Modern, connected, Micro Hi Fi : Fade to grey - DENON CEOL-N11

[@HansenPL]

Mat you did impossible thing - awesome entertaining video about the dull gray HiFi. I really enjoyed the whole micro HiFi series, thank you.

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

How did you reply to this 4 days ago?

[@batterieman3001]

​@@paulmurgatroyd6372 Patreon Users have early access to his videos

[@wndy7073]

My old Bogen tube amplifier had stereo reverse and phasing controls too, that I have never seen on anything modern to play with either 🥱

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

@@batterieman3001 Makes sense.

[@andrewcollins7783]

A HDMI ARC connection would’ve been handy.

[@padawanmage71]

As someone who loved all those bells and whistles in early 2000s equipment, this device feels like it has no soul 😢

[@awdadwadwad1723]

No volume knob is absolute no-go.

[@goodnightmoon]

+1

[@BrennanYoung]

& physical buttons

[@ericodijk]

I understand, there's a lot of cheap micro systems that do have that. I also think it's a thing that should be on it.

[@skylined5534]

It's nice to have but not a dealbreaker on a system of this size.

[@nipstyler]

Even earlier versions of this only had up and down volume buttons.

[@filmopsfilmops3565]

In the Netherlands we had the Firato exhibition every year from 1950 to 1998, which grew into several very large exhibition spaces in Amsterdam full of hi-fi stereo sound equipment and video equipment. From the cheapest to the most expensive, in short, the golden times, of sound and video equipment, great time to experience. Experienced this first with my father and later with good friends, marveling at a huge amount of equipment

[@anonUK]

Why did it finish in 1998? Was it the then growing dominance of little silver discs for both audio and video?

[@CaptainZuurpruim]

@@anonUK The amount of visitors dropped enormously end of the 90s, so they stopped. I also enjoyed the FIRATO the couple of times I went there. I think I was there with my brother in the early 80s, perhaps even end of 70s. I recall very much the heaps of promotion material I collected for all the nice stuff I saw (I was 10 or so). I remember some brands made life-size foto-prints of some "boomboxes" so that (when you couldn't afford it) you could stick it to your wall and imagine you have one! Good times.

[@austincromwell]

This has been a blast from the past series but I agree, we've culminated in a grey austerity box.

[@markianclark9645]

@@joeylummox7330and Austin..thankfully..fortunately..we have many genres of great music other than so called Pop..which is unpopular to most people i know..i discovered Vocal Trance and Lounge and Chill..and there's always Classical / Soft Rock / 60's 70's 80's / Soul funk / Smooth Jazz / Acid Jazz and so on..i'd settle for Denon's new Austere grey box..does what it claims..pity it doesn't make the tea though..

[@wastelandwanderer3883]

@@joeylummox7330 Agreed! Appropriate for playing odorless, colorless, normalized contemporary music! "A Flower!" 🎶 (If you know, you know! 😉)

[@amac203]

@@joeylummox7330 Yawn. Every generation has had the older generation bemoaning the trajectory of popular music.

[@straightpipediesel]

It's only a grey austerity box because it's the austerity model. The Marantz version is the proper black hi-fi with metal switches and accent lighting.

[@rijjhb9467]

@@amac203 AHHHHH!!! Are you awake now? I tend to agree with you, although I must say that nowadays the music scene is way more fragmented: back in the 90s you had MTv to dictate what was in, but nowadays where does one go to find out what's popular?

[@jeroenk3570]

Funny how that works. Young, pre internet, me dreamed about having all the music in the world at my disposal, but since that's a reality music doesn't feel special any more it became a commodity. In my mind a sound system like this reflects that way of thinking.

[@afberglund2764]

Had that dream too

[@Maroandy323]

Really enjoyed this micro hifi series you've done. Great job as always

[@dashtesla]

I'm curious to see how you could mix new tech with old this looks like a prime candidate for a stack minidisc and that sony tc-s1 deck due to their size. Also I want those sample wav ogg mp3 files by techmoan :D

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

Radio people, lol ! only local stations, why need that ? in relation 'Where you are', Radio 1 !

[@AnonymousCaveman]

It's pretty awesome that CD is still rocking on till this day. Alongside vinyl records and cassette tapes bouncing back.

[@jamesslick4790]

I'm THAT guy who NEVER experienced CDs as a full-on format! ( I have a few..) I was on cassette in 1975 (when the world was all about 8 track!) Held on to cassette until MiniDisc. Then of course, MP3. Reason? I liked to "roll my own". Yeah, I had what the hipsters call vinyl (We just called them records, many records were NYLON and not VINYL!) LOL! (I'm old, born 1962).

