Examples of good usability in hi-fi equipment

[Blumlein 88]

Well controls for 4 channels is of course at least twice as many. The little meter in the upper left corner is so cool it kind of makes up for it.

 

[MaxBuck]

Glad to see they are listening. I don't think I've ever seen anyone prefer touchscreens. Some think they are alright, and say they understand why they are used, but no one in my memory has said they prefer them to physical controls. For some other purposes they are fine or even preferable, but as controls in a vehicle where your attention by definition needs to mostly be elsewhere it has bothered me companies pushed so much onto cars despite no one wanting them.

I prefer touchscreens.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I prefer touchscreens.

Makes you the exception that proves the rules.

 

[JeffS7444]

Part of me still wants a stack of Technics Xx-C01 micro-series components but maybe that particular dream is past it’s sell-by date. That’s the problem with me and vintage: Love the idea of it, but it’ll probably just collect dust like my Apple Macintosh Plus.

 

[JRS]

Hi

I believe that the rotary volume control is essential in an audio system.
but ..
I haven't read the entire thread, to know if SONOS hasn't neen mentioned... but SONOS, any model qualify for great usability. They are easy to setup, easy to use and, IME, sound good.
Their Room Correction works well.
I set up a SONOS HT for a friend, and it was one of the easiest thing AV, I have ever setup:
Put the SONOS ARC soundbar under the TV. The most difficult thing could be to find the eARC HDMI from the TV multiple HDMI out..
Put the SONOS Sub next to it and plug it in an AC outlet.
Install two SONOS 1 in the back/side. Just plug them in an AC outlet.
Once all are, plugged they are (always) on.
Run the SONOS App, the darn things ( Soundbar, sub, surrounds) show up on the APP, with no fuss... Put them on your Wi-Fi network, invoke TRUEPLAY (their room correction).
30 minutes later...
DONE.
Decent HT performance. Decent Music Performance. Non-audiophiles are happy with good performance. Audiophiles are surprised by overall performance.
Anyone with a smartphone (IOS or Android) can control it , send music to it... People now just use their TV as usual with the TV's own remote control but now, with decent surround sound, it even provides a modicum of some sound effects coming from overhead sensation. Decent rumbles (you can always add another SONOS Sub) and good bass for music. Balanced, "usable" sound .
No wonder they are so popular.
I am not sure there are many more usable audio products out there.

Peace.

Always a good thing to make good sound reproduction easy. Better educated consumers makes it more of z priority for studios etc. Or at least I tell myself that....

 

[JRS]

OMG, how I feel this! The sheer enmity between me and touchscreen technology that builds up when I try to type much of anything on my phone...
I wouldn't be surprise to find out that it was struggling to text Darth Sidious that finally pushed Anakin Skywalker to the dark side and sent him in to a younglings-slaughtering rage.

My Samsung A23 (2022 mid tier) actually defaults to the old flipphone keyboard requiring 3 taps for a single letter at times. That's excruciating. Normally can get stuff done with my "giant keyboard" app but have to forsake all the control keys and others. That tap and touch highlight for cut/paste functions never works as intended either on this phone. Or AF least not for me. I'm gonna forgo pocket size for a tablet phone next time.

 

[JRS]

I get really weird artifacts ("extended" ASCII characters, e.g.) when I try that -- I think I don't lift my (fat) finger quite enough. I have come quite close to throwing the phone at a nearby wall numerous times.
Fortunately, it was a cheap phone -- which may have some impact (no pun intended) on the user experience.
I'd have stuck with my old phone if The Man didn't decide to cancel 3G (and I'm actually not being facetious).
Swapped it for a so-called smart phone about a year ago.

View attachment 273217
I made less mistakes sending texts with it, although as can be seen the interface was a bit brute-force.

OMG, no. Unless you grew up with such. My 34 yo daughter can tap type something like 60 words/min, but I believe is well short of the best which is 100+ wpm.

 

[tomchris]

Just to iterate. Try to share positive experiences which made a great impression. Frankly, the world is drowning in badly designed equipment, to put it mildly.

I am not advocating specifically for 1970s equipment or physical knobs, buttons or switches at any cost. But surely, there are situations/conditions where physical control is highly preferable, such as operating equipment while driving a car, flying a plane, in the dark etc. For instance, thank heavens that keyboards are still made of individual buttons instead of being replaced with touchscreens.

