So what's been happening here? Lots, and nothing much. The Aiwa has been sat, waiting for me to continue work on it. I'm not looking forward to all the work in labelling the wires, desoldering and precisely mapping them... because some of those wires actually contain three wires in themselves. However, I have ordered some cable labels and they should be here in a few weeks. Actually, the worse thing I am not looking forward to, is identifying replacement capacitors (and a few broken resistors where the wires have aged and snapped) because I just don't know what I'm buying. But that will come in its turn. Things have still been progressing on the analogue front, however. Some time ago, I finished ripping the vinyl that I wanted to rip from my collection... and something made me think it would be a good idea to rip the rest of it as well. What WAS I thinking? I have another seventeen albums to clean and rip. That, alone, will likely take another two months as, in I.T., we do a chunk of our work when no one else is using the systems. I have to replace our whole corporate network; we started in December, and should hopefully have it all replaced by the end of January. (Actually, it was many weeks in the planning, before we even pulled the first cable.) After that, there are servers to move and all sorts of other stuff that'll keep me very busy indeed. At the moment, I'm resurrecting an LP. When I order vinyl, lately, it's come with abandoned vinyl around it to add strength. Paul Anka live was one of those records and despite working on one side all day, (with breaks for Christmas dinner and other necessary chores) I might not be able to recover this one. There was another which was, "The Platters Sing Latino," but I abandoned it as I couldn't understand a word, it was a mono recording from the early 60's and I had their songs in English anyway. So... things are still happening here... only very slowly!
So. It's 2019. It's been an interesting one so far. Firstly, the labels are here so that I can finally number the cables as I desolder them from the Aiwa. Second, I went for my hearing test. I get the feeling that despite approaching 50, with tinnitus and some frequencies that cause pain in my left ear... that the surgeon thought I must have been blessed for my age. He won't operate on the tinnitus, and as I've been living with it for decades already, the training that they offer to live with tinnitus would likely make me worse. Also, in my day job, the long arse work I've been doing over the last few months is almost finished. Thanks to the long planning in advance, when it came to replacing the equipment, it all went relatively smoothly and my boss is happy. So... on with the Aiwa I guess.
Actually, I lie. It isn't quite on with the Aiwa ... just yet. The cleaning and digitising of the old vinyl collection is nearly done. Three more albums to do, and then I can exchange the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge for the Audio-Technica M520EB. After trawling the vinyl forums and hunting through people's collections (and being cheeky and asking for advice) I came across this as a good match for the Project Debut Carbon. I also upgraded the platter to acrylic, for which I read that I needed a weight, as this platter doesn't require a slip mat. Also got some new belts while I was at it. The Ortofon that came with the deck is OK, but the styli have taken a hammering because of my cleaning technique. (I can't afford a decent ultrasonic bath, but these are old records anyway that I abused in my youth) I think I've been through five needles, and with three records left, the latest needle gave up the ghost, causing me to shell out for another one, just to finish the process. I'm gutted, as it's extra cash at an awkward time, and I was hoping to get the ripping sorted this weekend. Fat chance. So... it's wait for the new stylus, then finish the ripping, then fit the new cartridge, enjoy it for a while, and THEN on with the Aiwa.
Yes, actually a number of reasons. Some of them are Mum and Dad's records. Dad's been gone 30+ years, but I've been digitising them for the memories, and putting some on CD for Mum so she can listen to them again. They were played on old record decks with 20gram pressure, so for these, it's digitise and done. They won't be played again on my new deck with the better stylus. Similar with my old records, but when I was a teen, I didn't take care of my vinyl properly and some of them have jumps in them, so I have to digitally edit the files where I can, to cut and paste repeat phrases. Then they're into storage and done. Also, a number of my records aren't available on CD, and they included some one hit wonders from the time, and I want them in the car, and on playlists in the house. For some of these, I've gone as far as to order better copies from discogs when I can find them. My cleaning process also uses soap... lanolin free, of course... but after the whole thing is done, it's a reasonable output (once digitally cleaned as well) - this is Mac The Knife from a late 1950's single - http://msknight.com/audio/MackTheKnife-LouisArmstrong.flac which also benefited from being a mono recording. However, it does result in a residue so once done, they're shelved.
Here's one that I had to edit to cover up a very nasty jump in the record - http://msknight.com/audio/SleighrideInStPetersburg-JamesLast.flac you'll probably find it easily. It was just after a minute in, during a change of phrase.
