The Biggest Failures in Consumer Audio/Video Electronics History

[lovinthehd]

Great article. Looks like Sony has been in the big middle of just about ever format war, and lost all of them except Blu-ray, which they essentially bought because they owned the source product (movies).

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

They lost on compact disc? Or just not a war?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Admittedly it was pretty klugy but if you wanted commercial free music then at the time your choices were a car turntable (they existed) or 8 track, and until newer better tech (cassette tapes) came along pretty much everyone under 30 had one.

I think Auto LP player (and I won't believe, but I actually seen one in RL) by large part belong in it's own category of EPIC Failures, I mean really - the idea must looked stupid even before it reached the stage of the first time it was written down.

Will 4K be next? 8K? Let's ponder that question for a minute. It's unlikely that broadcast channels will ever broadcast 4k content. They lack the bandwidth for both 4K and backward compatibility with 1080I/P TVs and many will be content to just keep broadcasting 720p.

Just like Laser LP players , 4k Broadcast are real thing and not just in Japan. Even here in US and A - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_3.0

On June 29, 2016, NBC affiliate WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, a station known for its pioneering roles in testing the original ATSC standards, launched an experimental ATSC 3.0 channel carrying the station's programming in 1080p, as well as a 4K demo loop

Consumer electronics need the NEXT BIG THING to push people to buy same things (but with newer tech) all over again. 3D was supposed to be IT, but due to tech limitations and crappy implementation, it failed ofcourse. So 4k/UHD is the thing nowadays, even though by large since demise of plasma TVs are not yet fully caught up with its quality, except the questionable quality/lifespan OLED panels and one or two upcoming developments.
That said - you do have a one major point. The transition to digital broadcast TV was very long, very expensive and very painful for many with older TV sets. ASTC 3.0 would really cause similar pains unless 4k broadcast would be fully backward compatible with existing ASTC 1.0 tuners.

Cable companies aren't likely to want to invest in wider bandwidth channels or all new 4K ready cable boxes. That leaves internet streaming, but for 4K to really succeed networks like HBO, Showtime etc, and their streaming networks will have to adopt 4K in a big way. As for 8K pipedreams I don't see that taking off as anything other than an upscaler for smoothly displaying 4K picture on a 100-150" plus display.

Between DOCSIS 3.1 and HEVC - Cable should have sufficient tech for 4k even today if they would spend cash (ok, LOTS OF Cash), but I could see even bigger issue would be back compatibility and new STB replacement/adoption.

 

[sholling]

I think Auto LP player (and I won't believe, but I actually seen one in RL) by large part belong in it's own category of EPIC Failures, I mean really - the idea must looked stupid even before it reached the stage of the first time it was written down.

The technology of the day was limited to LP or reel to reel and prerecorded reel to reel was sparse and very expensive. Besides I doubt that many people drove around with their LP changers spinning. My guess is that they listened to the radio unto they reached "lover's lane" and then parked "to listen to records" . I know this because in my misspent teens I spent many an evening parked "listening to 8 tracks".

Just like Laser LP players , 4k Broadcast are real thing and not just in Japan. Even here in US and A - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_3.0

I'm surprised because when HD licenses were first issued the amount of bandwidth issued to each station was based on 1x1080i, or 1x720P plus 2 SD channels - the choice of configuration was up to the broadcasters. I was not aware that that same amount of bandwidth would support both 4k and 1080p.

Consumer electronics need the NEXT BIG THING to push people to buy same things (but with newer tech) all over again. 3D was supposed to be IT, but due to tech limitations and crappy implementation, it failed ofcourse.

When your new technology requires your customers to wear goofy looking and uncomfortable glasses it's doomed to failure.

So 4k/UHD is the thing nowadays, even though by large since demise of plasma TVs

Thank you for reminding me. By Gene's Betamax standards plasma was a colossal flop. Beta was technically superior to VHS yet lost the video tape war and disappeared after several years.