[@freeman10000]

Spot on.

[@discopants68]

Why?

[@Mostlyharmless1985]

@@discopants68 Because your music can't really evaporate in a puff of bytes when someone decides storing your music on a server is no longer profitable when you own it on a physical object.

[@PhysicsGamer]

At this point if I like an artist's music it's just easier to buy one of their CDs. The alternatives are really only to find it on KZbin, which is generally easy but gets you a truly appalling audio quality (pretty sure it's gotten *worse* over the last decade, somehow...), or to try and hunt it down on whatever music-focused streaming service that artist's music winds up on. Which means logging in to site after site and trying to search for the song. A rack of CDs is just... so much less of a hassle to deal with.

[@keaton718]

I couldn't give a single toss about micro systems, but I'll watch 100 of these because I want to see what Techmoan thinks of them.

[@lev3k]

"I kept forgetting I was doing a review and just enjoyed the music" is a strong recmmendation.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Wonderful! Thanks for the presentation! That unit reminds me of McDonald's restaurants. In the old days, units and McDonald's used to be colorful and fun, now grey and dull. But still serve a main purpose.

[@IanSlothieRolfe]

Looks like the ideal system to put on your shelf next to all the box files and accountancy manuals.

[@geekdomo]

Waking up at 4am and getting to watch Mat is a great way to start a Saturday.

[@DimaKirivel]

Same thing is with car stereos. In 2000s stereos had some cool displays with some VU-Meters animation, or some cars or dolphins. It was beautiful. And also old stereos feel like they aren't made from cheap plastic

[@macdaniel6029]

My car stereo from 1989 shows the frequency/preset, indicates the tape direction and if the receiption is good enough for stereo. That's all. And it is perfectly fine for me. In the 2000s they had this crap and it was bad, it's just distracting. Today cars have huge 15" screens with too much stuff going on, i hate it.

[@costascostas1760]

​@@macdaniel6029 I agree, plenty of examples from every era of good quality, bad quality, simple, flashy. There is a distinct oversimplification recent years. I can't even tell apart car brands, etc

[@raycreveling1583]

I bought my wife a stereo with the dolphins!

[@karlos543]

​@@raycreveling1583Pioneer used to do dolphins. They made great car stereos.

[@XMarkxyz]

I recently bought a Panasonic SC-PMX92EG-K, coupled with and audio-technica record player, as a group gift to a friend, we tested it toghether and it is a great little thing: very good audio quality and great output power (60 Watts per speaker) without distorsions, also it has as many inputs as you want for a modern hi-fi, also it looks great, great materials (metal and wood), it has its fair weight, real knobs/controls, and the grill covers of the speakers are removable

[@AnonymaxUK]

It'd be so cool to have an interview with someone involved in designing these systems, particularly those older ones which were laiden with whimsical features. I'd love to know how those features managed to make it into the product, as my feeling is that engineers just created little features on their own and brought them to the table, and they were just thrown in.

[@Lilyofthevalley252]

Techmoan, you are so relatable, everytime you make a point i go "THIS, THIS IS IT". Physical buttons > touch controls, removable plugs > non removable plugs ect.

[@chrisridesbicycles]

This is the perfect solution if your parent‘s old stereo from the 90s is broken. It might seen „dull“ but at least your mom does not call you on a Sunday morning at 7am and says that the radio is „broken“ because she accidentally activated a stupid EQ preset. Very well done, Denon.

[@JernejVirag]

I found Albrecht products to be much better for that - they even support a special mode where they lockout all controls outside the preset/volume/power ones.

[@pear7777]

Actually my 86yo mum bought such a unit, it is teadious to understand the remote and menu, but other way she's happy with it.

[@chrisridesbicycles]

@@pear7777 I would have liked a second, simplified remote, some dedicated memory buttons for the radio and a big volume dial but I guess that was cut by the cost savers.

[@sjefhendrickx2257]

Much to complicated

[@mrtelevision8079]

Your "old" stereo might not have been this old because this does not replace a cassette deck

[@simonroberts7891]

The lack of an ability to search through MP3 tracks kills it for me as I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Really odd that you can't do that.

[@duckcurious3801]

^ this. How it's even possible that such basic functionality is missing just blows my mind. I have never come across an mp3 player of any kind that can't do this. Absolute dealbreaker!

