
Digital Generation, Analog Retro Chic 419
securitas writes "The New York Times' Juliet Chung writes about the latest technology trend: the growing popularity of analog technology with a generation that has grown up digital. 'Yesterday's technology designs are becoming popular among those in their teens and 20's eager to usher back a time they experienced only barely, if at all.' An MIT graduate student interviewed for the article, Ali Rahimi, was tired of the 'impersonal, unthinking' nature of modern technology, so he hacked an old telephone handset together with his mobile phone with the rationale, 'The handset has been going through about a hundred years of evolution in design and ... have the perfect shape.' According to Brown University technology historian Steven Lubar, 'When the available technology converges at a certain performance threshold ... consumers begin to base their choices on nontechnical considerations'. Chung also includes a sidebar that lists some of the new retro analog devices and interpretations, ranging from radio PC case mods to ancient clunker cell phones. Any other cool or interesting retro analog devices or hacks out there?" I've personally enjoyed owning tube amps on and off - the sound warmth, whether it be psychological or real, is definitely different then solid state amps.
Anyone (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Anyone (Score:4, Funny)
Fokke & Sukke are amazed by today's technology
(picture of them listening to a radio)
"Incredible, you hear music instantly"
reply: "Without having to log on to the internet"
it's true (Score:4, Funny)
now if i only someone would release Doom 3 for my fluid-dynamics-based analog computer.
Re:it's true (Score:2)
These days PLCs and stepper motors are taking over because they're cheaper and easier to hook up to computers. Oh well.
Watches? Just say no. (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, it's true you don't know me but I haven't worn a watch in about five years. I feel a lot less stressed without one, and I'm still able to keep track of time. I need to know when to leave the house - my ordinary clocks will tell me that (as will my body clock), I need to know what time it is at work - my computer will tell me that. I need to know what time it is to catch my train - the station clocks will tell me that. And, if it any moment I need to know th
Re:Watches? Just say no. (Score:3, Insightful)
So you still carry a mobile timepiece; it's just not attached to your wrist.
Re:Watches? Just say no. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:it's true (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:it's true (Score:2)
I wear an analog watch because time is an analog concept [ozdoba.net]. That and they're often thinner than digital watches...
Re:it's true (Score:2, Insightful)
Honestly, stop whining about 9-11, OK? We're sick of hearing about it.
Sincerely yours,
The Rest of the World
"Post 9/11"??? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm fed up of the phrase "post 9/11" being used to explain changes in fashion and taste. Frankly, it would be easy to 'explain' most trends in this way, and I believe it's impact in this area has been grossly overstated.
Fact is, digital watches have not been "cool" since sometime in the 1980s, and they are now coming back into fashion, this time as *retro*.
I don't accept that *this* is down to 9-11; it is more likely to be another retro trend. The early 80s were a *long* time ago now; too long ago to be passe' any more, so let's revive it, goes the reasoning.
Re:"Post 9/11"??? (Score:2)
Re:"Post 9/11"??? (Score:5, Interesting)
Similarly, hand-tailored clothing, custom architecture and anything else time consuming and one of a kind have been exceedingly expensive and sought out by the wealthy and emulated by those who aren't. Cheap wallpaper and faux finishes are a decorating trend to emulate the fabric finishes and hand-plastered looks in wealthy homes. It's all around you and has been going on for a very long time.
Re: Rolex et al as status symbols (Score:4, Insightful)
... just raising the issue that "high quality and hand-made" doesn't always equate to "empty status symbol". That said, there are plenty who pay for the most over-the-top stuff in order to make a (tacky) statement.
Re:it's true (Score:2)
WALL STREET (Score:2, Funny)
YES! Now I can own that same model cell phone Gordon Gecko used on his beach front property in the movie Wall Street! I've been waiting to use a cell phone just like that!
Re:WALL STREET (Score:3, Funny)
Re:WALL STREET (Score:4, Funny)
micro, 35mm, medium or large format?