User interface design is a fascinating field. A lot of users have now become very tech-savvy and understand typical patterns of operation. Yet, I feel that well-designed applications are still few and far between.

One could say that a smartphone and some active speakers make usability in listening to music a moot point. It would be like saying that a 10$ wristwatch solves the problem of telling time. However, I strongly feel that this is missing valuable aspects on how we interact - may it be with physical objects or symbols on a display. I am not thinking about aspects such as luxury as status, Veblen effect, consumerism, novelty, design as a differentiator etc., but rather issues concerning motor learning, procedural and declarative memory.

 

[mhardy6647]

Gotcha.

 

[Mart68]

If I have any vow it's to never buy another bloody black component again! First...that color is boring as hell, makes all the equipment tend to look undistinguished, sometimes indistinguishable, and it makes it harder for these aging eyes to use. Tiny black buttons and black knobs on a black faceplate? Ugh!
(It's the only thing I'm a bit unhappy about with my Benchmark preamp). I'm fine with a two-tone approach or mixing materials. For instance I don't mind the "pop" that comes with a classy brass volume knob or controls on a dark faceplate.

You can always have silver or champagne if you don't want black. Lots of manufactures offer a range of finishes these days, unlike in the past. (The 1980s must have been a nightmare for you )

Re the Benchmark pre, the sole reason I did not buy one was the look of it. Especially the logo. I know I would hate it every time I looked at it let alone used it.

Looks and pleasure of use are probably a bigger priority for me these days then sound quality. Never thought that would happen, but here we are.

 

[MattHooper]

You can always have silver or champagne if you don't want black. Lots of manufactures offer a range of finishes these days, unlike in the past. (The 1980s must have been a nightmare for you )

Yes, especially given the type of stuff I could afford then - walking in to places that were just reams of black things...black (ash) speakers, black casette decks, black CD players, black amps..black...black...black...

I'm partial to the champagne gold finish of my CJ gear.

Re the Benchmark pre, the sole reason I did not buy one was the look of it. Especially the logo. I know I would hate it every time I looked at it let alone used it.

I guess you must be referencing the silver version, because until you mentioned it I didn't even think my black unit had any logo. I literally can't see it in my rack, since it's black on black. I didn't care for the look of the silver version and chose black just to make it disappear in my rack.

Looks and pleasure of use are probably a bigger priority for me these days then sound quality. Never thought that would happen, but here we are.

I hear you. Fortunately I've managed to mostly find equipment that satisfies both requirements for my taste.

 

[Axo1989]

You can always have silver or champagne if you don't want black. Lots of manufactures offer a range of finishes these days, unlike in the past. (The 1980s must have been a nightmare for you )

Re the Benchmark pre, the sole reason I did not buy one was the look of it. Especially the logo. I know I would hate it every time I looked at it let alone used it.

Looks and pleasure of use are probably a bigger priority for me these days then sound quality. Never thought that would happen, but here we are.

Funny. I totally agree about Benchmark in silver with that signature font in black. For a long time I just assumed the gear was pretentious crap. Books. Covers. Etc.

Not unlike how I love the look (and sound, fortunately) of some older Krell gear (the pretty one I posted and the Evolution series that are very unadorned utilitarian-functional) but rather dislike the overall style of the Dan D'Agostino stuff now (way too much bling).

 

[Axo1989]

Just to iterate. Try to share positive experiences which made a great impression. Frankly, the world is drowning in badly designed equipment, to put it mildly.

I am not advocating specifically for 1970s equipment or physical knobs, buttons or switches at any cost. But surely, there are situations/conditions where physical control is highly preferable, such as operating equipment while driving a car, flying a plane, in the dark etc. For instance, thank heavens that keyboards are still made of individual buttons instead of being replaced with touchscreens.

User interface design is a fascinating field. A lot of users have now become very tech-savvy and understand typical patterns of operation. Yet, I feel that well-designed applications are still few and far between.

One could say that a smartphone and some active speakers make usability in listening to music a moot point. It would be like saying that a 10$ wristwatch solves the problem of telling time. However, I strongly feel that this is missing valuable aspects on how we interact - may it be with physical objects or symbols on a display. I am not thinking about aspects such as luxury as status, Veblen effect, consumerism, novelty, design as a differentiator etc., but rather issues concerning motor learning, procedural and declarative memory.