[@FrankieShovels]

Play it in another app and airplay it over

[@skylined5534]

​@@FrankieShovels ^^^This

[@ilya.b]

Same with Dj sets that usually 1-2 hours long, sometimes even longer. If you want to skip several minutes of one particular track you don't like - you stuffed.

[@MetalTrabant]

Maybe they'll add that function with a firmware or app update later on, especially if someone at Denon is a Techmoan fan :)

[@DrDaveW]

Thanks for this mini-series. I've got the older Denon RDCM41DAB, and after seeing this, I'm glad I have. It's got old fashioned things (from 2019) called buttons and dials, and it's construction is that obsolete metal!

[@kidShibuya]

Still think most people should have an AV receiver and some bookshelf speakers. Cheap, supports everything and sounds excellent.

[@theladyfingers___]

A basic 2-channel amp is all you really need. Everything else is just a cheap dongle that usually has app control now.

[@burner8959]

I agree though I'd say spend some money on a good set of speakers and not necessarily new ones. Start with speakers, then fill in with what you can and upgrade as you feel necessary. I am a speaker hoarder though, so I am biased. I think aiming for a particular "sound" that defines some companies like Klipsch, JBL, Wharfedale etc. is a good place to start. It will also give you an idea where to go. I run a usb from my computer into a Schitt dac that then goes into a tube preamp that then feeds an integrated JVC amp from the 70's, into a pair of Klipsch KG 4's. All in I'm at or slightly over the price paid for this Denon system (not including my computer). I also have a cd/dvd player and a cassette player that I had lying around but can also be found for relatively cheap. You can easily make a better system for $500 or less.

[@hermanmunster3358]

​​@@theladyfingers___ If you just want 2ch stereo, then yeah, I agree. But AV receivers can be had for not much more, and will give you far more options, an FM tuner, (Some have DAB) WiFi, depending on model, and HDMI connections to connect your Blu-ray players etc. As well as 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound capability. So an AV receiver is the way to go if you want all that functionality. You can't get a dongle that will power surround sound speakers. But it all depends what you want as an individual I guess.

[@OldSkoolUncleChris]

@@theladyfingers___ almost, add a subwoofer and you are really laughing. Something like a KEF that doesn’t even need a sub out amp!

[@XxmatixX6videosdiariosdenadav]

Av receiver aren't cheap

[@jackrhoadesii2188]

Very well done series on micro Hi-Fis. I am 100% with you when it comes to the excitement factor of the Denon device vs the older models. All that "silliness" was part of the fun of purchasing and enjoying a sound system. PS: Thank you for the years of very entertaining and enjoyable videos!!

[@xiaoka]

I’m loving this series. Do more! 👏

[@Velestar]

You do some of the best and most thorough HiFi videos I've ever watched. Thank you.

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

Thank you for your audio technology addiction, and for allowing all of us to live out our addiction through your excellent videos. :)

[@satanritual2333]

/M/p/$\ /w/$/ /p/$/ /c/p/ /L/r/M/Were involved in me being drugged raped and cut me at the Swindon dental Anaestheticclinic and they Murdereda person therejoanneto/$$oun/

[@keithmockett3810]

we need more fun! As a 66 year old geezer with "essential tremor" and radically reduced dexterity this system means very little to me! I guess what does make me hopeful is there is a growing number of younger folk who do get the appeal of older audio systems! Another great video with some thoughts to takeway! Cheers chum!🧡

[@freeman10000]

"Download an APP, " the product lost me there. There are so many things you need an AAP for nowadays it is bloody annoying. I need an App to open my locker at work; what's wrong with a key? 😕

[@TetsugakuSan]

A keys a bit shit to operate a hi fi though.

[@jarthurs]

Mazda drivers in the US had their head units toasted when a radio station sent out track thumbnails in a JPG format but without the .jpg extension. This sent the head units into a permanent boot loop.

[@kuchenblechmafiagmbh1381]

Sounds familiar to me, here in Germany we're still using FM mostly, DAB was around in the late 2000s but failed and it's scheduled for deactivation, however that date (I don't know) isn't really safe, IMHO they made DAB+ for new sold vehicles far too late mandatory (21st of December 2020). However, the FM stations ususally use RDS for station name, traffic information (my Audi MMI records these in the background) and also radio text for Song, Artist and some further informations, but around ten years ago, some public stations began to insert the songname and artist played at the moment in place of the station name (because cheap and older radios have just plain RDS but no radio text) and this idea itself tbh isn't wrong, but it messes up station lists, although I have an option in my MMI 3G to make the station names static, it's still messed up.

