Dane: I guess I am missing something, but I have just finished comparing the sound of my VR Stream to the sound of my speaker on my Iphone 6; I fail to hear this "muffleness" that you speak of on the stream! Granted: the Iphone is a bit easier on my ears than the VR Stream! But with the VR Stream (at least is the case with mine) it definitely does seem to have the highs (doesn't really sound muffled to my ear! So the only thing I can conclude is this: it is possible that maybe if someone doesn't have good hearing, maybe this is how the VR Stream's speaker would sound to a person who has a hearing loss? Just listened again...and seem to still be able to hear the "ses" and Fs" on the stream; have the same internet station on; I'll repeat, I find that the Iphone is "easier on the ears"; my guess here is that the VRR Stream's speaker may be smaller in size than the speaker on the Iphone? Tom Kaufman
-----Original Message----- From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane Trethowan Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 1:03 PM To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> Subject: Re: Victor Reader Stream 2nd Generation Sorry but a lot of you still don't seem to get my point. Yes, the VR Stream is designed with speech in mind that I grant you and I have absolutely no arguement with that but the internal speaker - even by speech standards - is not good, very mid-range yes but lacking top so some people may get confused with say S and F particularly given the fact that TTS is used a lot of the time. Most devices these days - Smart Devices are a case in point - have very clear and chrisp tops that makes listening to music, speech etc very enjoyable and understandable. To prove my point, go listen to a Daisy book on your VR Stream and then - using Voice Dream Reader or something similar - go listen to that book on your iPhone or whatever and you'll soon hear what I'm talking about. Now if you like things that way - speech without a distinct top - then fine! but I think its a great shame that a good speaker is an omission on the VR Strea. Yep I grant you, the quality is far better than that found on the first generation of VR Stream. I've not used a Plextalk Pocket but I have used other Plextalk machines and the speakers in those are absolutely fantastic. On 4/05/2017 12:56 AM, Gary Schindler wrote: > Remember that the Victor stream was mostly meant to play talking books > with a few features added for convenience. actually you can get an MP3 > player recorder for around $40.00 that has a better sounding speaker > in it and records MP3 and wave files much better, but the caveat is > that you are paying for accessible menus with the stream. > > The Hims may be a better all around unit, but it costs twice as much > money as the stream. > > Humanware was the first to come out with a machine that played bard > books even before NLS. Let's put everything in to context. > > -----Original Message----- From: Chris Skarstad > Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 9:05 AM > To: pc-audio@pc-audio.org > Subject: Re: Victor Reader Stream 2nd Generation > > I think that's just the point. If you're a real audiofile who enjoys > high end audio from a device, and you're really picky about how stuff > sounds, the VR stream ain't for you. Despite all the bad press the > player has gotten here, i'll still purchase one in the next few days and > report my findings. I do think Bluetooth functionality is something > that is lacking and needs to be in a future update. If some of the > other specialized players can have it, so can the stream. But i'm > buying it, fully aware of this and I'm certainly ok with it. > > I'll also report on the speed of downloading books via online services > like BARD. I can always download the books manually and put them on the > stream that way. It's good to know there are multiple ways of getting a > particular job like that done. > > > On 5/3/2017 8:58 AM, Hamit Campos wrote: >> Ah well The Victors are more player anyways then recorder. The >> Plextalk Pocket is the thing ya want if ya want a recorder. >> >> >> On 5/3/2017 5:14 AM, Dane Trethowan wrote: >>> Ah okay so that problem still exists then? I was given to understand >>> that later firmware updates had fixed this. >>> Too late to try that here now <smile>. >>> >>>> On 3 May 2017, at 6:44 pm, Tim Noonan <t...@timnoonan.com.au> wrote: >>>> >>>> Sadly, the Stream Mic or line in creates very audible artefacts or >>>> whistles in recordings. Otherwise the stream would be a reasonable >>>> all-purpose player/recorder. >>>> >>>> Regards >>>> Tim >>>> >>>> On 3 May 2017, at 6:02 pm, Dane Trethowan >>>> <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote: >>>> >>>> I didn’t try the line-in recording function though I did note that >>>> - using this function - one can record to PCM Wave files at 44.1KHZ >>>> so surely this should be reasonable. >>>> So if one really wanted to do high quality recordings one could use >>>> the line-in method and buy suitable equipment to take full advantage. >>>> >>>>> On 3 May 2017, at 5:43 pm, Jamie Kelly <otrja...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> The recording quality is ok for notes and meetings but not of high >>>>> broadcast quality as with the bookport plus or Plextor Pocket range. >>>>> >>>>> Jamie >>>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>>>> Dane Trethowan >>>>> Sent: Wednesday, 3 May 2017 4:47 PM >>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>>> Subject: Re: Victor Reader Stream 2nd Generation >>>>> >>>>> Yep, convenient may be but the unit does have its limitations as >>>>> we’ve discussed here, the Wi-Fi connectivity being a very serious >>>>> limitation and - given the speed of the Wi-Fi - one wouldn’t >>>>> really want to try and download a good quality audio stream. >>>>> And again we come to that bloody awful internal speaker. >>>>> Another interesting point and its not critical just an >>>>> observation, I wonder why Human ware didn’t include the ability to >>>>> be able to browse NAS storage devices or other computers on a >>>>> network for files? Just about every other device I know of these >>>>> days - that can play Internet radio stations - haas this handy >>>>> feature which and I reckon it would be an absolute boom! for users >>>>> of a VR Stream. >>>>> Perhaps I’m talking about a future VR Stream update though >>>>> hHumanware take my advice, don’t make the update too big or it >>>>> will take until Christmas for the VR Stream users to download >>>>> <smile>. >>>>> Regarding my own streaM/ Its found a good home so I’m happy about >>>>> that. >>>>> >>>>>> On 2 May 2017, at 4:34 am, Peter Scanlon <sca...