That said - you do have a one major point. The transition to digital broadcast TV was very long, very expensive and very painful for many with older TV sets. ASTC 3.0 would really cause similar pains unless 4k broadcast would be fully backward compatible with existing ASTC 1.0 tuners.

Well we won't be going back to 1080P panels simply because the 4K panels are finally just about as cheap. Since streaming is destined to become king (over discs) 4K is relying on Netflix and Amazon producing lots and lots of original 4K content and licensing new movies in 4K. As for cable, the big bright spot is FIOS. Verizon and Frontier's fiber optic to the home networks already have plenty of bandwidth to host a couple of hundred 4K channels, plus 1080P channels, plus SD channels, plus gigabit internet to the home. They'd likely just charge you $100 "deposit" plus a monthly rental fee for a 4K STB. That covers their costs and provides a tidy income stream, however it still won't have any 4K content until the cable networks start providing 4K programming.

Cable companies don't have that much bandwidth but could just stream 4k instead of 1080P and SD and let brand new cable boxes downgrade 4K to 1080P or SD for customers without 4K TVs. The downside is buying and renting out all new STBs and a lack of 4K content to sell.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

@sholling well, HEVC is about 50% more efficient over AVC so you downgrade AVC bitrate by half and use other half for HEVC - why not. Boost HEVC once transition is done or more likely just shove in more channels.
I could tell you than NYC area analog FM radio stations got significantly worse in audio quality and reception since into of "HD" radio stations. Coincidence?

edit:
Original ASTC was designed to use mpeg2 aka H.262 and in 2008 upgraded to include h.264/AVC.
Not sure how many station switched to AVC, but here's a visual guide clearly shows that avc provides 60% savings of bitrate compared to MPEG2. So switching from mpeg2 to HEVC should provide about 80% savings so nothing to sneeze about.

 

[highfigh]

Really? I haven't really dealt with too many defective cables. HDMI is fantastic. Electronics manufacturers who decide to implement its uses in conflicting ways however, are not. See: ARC and CEC. Awesome idea. Often poorly implemented. It COULD be good if everybody was simply on the same page. That's not HDMI's fault, though.

Do you do this for a living? If not, you're unlikely to see the problems in the same numbers and variety.

Simply? There's no simple about it.

 

[highfigh]

What types of issues do you have?
The only problem I have had HDMI is many of the cables do not make a positive physical connection (snap into place) and they tend to come loose more frequently than other cables if I am shifting stuff around behind the AVR/BD.

Where to start, where to start.....

I have had the same problems you mentioned, as well as cables that just stopped working without being touched in my system and those of others. Pink screen when Netflix started using a Roku- replaced it and it was fine. Then, I got a call from a customer for the same issue and it was the same kind of cable, so I replaced it and collected all of the cables of that brand, bagged them and returned them to my supplier. I may have been a bit forceful- he looked scared. However, when return trips cost me money to replace cables that weren't touched and there's no way I'm going to bill them for it, it makes me mad. I had to replace another one last October- it was a Key Digital Redmere cable and first, it worked its way out of the projector, even though there was no tension and it was firmly attached to he lift to make everything move as a unit. Got a text on a Saturday night that they had a house full of kids and they wanted to watch a movie- they had sound but no video, regardless of the source. It came on when she touched the cable and worked for a couple of months until the whole family was up there and it stopped again, without being resolved. Hubby (who pays the bills) wasn't happy, I was pissed (because once again, it was a weekend night) and then, when I went to buy a replacement at one of my suppliers, was told that the older Redmere cables don't work with 4K and I had replaced the original AV preamp and HDMI switch with a new AVR that's 4K capable, but it had been turned off. Had to buy two 35' cables- one active and one passive, just to cover my butt and the best part- this place is 3 hours from home. Fortunately, I had installed flexible conduit and pulling a new cable was easy.