[@pikapomelo]

When I saw the ps5 for the first time, I thought I'd prefer a gray box, but having it in person, at least it isnt boring. Thanks for the video!

[@koghs]

Ps5 IS boring through

[@josenadie]

¡Gracias Mat! Greetings from Mexico. Loved this series on micro HiFi systems. I bought a Denon DT-1 (30 w) from 2018 during the first months of the pandemic at a discount and although it's not as sophisticated as this one, it has physical buttons and it plays less formats (AM/FM , optical, Bluetooth, CD, mp3, analog), I am quite happy with it and mainly use it to enjoy my CDs and listen to the radio or stream music while being in my bedroom. Really appreciated your appreciation (sorry) of stereo sound, since It is one of the reasons i consider this small machine as my "main" music player in the house. Shoutout to any other DT-1 owners here! Love to read your experience with this system.

[@justingalasso1850]

Regardless of the wattage claims though this is still probably one of the best mini systems you can possibly get.

[@a1white]

I thought the 65 watts was the max the speakers could handle as appose to what the system outputted?

[@smartgorilla]

Love some physical buttons

[@BrennanYoung]

that's depressing. I guess the bar is very low these days.

[@BrennanYoung]

​@@smartgorilla imagine being blind and having to use this

[@smartgorilla]

@@BrennanYoung imagine being older too. My solution is to now tipex my mates black button on his pc or tablet or whatever so they don't get confused.

[@Judezki92]

I just got the Denon RCD-M41 for my new micro hifi setup and so far I'm really satisfied, nice crisp sound and enough power to fill a room. This was a great video to watch!

[@OMG_so_Nerdy]

A few years ago I decided to buy the Philips TAM8905/10 system, mostly because I wanted a dedicated setup with a cd player. I must say I am still very pleased with it. It has all the modern stuff, so Spotify Connect, DAB+, Bluetooth and a usb port to read mp3's from a flash drive, but it also has a CD player and an AUX in, so I've got my record player hooked up to that as well. It looks nice, has very decent speakers for the price and with 100W they have some power as well. Just a suggestion for those looking for a nice little micro system with some capability to play cd's and hook up older gear.

[@troyconnolly9053]

Definitely a Philips fan

[@unattributed1641]

Matt, this series has been a great watch. It's great to have this kind of perspective on the history of these products. I think I have a bit of a different perspective on the color choices. The way these systems are designed is a reflection of what people want now... And that is something that disappears when they put it in their living room. They want to turn it on while they do other things: reading, cleaning, working out, or whatever. Which, oddly, happens back to where things started with the Edison phonograph, and later with hifi consoles. They were frequently designed to be pieces of furniture that blended into your living room. You'd turn them on when you wanted to listen to something, typically while you were doing something else, then turn them off and close them when they weren't in use. Anyway, it all just seems to have come full circle in my opinion.

[@MichaelYates]

Thank you for a great 3 part series, your right this unit is very much a plain jane and the others very much eye candy

[@colinsimpkinengineer]

Hi Mat. Just to confirm some of your comments at 13:15ish: Heart North & Mid Wales is indeed in stereo at 40kBps, using the HE-AACv2 algorithm (DAB+). Heart North West is, as you rightly mentioned, at 112kBps joint stereo using the older standard MPEG layer 2 encoding. The infrastructure for the two multiplexes is operated by two different operators, using all different equipment, so there is a likelihood the sound may be 'coloured' by the different technology used, as well as the different encoding algorithms. Both services have exactly the same audio processing applied, so should sound the same up to the point where they are encoded. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work! And look after yourself. 🙂

[@HansenPL]

This Denon is as inspiring as HÅLLBAR Bin with lid, light grey from Ikea

[@Peron1-MC]

hållbar just means durable wich isnt very inspiring either XD

[@djowen5192]

Can't bear a Pioneer 70's stack system with all the neon blue lights. To die for.

[@HandyAndyTechTips]

Well, at least you can still buy a micro system that supports a physical media format :-) Great video and really enjoyed this three part series.

[@joerns485]

Thank you for this great series Matt! It lets me appreciate my hifi setup more and more as time goes by and new stuff pops up. I'm using my now 24 year old Pioneer stereo amp (A-307 R) with my PC as the main sound source. It plays whatever I want in fantastic quality via the 1st generation X-Fi Xtreme Music card, has a 40" full HD colour display and I can connect almost everything to it that I want. There is also an old Pioneer tuner ( F-204RDS) and an old Yamaha tape deck (KX-390) connected to the amp, just in case. I could even connect a record player to it since the amp has a built-in phono pre-amp. I'm glad I bought this stuff over 20 years ago when you could get decent hifi equipment for a reasonable amount of money. And it still works fine!

