A fair Majority
January’s videos continue with this review of a modern day HiFi tuner - a bit of a 'jack of all trades'.
The start of a year is always a transitional period - but 2020 has so far handed out more than a reasonable amount of time-sapping off-camera disruption and distraction.
There's nothing of any concern, but it's all just come at once. Car trouble, house alarm trouble, end of year accounts, Birthdays, doctors etc. Each of these things nabs a day or an afternoon or two here and there and before I know it, I've lost a week.
I'm sure things will settle down soon and then I'll miss all the 'excitement' - but in the meantime somehow in between all this nonsense I managed to make a video.
After I get a couple more videos finished, I aim to do a bit of a Patreon update, just to check in properly with everyone.
Comments (49)
It has that 'Binatone' vibe going
Are you working through the back catalogue today?
This is just a typical Frontier Silicon based device. Lots of cheap to midrange radios essentially are the same device with this exact user interface.
This is a good review. I'm not quite sure why this product exits. It has no amplification stage so you need to wire it to an amp or powered speakers. Anyone can do way more with a phone and a bluetooth speaker. Regardless Techmoan did excellent job and I respect the effort.
That was my reaction too. Ten years ago, my Internet radio was my favourite gadget (I used it for podcasts and BBC on-demand programmes) and I'd have loved something like this. Mat has done a great job as always
Huh. On the second view, I happened to catch the 222.064 MHz on one of the DAB screens. I had no idea that the UK was using "Band III" specifically for DAB. Fascinating! In googling around, I see that some of the streams also end up on MW and VHF (Band II) as DAB (and analog?). Again, news to me ... and I try to follow that stuff! In the USA (ITU Region 2, really), TV still occupies most of Band III but there is a bit with marine and land mobile as well as the 1.25-m amateur band. There is very little commercial amateur gear for that band precisely because neither Region 1 (youse guys) nor Region 3 (Asia, mostly, and importantly, Japan) have amateur allocations at 222 MHz. I love your videos *and* I learn stuff *and* I get my name in the credits! :-D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_Region
I saw the UI of the Majority and instantly had to think of the Radio I bought my mum a couple of years ago. It was an AUNA Connect 120 and it has the same issues and infact same looking Interface. It seems that some OEM makes radio/dab/internet boards with a display.
The name 'Majority Fitzwilliam' sounds like a 1960s super-spy - with over twenty confirmed kills under her belt. Eek. (Nice video!)
Excellent review as always. Mat. If the new black version 2 corrects some of the issues you found, I would not be surprised if you are offered one free after that. It would be interesting to see what's changed.
I don't think I'd want to try another - this wasn't the most fun I've had making a video. It's a bit of a dull device all things considered. I doubt whether there will be enough interest from the viewers either. It's always worth a try - but not everything works out.
This thing reminds me of the old Audiotron from 2001, but with a slightly nicer screen. This thing is complete junk though and a million miles from “hi-if”
Superb timing. I started getting into internet radio a few days ago and recently started thinking about this. For my main hi-fi there is an Apple TV so I will access the iHeart Radio through that. If I ever split out my audio stuff from the main tv area, I will need a separate ‘deck’ such as this. I’m still looking into something for the bedside though - lots of promising stuff from Grace Digital and Ocean Digital. Would be awesome if you took a look at those products one of these days.
Yes there are a lot of internet radios out there, many at very reasonable prices. After my experience with this though I’ll be a bit wary before buying the cheaper ones as I suspect they use a common chipset. This would likely result in a very similar user experience...and that wouldn’t be a good thing.
Looking at the albums of yours on your iTunes library, is that the double-CD BBC Radiophonic Workshop album released about a decade ago? That "Dance From Noah" by Delia Derbyshire still strikes me as an incredibly futuristic piece for the time. Almost techno in places.
I’m not sure - I don’t really remember what many of the albums are in my library. I often wonder if everyone has a similar lack of connection with their own past as myself. I think if I were to add it all together I’d have about ten minutes of memories from the last twenty years.
The UK based company has to just be a front for a Chinese manufacturer, just the spelling of 'analog' makes me suspicious. Not bad for the price you paid, though, and it's good to see that (according the manual you showed) it supports MMP3 for its later upgrade to enzyme synthesizer.
The menus look the same as my Roberts 83i, however, the Roberts main screen scrolls titles faster. We use the dial on the radio to rapidly go through menus. The UNDOK App (on a phone) controls the radio and far easier and quicker for browsing than using the remote. We just use the remote for basic controls such as standby, volume and presets.
WEFUNK is a descent internet radio channel I've stumbled upon. Mostly old school hip hop/funk/soul.
I'll look into it, thanks.
I don’t know why but Matt sounds very much like James May in this video,and l never thought that before.Perhaps a bit of a cold has effected is voice or something,as the video goes by the familiarity is less.
I have a problem where my voice changes significantly over the course of a day. I always have to make sure that any subsequent re-recordings of any sections done on a different day have to still be done at the same general time of day as the originals otherwise they really stand out.
Another thing perhaps worth noting, the "cryptic" bluetooth codec display does reveal that it's using SBC, the default "fallback" codec. That shows that it doesn't support AAC, which makes it slightly less than ideal for iPhones, which don't support aptX.
This flashed by very quickly but I thought I'd mention it: I use a tool called "CleanMyDrive2" on my Mac to eject USB sticks - it removes all of those "dot" files when you do, so you don't end up with all those extra tiny files that start with "._". It's in the App Store.
Thanks for the tip.
12W (6V @2A) device and they insist on powering it via a barrel plug and crappy external power supply (it looked ready to catch fire in your hand). I hate when manufacturers do that. USB is only 20 years old now. Standards exist for a reason. :-/
It's these kind of devices that keep me on using analog tape and records... Too complicated, too many options, but no better reliability and sound quality... But thanks for the video Matt, and no problem if there is a short time less activity here! Wish you good luck with all the troubles!
