computergeek92 wrote:

I recently got back into using mini-cassette recorders cause I love the simplicity and that for what I use it for, (memos or reminders) I don't mind the low audio quality

If it's low quality memos and reminders what you're recording, might as well use a keyring mp3 player from a dollar store, and you won't find yourself lost when the tapes finally wear out into a bunch.

computergeek92 wrote:

I actually enjoy how old school any digital song can sound when you play it through a cassette recorder! 80's pop songs sound even better when re-recorded on cassettes in my opinion

Anything analog's inherently superior, provided it's recorded on high quality media, but the quality is not going to increase by going from digital to analog, though you can preserve it to some degree by keeping it analog (e.g. vinyl to cassette). Surely a worn out tape or a cheap recorder may muffle off some of the high freq roughness, but you can do that with virtually any built in stereo eq and it will sound just as "better".

computergeek92 wrote:

I used to use cassette tapes for recording little events in my life when I was 13, now I'm 22. Ah, Good 'ol days of tech. 😀

20 bucks I have cassettes older than your parents 🤣

computergeek92 wrote:

Why upgrade really when they can still work well enough. Below is my Sony M-530v cassette recorder I bought second hand two years ago. I also went back to watching VHS tapes. Their picture/audio quality does not degrade as fast as most people think. And they are far more durable than any stinkin' DVD media! 😉 I still like DVDs but hate it that newer disks won't play on earlier DVD playersand that they scratch too easy like CDs. They really should have been enclosed the in protective transparent cases. I think pre-release designs were like that though...

Why not use the best of 2 worlds when available? behold the Laserdisc!

Nevermind the relative advantage regarding resolution, most DVD's I own are poorly mastered because of trailers and extra garbage wasting precious bits that could have been used to store higher quality media. Yet, if you take care of them like you're supposed to, they will never look any worse, unlike their analog counterpart.

You simply aren't being careful enough with your stuff. I don't have a single scratch on any of my CD's or DVD's; not one. It's not about having a museum at home, just handle with care, it's not rocket science.

My late 1960's Sony TA-1120 integrated amplifier that I have hooked up to one of my "modern" PCs. It looks and sounds great, and is built like a neutron star.

Early 1970s Dual 1219 turntable hooked up to a mid-70s vintage Marantz 2226 receiver. Sounds very solid and awesome, especially through my Zenith Allegro 2000s (not pictured; also from the early-to-mid-70s).

I have a Pioneer amplifier that was built in the late 70s or early 80s that
was a gift from my uncle. Built like a damn tank, too. I should
probably have it serviced so it will last another 35 years.

The audio source is a PC, but the amplifier isn't.

I think there are quite many modern tech that are non-PC; even something as new as Pass Labs Xs 300 is a non-PC, since it's analog stuff.

I still use a 1970's stereo system, has a cassette deck, 8-track deck, and vinyl record player built in. I also still use a portable Sony Walkman cassette player. I have multiple Sony Trinitron CRT TV's as well, I own multiple SuperVHS VCR's, etc. I'm a "retro" type through and through. 😎

Taking non-PC to mean "not a computer or computer related", I'd say I don't really have all that many things from the past still operating today. There's a Sony FH100W interfaced with generic, modular Philips audio equipment. TV's I've got some, all CRT's and all of them serving there duty exclusively as monitors. VHS' still one left. I also have this phone-fax mammoth from early 90's laying around. My camera's still a MVC-FD75, the wall clock's still analog and the light bulbs remain incandescent as ever.

Chaniyth wrote:

I still use a 1970's stereo system, has a cassette deck, 8-track deck, and vinyl record player built in. I also still use a portable Sony Walkman cassette player. I have multiple Sony Trinitron CRT TV's as well, I own multiple SuperVHS VCR's, etc. I'm a "retro" type through and through. 😎

Very interesting gears. What loudspeakers are you using? My speakers aren't 1970's -they're 1980's.

I still have an answering machine with a micro cassette. Also have a VHS player that still gets used. Oh, and a 1962 phonograph that I play my 78 RPM records on. 😳

The hotel room I stayed in last week in rural SC had a huge 1990s CRT TV. 😀

My dad's hammer would be most likely.

Comtoise clock, 19th century.

A faucet.

On the other hand, when it comes to electronics, a whole lot of what I use is from the past century 😁

mrferg wrote:

My late 1960's Sony TA-1120 integrated amplifier that I have hooked up to one of my "modern" PCs. It looks and sounds great, and is built like a neutron star.

Sutekh94 wrote:

http://i.imgur.com/LO5uie3l.jpg […]
Show full quote

Early 1970s Dual 1219 turntable hooked up to a mid-70s vintage Marantz 2226 receiver. Sounds very solid and awesome, especially through my Zenith Allegro 2000s (not pictured; also from the early-to-mid-70s).

snorg wrote:

I have a Pioneer amplifier that was built in the late 70s or early 80s that
was a gift from my uncle. Built like a damn tank, too. I should
probably have it serviced so it will last another 35 years.

Chaniyth wrote:

I still use a 1970's stereo system, has a cassette deck, 8-track deck, and vinyl record player built in. I also still use a portable Sony Walkman cassette player. I have multiple Sony Trinitron CRT TV's as well, I own multiple SuperVHS VCR's, etc. I'm a "retro" type through and through. 😎

Makes me wonder; why are most non-PC stuff posted here vintage audio gears? Are we closet vintage audiophiles? How many of us are also members of Audiokarma?

My 75 Honda Civic still has the original AM radio and single tin-can speaker that both work, does that count?

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Makes me wonder; why are most non-PC stuff posted here vintage audio gears? Are we closet vintage audiophiles? How many of us are also members of Audiokarma?

I guess I could consider myself somewhat of an audiophile, though I'm not a member of Audiokarma. For the record, I also have a 1985 Sears-branded VHS VCR that I still use once in a blue moon. Unsurprisingly, it works better than my "Magnavox" circa-2008 VCR, which is currently deader than dead.

I played with old photographic and cine gear [mainly 50s/60s/70s stuff] for quite a while, but put most of what I have left away probably 10 years ago. I bought a Kiev 4 recently and got out my old Sverdlovsk 4 meter, but I only got halfway through a reel of film before they got left on the shelf for a month or two now; the old excitement just ain't there.

Only other thing I can think of is the Bullworker I got over 40 years ago for christmas, still works fine - an isotonic/isometric exercise device, sort of souped-up chest-expander. And of course musical instruments.

😊
Betamax

With a risk of being a bit risqué... 🙄