Do You Miss Knobs and Dials and Switches?

[dualazmak]

No shortage of buttons, knobs, or rocker switches around here. Many haven't been touched recently, but it's nice to have the ability to see what's what at a glance.

Most - but not all - of the components support, IR remote control and, of course, were provided with proprietary remotes. Rather than dealing with a forest of remotes, I programmed all the available remote functionality of each into a single macro-enabled programmable remote. Then, I wrote custom macros to facilitate various activities, such as switching sources and selecting analog or digital signal paths.

View attachment 433034

As an example, all of my disc players feed a single TOSLINK switch, which in turn, feeds a TOSLINK input on my DAC. The DAC simultaneously provides both analog and digital output signals to different components, which enables me to choose between strictly digital all the way to all the way to the line-level outputs on my Anthem pre-pro (ostensibly the highest fidelity) and analog to the CD input on my old Nakamichi pre-pro, either with selected analog processors in the signal path or without.

I confess that I prefer the analog path.

I (and we) would highly welcome your participation on my thread "Let's share diagrams (and photos) of our total physical audio system and the whole signal path, with a few words and/or links" showing/sharing your total signal path diagram(s)!

 

[Anton S]

OT: Talk about "Mega Storage": I am guessing those Sony 'juke boxes' are the CDP-CX355 (300 CD carousel) models.
Impressive!

Mine are among the final changers that Sony released. CDP-CX455 (400 CD's each). After decades of acquisitions, the they are all nearly full. But I have an older 400 and a 450 in storage that I can bring back online.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Nice to see "floor-to-ceiling" in action !!!

A wall of knobs!

 

[Waxx]

Back then, could see everything just by moving eyes and operate it instantly. (Jim Gamble. Can see a modern SD5 in front of it.)
View attachment 432822

Transportation and recalling settings were a nightmare.

I quiet that bussiness just in time (for other less funn reasons, a back that is wrecked). When pa mixers became almost exclusive digital with menu's I left, but i loved the old days where you did not have to go trough 5 menus to adjust the treble on the hi-hat.

The thing about recall and transport is true also, those things are massive and weight a ton. And they needed one or two big outboard racks and a psu rack to run properly a show.

 

[DanielT]

No shortage of buttons, knobs, or rocker switches around here. Many haven't been touched recently, but it's nice to have the ability to see what's what at a glance.

Most - but not all - of the components support, IR remote control and, of course, were provided with proprietary remotes. Rather than dealing with a forest of remotes, I programmed all the available remote functionality of each into a single macro-enabled programmable remote. Then, I wrote custom macros to facilitate various activities, such as switching sources and selecting analog or digital signal paths.

View attachment 433034

As an example, all of my disc players feed a single TOSLINK switch, which in turn, feeds a TOSLINK input on my DAC. The DAC simultaneously provides both analog and digital output signals to different components, which enables me to choose between strictly digital all the way to all the way to the line-level outputs on my Anthem pre-pro (ostensibly the highest fidelity) and analog to the CD input on my old Nakamichi pre-pro, either with selected analog processors in the signal path or without.

I confess that I prefer the analog path.

Cool. Two birds with one stone. The combination of satisfying the nostalgic memory of the child who played spaceship with the adult who now gets music out of all the buttons, knobs and meters.

If you don't already have one, get a suitable listening chair such as this one:
(note not meant ironically, go the full nine yards)

 

[Anton S]

Cool. Two birds with one stone. The combination of satisfying the nostalgic memory of the child who played spaceship with the adult who now gets music out of all the buttons, knobs and meters.

If you don't already have one, get a suitable listening chair such as this one:
(note not meant ironically, go the full nine yards)


View attachment 433201

I think mine is more comfortable. It's an Ekornes Stressless. But it doesn't have controls built into the armrests.

 

[xNORgate]

Define 'Volume Knob'!

 

[tomchris]

View attachment 433636
Define 'Volume Knob'!

Absolutely horrid layout A superb example of how NOT to design controls.

 

[August West]

View attachment 433636
Define 'Volume Knob'!

Is thing for real or an elaborate joke?

 

[Robin L]

Is thing for real or an elaborate joke?

For real:

HiFi Rose USA

Experience your favorite music like never before with high-fidelity audio equipment from HiFi Rose. Shop our full collection of wireless network streamers, integrated amplifiers, and more with free shipping and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

www.hifiroseusa.com

 

[BlackTalon]

If I ever see a clump of cat hair on the top of one of the gloss black Salon2s in the living room... I can't even think about it. In five years she hasn't demonstrated that stunt yet, lucky for her (and my wife, who claims she can't live without a cat).

Can confirm some cats like perching on top of Salon2s...

 

[MattHooper]

Absolutely horrid layout A superb example of how NOT to design controls.

Yeah, if I’m staring at the front of an integrated amplifier or preamp and I don’t immediately know where main functions are such as the volume knob are located, it’s a design fail.