Fortunately for me, this isn't a new client and the other work I had done wasn't full of the same kinds of problems but the night he called, I reminded him of what I said when I was installing the first system for them and he asked if I would be using HDMI- "No- I won't use that until they fix all of the problems or I have no choice". Here we are, eleven years later- I have no choice and they haven't fixed the problems. In fact, their continuing to force it to do more, faster has just created new and different problems; ARC and CEC among them.

I was introduced to someone who has a large house with lots of AV equipment and he said he wanted to watch Netflix. Not knowing he had a Roku laying around but knowing he was still using a DVD player, I said a new BluRay player might work and since he had a Sony, staying with that brand would be easy because they don't change their command codes. Yeah, well.....it worked fine...until a few hours after I left, when the video went out. Audio was OK for a while, then that stopped, too. He said he has a small TV, so I walked him through changing the resolution, but that didn't work. I went back and set up my TV, went through the settings and found that HDMI control, CEC, ARC and 5K had been turned off, but Deep Color was still on. That one thing is a common cause of problems and it was hidden pretty deep in the menu. Once the video returned, we discussed the problem with the TV- it has a vertical line that's one row wide, coming down the center of the screen- it's over ten years old, so he said he's willing to replace it and I asked about the cabling. That wasn't in conduit and it has an HDMI coupler that's not accessible. Kinda screwed- if he upgrades any of the system, it's likely that he'll have problems- if he doesn't, I'll be very surprised.

I'd list others, but it would take too long. The installer's forum I use has these same problems- I'm far from the only one and most of us have decades of experience pulling and handling cabling, so we know we can't treat this stuff like a farm animal.

 

[highfigh]

Betamax, DIVX, Sony mini-disc, DVD-A and SACD, and to a lesser extent Laser Disc and 3D were commercial failures because they were never widely accepted by the public. DAT was always a niche product.

Atmos is still too soon to tell but like surround-high and surround-wide will probably just be a niche product. Something for homes and apartments were placing highs and wides isn't practical.

Will 4K be next? 8K? Let's ponder that question for a minute. It's unlikely that broadcast channels will ever broadcast 4k content. They lack the bandwidth for both 4K and backward compatibility with 1080I/P TVs and many will be content to just keep broadcasting 720p. Cable companies aren't likely to want to invest in wider bandwidth channels or all new 4K ready cable boxes. That leaves internet streaming, but for 4K to really succeed networks like HBO, Showtime etc, and their streaming networks will have to adopt 4K in a big way. As for 8K pipedreams I don't see that taking off as anything other than an upscaler for smoothly displaying 4K picture on a 100-150" plus display.

Worldwide, Beta was even with VHS but it was the porn industry in the US that created your perception- you saw more VHS because they were offered by more companies but the rest of the world didn't buy these because they offered 180 minutes on one tape, they based their purchase on the video quality which is better on Beta. There's a reason the news media use Beta (still)- it looks better. Industrial 1/2" videotape was mostly Beta or 3/4" tape, with some use of VHS but if you see a news crew, look at the cameras and you'll still see the big B on the side in many cases. VHS was an inferior format and that never changed. However, this is America, where Quantity is King.

Who knows what will happen with Atmos? I haven't installed it, none of my clients have asked for it and to do it right, it only makes sense in new construction or a remodel unless it's in an attic ceiling.

WRT 4K, don't expect it to be the main resolution for long- they have already shown 8K at the video conventions in Japan and if you watch the videos of Foxconn & Wisconsin's press conference about plans to build a 2 million ft² plant in the SE part of the state, they have a big TV in the background with a sign that has 8K on it. That means ISPs will have to step up in a hurry because 4K HDR/full color requires much higher frequencies than we can pass now and the longest cables I have seen for that are less than 15' long. For cables over 20', copper wire doesn't even work and as soon as 8K comes out, the length of what works will be reduced, making existing cabling obsolete. Spectrum, which bought some Time Warner areas, is now providing 100Mbps as their lowest, which is a good start- Time Warner really dragged their feet on improving their performance. Unfortunately, most of their tech and customer support staff stayed where they were.