Re:WALL STREET (Score:2, Funny)
analog is obsolete (Score:5, Funny)
Re:analog is obsolete (Score:5, Insightful)
Digital is popular because much of the design process is automated. This is why you can have 200 million transistors on a chip. It's cheaper and easier to create digital circuits. Naturally, it would be nice to put as much into digital as possible. But there's a limit.
So, analog is definitely here to stay.
Komi
Re:analog is obsolete (Score:5, Insightful)
It is also interesting how many digital problems turn out to be analog in nature: termination, noise, signal coupling, power, etc.
Re:analog is obsolete (Score:3, Interesting)
It's novelty, not design (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's novelty, not design (Score:2)
And the fact is that (some of) the old handsets are more ergonomic; they just fit the purpose perfectly.
This is no way mitigates the fact that some folks want different or "cool".
Most choices that people look at as mutually exclusive (exclusive or) turn out to be either/or (inclusive or). This is one of them.
Re:It's novelty, not design (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. Standard phone handsets have been designed to be comfortable to use. They fit around the side of your head, and can be pressed against your ear while the mouthpiece is reasonably close to your mouth. You can hold on to them by gripping between your shoulder and your head.
Mobile phones are designed to fit in your pocket. They're too small, they're flat and they have buttons on them, all of which prevent them from being as good for the purpose of being a handset as a proper handset is. But of course, proper handsets aren't ideal for putting in your pocket...
Re:It's novelty, not design (Score:3, Interesting)
In any case, I through college with a traditional, heavy clunky desk phone. People found that very odd. Now I would love to have just the handset of that phone as my cellphone. You could fit some large batteries in there. And it would be loud enough to hear! I would not mind a larger phone if the sound quality and signal quality were better. Somehow
Nothing says retro like tube amps (Score:5, Interesting)
Kenny P.
Visualize Whirled P.'s
Vacuum Tube Logic and Analog Computing (Score:3, Interesting)
Be sure to check out the analog computer museum [vwh.net], among [play-hookey.com] others [wikipedia.org]
And don't forget about relay logic [ibiblio.org]
Re:Nothing says retro like tube amps (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Nothing says retro like tube amps (Score:3, Interesting)
Tube amplifiers add their own harmonic frequencies to the sound they amplify. They color the sound with harmonics that are pleasing to the ear.
However, solid state amps do no such thing and amplify exactly the sounds it's asked to amplify.
Thus, the tube amplifier sounds better !!!
Re:Nothing says retro like tube amps (Score:2, Funny)
And... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:And... (Score:2)
If you insist
the sound warmth, whether it be psychological or real, is definitely different then solid state amps.
Yes. It's called distortion. It's usually considered undesirable, because it makes the music not sound like it was intended to sound like. If the producer wanted you to hear it like that, he'd have added it to the recording.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:And... (Score:3, Informative)
Nope...as per earlier post...I got a tube amp from Decware...only $500. I'm putting together a tube pre-amp kit from Doc Bottlehead (Foreplay Pre-Amp) [bottlehead.com]
On the Bottlehead site...is badly constructed and you have to slide from left to right instead of up/down...but, their kits are pretty reasonable...rated from beginner to pro...and they are quite helpful when you get stuck.
Tune up the bass (Score:5, Interesting)
Turn up the bass, and poof, sounds warmer.
Re:Tune up the bass (Score:3, Informative)
Turn up the bass, and poof, sounds warmer.
Valves (tubes) also mutate the sound. They actually do add something to the sound that is extremely hard to reproduce with non-analog systems. You could argue (correctly) that valve systems don't reproduce the original sound as accurately as digital, but they do sound different. For systems where
Re:Tune up the bass (Score:3, Informative)
You need to buy the right type of speakers and amps for your room. Adding an equalizer is wrong and a waste of money.