[@ghostbuttster]

I have the N10 version and have been overall happy with it. Still gets firmware updates. Bluetooth connection has been a bit finicky for my Android phone, but through time I've figured out how to connect quickly (for the most part). Also works with my Logitech Harmony remote. Speakers are okay, I wish the the bass was more distinctive and seperated in the sound, but I guess it's to be expected for a budget set like this. But it gets the job done for my needs :)

[@pdunderhill]

I too have the N10, one useful feature appears when using the Digital inputs, number 1 (TV) is that turning the TV on will wake the Amp from standby and also put it back to sleep when the TV is turned off. Putting the supplies Speakers on stands also improved fidelity.

[@andreasklindt7144]

This devices seems to have the option to connect an additional subwoofer to it, which should give you a more distinct bass.

[@ghostbuttster]

@@andreasklindt7144 Yeah, but I'm just not interested in having one of those big woofers taking up place in my small apartment. I'll invest in some more balanced speakers one day :)

[@videolux4111]

@@andreasklindt7144 Yeah. I got Fostex PM-SUBmini2 Studio subwoofer.

[@zusurs]

600£ is not "budget system" at all. You can easily get a really decent receiver + good shelf speakers for that price, and left with sone cash for a few months of Spotify still.

[@Psybernoid]

Uncanny. I purchased the N10 with the same speakers 2 days before this video came out. Basically my entire use-case was as an internet radio & Roon/DLNA endpoint for my home office. Been very satisfied with it so far. I wasn't after the loudest volume, or the heaviest bass. Just a nice, clear audio output whilst I work.

[@amichaelthomas83]

I bought one of these (in black) with a denon turntable and some wharfadale diamond 9.1 speakers... attached a bunch of other separates (second hand) such as a tape deck, blu ray player and a tape deck.. added a mac mini and cheap monitor... couldn't be happier with the sound quality.

[@amichaelthomas83]

oh and a mini disk

[@BelgianSquirrel]

Well that's great, but how did you do all that with only one line input?

[@amichaelthomas83]

@@BelgianSquirrel I bought one of those splitters, fully uitilised the optical inputs.

[@jacprendo]

So the system cant play a spotify track by itself you need the manufacturers app on your phone? At that point wouldnt it be easier to bluetooth from the phone?

[@dvdmike007]

Battleship grey

[@dandylion4496]

“haze gray”

[@cheese8death]

Ocean grey or military grey?

[@oldtechnobodycaresabout]

Jubilee Line Silver

[@ReinKayomi]

Cloudy Grey

[@broadsword6650]

Corporate Grey

[@brunohache268]

I have always been a huge fan of Denon products. Great bang for the buck. Nice, clean and no fuss looks.

[@MohammedMuaawia]

So weird, the other day I was literally searching through your library on videos about modern HiFi systems like this one. It's like you saw what I wanted and responded.

[@NeonNightmares]

Seeing these Microsystem videos made me really feel nostalgic. In my local electronic market for the longest time they had like an audio isle with multiple micro station all around for people to sit down and prelisten to their audio CD's or LP's. Sadly they removed it a few years ago. They even removed the headphone stations at the Music area where you could scan the barcode and listen to snippets. I guess its all because of the corona situation back when. Shopping for music sucks now.

[@padraigcollins6525]

Great series, thanks Mat. The brand name, CEOL, is interesting as ceol is the Irish word for music. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but maybe not.

[@currykevuk]

😎😄

[@colinholman]

Maith thú!

[@luasdublin]

I spotted that , figured it was either an easter egg suggested by some engineer with connections to Ireland , or a coincidence.

[@seanfinlay7393]

Was going to post that too then saw your post 😊

[@Mr.T711]

Awesome reviews. Being born in 1980 and my folks getting in the quad format from 74+ and collecting dead media formats since I enjoy your videos.

[@shanedigby]

Nice display and the build quality looks good. Nothing worse than buying a nice hifi only to find the display or cd tray is crooked.

[@christophermcmichael880]

It's built good enough to keep Matt out of it..😂😂

[@LakeNipissing]

Denon has created a remarkable device!! It only *_consumes_* 55 Watts of energy from the AC line, but it outputs 130 Watts of audio. 230 % efficiency!! Move over Elon Musk.

[@amcoppens76]

Loved this 3 chapter video Thanks for your efforts techmoan 🙌

[@KapouehKanard]

I'm back from a trip to Germany, and this is peak German Airport Design philosophy.