 

[sterling shoote]

DAT coming to US for consumer use was delayed over recording industry concern for piracy. When it finally arrived with SCMS, Sony was the only entity as I recall producing pre-recorded media for the format. Of course, pre recorded music was never the highlight of DAT, the reason consumers liked it was it permitted playlists to be made from CDs which sounded better than playlists recorded to compact cassettes. But, for the most part, it was just useful in home use, as, although a Lincoln/Mercury automobile customer could order a factory installed DAT Player, those units could not function in certain outdoor environments that could accommodate compact cassette. Each of these scenarios hindered DAT. Yet, until the advent of MP3 along with a means to email those files, DAT ruled in broadcast studios across the globe, removing all evidence of 1/4 inch reel to reel. It offered cassette convenience, speed, edit accuracy, fidelity, and in some cases, time-code, and memory start for post production and even mastering excellence. I was so pleased with the DAT concept I purchased a pair of Sony PCM-7010F's back in 1994 or thereabouts, along with a Digital Edit Controller; and, I used the system to archive radio commercials I produced at that time. In the later 1990's DAT became obsolete to computer audio for post production and mastering; but, I kept the Sony PCM-7010F's, which I now use to record internet music which otherwise could not be conveniently downloaded. I'm glad I have this capability now that the consumer electronics industry has effectively made it impossible for folks to make stereo recordings as they at one time could with CD, DVD, and DAT Recorders which had RCA, IEC 958 and/or optical S/PDIF inputs.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Spectrum, which bought some Time Warner areas, is now providing 100Mbps as their lowest, which is a good start- Time Warner really dragged their feet on improving their performance. Unfortunately, most of their tech and customer support staff stayed where they were.

Minor corrections - speed is UP TO 100Mbps. Tech support gotten worse and many ex-TW cable customers seen their cable bill raisen significantly with Spectrum.

 

[sterling shoote]

SACD is not a failure in my opinion nor is it obsolete. Only those who do not have it, or those that do not know of it might have an impression it's obsolete if they have any impression at all; but, for multi-channel 5.1 music it is the defacto standard still today. There are problems however. SACD players today are for the most part Stereo only, or they are universal players which can only output multi-channel SACD from HDMI. If you do not have a modern pre/pro you can not therefore enjoy multi-channel SACD. Now, back when SACD came out, I purchased a player and went to a store in my area to buy some SACD media. The store had no SACDs and in fact, after running around town to find another store having SACD media, any media, I only found one store and only one SACD in that store, Miles Davis "Some Kind of Blue" hybrid disc. This recording did not impress but others later did. I do not think I was the only one at the time that had such an experience, little media out there and sound quality that could not be discerned as sounding better than CDs folks did not trade up to SACD from CD. At any rate, SACD is today "audiophile" for sure as SACD only players out there today are Stereo only and cost over a grand for the least expensive.

 

[sterling shoote]

Minor corrections - speed is UP TO 100Mbps. Tech support gotten worse and many ex-TW cable customers seen their cable bill raisen significantly with Spectrum.

Time Warner was supporting up to 300Mbps in my area. Now, being sold to Charter operating under Spectrum banner, I get up to 100Mbps at $44.99 a month for basic internet. BTW, speed checks usually show download rate at an average of 9 to 28Mbps.

 

[highfigh]

Minor corrections - speed is UP TO 100Mbps. Tech support gotten worse and many ex-TW cable customers seen their cable bill raisen significantly with Spectrum.

Right, but I have seen 117M in speed tests. Their speed has been a bit more consistent lately, which is good now that more people are streaming and the margin between good enough and Nope! is wider. To be fair, some of the tech support people I have talked with were pretty good but CS screwed up pretty badly on one job. I got the frantic call asking what I did when it turns out that the woman at the counter associated the gateway I returned with the account, which made the internet stop working and that took out her alarm, Nest thermostats and Nest cameras. Since I was the last one to touch the house, I was the 'logical' person to see as responsible.