 

[gnarly]

I not only don't miss knobs and switches, I say good riddance.
Eventually, nothing but clicks, pops, and scratchy pots.

That said, a decent mixer with faders for volume/gains, and easy to dial in EQs with graphical interface can be a pleasure.

Otherwise, give me a prosound open-architecture processor that allows replicating any type preamp or AVR to be laid out in its processing schematic...
which can then have any of its controllable parameters put into a custom laptop or IOS remote.... or multiple remotes, ....or even the full-fledged DSP schematic running on multiple PCs...accessing multiple music servers/sources.....controlling multiple-speakers/rooms setups........and with no clicks, pops, or scratchy pots!!!

 

[Leporello]

I do like tactile knobs. They are quicker and easier to use, you can see how they're all set at a glance, they feel satisfying to move and they look great. My preamp has a few:

View attachment 432794The top row, left to right:
1: spatial processing. Top = none; left (5 clicks) stereo widener, right (5 clicks) stereo narrower / headphone crossfeed.
2a. Notch filters to adjust for resonances of some common headphones. Each is -6 dB, Q=2.0 with 11 positions to adjust center frequency from 6 kHz to 11 kHz. For example the Sennheiser HD800 uses position 2 or 3 (6380 or 6770).
2b. Balance. Top = centered, 5 clicks each side, L and R.
3. switch; up is notch filter (switch 2a), down is balance (switch 2b)
4: switch, digital filter. Up = minimum phase, Down = linear phase.
5-8: tone controls. Each is a shelf with Q=0.5 and each click is 0.8 dB (5 clicks on each side, so -4 to +4)
5: low bass (center 80 Hz)
6: mid bass (center 320 Hz)
7: low treble (center 1250 Hz)
8: treble (center 5 kHz). The lowest setting (-5 from center) turns on CD Redbook de-emphasis. This is useful for those rare CDs that use it and don't set the proper flags in the TOC or the track (you'll know because they sound skull-shattering bright).

All of the above is implemented in DSP with an ADAU1451 chip. It has a pair of WM8741 DACs built in (one per channel, each in mono mode), and the switch to the right of the headphone plug is like an external tape loop that bypasses the internal DAC so I can use an external DAC, which in my case is a Tascam DA3000, having a pair of Burr Brown PCM1795s, one per channel each in mono mode. In this bypass mode, the DSP functions still work and modify the signal before it goes to the external DAC.

This DAC+preamp has some other unique aspects but that is the knob-ology part of it. The knobs I use most are the tone controls (few recordings are perfect) and crossfeed when listening on headphones to recordings having wide or hard-panned L-R separation. The tone controls are too broad & gentle for headphone or room correction; for that I use a Behringer DEQ2496 sitting upstream.

Looks like a Corda. I still have an early HA-1 headphone amplifier somewhere.

 

[mglobe]

Damn it @MattHooper, I spent a lot of time programming a wireless device to control my MiniDSP Flex with a knob for volume, and buttons for selecting inputs and controlling Roon. Now I want something with physical switches on it also. It's all your fault.

 

[MattHooper]

Damn it @MattHooper, I spent a lot of time programming a wireless device to control my MiniDSP Flex with a knob for volume, and buttons for selecting inputs and controlling Roon. Now I want something with physical switches on it also. It's all your fault.

You’ll never get the full Star Trek bridge experience without switches!

 

[xNORgate]

Imagine two 8ft racks full of these 'knobs' in a darkly lit metal chamber...

... and they paid you handsomely... just to twist and twirl them.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Absolutely not. I love the Bauhaus simplicity or my Octo Dac 8 Pro whose functions are controlled by the small Apple remote. I don't want my home AV system to look like the cockpit of an old time DC-3 or Apollo space capsule with tens of switches and dials and knobs: that's just too busy for my taste. I prefer the serene and relaxing simplicity of the Apple design aesthetic to that any day of the week. But to each his own.

 

[Gitfiddle]

I feel like there is a happy medium for my own use. I've got some physical programmable volume sliders(deej volume mixer) to control each type of app on my desktop. I'm using a dac/amp as a passthrough for active budget monitors that have volume and bass/treble knobs. I also have headphones connected to a separate dac/amp with its own volume buttons. This setup allows me to change sources effortlessly between my headphones and budget studio monitors without ever needing to worry about volume unless I want to crank it up.

I have very little experience with stereo receivers and the like, but I can understand the nostalgia of that. It has me thinking back to the days of my old Phillips MC235... going to physically change CD's every hour and waiting for it to slowly open... I do miss that physical "ritual" a bit. I bet if I grew up in a household with high end stereo equipment I'd be much more interested in the "knob walls" shown here. I certainly enjoyed kill switches and reverb pedals on guitars.

 

[Davelemi]

I don't need knobs and switched on my hifi gear. Just a good remote. Where I do need them is in a car, where unfortunately everything is moving to screens with nested menus.