Re: Tune up the bass (Score:5, Informative)
No, actually it's not. As a simple google search (oh the horror) will reveal, there are well documented differences between the audio produced by digital and analogue amplifiers.
Turn up the bass, and poof, sounds warmer.
Bass doesn't equal warmth; an analogue amp may well produce less bass, but the nature of distortion (even vs odd) leads to the effect we descibe as warmth. Even-order distortion is as unique to analogue amps as odd-order distortion is to digital amps, and this is completely unrelated to bass.
I'm not saying that turning up the bass doesn't make shitty little systems sound better, because it often does. However, most shitty little systems come with shitty little speakers that tend to deal with bass badly (or are just underpowered), thereby introducing a far worse distortion.
Using an analogue amplifier can make a real difference to your listening experience, and you can still turn the bass up afterwards...
Re: Digital amps? (Score:3, Informative)
Even-order distortion usually comes from tube amps. Odd-order comes from solid-state amps. Both of these are analogue. In practice there's no such thing as a digital amp.
Very few amplifiers are actually completely digital. They are still in experimental stages, and none that I know of are produced commercially.
Analog Clocks (Score:3, Interesting)
Analog still rules the cell phone airwaves, because when you're out in the middle of the boonies(not on the interstate), you'll be glad your have a dual or tri band phone(US).
I preferred my "analog" carbuerator to fuel injection as well. It felt better to be able to actually look at what mixed my air and gas and be able to mess with it, even though I am car-ignorant.
Chris
Re:Carbs vs Fuel Injection and Electronic ignition (Score:3, Insightful)
On the other hand...at least back in the day, you COULD be a shadetree mechanic...and work on your own car. Today, with everything so computer controlled...you are often hard pressed to work on your own car without special equipment that is often either only available to dealers...or too expensive for the commo
Resurgence of old (Score:5, Interesting)
Right now we certainly have a rebellion against the "digital world" in many senses with a resurgence of what is warm and old including the use of tubes in stereo equipment and musical instruments to growing popularity of "old phone styles", to automobile designs borrowed from older elements and Hollywood has been borrowing every theme and idea from movies in the past for many of its current releases in an effort to come up with something successful.
Imagine that... (Score:4, Insightful)
No one wore bell bottoms before the late 1990s. No one wore sweat shirts cut strange so they would hang off one shoulder before 2004. No one wore Daisy Duke cutoffs before 2002!
Sadly, in this day and age everything that comes back into style isn't original. It's made by companies that are out looking to make a buck. So yeah, it's going to start out that trendsetters will make their own stuff for free but companies will pick up on it and resell "retro stuff" for the same amount as it costs to have something "modern".
Bah.
Re:Imagine that... (Score:2)
Actually, more.
Re:Imagine that... (Score:2)
The purpose of style *is* generally marketing of some sort. Even for individuals.
So yeah, it's going to start out that trendsetters will make their own stuff for free but companies will pick up on it and resell "retro stuff"
Or vice versa! Often, there is a feedback loop of ideas between companies and "original trendsetters".
Bah.
Ahem. A little less vanity is i
Re:Imagine that... (Score:3, Funny)
Old trends coming back? All right. Drop me a note when you see your girlfriend wearing one of these [pemberley.com], kay?
tubes (Score:2, Interesting)
Or valves, as British people prefer saying, are making a comeback. Some people tend to prefer the warm sound produced by tubes. Of course, tubes were always there in the audio production end, however, tubes are increasingly being used on the playback end. Some [norh.com] manufacturers [decware.com] are still selling tube gear, and they appear to be quite popular.
Although not very cheap, I think that tubes look pretty cool.
Speaking of analog being better (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Speaking of analog being better (Score:3, Interesting)
He started playing music - it was very clear, so I figured it was a CD. It sounded amazing, though. Then I heard him click the A/B switch. The whole room seemed to open up and I could have sworn it was a live show, synchronized with the CD. I knew right away that this was vinyl; there were a few clicks and pops, but the sound was undeniably be
Re:Speaking of analog being better (Score:5, Funny)
Audiophile (n): A person who listens to the equipment rather than the music.
