There's something else wrong with tape players besides a lack of an adequate bias frequency. You really need to promulgate the ....something something to get them to sound right.

Also, which video tape format can be transferred to slides easiest?

Even better, do VHS tapes work in Super 8 machines?

Btw, my prescription is for 14 days, not a month.

Zup wrote on 2020-07-22, 13:34:

Nobody talks about standard batteries being substituted by (not standard) rechargeable ones?

I still have digital cameras that uses AA batteries and a mp3 that uses AAA... but I know that my (better) Philips mp3 will be junk when the battery fails.

This is really something that tells a lot about this technological era we live in. I too have portable analog or digital 90's stuff that can be powered with AA or AAA batteries just as well as 20 years ago. Nowdays anything need to have a short lifetime.. one day some type of batteries might become impossible to find or very rare or expensive and that player or whatever device would not be usable anymore. There were even phones having AA cell type batteries (Ni-Mh or Ni-Cd I suppose)...
But usually anything related to this technological era is something hard to compare to the old times where technology was not necessary for the mass and even if it was for the mass the whole logic behind how the market worked was totally different.
Once you could have bought a computer and used is as a TV table if you wanted to, it was not needed to be used at all, just to be bought and maybe mostly didn't even had the need to buy it (I say computer for example but also other devices I mean).
Nowdays it seems like the goal is not the closed-box object that need to be sold to the consumer, every goals seems evolved into the usage itself of the device. The device could be sold for free but it's too important the consumer must use it daily and in the way the device has been designed only. Just look at smartphones and compare them to the old 90's computers and the logic behind them and behind any modern devices with contracts, agreements, ads, cloud, ai, telemetries etc.. make feel like the consumer life itself is the product and not the product itself.

I have found a couple of obscure settings by fiddling with my TV. If you go to setup you can change the input labels of HDMI 1 to "RECEIVER" which is what is really connected rather than a blu ray player. Also, you can change the "black" from light to dark. I hate light black because it makes the black wash out the image a bit. I tried turning up the contrast but it makes the image look weird in other ways. There is also a "first time setup" menu that can be used to set date and time.

HD Size "Size 1" is a zoomed image. You need to change to "Size 2" to see the full image.

If we are talking about the decline of generic technology I could talk all day long about how much anything modern feels absurd and far to me from imho what I suppose people usually needs from tech products no matter which type, audio, computer, game console, music players, whatever.
One for all would be the actual concept of the smartphone that imho went so far there's probably no way back to any smartphone-less life at least for the masses beside someone that force itself to come back to the the past type of free time life when portable devices might be useful but not necessary.
It's not only a nostalgic point of view but often any digital product seems to have followed the same path. The logic of a computer/phone/game-console as a temporary useful tool seems partially replaced by the device as a sort of "life-saving" tool can't be live without. Some might leave their house without their shoes more than their digital devices.
But even computers follow a similar path, modern software too where the lightest more useless sw weight hundreds of megabytes of installation, frameworks, browsers, all type of ads, analytics, whatever thing make the old "freeware/shareware/buy" logic mostly disappeared since decades when simply buying the product was enough and could be used forever without which time based agreements/contracts. Components drivers weight also the same absurd amount of space to just work without even installing external software often with absurd GUIs that try to be user friendly and end up to feel like not following any optimization, stability and accessibility when sometimes options are not even easy to find as usually was done in the old windows logics.. not to mention the o.s. themself.. the logic of a consumer tech product bought as a closed box nowdays seems like a service that must be used in the way intended, not simply bought.

USB ports/cable. They couldn't come up with a better design or convention? Requiring you to look at the damn cable every time you plug something in... le sigh. I guess we can be thankful that USBC is finally here.

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-01-21, 02:03:

USB ports/cable. They couldn't come up with a better design or convention? Requiring you to look at the damn cable every time you plug something in... le sigh. I guess we can be thankful that USBC is finally here.

From a cable orientation perspective, I agree . For pretty much everything else, USB C is a pile of hot garbage, IMHO .

That the USB-IF did not mandate some form of distinguishing mark on USB-C cables to help differentiate those with/without high power handling, alternate modes, etc strikes me as something extremely short-sighted (to avoid use of more disparaging term as I contain my rage) for a standards committee .

That said, if you have the right cable, it works fine . Knowing which cable that is, if you have a drawer full, requires a crystal ball . I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to guess what I would like the members of the USB-IF to do with the said crystal ball (hint: a certain bodily orifice may or may not be involved) .

I also dislike USB-C, but mainly in the mobile phones where you have to plug/unplug the charger daily. The phone connector seems to last for about two years before it becomes loose. I've had two phones with this problem and it's annoying when otherwise they work just fine. You can squeeze the plug a bit to make it a tighter fit, but eventually you are either forced to replace the connector or rather the whole phone.

You can criticize USB-C all you want, but this change is happening as we talk now. IMO In at least two years or less everyone will have moved to USB-C and drop older USB ports.

I have nothing against USB-C anyway, but I am not defending it either. I am just saying this change was and is inevitable.

The only phone cable I had problem with the connectors was the one I used with my first phone. When I figured out what I could do to prevent these problems, I never had a problem with the cables again. For example, I've put a small spring on one end, so it doesn't break again.

I am waiting on the Numark parts department to get back to order a longer power cord for a TT500. Turntable power cords are different.

We have a Denon receiver. When it is off the audio and video both pass through the receiver to the TV through the HDMI connection. When the receiver is on the main speakers are activated and the TV speaker is shut off. That's great! It has an auto preset button. It definitely has automuting.