[@cuber9320]

WHOO HOO! Put on the kettle and fetch the Custard cream biscuits, Techmoan is on.

[@markem41]

it's a special occasion - time to open the hidden box of Clubs and KitKats.

[@GGoAwayy]

Wait... is he British or something?

[@batmandestroys1978]

Well done Techmoan! A great 3 part video. Thank you again!

[@nrnoble]

I suspect the electronics inside is a car radio, but put into mini-case for home use.

[@leskaighin8903]

A full review, very welcome. Pity about the lack of proper buttons and a tuning knob. "Not much playfulness" sums it up.

[@joonglegamer9898]

It's kind of like old buildings vs new ones, nothing spent on personality, all practicality and cost savings.

[@MarcWeertsMusic]

Great video! Always enjoy your personal take on things.

[@psterud]

I've got an older Denon from about 12 years ago that's still going strong. It doesn't have nearly as many features, which may or may not be a plus for some people. I personally prefer my stuff simple, so I like it. It's heavy and made of metal, like it's supposed to be. A subwoofer is a necessity for full sound, and the thing cranks. What I do wish it had is Bluetooth connectivity. It can connect by cable to Apple phones, which was a standard back then for all these things, but I've never been a member of that -cult- club. It's fun to see the new version, but I don't see much benefit, at least for older people like me who just want to play their CDs and listen to the radio, and who should therefore just get a great deal on a gently used old system.

[@meetoo594]

I have a very nice Sony a/v reciever that has dts, dolby digital etc but no bluetooth or dab radio (just fm/am). I bought a £45 bluetooth transceiver that plugs into the optical input and lets me stream hd/aptx quality music to the old workhorse from my phone. It works very well indeed and sounds amazing so if you need bluetooth connectivity I would highly recommend getting one of these little devices. Its worth it just to stream internet radio which makes up for the lack of dab as well as adding thousands of other stations.

[@Ardbeg1964]

The DENON DM-41DAB has Bluetooth. It's the metal-cased, non-streaming equivalent to the CEOL-N11, I would say. £349 new from Currys, at the moment or second-hand on e-Bay for less. I paid £320 for it in December 2017.

[@Milamberinx]

Does the old one not have any inputs? You can get bluetooth auxiliary inputs, or chromecast audio devices, and probably loads more.

[@TheAlphaWolf2013]

@@Milamberinx The current Denon M41DAB has BT but it's the only model in Denon's M range of mini systems that do.

[@totoro123]

I have an old N7, butq iqt suddenly died a couple months ago 😢 not sure whether to replace

[@Daniel-79]

This system is like the modern day McDonald’s restaurant; subdued colors, no character and leaves your wallet empty

[@RPG_ash]

@41:00 lol sounds like you preferred the first two machines that caused you no end of trouble than the brand new machine that worked fine. Excellent videos as always. Thanks for making 👍🏻

[@goodnightmoon]

works fine yes but it's boring

[@NotMoreGames]

Can’t beat physical dials on systems - gives you greater sense of control.

[@Daijyobanai]

So, the smart thing to do is to buy a Bluetooth sender receiver of decent quality, and use whatever "dumb" hi-fi you want to through analog or digital and then the apps on your phone will continue to work as long as Bluetooth is around,. The hi-fi doesn't become landfill ever as you can always upgrade your phone, the device that connects to the hi-fi though RCA or digital or line in, and there are plenty of apps offering digital radio etc etc. Built in streaming reminds me a lot of iPod/phone docking hi-fi of the 2000s. As soon as something changes in the spec, it's dead. If there's a n app tied to a physical product, just say NO.

[@presidentkiller]

I have the "cheapest" (because it certainly wasn't cheap for me) Denon record player and it sounds great with a Polk Audio sound bar that still had an analog input. It was the closest thing in 2021 (when I bought them) to the HiFi setup we had at home when I was a kid. I actually appreciated that the Polk Audio bar doesn't force me to connect it to the Internet like a lot of modern things do.

[@Sound_man73_Electronics]

Thank you for taking the time w/ the mirco HiFi series. Love the older systems. The new units seem to have a sterile aestethic begging to blend into our bland everyday lives.

[@contemporiser]

I love my old, trash picked denon UPO-250. Crude, simple, does whatever I want. It is a bit small for my speakers (beolab penta, also trash picked) but honestly I never had it even at half volume. Never seen a better system, I love it!