Re:Speaking of analog being better (Score:4, Informative)
1. Audition some CD players. No, they don't all sound the same, in fact you'll be amazed how different a handful of $300-400 CD players can sound. Last time I did this a Denon multibit player blew everything else away. Ignore the specs, they're largely meaningless at this point.
2. Get a pair of good headphones. Headphones have much better bang-for-the-buck than speakers, you don't have to be careful with room layout, there's no complicated setup or calibration, and so on. You can get a good pair of headphones for under $150 if you shop around. Sennheisers are generally good, go and sit and audition some; the most expensive are often not the best. For portable listening, I particularly like Sennheiser's PX200s, which fold up to pocket size and are good enough that I use them at home, and cheap enough that I'm prepared to risk sitting on them. The PX250 is the same headphone, but with noise cancellation, for plane flights.
3. Get a headphone amplifier. Even a cheap $150 headphone amp will let you hear detail you never knew existed, and open up the sound so it sounds like the musicians are in the room with you. If you like portable, get a Xin mini amp, it's the size of a matchbox and runs on 3xAAAs and will make your iPod or other portable device sound several times better. Any headphone amp with crossfeed will be a big improvement over no headphone amp at all, so don't worry too much over which to get.
4. If you listen to computer audio, either get an audiophile quality sound card, or get an external USB sound processor. I have an M-Audio Audiophile USB, which just craps all over the built in sound of any Mac, and Apple's sound hardware is pretty good compared to the average PC's generic hardware. Again, cost can be under $150.
So there you go, four ways to massively improve your sound, three for under $150 each, no major skills involved.
Of course, you can go much further. A pair of electrostatic headphones will blow away your $150 Sennheisers, but most people don't have a couple of grand to spend on headphones. I'm sure your goldenears friend would be unimpressed by my choices above. I just wanted to say that most people don't need lots of technical knowledge or massive amounts of cash to make a huge improvement in the quality of sound they listen to.
Re:Speaking of analog being better (Score:2)
What about these [nmsi.ac.uk]?
Re:Speaking of analog being better (Score:2)
CDs skip, they ain't perfect, but let's not get nostalgic here. Records are obsolete for a reason. Anyone make a six-disc record player? Heck, you have to flip the thing to hear the other side. Sure, at one time that was interesting, having two "sides" to an album, but that day has passed. I can burn my
retro or not bring back the dial control (Score:2, Interesting)
Bring back the dial control.
Now I just counted to three and made my peace.
Re:retro or not bring back the dial control (Score:2)
Yes, that's what he wants. (Score:3, Interesting)
I bought one recently, in fact I'm using it now. Accept no substitutes as an iTunes control (volume, scrolling through lists, pausing etc.) or movie editor. And it's great for Tempest under MAME.
Cheers,
Ian
My interpretation (Score:2, Insightful)
Electrical engineering is OVER, folks, unless you enjoy spending your whole life in front of a computer trying to get that 0.01% edge over your competitor, until you lose your job to outsourcing and STILL have to pay the cult dues, errr student loans.
tube amps Vs digital amps (Score:2, Interesting)
Wow! A Genius! (Score:2, Funny)
Hurry, go apply for a patent!
Re:tube amps Vs digital amps (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:tube amps Vs digital amps (Score:2)
Jeroen
Ask and ye shall receive (Score:4, Informative)
Tubes vs. Transistors: Is There an Audible Difference? (From the Audio Engineering Society) [dwfearn.com]
Tubes vs. Solid State [impactsites2000.com]
That's just the tip of the iceberg, my friend. I mean, that's just generally the difference. Once you start considering different design paradigms, there's all kinds of other stuff to get into. The analog vs. digital debate, as far as I'm concerned, is moot; analog and digital can (and do) peacefully coexist. Some people like the way certain things sound, and maybe that thing is a radio from 1938 with tubes, maybe it's your solid-state computer speakers playing digital source.
