An FM tuner that still sounds great

Advantages: Size, ease of use, looks
Disadvantages: No AM?

...The Quad FM4 is a tuner, as you might have realised. It is an FM only tuner, and is part of the Quad series '4'. It is a high quality tuner usually used in conjunction with the Quad 34 preamp and 405 power amp, although it can be used with any amplifier. The FM4 first appeared in the late 70s. Quite a long time ago. It remained in production until around 1996. It's therefore no longer available to buy new. When first released, it quickly gained a very high reputation, and like a lot of Quad hifi products, is something of a classic. One thing that set it apart 30 or so years ago, was its use of presets. These were not common back then. There are 7 presets with the FM4. It is actually not possible to manually tune in to a station. You have to set it to a preset first. Unless you listen to more than 7 FM stations though, it's not...

simcox1 12.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Quad FM 4

Will it be the Last FM?

Advantages: It's FREE! Chart your music, find out what your friends listen to, find new music, and friends
Disadvantages: ADDICTION

...I'm a frequent poster on several forums, I have 64 contacts in MSN, and believe it or not, I have a couple of real-life friends as well. Like many people, I use my computer to listen to music as well as ciaoing, and doing other bits and bobs, like satisfying my forum addictions, and er... chatting up sexy Scots (oh, that's a long story...). Several of my "contacts" from the sources mentioned, use a site called last.fm to track their listening. After stalking... cough cough, I mean, browsing their playlists there, I decided to join up. ► So what is it and why would I want it? ► Right, well this bit is easy. All I need to do is go to last.fm's homepage and find the help, or FAQ section and copy and paste what it says last.fm is... "Last.fm is the flagship product from the team that designed the Audioscrobbler system...

steffee 09.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Last.fm

JAXLE ON CLASSIC FM

Advantages: Several good shows; The Evening Concert; Classical music!!!
Disadvantages: A flood of adverts; Simon Bates

...I was surprised when browsing Ciao to note that there are only (currently) twelve ops on the radio station Classic FM (101.1). Any regular listener will know that they?ve recently been telling us all how well they?re doing in the radio ratings, but are these results justified? Your very own Jaxle will now investigate. Now, as maybe some readers know, I?m a very big fan of classical music (see my op on classical music) and yes, I must confess to being one of those who regularly listens to Classic FM, and yes, I do indeed prefer it to Radio Three. I?ll now run through the main programs that they broadcast with my opinions of each. >> BREAKFAST << Unfortunately, this show is completely ruined by Simon Bates (see below). Plays the more popular classical music and is excellent for news and traffic updates in the mornings...

Jaxle 21.11.2003 · Read review
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Review of Classic FM

The Industry Standard Tuner

Advantages: Reliable, Sturdy, Easy to Use, Effective
Disadvantages: None.

...Every gigging musician needs to own one of these. I work as a sound engineer in various venues, and I can immediately guage the quality of a band on whether or not they have TU2's (or similair pedal tuners). The Boss TU2 provides a quick, reliable tuning solution for guitarists and bassists everywhere, at a very affordable price. There is nothing more annoying than out of tune guitars, musicians tuning by ear mid-set, or people sharing guitar tuners (causing long tuning breaks). Simply step on this pedal, tune up silently, step on it again and you're ready to play. Battery life is long, and despite not being true bypass, the pedal is more than suitable for live playing. The display is long enough to provide accurate tuning, and is very easy to see/read on dark stages due to the lit up red/green/red lights indicating flat...

nweststeyn 22.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner and Power Supply Pedal

Technika MP-308 4GB MP3 player with FM tuner

Advantages: Wide range of features
Disadvantages: Difficult to navagate menus

...The MP-308 is Tesco?s current top of the range mini MP3 player with FM radio, and at 3p shy of £30 places it firmly in the budget end of the market. Having very recently ?goosed? my previous player doing a firmware upgrade, I got mine as an impulse purchase. It?s small ? about the same size as a lighter, and has a rechargeable battery, so running costs are minimal. You get everything you need; the player, a USB lead, a pair of cheap headphones, and a set of paper instructions and a mini-CD. In fact if you?ve previously owned an MP3 player, you can probably dispense with the last two items, the player supports traditional ?drag?n?drop? from your ?my music? folder. The instructions suggest that it?s far better to use the application which comes with the machine, that way you can make playlists, catalogue your albums and so...