[@FarrellMcGovern]

One of the possible reasons that it doesn't bring up the album covers when it is playing music locally is that it you need to play for a service that supplies them. There used to be an open source & free album cover service, but I think that died off a while back. When playing from a music service, they have the covers as part of their licensing for the music, and thus can display them.

[@Daijyobanai]

Nope, plenty of media playing software on Linux gets the album covers for downloaded music or ripped CDs. Those databases still exist.

[@FarrellMcGovern]

@@Daijyobanai Nice. Thank you! The last I heard, some company had bought one of the sites and was starting to charge money for the service. I'm a Linux user myself...but tent to play most of my music from the command line...I guess old habits die hard...I've been using Linux since 1992.

[@rich_edwards79]

Grace note CDDB. Winamp used to connect to it I believe, in the 'good old days' of the Internet before everything had to be monetised.

[@randomnickify]

It works in the car thou.

[@prk55]

I think you're confusing the album or track art with the CDDB (?) Database that used to be used to identify a CD and fill in the track details.

[@DE-GEN-ART]

im waiting for mat to come out in a translucent rain coat, walk over to his fancy hifi, "do you like, huuey louis and the news"?

[@jagnetx]

Didn't expect to see Irish language in there. Ceol is Irish for music.

[@peterlarkin762]

The naming might have been outsourced as Denon has never acknowledged that and might not actaully be aware! I do wonder how other countries pronounce ceol in Irish it's 'K(yee)ole' if that makes any sense.

[@williamschneider3355]

A volume knob would take that unit to another level. Thank you for the video.

[@omsi-fanmark]

20:38 Not being able to seek within an audio file is very bad, imagine you missed some part of an audio book. Sometimes they come in pretty large segments. So for some missed words, you'll have to go back to the beginning of the file. *sucks*

[@s.kxx1956]

The previous ones they did a few years ago (silver with volume knob) were lovely things

[@gort9374]

Imagine having techmoan for like an uncle and as a kid going to his place and getting shown all the old and weird tech. Hey at the very least, I’m sure he could lend you a spare system for whatever format you like, his house must be overflowing with tech.

[@BrianTRice77]

Love the Batman 66 wipe with the rotating mug. 💯

[@murraysampson2501]

This was a great video (as always). For a Denon (and at that price), it looks remarkably cheap (plastic construction and fixed grille speakers). I've been looking at the Panasonic SC-PMX92. To me it looks much nicer, has a metal case, more traditional controls on the unit and more substantial speakers. Cheaper than the Denon as well, although I don't think the Panasonic has internet radio.

[@EvandroZattiUnique]

I really enjoyed the series. Thank you for being so creative and exploratory. Seeing the difference between the three eras, it gets clear how "flat" the humanity has become as years has gone by. The minimalism now screams out on our face in every sense. It's in the architecture, it's in the furniture, it's in the music, it's in the perfumery, it's in the electronics... So sad!

[@DeathInTheSnow]

Amazing video, but god what a depressing state that music consumption is in these days. I think the main reason you're encouraged to use the app is not because it's the best option, it's because they want to sell the streaming services to you. It's no coincidence that the CD option is at the very bottom and doesn't pull album art.

[@user-s1o3nr532]

No audio out to record either

[@TheAlphaWolf2013]

@@user-s1o3nr532 Some of the older Denon mini systems did have a record out. The Denon M38DAB is the most recent model with an audio output.

[@kragle88]

Great 3 part series, enjoyed this thoroughly! Thank you Techmoan!

[@ChrisDelaySWE]

You CAN play the cd in a group. All you need to do is to group it in reverse to what you did. Drag the hometheater to the n11 instead. So the n11 is the master and home theater is the slave.

[@goifur]

Lol the world moved so quickly, it feels like just yesterday we had hi-fi in our house, and now it's just a smart internet-ai tv

[@ASilentS]

Between Two Speakers, Mat's new interview show.

[@Happymali10]

I read a magazine today about 80s and 90s tuning, and they showed an "SGS"-Mercedes which had a full HiFi-stack in the dashboard (side by side rather than stacked) and a video recorder (with "Grundig"-stickers but allegedly panasonic-internals) in the center console. Probably not where the companies expected to find their stuff^^

[@mmmhorsesteaks]

Hahaha you're so right about touch controls. For some devices i don't care as much but especially for things like cars it's a nightmare. Imagine unsteadily pawing your way though arcane menus to change the channel or pair your new phone while driving... Nightmare. So glad the manufacturers are slowly moving back to more sensible controls...

[@sloppycee]

I have this stuffed into a closed door cabinet and control it completely from the HEOS app and it works and sounds great.