There is a lot of engineering that goes into making audio equipment and audiophiles aren't all rubbing bizarre cream over everything that enters their houses. Pick up an issue of Stereophile (although for actual reading, I'd suggest Listener) sometime. As much as you'll find it astounding what some do with their stereos, you'll also find it filled with graphs on everything from spectral decay to impedence to power to frequency response... There is a science to audio engineering; just because the results of that science may or may not appeal to you, doesn't mean they're not there.
Vinyl (Score:2)
Re:Vinyl (Score:2, Informative)
There was the Kingston Dubplate cutter that was manufactured by the same guys who made Final Scratch [finalscratch.com] which was another cutting aparatus which utilzed a PC, but I think they no longer sell it. Final Scratch is really an amazing product, but you can't beat the "feel" of real vinyl beaneath the needle.
I believe this is a result of... (Score:3, Insightful)
Gibson Retro? (Score:3, Interesting)
Sometimes analog is just plain better, dammit (Score:3, Insightful)
I know I really miss the analog dials for quickly finding radio stations. With analog, it was just spin the dial quick to get to your station fast; with digital, click and hold, click and hold some more, tap, tap, tap. Though, I do tend to like digital tuning, analog tuning sometimes allows you to get that pesky hard-to-tune station where digital tuning would just skip it.
Also, I have heard that analog amplifiers have better sound quality than digital. They should, if you just look at the basic properties of sound. Maybe if companies spent some new research money on making a better analog amplifier, analog would turn out to be better overall.
Re:Sometimes analog is just plain better, dammit (Score:3, Informative)
The big plus for digital is that once you have the initial conversion done you can do almost anything with a lot cheaper circuitry without adding extra noise. (A digital signal can be transported without adding extra noise, an analog signal by definition can't)
Jeroen
Vacuum Tubes (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Vacuum Tubes (Score:2)
ENIAC is digital; (Score:3, Insightful)
The future is analog for us! (Score:2, Informative)
Who is preserving the trinkets of the 20th cent.? (Score:5, Interesting)
This worries me because that radio was created during a time when Analog sets were state-of-the-art and cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. The PC components he placed inside that wooden case probably cost the same, but will be obsolete in a few years due to the speed at which we are updating technology these days. The radio however, was probably in use for well over 20+ years until a tube burned out and the previous owner could no longer get a replacement.
20+ years Vs. 2-3 years. I prefer keeping vintage electronics whole and in one piece. There are tons of resources [antiqueradios.com] out there for people who would love to get their hands on old sets and get them working again. The PC in an RCA case will probably be forgotten and discarded not soon after it's internals are considered yesterdays news. Much like it was decades ago, only that much sooner.
Re:Who is preserving the trinkets of the 20th cent (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't confuse the two. Just because the PC won't run today's software, doesn't mean it ceased to function. For all the tasks it was doing before, it is still just fine and can continue to do them for 20+ years. The difference is that the external standards the radio was designed to deal with (frequencies, modulation method) didn't change while the ones for the PC (software, perhaps network connection) did.
There are computers decades old still chugging along just fine doing what they were originally designed for.
Telephones (Score:5, Interesting)
The phone is one of these [ukonline.co.uk] and anyone who grew up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s will remember them (and there's still quite a few around that have never been changed out for modern phones).
They are pretty much indestructable, having an electromechanical ringer and solidly-made mechanical parts (including the clockwork dial mechanism with generates the LD pulses). So as I didn't even have to change the wire that goes from the telephone to my modern RJ-45 jack - originally I had planned to just crimp on an RJ-45 plug to the cable - I managed to obtain an old GPO junction box from the same era. You just need to screw down the little connectors on the end of the telephone cable into one end, then crimp on some of those little fork-connectors to the free end of a piece of Cat5 with an RJ-45 at the other end, which you then screw down into the original junction box - then plug into the socket.
