Do You Miss Knobs and Dials and Switches?

[mhardy6647]

astonishingly, I don't have any Yamaha separates (i.e., pre- or power amps) here -- other than tuners.

 

[Sokel]

No knob thread is complete without a Nagra:

 

[Mart68]

astonishingly, I don't have any Yamaha separates (i.e., pre- or power amps) here -- other than tuners.

Same here, the only Yamaha product I own is a subwoofer.

I do want an MX-1000 though. It might happen.

 

[mhardy6647]

Oh, no dearth of Yamaha audio products here -- just some salient gaps in the collection.
(No Yamaha loudspeakers, either, actually)

Speaking of loudspeakers -- for a time, especially ca. late 1970s/early 80s, there was no dearth of knobs and buttons (and lights) on those, either -- at least in some circles.

I think most such products date from the era in which cocaine was a favored recreational pharmaceutical product -- again, in some circles. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Mart68]

Oh, no dearth of Yamaha audio products here -- just some salient gaps in the collection.
(No Yamaha loudspeakers, either, actually)

Speaking of loudspeakers -- for a time, especially ca. late 1970s/early 80s, there was no dearth of knobs and buttons (and lights) on those, either -- at least in some circles.

I think most such products date from the era in which cocaine was a favored recreational pharmaceutical product -- again, in some circles. Coincidence? I think not.

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Lots of writing on the speakers too. Possibly some connection to substance use there too.

Funny you should bring that up I was just reading about Sabbath going into the studio after the Eagles had been in there, and having to scrape the coke out of the mixing desk before they could get started.

 

[mermayer]

The problem for me is that it’s for computer-based audio, and I needed a volume knob that could learn the IR commands of my legacy equipment.
That was a product that essentially didn’t exist, which is why I had to have one made.

I developed and built it myself for my RME ADI-2 DAC and NODE ICON. It's not a "hand flatterer", but it works:

 

[August West]

I have a mint-in-box CX-1000 here. I guess I should get it out, take some pics and make you jealous??

I owned one in the day. It was a good preamp. I took a simpler route after that and switched over to integrated amplifiers.

 

[wadude]

My amp has a power switch and the system volume is controlled by a rotary step attenuator. I’m covered.

Edit: The speakers have three position eq switches. I won’t mention the iPad and remote computer.

 

[mhardy6647]

No knob thread is complete without a Nagra:

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ahem -- I'd prefer a proper Nagra, thank you.



although -- actually -- I'd prefer a Stellavox even a wee bit more...

 

[Sokel]

ahem -- I'd prefer a proper Nagra, thank you.



although -- actually -- I'd prefer a Stellavox even a wee bit more...

Please tell that this same style knob is for opening the lid?

Oh, they are absurdly wonderful!

 

[mhardy6647]

ahh, the Swiss...

 

[OldHvyMec]

I'm sitting here playing with a Mcintosh C20 I've had for close to 40 years now. I can't get away from the thing. I have a C11 that I like even more, but it's down
for a phono section upgrade. If they don't do anything other than sound better than most of my other preamps, they make me get up out of my chair a little
more often.

I was turning the volume up and down for over 5 hours last night. I always volume down when swapping records, changing sources, turning off or on
a system.

I like HEAVY solid knobs like most of the older quality gear had. The wife uses a C2500 with a remote, it still has some pretty hefty (large) knobs. It's
usually what I use. Same with a Cary I use pretty often.

Regards

 

[JoetheLion]

I love my NAD M10 without any knobs and switches. Almost like Apple (who have made the power button on the new Mac Mini so that you have to lift it up).

Leave the switches where they belong and make sense!

 

[Cbdb2]

Does anybody miss the look and tactile experience of using volume knobs/dials/switches, etc.?

Only when I think about the old job. These were in my "office".

 

[tomchris]

Regarding the reduction of buttons in modern unintuitive equipment, check this out :

 

[JohnnyAudio]

This was my midi studio from '95- '05. Hundreds of buttons, no touch screen anywhere.
This was a most entertaining place to be. I eventually added a SV 3700 DAT to capture the live action.
That material was inputted to Cubase and Ableton Live for editing.
Those screens tore me away from the action and ruined everything.
I want my buttons back.

 

[JohnnyAudio]

The Sony ESPRIT TA-E900:

Pure sex

 

[Eric Natural]

…. Does anybody miss the look and tactile experience of using volume knobs/dials/switches, etc.?
(And yes, I resisted calling this thread “ Show us your knobs!”)

Nostalgia is a drug
: = )

 

[MattHooper]

Regarding the reduction of buttons in modern unintuitive equipment, check this out :

Very funny!

Ironically, I faced something like a similar challenge with the remote I had custom designed, featured in my OP.

Here it is again:

The first thing I would emphasize is just how ergonomically comfortable this remote is. It sits beside me on the sofa and that gentle curve of the wood supports my wrist and part of my arm beautifully.

But I’d originally simply figured it would be a volume knob only. I didn’t realize that it was going to be so programmable. Around the base of the knob is a little LED ring, that lights up different colours when performing different commands.

And the knob itself could be programmed for different actions, for instance, tapping the knob down once, or tapping it twice or however, many times, or holding it down for a certain prescribed time, or pushing the knob down and turning the dial to the right or left.
They were all sorts of options for the different commands they could be programmed.

So for the fun of it, I took advantage of that.

I’ve mentioned that I have two preamplifiers, the Benchmark LA4, but also my CJ tube preamp, which I run through the LA4.

If the remote is running my benchmark preamp, the knob does volume, and a tap of the knob does the benchmark “ dim” function, which knocks the volume down into low background level. I really love that function even more than a mute button.

But since I sometimes like to switch between pre-amplifiers on the fly, if I double tap the knob it switches over to the CJ preamp, and now I’m operating that. And a tap of the knob mutes or unmutes the sound. And in either preamp, I can select between different inputs, such as phono and digital With the knob as well (especially useful when I’m comparing a record to the digital version).

Since it could do more, I have the remote set up for use in my Home Theatre system as well. So when I’m watching a Blu-ray or streaming Netflix, YouTube or whatever via my Apple TV, the remote operates volume, a tap of the button pauses the picture or unpauses the picture, and pressing gently on the knob and turning to the right fast-forward to the picture, to the left reverses.

So it’s been nice even as a simplified Home Theatre remote. Especially since mine is a projection system, and I watch in the dark, and I’m used to fumbling for remotes, this just sits right beside me, the volume knob is nice and big and so easy to find without glancing anywhere, and it does, the basics are something.

 

[sergeauckland]

That is my personal idea of Hell! No display, a single button that can do lots of things if I could only remember what they are, and no way of telling what mode the different equipments have been left in. Give me a button or knob a function. Like the Neve or even Behringer mixers. You can see at a glance what every control is set to.

S