[@jjcoolaus]

This and the same thing by Marantz (MCR-612) are quite expensive in Australia, between $800-1000, and that’s without the speakers. It does do a lot though. The technics SA-C100 is in a world of its own though at $1800. The budget option is the Yamaha CRX-B370D at under $300

[@StreetPreacherr]

Yeah, I've got the CR-510 which I believe is the same thing just without the CD transport. And aren't they discontinued?

[@alexjames3392]

I love this! I'd love to see some Panasonic 2004-2005! I was born later 97 so in a grey area, I grew up really young with tapes but not long, then as I grew up everyone has their "xtrabass" button on and full blast with these 300+ watt systems and let me just say they sound insane to this day, pretty basic tape decks that most the time need belt replacement, but the 5 CD changer systems almost always work fine to this day! I had for a while picked up at a thrift store but got lost in moving, couldn't play a cassette without it sounding hummed every few seconds and slow, but amazing radio for the most part and fantastic CD playback with insane bass. They looked like space ships I guess that was the 04-06 vibe for looking cool and it dates them for sure haha but they live up to it! They've super heavy too, speakers can pump out some crazy loud and low bass with VERY little distortion.

[@DocSmouse]

@Techmoan My guess for the HEOS favorites is the ability to have a set of readily recallable streaming/internet audio sources or playlists that you can set up to be pulled up from any DENON device that you've logged into with your HEOS account. Makes sense if you have multiple devices and frequently access the same online content.

[@JoshBattin]

40:51 I said "fun" exactly when you said "fun", Matt. It was the only word that came to mind when you were describing what was missing!

[@djcmike]

Got a nice little Denon mini system myself, though I went with the RCD M39 without dab, mostly because a friend gave it to me. Works lovely with my record player and apple TV. Perfect for my office :) Good video series on the mini systems :)

[@WhenTheManComesAround]

Great coffee mug transition/merch plug 😁 Very well done 👍👍 Those mugs look awesome!

[@rusynlig1]

I never seen a more boreing Hi-Fi equipment. As exciting as a washing machine or a fridge. I really admire your ability to make this as interesting as it became...

[@thedecmyster1]

I previously had a Denon DM39, it was an excellent starting point into the hifi world for me, excellent sounding unit and was built well

[@diegocanale1124]

Had same unit 10 years ago. Only thing it couldn't play loseless files.

[@HittingImage]

With all this type of systems, the included speakers is the limiting factor. I have seen quite good speakers going real cheap on the used market. Getting good speakers is the best upgrade on most systems.

[@diegocanale1124]

I had an older version of this from the video. You can buy it without speakers and add any third party speakers to make the most of the system. Makes a huge difference. Now I own a similarly featured Marantz and they just come without speakers.

[@shaunriley2561]

So glad I watched this before spending a a lot of money on this unit. Thank you very much..

[@static-san]

The shoutout for stereo music was interesting. Since I've been working from home, I've re-discovered stereo music, too, as I've found a CD changer and hooked it up through a little mixer to some old but still good Altec Lansing computer speakers (from when they still made them to sound good!). And the imaging is wonderful.

[@ostar22]

I'd say stereo is hugely appreciated these days, as most people enjoy their music on stereo headphones.

[@static-san]

@@ostar22 Stereo in headphones sounds different than stereo in open air. People who only use a Bluetooth speaker are likely really missing out! (yes, I know some BT speakers are stereo.) :-)

[@JG-nx3jg]

You need physical stereo separation, so single box solutions with built in speaker are never going to do it right

[@diegocanale1124]

Good little unit. I used to have the previous models (N9 and N10). The N9 had annoying software bugs and flaky wifi connection.The binding posts on the N10 were so tiny even thinner cable I struggled to insert. I eventually switched to the marantz equivalent so I can use better cables with banana plugs. And the sound is warmer with no as harsh trebles as in Denon.

[@sebastiansekinger5070]

Totally agree, it is sad that much of the modern hi fi equipment doesn't appear to be very interesting! Compare this to the Sony FH-7 you covered a while ago. That was an aspirational product when it came out in the 1980s, and it still looks great now. You can plug modern gear into its auxiliary input and have the best of both worlds! I'm sure that the manufacturers could make something more interesting these days, but do they care that much? The little Denon has probably sold well enough. Then again, classic audio gear remains popular for a reason........

[@Crazyfistish]

I love the detail in your technical approach to its usability and functionality, but also say the sound - the end result of this entire product (a sound system) - is “all right”! Classic British understatement.