I'd also like an Ericofon, but I don't think without soldering resistors to the ringers of the phones to increase the impedance, the ringer current just won't make two phones with a real bell ring at the same time...and I don't want to modify the phones.
"Analog" not an issue; ergonomics is (Score:3, Interesting)
Some of the new stuff is much better than the old. I would never willingly go back to the old LC FM tuners now that I've used PLL types. But I want a radio that's big enough for my hands to operate, no matter what is inside. The use of pinheads masquerading as switch buttons is the opposite of engineering.
Rotary Phones (Score:3, Interesting)
I do have to hit the mouth piece every so often to loosen up the carbon in the mic.
It's even more retro in that it's a Commodore phone that came with my VIC modem.
Mechanical Wrist Watches (Score:2)
I can't (Score:2, Funny)
Anybody got a pencil? I've got to fish the tape out of the machine again.
Social Darwinism at work (Score:2)
Thinking? (Score:2)
Because telephone handsets are renowned for being both personal and thinking.
Stupid Quote (Score:2)
Then why do they come in so many shapes? Why did someone have to invent those stupid foam pads that help you cradle the phone against your ear? The shape of a telephone handset is as much about appearance as it is about functionality and the need
Ancient clunker cell phones? (Score:2)
I can't decide if that was just an unfortunate choice of phrase or not.
Nothing new (Score:5, Informative)
Also, it's worth pointing out that for most musicians, particularly guitarists, tube technology has never gone away. It may have gotten a little more scarce in the consumer world, but musicians have long known that tubes offer an element that while perceptive, often enhances any sound, digital, or analog-based.
It's also worth pointing out that many companies are now emulating tube sounds. For example, I sold my old Marshall stack a long time ago, and moved to an Line6 AX2 tube-modelling amp [tonefrenzy.com]. It's very impressive, and allows me to achieve many natural sounding tones, without requiring multiple amps, or annual tube replacements.
T-Racks [t-racks.com] is a notable piece of software which can do wonders to your music tracks. Many of its functions are designed to emulate tube-based equipment.
So while it's nice to see that more people are re-discovering the magic of analog equipment, it's not like it's ever gone away.
uhm.. (Score:2)
"Imagine this: I'll walk into a bar and ask for a girl's number, then break out my phone," he said. "How could you say no to that?"
uhm, yeah.
Story submitter is wrong (Score:2)
No he didn't. Nowhere in the article does he say that the did this. All is says is that he bought one off eBay. Nothing else. It doesn't say that he got it working or modified the phone in any way. I'd be more impressed if he'd actually done the mod and got it working as the original poster implied.
For now, this is a non-story about a fairly badly done computer case mod (why have a beige CD drive in a wooden case? He could at least h
Analogue Always has a place for me... (Score:3, Interesting)
But I still use good old fashioned records all the time, partly it's because it's the best way to DJ, but even outside of the clubs I'm a vinyl fan.
I've just been at my mother in law's this weekend digging through furniture, toys and other nik naks to stocky my new house. I found this ancient 'show n' tell' toy - basically a player for little 7" records and an associated slide show - usually kids stories or mini documentaries. I'm feeling a strange fascination towards this 1950's predecessor to 'Encarta' - at least the hardware doesn't blue screen (although I guess it needs a bulb replaced from time to time).
Anyway, the best find is a 1951 Sunbeam toaster, all automatic, drop the toast in and it lowers itself, toasts, and pops up slowly (and silently). Sure, most toasters these days aren't digital (except for that java driven weather forecast toaster) but this 'fully automated' device feels more high tech than many modern variations.
I've got a bunch of 50 year old vinyl (33 rpm 'microgroove') records that I can't wait to listen to when I get back, I wonder how many of my CD's will still be working 50 years after buying them.