You'll be able to bend it back flat again without much force. Did you try plugging a keyboard into the USB? If the car problem is smart related, you know how to get hold of me.
I didn’t try anything other than what was in the video - it’s back in its box now, probably never to emerge. Thanks for the car offer, however on this occasion the Mini has been having a new replacement wiring harnesses and safety camera system fitted by the dealers. That’s not a dash cam - it’s the one that reads road signs and looks out for pedestrians. The camera just died and threw up three warning messages that each needed clearing individually every time the car was started. When I took it in they discovered the wiring harness had swollen up - so they spent three days replacing that and then discovered that the camera was faulty - which of course is why I took it in. Then they had to order the camera from Germany and for some silly reason they didn’t order it at the start - so I’ve been without the car for a week. The only good news is that it’s covered under a warranty - otherwise I’d be looking at a £3k bill.
The screen/menus etc. all look like the Roberts Stream94I radio - seems like 'Majority' might be the budget name for Roberts Radios?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s76CxC5agbE Yup, checked my Roberts radio last night - the Majority radio reviewed, its menu system and majority of features are the same. So either Majority is Roberts Radios budget brand now OR they just use the same innards from a supplier
A device like this really needs an app to control it. Otherwise, it surprising to see that many features for a relatively small price. Unfortunately, it seems Majority realised this as well.
Well, it's good to know that even a You Tube star such as you has to contend with the frustrations of everyday life. I notice you didn't appear in person (only your hands - or maybe you have a stunt hand double?) I hope everything is ok and settles down for you soon. Good video, 'meh' product. Even at £65 I'm not sure it's all that desirable. But you very nicely demonstrate all the functions and features - it looks like long experience of getting questions like 'but what does the alarm buzzer actually sound like?' have taught you to show literally everything!
It’s easier and a lot quicker not to appear in the videos as that takes considerably more setting up. Often it’s not necessary either - especially with something like this. I’m not in the next video either - although the one after that I aim to appear in because I need to demonstrate something to camera. That’s if it works. ...and you’re bang on about the alarm sound, things like that and the sleep timer and Bluetooth playback were added while I was editing because you just know someone would ask.
Seems very similar to my OceanDigital device, still available at £99 https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FXHT1SK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1 bought to complement my office setup, hooks to my DLNA NAS, allows me to listen to a friends online radio station "oldies online" and bluetooth/3.5mm - works well, haven't really tried any other features
The user interface reminds me a lot of Chinese made stuff. It's like they design the UI in a lab and prove that "it works" but never actually use it outside of the lab and thus you get stuck with all of these annoying behaviors.
Don't worry about the video releases. Problems often tend to occur together. It's like they would have a meeting together and come to an agreement for a specific day or a week to make you happy. 5.9V for the DC input is a weird choice. Will it explode with 6V power supply? The scrolling is terrible, with a long text, you'll probably have to pause the track. Voice control on the remote would be neat to choose the different tracks, or over an app on the smartphone.
I've owned the same TOTL Technics tuner since I bought it new in 1977 or so. I bet I've used it less than 10 times in the 40+ years I've had it. Mostly because I live too far away from anywhere to use it without an external antenna, but I really don't have much use for radio anyway. The cars came with free Sirius for a bit when new, but the streaming quality was so bad I couldn't tolerate it. I was interested for a bit on a Sony XDR-F1HD, because I had heard HD AM in my car and was impressed enough to give that a try. By the time I decided to take the plunge, Sony had discontinued the model, and the prices for used one were (and still are) ridiculous. So, no soup for me.
I rarely listen to the radio at home. I often feel like I should do - but then again there’s always something else more pressing to attend to.
I know what you mean! Sooner or later everything calms down. No Sun in the sky? The stars are not so bad afterall.
Why is it that no hifi equipment nowadays has a Bass and Treble control on the front anymore? Do people really not care about sound quality anymore? Oh well... What do you expect for GBP 65. Maybe for the upgraded price they can do a software update? Or two? Anyway, looks like a nice versatile device, and I would like the black one better (though not GBP 60 better). Thanks for posting!
Mat, I'm wondering if you (or any of your patrons) could give me some advice, maybe you have come across just the thing I am looking for. I want a Digital Audio Player that I can leave permanently attached to my stereo, that would be user friendly and contain about 50 gig of music. I am currently using an old android phone (attached via line in) but have to keep remembering to charge it. I could leave it connected to the charger but I'm afraid that leaving something containing a battery plugged in permanently would be bad for it. Also most phones have the charger port and line out on opposite sides, which makes it awkward to pick up and use. Have you used anything that might work in this case?
You might remember that I use a Sony HAP-S1 on my stereo for this purpose. It’s now a discontinued product though. It was expensive too. I can’t recall what country you’re in, but in the UK you can get devices from Brennan that do a similar thing - e.g. https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/b2specification
An interesting device, Matt, but is the DAB standard for FM broadcast radio useless in the USA?
There are no DAB broadcasts in the US, instead the USA gets things like Sirius, and HD Radio that the UK doesn’t have. DAB is also used in a lot of other countries besides the UK.
The interface / features bares a striking resemblance to the Roberts Radio Stream93i. After googling "dab fm spotify interface" there are few interfaces which look very simalar. Tempted to think it a generic off the self component
I thought that too, Paul (I've also got a 93i) - Surely (and i've not watched all the video yet) it should work with the UnDok app on iPhone/Android - I use this on mine, and it makes it easier to operate..Might be worth a look, Matt!
Bummer...not available in the U.S., but still pretty cool.
No worries Mat, hope everything calms down a bit for you soon!