I had to order a Sony microphone off of Amazon becuase it did not come with a calibration microphone. It is nice, the text display is not as nice as a THX certified receiver like Onkyo or Pioneer (in the past).

Also, Lotrimin makes a new jock itch spray to compete with Tinactin that is better.

Bruninho wrote on 2021-01-21, 12:12:

You can criticize USB-C all you want, but this change is happening as we talk now. IMO In at least two years or less everyone will have moved to USB-C and drop older USB ports.

I have nothing against USB-C anyway, but I am not defending it either. I am just saying this change was and is inevitable.

The only phone cable I had problem with the connectors was the one I used with my first phone. When I figured out what I could do to prevent these problems, I never had a problem with the cables again. For example, I've put a small spring on one end, so it doesn't break again.

If nobody complains, nothing is likely to ever change .

Mandating a distinguishing mark on cables based on functionality would put to rest 95% of my gripes (and likely also most of those expressed by other people) .

EDIT: Corrected typo .

What is USB-C for anyway? I just took a look and it looks like an imitation of Apple's Lightning connector. Is it a replacement for mini-USB that is used on portable audio players? So there's something standard we can pick up a Best Buy rather than mail ordering? That would have helped the industry a long time ago.

darry wrote on 2021-03-28, 20:44:

If nobody complains, nothing is likely to ever change .

Mandating a distinguishing mark on cables based on functionality would put to rest 95% of my gripes (and likely also most of those expressed by other people) .

This. I don't really get the type of comment that goes "you may not like it, but it's already everywhere, so why criticize?". Well, no shit - if it wasn't everywhere, there wouldn't be much incentive to complain and criticize. 😉

Changes in standards such as USB may be inevitable... making power requirements ambiguous sure isn't.

In other news, COWON changed their name to Jetaudio. Maybe they will make a comeback.

dnewhous wrote on 2021-03-28, 21:14:

What is USB-C for anyway?

USB-C replaces everything USB related (full-size USB, micro USB, mini USB) plus a bit more. Most laptops nowdays come with no external ports except a couple of USB-C, which is used for charging and provides connections to other peripherals (HDMI/DisplayPort, ethernet, full-size USB) via breakout adapter. If you frequently use a portable PC docked at multiple locations (home, work, school etc.) it makes things a lot easier to just plug in one cable rather than a bunch of separate ones.

I can't get it... people used to carry several cables for different purposes and ports, and always complained about that.

Then we're gifted with USB-C, and there is a joint effort to get the all the things working with USB-C, yet people still complain. Go figure.

Bruninho wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:15:

I can't get it... people used to carry several cables for different purposes and ports, and always complained about that.

Then we're gifted with USB-C, and there is a joint effort to get the all the things working with USB-C, yet people still complain. Go figure.

With all due respect, and as mentioned before, USB-C' s functionality itself is not the problem, it is the fact that identical looking USB-C cables (and ports, for that matter, but at least device specs can easily be looked up) can have different functionality (i.e. support or not various alternate modes and power profiles) without any external indication .

To try to make this clearer, here is an example :

If you have have a laptop that supports an alternate AV mode over USB-C that allows it to feed video, over a USB-C cable, into a monitor that also supports video over USB-C thank to alternate AV mode support, BUT the USB-C cable you happen to try does not support alternate AV modes, you will NOT get video to display . A USB-C cable that does support alternate AV mode and thus would work in the aforementioned scenario has no distinguishing marks to let you know that fact .

In other words you can have 2 different USB-C cables in hand, both of them non defective, both of them similar looking, but only one will work in the example given above . THAT is ONE example of a problem with USB-C's lack of labelling/identifying cable types . There are other scenarios involving power delivery and DATA transfer speed .

If you believe this is just fine and that people should just label their cables upon purchase, that is your right . Personally, I believe this NOT a good thing and is actually a step backwards from a usability point of view .

Now I remember where else I've seen USB-C. XBox controllers!

VileR wrote on 2021-03-28, 21:59:

darry wrote on 2021-03-28, 20:44:

If nobody complains, nothing is likely to ever change .

Mandating a distinguishing mark on cables based on functionality would put to rest 95% of my gripes (and likely also most of those expressed by other people) .

This. I don't really get the type of comment that goes "you may not like it, but it's already everywhere, so why criticize?". Well, no shit - if it wasn't everywhere, there wouldn't be much incentive to complain and criticize. 😉

Changes in standards such as USB may be inevitable... making power requirements ambiguous sure isn't.

in general a tiny minority of interested technical people complaining wouldn't change anything if the majority of people go along with it. To successfully change direction there would have to be a) something wrong that would seriously affect lots of people and/or b) a significant amount of publicity generated about it

darry wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:38:

it is the fact that identical looking USB-C cables (and ports, for that matter, but at least device specs can easily be looked up) can have different functionality (i.e. support or not various alternate modes and power profiles) without any external indication .

No.
A cable is just a bunch of wires connecting pins at one end to pins at the other.
There aren't "optional" pins that are used by some features and not others.
There is a specification that details what speeds the cable must support to be USB-C spec compliant.
Ports can implement different functions, cables cannot; they are passive devices and should all be interchangeable.

jmarsh wrote on 2021-03-29, 11:45:

No.
A cable is just a bunch of wires connecting pins at one end to pins at the other.
There aren't "optional" pins that are used by some features and not others.

There are at least 5 different USB-C cables available with different transfer rates.
Charging speeds also vary from cable to cable. Instead of coming up with a single protocol we got a bunch of cables with different transfer speeds and charge times.
It really is a mess.