The case for Mactintosh (Score:3, Insightful)
This is one of the reasons Apple's products sell so well: The company puts an enormous amount of thought into the design. It's one of the reasons I have a Mac, the fact that the design, although not retro, is very smooth, the materials are top quality and Apple evens puts thought into the placment of screws. That and OSX, which exhibits the same processes, but in an OS.
Would this be cool? (Score:5, Interesting)
Or a fuel cell and methonal tank that would run it for a year!
Technology and magic (Score:4, Insightful)
This "rebellion against digital" is really an attempt to find technology that those people understand. Older technology provides a decent base from which they can understand the more complex technologies. This is the evolution of learning.
Re:Analog is better... (Score:5, Interesting)
There are reel-to-reel tape recorders from the 60s that still sound better than a CD. And the best digital cameras are lightyears from the best optical ones.
Besides that, there's the matter of how the signals behave when being degraded, which is the best thing about analog.
Take analog TV.. You can have a ridiculously weak signal, and still have something watchable. The static manifests itself as white fuzz, but you can still see the image and hear the voices. I know because I watched plenty of New York TV when I lived in Toronto.
A digital signal just cuts out. You either recieve it or you dont. It's either stuttery sound, blocky movement or gone altogether.
I've had rabbit ears and DirecTV. I'll tell you, if there was some sort of catastrophic weather thing going on (tornados or hurricanes or typhoons, whatver), I know I'd have my rabbit ears hooked up to get my updates.
Same goes for radio. How well would XM come in when the skies pitch black from tornados?
Re:Its briefly not barely (Score:2)
That sentence is perfectly valid, from a grammatical basis. (Or should I say grammetical?)
Perhaps you should suggest they learn better vocabulary, but then again, that's even harder to spell...
I disagree, anyway. Barely is a valid choice in that sentence. It isn't as _good_ as briefly, which is more precise in its meaning, but it does the job adequately, I feel.
definitely different then solid state amps (Score:2)
And in the old analog days, it was "definitely different than solid state amps."
Re:definitely different then solid state amps (Score:5, Interesting)
I just recently bought a used Fender Twin Reverb II amp...all tube. The guitar tone is just fantastic. My home amp is a little, very price friendly, amp I got off the web. I got the SE84C [decware.com] and have been VERY happy with it. But, you gotta have extremely efficient speakers...I have Klipschorns [klipsch.com] which are pretty retro too...as that the design of these hasn't really changed since about 1940.
Also pretty cool...are the nixie clocks I've seen around...just trying to find one that is reasonably priced...and not made with tubes that are rapidly becoming unavailable.
But, if nothing else....electronics that 'glow' are cool...
Re:Its briefly not barely (Score:2, Interesting)
Perhaps he'll learn grammar when you've learned spelling
Bushism alert!! (was Re:Tubes are our friends) (Score:5, Informative)
*Sigh* I'm not normally a grammar nazi, but one of my pet peeves is people using 'bigger' words than necessary to sound more sophisticated... especially when it's the wrong word:
equivocate [m-w.com]
Main Entry: equivocate
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -cated; -cating
1 : to use equivocal language especially with intent to deceive
2 : to avoid committing oneself in what one says
synonym: see LIE
Next time try:
'Actually, solid-state is not the same as "digital"'
or
'Actually, solid-state does not necessarily mean "digital"
or
'Actually, solid-state doesn't have to mean (or be) "digital"'
Your remark about politicians is ironic considering you seem to be trying to sound like one
-chris
Re:Bushism alert!! (was Re:Tubes are our friends) (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Tubes are our friends (Score:2)
There's a word missing in this sentence. It is "some" and it goes at the very beginning.
Of course, mp3's and other compressed digital media are even poorer quality.
Actually, I think a 96KHz 384Kb/s MP3 provides substantially better reproduction than CD, and needs roughly a quarter of the data storage capacity (~4-5 hours of music on a CD).