I got one customer to switch to Spectrum and the bill is about $5 more, per month. Not bad for 3x the speed. OTOH, the TW installer who replaced their gateway didn't bother to check the settings, so the security cameras weren't viewable and their internet worked terribly because they have their own router and the old gateway was set up in Bridge mode with NAT disabled.

 

[highfigh]

SACD is not a failure in my opinion nor is it obsolete. Only those who do not have it, or those that do not know of it might have an impression it's obsolete if they have any impression at all; but, for multi-channel 5.1 music it is the defacto standard still today. There are problems however. SACD players today are for the most part Stereo only, or they are universal players which can only output multi-channel SACD from HDMI. If you do not have a modern pre/pro you can not therefore enjoy multi-channel SACD. Now, back when SACD came out, I purchased a player and went to a store in my area to buy some SACD media. The store had no SACDs and in fact, after running around town to find another store having SACD media, any media, I only found one store and only one SACD in that store, Miles Davis "Some Kind of Blue" hybrid disc. This recording did not impress but others later did. I do not think I was the only one at the time that had such an experience, little media out there and sound quality that could not be discerned as sounding better than CDs. At any rate, SACD is today "audiophile" for sure as the only SACD only players out there today are Stereo only and cost over a grand for the least expensive.

'Kind of Blue' is actually a very good recording- I would look into whether it was remastered, by whom and in what format- it was originally released in stereo and mono but the sound quality was very good, considering the year (1959) it was recorded. Sketches Of Spain was also a very good sounding recording- these were two of the first CDs that were available from CBS when CD players were rolled out.

 

[highfigh]

Time Warner was supporting up to 300Mbps in my area. Now, being sold to Charter operating under Spectrum banner, I get up to 100Mbps at $44.99 a month for basic internet. BTW, speed checks usually show download rate at an average of 9 to 28Mbps.

Reboot your router- it should help the speed. Seriously.

 

[Montucky]

Do you do this for a living?

Yes, as a matter of fact.

Where to start, where to start.....
...
...it worked its way out of the projector, even though there was no tension and it was firmly attached to he lift to make everything move as a unit.
...
In fact, their continuing to force it to do more, faster has just created new and different problems; ARC and CEC among them.
...
it's over ten years old, so he said he's willing to replace it and I asked about the cabling. That wasn't in conduit and it has an HDMI coupler that's not accessible. Kinda screwed- if he upgrades any of the system, it's likely that he'll have problems- if he doesn't, I'll be very surprised.

I would argue that most of the problems you mentioned, insanely frustrating as they may be, are less due to HDMI in and of itself, and more due either lesser quality cables, bad implementation of the tech (CEC/ARC), or lousy initial installations (who puts a coupler deep up a wall?!)

As an integrator, I've seen component cables slide off of people's equipment with ease, maybe causing blue to go out. I've seen coax get ruined by a somebody destroying the cable deep somewhere. Those were not the faults of the technologies. They were external factors.

The frustrations you experienced are not only one reason we all believe in conduit, conduit, conduit, but ALSO for longer runs why I love my baluns. Perfect for when a customer upgrades their TVs, but all their gear is centrally located in a rack a mile across the house, but now we don't have to run any new cable in-wall! Just swap out baluns and some cheap little HDMI cables with the latest specs. Some of my best customers who had existing setups with old component cables thankfully had some installers with a little bit of foresight and ran everything via Cat5e. Made for an easy upgrade!

And that's just it. With a bit of forethought, good quality cables, only using CEC/ARC when the gear allows for it to work seamlessly (which is rare), and the ability to upgrade easily, I have just not found HDMI to be near the headache that many others have found it to be.

FWIW, I have entirely switched over to Snap AV's "Binary" brand cables. They have those little prongs on the cable heads so I've never, ever had a cable slip loose. Excellent customer care too.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Time Warner was supporting up to 300Mbps in my area. Now, being sold to Charter operating under Spectrum banner, I get up to 100Mbps at $44.99 a month for basic internet. BTW, speed checks usually show download rate at an average of 9 to 28Mbps.

