Do You Miss Knobs and Dials and Switches?

[Johnkeizer]

Coming from industry, it is generally considered accepted practice that buttons are to change the state and knobs/dials to change the volume.
So on an amplifier, push a button to select the source but have a knob to change the volume up or down.

 

[xanalog]

...it is generally considered accepted practice that buttons are to change the state and knobs/dials to change the volume.
...

Wait!
I am confused: Are you talking about mates or hardware?

 

[JeffS7444]

Brand new: Tactile Tone preamp.
View attachment 522570

That looks familiar: Douglas Self designed the thing around linear potentiometers.

 

[JRowland]

I took my 1988 Harman Kardon TD212 deck I’ve had since new to get a general service recently and it had to be put down :-( I scored a 1980 direct drive “dragon killer”, it arrived today and it’s lovely. The fluorescent display, the neat swivel eject, the knobs, the switches

 

[mhardy6647]

harman/kardon went through this itty-bitty buttons phase.

 

[JRowland]

View attachment 523031

harman/kardon went through this itty-bitty buttons phase.


View attachment 523032
View attachment 523033

Mine was a cheapie but I was in 10th grade and it was Harman Kardon so not at all cheap for me. I got my moneys worth and then some. That top one is gorgeous!

Mine was not

 

[mhardy6647]

Mine was a cheapie but I was in 10th grade and it was Harman Kardon so not at all cheap for me. I got my moneys worth and then some. That top one is gorgeous!

Mine was not

View attachment 523034

looks fine to me!

 

[Mnyb]

Brand new: Tactile Tone preamp.
View attachment 522570

This is I like you can see the settings across the room .
It’s not only the way you use knobs and switches but done right you can also easily se the settings across a room .
Including very visible lines on the dials are the way to do that. And toggle switches you see their settings . And emphasise this with an led .

This is function first design , I like .

 

[EJ3]

Brand new: Tactile Tone preamp.
View attachment 522570

What is TAPE REPLAY?
These are what I currently use:

 

[Mnyb]

This is I like you can see the settings across the room .
It’s not only the way you use knobs and switches but done right you can also easily se the settings across a room .
Including very visible lines on the dials are the way to do that. And toggle switches you see their settings . And emphasise this with an led .

This is function first design , I like .

it's even better settings can be seen when the product is off

Screens are alright but I have to set them to dimmest level and automatic turn off when in standby, screens dim very fast if overused ( like in my WiiM ). But then you don't know which input is used etc ?
Many products are like this input settings in a menu ? wtf . Some things don't need improvements .

I get the alure of using screens as a product designer , new features can be added after the fact , the products is not in a fixed state you can also deliver half assed firmware in the initial release , the product can be in shipping containers while you frantically fix all the bugs

 

[EJ3]

it's even better settings can be seen when the product is off

Screens are alright but I have to set them to dimmest level and automatic turn off when in standby, screens dim very fast if overused ( like in my WiiM ). But then you don't know which input is used etc ?
Many products are like this input settings in a menu ? wtf . Some things don't need improvements .
you can also deliver half assed firmware in the initial release , the product can be in shipping containers while you frantically fix all the bugs

I don't have any screens in my system (for all the reasons that you mention [or remote controls, either]). Then again, in 2007, my wife asked me: Do we NEED a TV? I said "No".
She said "Then, let's give it to someone." And we haven't had a TV since.
As you say (and it is absolutely ubiquitous):
you can also deliver half assed firmware in the initial release , the product can be in shipping containers while you frantically fix all the bugs.
If it is done right the first time:
It won't need improvements.
I despise paying for incompetence (and refuse to do so).

 

[JiiPee]

What is TAPE REPLAY?
These are what I currently use:
View attachment 523074
View attachment 523075

It enables monitoring the actual recorded sound during recording (instead of just the input to the recorder). This requires a 3 head recorder. Cool old school feature.

 

[EJ3]

It enables monitoring the actual recorded sound during recording (instead of just the input to the recorder). This requires a 3 head recorder. Cool old school feature.

That was going to be my next question: about recording:
I have multiple 3 head cassette decks, reel to reel's and I also have a SONY CDR500 W100 recording CD player (that can record in up to 20 bit depth), so, naturally, I want to use those capabilities.

It enables monitoring the actual recorded sound during recording (instead of just the input to the recorder). This requires a 3 head recorder. Cool old school feature.

Oh, so it's just a different name than I am used to. Having multiple tape loops and a processor loop, I always had access to the just recorded sound.
Thank you for clarifying that, though.

 

[Mahir]

I miss those too, but nay, you can’t have a say on the general design trends. Now is the time time of sleek stuff.

 

[EJ3]

I miss those too, but nay, you can’t have a say on the general design trends. Now is the time time of sleek stuff.

Well, I'll stay with the stuff that works that I have no need to replace since 1978.
One of the reasons that I have ZERO DEBT.
I do not, nor have ever cared what people think of what I have (or don't have [the latest thing]) and don't replace things because something new came out that looks different or has different features that I am not going to use
Now, if it quits (and cannot be repaired for a reasonable [to me]) fee, or no longer does the job that I need it for or I want to change how I do things and it is no longer useful to me, that is another story.
So far, that has not happened (and none of my gear that I use daily has a SINAD under 90 [excep0t perhaps my FM tuners.
A few years ago I added a Bluetooth transceiver to my stereo so that I can send things for it to play via Bluetooth (mainly from my desktop computer which is in the office.
In deference to the 'sleek look', I have no screens in the living room.
Now there are some better Bluetooth CODECS, so I'll be getting a newer, better Bluetooth transceiver.

 

[xanalog]

harman/kardon went through this itty-bitty buttons phase.
View attachment 523033

If I had only known that harman/kardon also had a matching receiver -to their cassette decks- I would have probably bought one.

To h/k' (and my own) defense, I don't think there really was any other way to pack that many switches into their faceplates.
The CD401 slim switches for the transport were corrected in the CD491 release.

I had the combo (CD401/CD491) continuously recording our local rock FM station, and then transferring the worthy songs onto road-trip cassette 'playlists'!

 

[PristineSound]

If I had only known that harman/kardon also had a matching receiver -to their cassette decks- I would have probably bought one.
View attachment 523206
View attachment 523207
To h/k' (and my own) defense, I don't think there really was any other way to pack that many switches into their faceplates.
The CD401 slim switches for the transport were corrected in the CD491 release.

I had the combo (CD401/CD491) continuously recording our local rock FM station, and then transferring the worthy songs onto road-trip cassette 'playlists'!

I think gears from the 80's and early 90's has the most buttons and it was super functional.

 

[xanalog]

I think gears from the 80's and early 90's has the most buttons and it was super functional.

Bit OT: When the car manufacturers gravitated from real gauges on the dashboards to [ahem...] 'idiot lights', we realized end was near.

 

[Bleib]

As a sidenote, not sure if anyone has mentioned it before. But I'll compare backside of an older Denon AVR-2105

With a current model AVR-X2800H (a more expensive model)

 

[olds1959special]

Analog gear with knobs/gear/dials may be more reliable and is more hands-on than software-controlled/digital gear and may be better in certain scenarios.