If you're wondering what's going on here, then not a lot in terms of electronics, or audio. My department are being restructured, so my job is officially at risk. I'm currently job hunting, while also negotiating with my current employer. I'm going to take a pay cut, that's for sure... but there are going to be negotiations and controls as to how and when it happens... or else if I manage to get another job in the mean time. The recruiting agents love that I'm nearly 15 years served with the one employer, but they're not so keen on the 2 month notice period that comes with it. What that means, is that it's difficult to find the energy to spend on the electronics, while my life is under such stress. Things haven't been totally static, however. I got my hands on the Massdrop Sennheiser 58x Jubilee headphones, running at 150 ohm impedance. I still have to break in the headband, and I can't relax properly to listen to music at the moment, but technically... they sound nice... and they're the first brand new Senn headphones I've ever owned. Massdrop have kept the packaging, etc. very basic to cut the cost. Even then, there was another £33 in import duty. Utterly bonkers that they were manufactured in Ireland, then went to the USA and then back to the UK. But that's what happens when you use Massdrop.
Sorry to hear about your job, don’t you just hate it when they say your job is at risk? Such BS. Hopefully if you have to go they will give you more than the statutory pay for the redundancy and since you have been there for 15 years hopefully it will be a good one. Good luck with the job hunting.
I hope that you get something sorted out with the job Michelle. The fact that you sorted out the old Stereo2Go database in a couple of weeks shows your skill level. We were in a similar situation to you at work two years ago with lots of voluntary and a few compulsory redundancies. More recently they have been complaining about how difficult it is to recruit people and have even gone as far as taking one of the people who they made redundant, back on as a contractor ! It would have been cheaper to have given him a years paid holiday !
Thank you both very much for the good wishes. Things will work their way out, it's just that change is never easy while you're going through it Our crew are doing pretty much the same. Lowering the wages, people leaving and they are below market rates... so it will be interesting in our department... that's for certain. The only question is whether I'll still be there to see what happens! I only wish I could have joined the old and new databases, as Hugo wanted, but they were too different for me to merge.
So... I'm coming out of the end of the process. I kept my job, but took a serious drop in salary. I'm not in financial danger, but lets just say that I'm lucky to have what I've got so far and won't need much more. A number of other curve balls happened and I'm basically recovering from a bit of a depression, and there's still a way to go. The mess that the office has become, is being slowly cleared up. By the end of the year I should be back on soldering practice and I have a small pile of decks to service, so I'm sort of looking forward to the quiet time that sitting down at a soldering station will bring. I still have a few solder practice kits for surface mount, so they'll come in handy before I let myself loose on the units. The Aiwa boom box is still in the process of being taken apart. The de-soldering of multiple wires all over the board is going to be quite a task, and I'm going to have to be mentally ready to do it.
Good to hear that you are okay, it’s a pain that you have had to take a pay cut. Are you looking for another job in the mean time? I know I would be if my pay was cut. Or will they put your pay back up when things pick up?
Good question. I don't think the pay will pick back up again, but because of my personal history I've got to think twice before abandoning this job for another.
Good to hear from you Michelle I mentioned the situation in the company where I work back in April. The only thing that has changed is that they are now offering a £4000 recruitment bounty if you can help recruit someone. However, I would only do that if I knew the person was desperate and unlikely to find anywhere better. I think in some companies it is an HR job creation scheme. Fire People, Recruit People; repeat every five years. Spend lots of money on consultants and surveys to try and find out why the workforce is disillusioned. Dilbert is truer than you think. I hope nobody here works in HR. If you do I hope you aren't like most of the people who do.
Yes, I know, I'm still here. Might come as a shock to some folk I won't detail what's been happening in life... it has just been a draining time; but it's going to come to a head in a few months, one way or another. The Aiwa PSR-750 has been sitting here for some time. I know it's beyond me and I've e-mailed someone in Hove, Sussex, to see if they're willing to help. We'll see. If they aren't... well, I'm not sure. I did manage to get another few Aiwa walkmans and I plan to start working on them next year, once I'm out of my little depression enough to start enjoying working on them. The vinyl collection has grown a little with some new groups like, "Sure Fire Soul," and "Bailen," being added to my collection... and I've also been ripping records to CD for someone who can't handle vinyl any more. It's a long story, but as you know, Readers Digest collections aren't available on CD, and age catches up with us all, sometimes making it difficult to handle a knife, fork and a cup of tea, let alone vinyl. So I'm still here... still busy with analogue... and hoping for a positive outcome for the PSR-750.
Good to hear from you Michelle. Earlier in the week I was telling a returning member what a great job you did in recovering all the articles in the old database. Interesting to hear about the Readers Digest LPs. They together with Val Doonigan and James Last seem to be a staple in the Charity shops here. I actually bought a James Last tape from one about a month ago (the shop had about a dozen different ones) and enjoyed it. I'm busy with all sorts of things - too many toys and not enough time. I bought yet another record deck (Panasonic SL-N5) back in July and haven't tried it yet.
It's good to hear from you, get used to basket-case boxes, there's a ton around but they give the best satisfaction when you do get them working again. Personally it's the physically broken boxes that get me down, sometimes it's impossible to fix those without a visible scar. I'm hoping to get one of my turntables spinning again, my speakers are on the other side of the room so I have to figure out a good way to connect everything without making a bigger mess but I've been missing my albums.