I didn't mean in way of their top tier package, I mean if you subscribe to 100Mbps plan your internet speed is UP TO 100mbps, not guaranteed 100mbs.

 

[TechHDS]

I am not convince curved TVs are on their way out. My youngest Son has 65" 4K Samsung curve, with a very good processor in it. When sitting in the sweet spot it Is an immersive experience! I was not convinced that a curved TV can give you a more immersive experience viewing until we where watching a live NFL game. The flow was impressive, especially with the overhead cam viewing when it would Pan the field behind the offensive line the sweeping motion was awesome gave a wrap around view so to speak.

 

[sterling shoote]

'Kind of Blue' is actually a very good recording- I would look into whether it was remastered, by whom and in what format- it was originally released in stereo and mono but the sound quality was very good, considering the year (1959) it was recorded. Sketches Of Spain was also a very good sounding recording- these were two of the first CDs that were available from CBS when CD players were rolled out.

Hey highfigh, I hope to get the Mobile Fidelity remastered vinyl, I have not heard any other than the hybrid SACD which was produced I think back in 1997 by Sony. It sounds like someone scratching their fingernails on a chalk board. It makes me not want to hear a trumpet again. Others, many others, gave this particular SACD very, very bad review. Now, I've got to tell ya, I am not a Miles Davis fan, I got that particular album as I was looking for an SACD, any SACD, and that one happened to be the only one in town. My interest in Jazz and Bop today is all about, Scott Hamilton, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, John Coletrain, and Bill Evans. I also like Grover Washington and Diana Krall---CD, SACD, Vinyl, AAC and ALAC. It's all good. I think the Saxophone and piano is just a delight where as the trumpet just does not deliver the "chill" I want to enjoy.

 

[highfigh]

I'm going to address these points separately, to make the context easier to see.

I would argue that most of the problems you mentioned, insanely frustrating as they may be, are less due to HDMI in and of itself, and more due either lesser quality cables, bad implementation of the tech (CEC/ARC), or lousy initial installations (who puts a coupler deep up a wall?!)

The homeowner did that over ten years ago, having read that it was OK. It wasn't a matter of being cheap, it was a matter of A) he's able to to it, B in interested him and C) he likes doing that kind of thing. The problem is that nobody knew what would be coming from HDMI ten years later.

When I was there the last time, I replaced an HDMI in one of the systems because it just wasn't passing video. I think it was Munster, but I don't remember now- might have been one of the cheapo cables used by the satellite installer.

The long one I had to replace was from Key Digital. The fact that it failed was bad enough but when I called to find out what I should do abut it, their CS told me it had been disco'd more than four years before. The problem there is that I had bought it less than three years before the install and ADI sold it as a good product. Key Digital doesn't want to cover it, even though their warranty was three years at that time. The last e-mail I received from them was from the national training manager- here's a quote-

"If you are concerned about replacing a wire in-wall you may consider removing the HDMI heads and terminating with CAT6 STP RJ45 head as there are 4 individually shielded pairs (among other wires) inside of the Key Digital HDMI cable.

After terminating, you can use the cable with HDBaseT extenders. Our current recommended part is the KD-X222".

Oh, so I'm supposed to cobble this together and use something that sells for $300 (and charge the client), with no guarantee that it will work reliably?

As an integrator, I've seen component cables slide off of people's equipment with ease, maybe causing blue to go out. I've seen coax get ruined by a somebody destroying the cable deep somewhere. Those were not the faults of the technologies. They were external factors.

I saw that, too- usually because whoever made the connections didn't make sure they were snug and nothing was pulling on the cables. I have seen a lot of cables pulled tightly over the edge of lumber, stapled through, pounded on (Romex staples), huge bundles with all of the weight hanging and unsupported, cable ties pulled incredibly tight with signs that a pliers was used to break the old ones. Romex staples to hold HDMI and Category cabling in place are my favorite.

