Okay, dumb question:
I assume that tape splicing doesn't work as well on DAT, right?
Or is it fine with with just a momentary digital glitch?
No way. Helical scan. A splice breaks a bunch of scan tracks.
Okay, dumb question:
I assume that tape splicing doesn't work as well on DAT, right?
Or is it fine with with just a momentary digital glitch?
No way. Helical scan. A splice breaks a bunch of scan tracks.
I've seen really nice DAT decks on sale for pennies on the dollar. But I've read that keeping the helical scan mechanism going is a big problem. I don't think it was ever much of a consumer format. Didn't they have copy protection, or some other digital rights management scheme incorporated in the record cycle?Ah, forgot about the helical aspect.
Before I bought what I have, I was seriously considering a Lux integrated amp. So nice looking, and reminded me of what I'd grown up with--Japanese integrated amplifiers.As for aesthetics, the Luxman...
I've seen really nice DAT decks on sale for pennies on the dollar. But I've read that keeping the helical scan mechanism going is a big problem.
I don't think it was ever much of a consumer format. Didn't they have copy protection, or some other digital rights management scheme incorporated in the record cycle?
Listened recently to an interesting radio feature: A guy told the story of a watch he inherited from his grand father. He wore it for a year or so and then it had a failure. He brought it to a watchmaker who examined the watch and estimated repair cost of some € 2,000. The guy literally fell over but then the watchmaker told him that the watch was worth € 20,000 - it was a Patek Phillipe! And it had to be repaired at the company which takes several months time.Patek Phillipe watches cost >50-100x more than a Casio G-Shock; nobody claims the Patek is more accurate than the G-Shock, but people will pay for more the Patek for a variety of other reasons (status, artistry, etc.).
Listened recently to an interesting radio feature: A guy told the story of a watch he inherited from his grand father. He wore it for a year or so and then it had a failure. He brought it to a watchmaker who examined the watch and estimated repair cost of some € 2,000. The guy literally fell over but then the watchmaker told him that the watch was worth € 20,000 - it was a Patek Phillipe! And it had to be repaired at the company which takes several months time.
Since it was such an expensive watch the guy agreed to fix it. In the mean time (10 years) it broke several times again, and until now he has invested some € 8,000 for keeping it in working order. I'm not sure that this is the kind of inheritment the original buyer had in his mind believing the ads of Patek Phillipe ...
I'm so glad (and saddened) that OP shared this. I felt nearly the exact same way.
Two years ago, I went to my first audio show (AXPONA). My big problem was that as a 23 year old with a couple similarly aged friends, we were nearly shunned/ignored. It was like nearly everyone believed that we wouldn't know what good audio sounded like or that we were too poor to bother with. Incredible really. I guess the good news was that only one dealer (that was selling sub-$500 speakers of course) tried to make us a sales pitch.
Most of the rooms I went in were playing music that were far too harsh, bright, & generally not enjoyable. Having loved Magnepans/ribbon speakers, I went into the rooms with MartinLogan electrostatic speakers and, while not the worst offenders, were similarly too intense. The only systems I (and my group) ended up truly enjoying were the Carver Amazing Line Source, the Technics SB-R1, and a Korean speaker that I (regretfully) don't remember. I walked in expecting my mind to be blown with endless $10k+ speakers, but I walked out disappointed & happy I own my old Rectilinear III speakers.
To be completely frank, I think a lot of this equipment is designed by & catered for people of near retirement age that have deep pockets & have some level of hearing loss. They don't engineer/run field trials for anyone else (i.e. musicians, younger people, etc). There is no other explanation in my honest opinion.
To be completely frank, I think a lot of this equipment is designed by & catered for people of near retirement age that have deep pockets & have some level of hearing loss. They don't engineer/run field trials for anyone else (i.e. musicians, younger people, etc). There is no other explanation in my honest opinion.
I don't quite get where your line is between a ridicule-worthy SET and an artistic work of art-Silver-Seven But here is the Nagra 300i:
Here are specs:
Electronic Amplification class A Power 2 x 20 watts RMS stereo into 4, 8 and 16 Ω Bandwidth 14 Hz at 56 kHz, +0/-3 dB Channel separation > 70 dB Signal-to-noise ratio: Typically 105 dB (ASA-A weighted) THD 0.8% @ 20 W Input impedance > 48 kΩ Start-up protection «Soft start» circuit Security circuit Incorrect mains voltage (115V or 230V) Output transformer removed Error in tube anode current <15mA or >180mA Consumption 120 W continuous, <1 W stand-by Mains power 100, 115, 230 V ± 10%, 50-60 Hz
Pretty decent for a tube amp, but still a tube amp.....
Cost: 22,000 CHF / USD
So is this an object of ridicule like the hypothetical 8 watt SET or worthy of praise like the Silver Sevens?
Probably there to keep small hands and cat whiskers safe. Product safety attorney's advice? Customer will remove them. 300Bs on such a small chassis seems pretty ridiculous. The more I look at this thing, the more it seems to just be playing off their design history. It's not the real Nagra deal.Heat-shields that impede tube heat dissipation. Mmmm.
Dartzeel... Oh my...Yeah, I had to chuckle at the review in the latest Stereophile for the darTZeel NHB-468 monos... $170K a pair and there were problems with them which "luckily seemed to be things that could be fixed with a firmware update" JA thought.
Yeah, I had to chuckle at the review in the latest Stereophile for the darTZeel NHB-468 monos... $170K a pair and there were problems with them which "luckily seemed to be things that could be fixed with a firmware update" JA thought.
The ironic thing is that I agree 100% with the last sentence. The part I disagree with is that this also applies to the gear being used to reproduce that music. The music itself can only be judged by the listener... however, there is only a very small amount of "art" involved in gear - and that's merely the chassis design elements. Subjective reviews/reviewers always try to marry the two as being inseparable parts of the whole... yet I only very, very rarely hear/read a discussion over which brushes, linen or pigments were used for a particular painting, or which brand of knife/pan/stove a chef used while creating his masterpiece entree.Dartzeel... Oh my...
My 1K€ Apollon AS1200 is literally as powerful as these NHB-468s...and oh wait! with also far lower THD vs power. Did I missed something? Sure:
"... we believe that what can be measured is not paramount and that what is most important – in terms of emotions – cannot be measured. Theories of physics will never explain how the beauty of music can have such a profound effect on us. When it comes to music, only humans should be the judge..."
Sure thing. But, in the context, what audiophile companies are claiming is not related to music itself, but to music reproduction.The music itself can only be judged by the listener... however, there is only a very small amount of "art" involved in gear - and that's merely the chassis design elements. Subjective reviews/reviewers always try to marry the two as being inseparable parts of the whole... yet I only very, very rarely hear/read a discussion over which brushes, linen or pigments were used for a particular painting, or which brand of knife/pan/stove a chef used while creating his masterpiece entree.
Imagine if an actual music review was written in the same way:
"While this album has some great tunes with some amazing riffs on it, the guitar was a knock-off strat so no serious listener should bother..."
Sure thing. But, in the context, what audiophile companies are claiming is not related to music itself, but to music reproduction.
There is so much variety and who can realistically remember what every individual piece of equipment sounded like.
when I asked if there good for listening to Metallica for example, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he tried really hard to convince me they are not for me. Ok dude, if you don't want my money, suit yourself.