don't have to carry anything. I can see the older generation, like myself, abandoning all physical media eventually and streaming will be the go to platform. I held onto CD for ages, but sometimes you have to see the reality of the market and how the technology is progressing. In a few years there will be 5G TVs and everything will be streamed into these. TV aerials and Sky dishes will be gone in 10 to 15 years.

 

[matthewpianist]

That's why I've started using physical media again at home. I've just taken my CD recorder into work this morning to see if it can be fixed. It worked perfectly the last time I used it but I've had it stored under my bed since I bought the Denon CEOL. The tray now won't open, it was a known fault of this Philips model when I bought it

I think the other advantage physical media has is that you're not reliant on a stable internet signal. There's so much pull on bandwidth, and there's plenty of areas where the available supply is unequal to demand.

 

[matthewpianist]

I'm avoiding any technology requiring moving parts, vinyl, cassette, CD etc. Streaming's the future and no moving parts. The convenience, sound quality and portability cannot be found in older formats. I have access to 80 million tunes and podcasts, using my PC, to control the app on the laptop, or from the phone, with decent headphones. I don't understand the interest in vinyl, cassette, or even CD now, when it's less reliable, not as portable and more expensive to build a collection. You also need the storage space. I plug my Sennheiser HD600 into my smartphone and I have millions of tunes to choose from and I don't have to carry anything. I can see the older generation, like myself, abandoning all physical media eventually and streaming will be the go to platform. I held onto CD for ages, but sometimes you have to see the reality of the market and how the technology is progressing. In a few years there will be 5G TVs and everything will be streamed into these. TV aerials and Sky dishes will be gone in 10 to 15 years.

We stream pretty much all TV now using services such as ITVX, iPlayer, Amazon Prime etc. but drop-out and instability are still a problem at times.

 

[podknocker]

Coverage is patchy, even in built up areas, sometimes because of this and the signal gets stopped. I can't get cable where I live, only FTTC and then the last few hundred metres are 50 year old Post Office copper and aluminium.

PSTN and ISDN are not getting replaced now, so it's going to be DSL, if stable, cable, if you are lucky and 5G, which I use. I'm getting up to 370Mbps and this should be fine for any TV or music streaming.

It's been 13 years since I had a landline and 3 years since I used a TV aerial wall socket. I have my work PC connected via LAN cable and the other 4 devices are cable free. I even use my phone using wireless and I've used 12Mb of mobile data in 4 months. I'm paying for 30Gb a month and never use it.

I'm not going back to landlines, LP records, cassette tapes, CDs and don't need a TV aerial or Sky dish.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I'm getting up to 370Mbps and this should be fine for any TV or music streaming.

The master of understatement!

 

[matthewpianist]

I'm getting 79 Mb/s according to MySky. At peak time when my partner's children are all using the internet for mobile phones, video streaming etc. the load is often more than the supply can take. Similarly it can stutter if both I and my partner are on Zoom calls for work.

 

[manicm]

Yep recorded onto TDK SA or MAX a lot of stuff I had sounded better than the original. Not many cassettes left now in my music collection. I remember borrowing a limited edition, Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears off a work colleague put it in my personal stereo and it instantly chewed it up. I bought my work colleague another copy but it was just the original album not the limited edition with extra songs. I was gutted

The cassette comeback is unfathomable.

 

[Gray]

I've just taken my CD recorder into work this morning to see if it can be fixed. It worked perfectly the last time I used it but I've had it stored under my bed since I bought the Denon CEOL. The tray now won't open, it was a known fault of this Philips model when I bought it

If you're lucky, the cause will be as obvious as it was on my Philips CDP.....and the total cost equally cheap at £4.69:

 

[AJM1981]

The cassette revival is probably more about "fun" in being busy making mixtapes and such and perhaps for artists to spread a bit of a touchable product of which they lost to digital streaming, than it is about sound quality.

Yes, there were conditions like having a perfectly developed deck and the best variation of tape. But statistically the ones who have memories to using that for a high standard of sound are probably part of a niche group of users.

 

[Navanski]

Actually cassettes could sound excellent. We had a Technics double deck, and I copied the well recorded Pink Floyd AMLOR, onto a decent TDK blank, and the copy sounded better than the original! This often happend with vinyl copies onto tape as well.

But as you say, the sound quality was ultimately negated by the inherent unreliability of tapes and players. Good riddance.

I'm sorry but 'the copy sounded better than the original' can't be regarded as a compliment. What you're actually saying is the copy was not a true reflection of the original recording.
I owned an Optonica cassette deck which was fully programmable but it didn't sound as good as CD or vinyl and a gap of 20 seconds or so between tracks that weren't consecutive could be just plain annoying.