That last paragraph is apposite. I started writing a response to @Mart68's fun list but ended up in a digression about what we use knobs and buttons for and scrapped that post.

My system obviates a whole lot of that: Music app and DSP on MacBook, then DAC, amp and speakers. So input selection and tone controls are redundant (for me). And volume is basically a two-way thing where level change on Mac (a software slider on the TouchBar, or on-screen) controls volume on the DAC (which has two buttons like my old baby Krell, but I rarely use them) and vice versa (the last bit is important, it's software-hardware integration as well as UI in play). The Mac is basically an expensive wired remote (just one tightly-fitting and black fabric-covered long Thunderbolt cable). Of course it's also the streamer. So while I rather like a nicely weighted machined/polished wireless remote volume knob, it would have to be integrated in the same way.

There are many variations on that theme: phone or tablet can AirPlay to the computer (in my case mostly for visitors/parties). Others have their dedicated streamers as hubs, and so on. But I think the UI/UX goes beyond the physical hardware, and needs to integrate with it and be well-sorted to work nicely.

 

[MattHooper]

I have to say that while I'm not a fan of using-my-phone-for-every-damned-thing, the Apple Remote function on my iphone is terrific. It navigates the Apple TV selections and youtube and Netflix etc far better than the supplied Apple remote or even my RTI universal remote.

 

[Axo1989]

I have to say that while I'm not a fan of using-my-phone-for-every-damned-thing, the Apple Remote function on my iphone is terrific. It navigates the Apple TV selections and youtube and Netflix etc far better than the supplied Apple remote or even my RTI universal remote.

Yes. because above-noted MacBook is usually at hand I forget about the Remote app. Minor issue with AirPlay from phone to Mac (etc) is the volume control isn't integrated. Using Remote control instead doesn't present that issue iirc.

 

[Mart68]

Funny. I totally agree about Benchmark in silver with that signature font in black. For a long time I just assumed the gear was pretentious crap. Books. Covers. Etc.

Not unlike how I love the look (and sound, fortunately) of some older Krell gear (the pretty one I posted and the Evolution series that are very unadorned utilitarian-functional) but rather dislike the overall style of the Dan D'Agostino stuff now (way too much bling).

The latest D'Agostino stuff ticks the build quality box, but the styling is trying way too hard.

 

[tomchris]

Here is some news concerning buttons vs touchscreens in cars:

Hyundai commits to real buttons and dials for safety reasons

 

[tomchris]

The latest D'Agostino stuff ticks the build quality box, but the styling is trying way too hard.

There are certainly plenty of beautiful amplifiers out there. The Dan D’Agostino brand favors an over-the-top steampunk style with an odd combination of buttons, knobs, touchscreen and analog meters. The old Krell Evolution series have an understated utilitarian appearance. I have a fondness for Dan's old Krell FPB amplifier designs. Whether they are worth it today is another matter.

 

[Mart68]

There are certainly plenty of beautiful amplifiers out there. The Dan D’Agostino brand favors an over-the-top steampunk style with an odd combination of buttons, knobs, touchscreen and analog meters. The old Krell Evolution series have an understated utilitarian appearance. I have a fondness for Dan's old Krell FPB amplifier designs. Whether they are worth it today is another matter.

Depends what you have to pay for one.

I have a couple of the KSA50S power amps, the second one cost me almost twice what the first one did but the total price for both is still only what you would pay for a new Hypex or Purfi. Breaks a couple of my rules (two-tone finish, blue power LED) but I still think they look better than almost all the modern equipment.

It's not trying to look like a modernist sculpture or something you might have pinched off of Captain Nemo's submarine. Plus very solid construction, and there's no issue with sound quality or difficult loads. You can put any speaker on it and know you're getting optimal results.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I generally don't think much of power amp usability. I mean a box with connections and an on/off switch. I have seen you can mess it up, but what do we want. I have a Wyred4Sound with a blue led lit slit all the way across the face. However, there is a pot to adjust brightness. I keep it down to a barely visible level in a dark room. It is fine that way. I've had VU meters and don't care about them. Had a McIntosh power amp with their optical based clipping indicator and clipping preventer circuits. That was useful actually. I get the beauty of a nicely machined case with some character, but really a box that works is all it needs to be. Preamps on the other hand are different.

And I give a big fat middle finger to all the AVRs and Pre/pro's I've ever used for usability. I do blame Dolby the most for that.