@tpg.com.au> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> I love my Victor Stream. >>>>>> The best thing about it is how easy it is to listen to and locate >>>>>> internet radio stations. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>>>>> Hamit Campos >>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, 2 May 2017 3:07 AM >>>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>>>> Subject: Re: Victor Reader Stream 2nd Generation >>>>>> >>>>>> Yeah I've not heard this before either. But perhaps other people >>>>>> either didn't have the issue or they just axepted it. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On 5/1/2017 12:59 PM, Chris Skarstad wrote: >>>>>>> I'll be purchasing one of these very soon, so will be able to >>>>>>> report >>>>>>> on it when i get it. I have a super-fast connection with Verizon >>>>>>> Fios, so downloading books manually and transfering them to the >>>>>>> player won't be an issue if the download speeds on the player >>>>>>> are as >>>>>>> slow as some of you guys say they are. I'm kind of shocked that >>>>>>> this >>>>>>> is just now coming up, as the new generation stream has been out >>>>>>> for >>>>>>> some time now. I thought this would've been mentioned sooner, but >>>>>>> maybe I skipped over it as I wasn't in the market for one at that >>>>>>> time, i'm not sure. I'll certainly let you guys know my >>>>>>> experiences. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 5/1/2017 12:41 PM, Evan Reese wrote: >>>>>>>> As to slow downloading of data, I have noticed with ours, and >>>>>>>> those >>>>>>>> of some friends, that it doesn't seem to have a great wi-fi >>>>>>>> transceiver in it. Even when I'm close to my router, it usually >>>>>>>> says >>>>>>>> that reception is poor. >>>>>>>> Other than that, you are right, a lot of functionality in that >>>>>>>> little package. >>>>>>>> Evan >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Dane Trethowan >>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, May 01, 2017 10:24 AM >>>>>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List >>>>>>>> Subject: Victor Reader Stream 2nd Generation >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hi! >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I just bought one of these units and would like to make comment on >>>>>>>> my purchase. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Firstly I think that the unit does a brilliant job for what it >>>>>>>> is in >>>>>>>> most respects. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The sound from the internal speaker is a little muffled however - >>>>>>>> having already heard a VR Stream - I was already prepared for >>>>>>>> this, >>>>>>>> a bit of an annoyance one might say so to overcome this I use a >>>>>>>> small BUniden hand-held amplified battery speaker I've had for >>>>>>>> years, cost me $25 about 7 years ago, pity the Stream doesn't have >>>>>>>> Bluetooth but I guess a product can't have everythint. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Now I don't know whether this is my unit in particular but I have >>>>>>>> noticed that the downloading of data seems to be incredibly slow >>>>>>>> compared to other devices I have on my network, I used the "Check >>>>>>>> for Updates" function and - according to that - the firmware is up >>>>>>>> to date, well at least the data does get downloaded I guess. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> There's a hell of a lot of functionality packed into the VR Stream >>>>>>>> box and a lot of this - such as the Internet Radio, podcasts >>>>>>>> and so >>>>>>>> forth - I won't bother using - given I already have better >>>>>>>> solutions >>>>>>>> for that sort of thing - but for those who don't the VR Stream >>>>>>>> provides a great entry level to the world of Internet Radio and >>>>>>>> Podcasting. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Getting online with the Vision Australia library was a snap so I >>>>>>>> downlaoded a couple of books. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Again, I have other Apps and so forth which I prefer to use myself >>>>>>>> but the Stream is convenient for reading, no doubt about that even >>>>>>>> though I read all my newspapers these days straight from the web >>>>>>>> site its good to know I have a reliable backup. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> --- >>>>>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. >>>>>> https://www.avast.com/antivirus >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> ********** >>>>> Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the >>>>> rest of the halfwits in this world behind. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> ********** >>>> Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest >>>> of the halfwits in this world behind. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Tim Noonan >>>> Consultant Speaker Coach >>>> >>>> Phone: +61 419 779 669 >>>> Email: t...@timnoonan.com.au >>>> Skype: VoiceReadings >>>> Twitter: twitter.com/TimNoonan >>>> >>>> Coaching & Consulting: www.timnoonan.com.au >>>> Inspirational Speaking: www.visionarycommunications.com.au >>>> Gemwater Bottles: www.timnoonan.com.au/water >>>> Voice Readings: www.voicereadings.com >>>> >>> ********** >>> Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest >>> of the halfwits in this world behind. >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > > -- ********** "Live each day as if you were goiing to die tomorrow, learn each day as if you were going to live forever"