The frustrations you experienced are not only one reason we all believe in conduit, conduit, conduit, but ALSO for longer runs why I love my baluns. Perfect for when a customer upgrades their TVs, but all their gear is centrally located in a rack a mile across the house, but now we don't have to run any new cable in-wall! Just swap out baluns and some cheap little HDMI cables with the latest specs. Some of my best customers who had existing setups with old component cables thankfully had some installers with a little bit of foresight and ran everything via Cat5e. Made for an easy upgrade!

Ever use Spectrum baluns? I did, once. Didn't work at the BD players highest res, which is 1080p, to a Panasonic V series plasma through a Denon AVR. The total length to the TV is over 60' and the install was done in about 2011, so I installed 2" conduit and plenty of cables. I dumbed it down to 720 and it worked. I'll post a photo of the paper they included, with the instructions, later. Total joke. When I returned to my place later, I found a card from a distributor with an offer for a free pair of extenders and all I had to do is call to talk about their products. Worked perfectly and it's still there- not a single problem, out of the box. If I need to add/replace cables in ALL of my installs, I have always used conduit because I do mostly return business and referrals, so I assume I'll be the one doing future work.

And that's just it. With a bit of forethought, good quality cables, only using CEC/ARC when the gear allows for it to work seamlessly (which is rare), and the ability to upgrade easily, I have just not found HDMI to be near the headache that many others have found it to be.

FWIW, I have entirely switched over to Snap AV's "Binary" brand cables. They have those little prongs on the cable heads so I've never, ever had a cable slip loose. Excellent customer care too.

I use their cables, too- not exclusively because I don't carry a huge inventory, but I have used a lot of their items and the extenders I mentioned before (the ones that worked) came from Snap. I buy fill-in parts from a few places here and mostly use Vanco HDMI because they're thin & won't push lightweight equipment off the shelf, their flexibility prevents excessive strain on the cable end and port and because a lot of their shorter cables have the Sure Fit end, which is a lot more secure. I agree- Snap's CS is very good- some of the tech support questions I have had were a bit tough, though.

I have used CEC once, on my bedroom TV, coupled to a Roku. Aside from that, I haven't needed it because none of my clients need it and with remote controls that can perform macros, I want to avoid things that cause problems.

Are you on RC?

 

[highfigh]

Hey highfigh, I hope to get the Mobile Fidelity remastered vinyl, I have not heard any other than the hybrid SACD which was produced I think back in 1997 by Sony. It sounds like someone scratching their fingernails on a chalk board. It makes me not want to hear a trumpet again. Others, many others, gave this particular SACD very, very bad review. Now, I've got to tell ya, I am not a Miles Davis fan, I got that particular album as I was looking for an SACD, any SACD, and that one happened to be the only one in town. My interest in Jazz and Bop today is all about, Scott Hamilton, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, John Coletrain, and Bill Evans. I also like Grover Washington and Diana Krall---CD, SACD, Vinyl, AAC and ALAC. It's all good. I think the Saxophone and piano is just a delight where as the trumpet just does not deliver the "chill" I want to enjoy.

Check out the original Columbia CD- it's pretty smooth-sounding. I began to hate trumpet when Maynard Ferguson was trying to hit the highest notes but a few local players, including the track I posted in another thread, don't annoy my ears. I like Brian Lynch's tone, a lot.

I think CBS remastered most of the first CDs, and they only released 25 in the beginning, but so much of the next ones were made using the master for vinyl, which doesn't work. Conversely, using the CD master to make a new LP is easily as bad- bad mastering was frequent enough without adding to the problem. I listened to a bunch of LPs last weekend and some sounded pretty bad- they were never abused, they just never sounded very good. Others were OK and several sounded really, really good. I never replaced all of my vinyl, mainly because a lot of my LPs weren't available on CD until fairly recently because they weren't big sellers on vinyl and because I had stopped playing LPs for a while (used an AVR- none had a real phono section for several years and I use MC cartridges), so the majority of my LPs are in excellent condition. Never was a user of liquids to clean them when there wasn't anything holding the dust on the surface.