dobieg 23.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Technika MP3 player

Classic FM Music for Drving

Advantages: Great songs - wonderful, popular tunes
Disadvantages: A few songs aren't as good as the others

...and colourful with a nice wee picture (cartoon type image) of two people driving in a car. Inside the cover it gives all the usual information that is found inside the cover of a CD and it also gives a little information about each song and sometimes tells you what you should do when driving and listening - it's a bit silly but its there. The CD is really good and is really good value as well - it only cost me £4.97 and in my opinion it was well worth it. This is my first experience with a Classic FM CD and as a result of listening to this one I can't wait to listen to another....

SScott764 18.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Classic FM Music for Driving

Best tuner bar none

Advantages: ease of use,accuracy,build quality
Disadvantages: battery life

...more accurate than some rack mount tuners i have used in the past. This pedal also doubles up as a power supply for your other 9v effect pedals. If you are running then off the mains all you do is run your mains power to the tu20 and then link all the others to that. The only downside to this pedal is battery life. It does tend to go through them at a rate of knots. Overall if you are in the market for a good quality tuner with all the features you will ever need then look no further. This baby does it all....

zakkman 21.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner and Power Supply Pedal

Galaxy FM - Kickin'

Advantages: Good nationwide reception, good dance music
Disadvantages: Mainly dance music, can be repetitive sometimes

...Galaxy FM is available nationwide, and a good thing too. I moved from London to Bristol a few years ago, and missed Kiss FM a great deal, as I was now outside it's reception range, and used to love the dance mixes they put together. Then Galaxy came a long, and their up beat mix of club scene/dance music really livens my day up. They must have a play list to work to because some tunes get a bit more airplay than others, but overall, if you are driving to or from work, or going on a long trip in the car, this is the one to listen to. Reception is good over most of the UK, and there is a good cross section of music styles throughout the day, and the DJ's are, on the whole, very entertaining. Galaxy FM is number one for me, but obviously not for everyone, if you prefer pop or mainstream for example, stick with good old...

MikeScoates 06.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Galaxy FM

Seiko SAT100 Guitar and Bass Tuner

Advantages: Economical, Easy to use, Great for beginners, Comes with batteries! Input and output sockets.
Disadvantages: Won't tune cheap acoustics properly.

...I bought this item for £15 from a specialist guitar shop and I have to say it was well worth every penny! I have an electric guitar, one of which was terribly out of tune. It corrected the tuning perfectly and now my guitar doesn't sound in pain every time I play it. This tuner can be used on acoustic guitars, as well as electric ones, also for bass guitars, but I do not own a bass so I don't know how it performs in that area. Electric guitars can be plugged into the side of the tuner for more precise tuning. It does have a built-in microphone, so connecting it to your guitar isn't completely necessary. Due to the microphone, this allows acoustic guitars to be tuned as well. It has a very simple interface, and as a beginner to the world of guitars, I found it extremely easy to operate. It has a digital display (two AAA batteries are...

shadysladyangela 20.08.2007 (19.07.2007) · Read review
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Review of Seiko SAT100 Guitar and Bass Tuner

Last.fm - great way to discover new music!

Advantages: Good way to discover new artists and bands, good way to meet people with similar tastes
Disadvantages: Takes a while to generate good recommendations, Some unnecessary features

...I have been a member of Last.fm since the demise of audioscrobbler.com some time ago and although my music tastes have changed somewhat over the past few years Last.fm is still one of my favourite itunes plugins. In order to start using the service a plugin has to be downloaded from the last.fm website which works with your music player (itunes, Windows Media Player etc.) to record and store a record of the music that you listen to. This list of songs is then published on a personal profile along with statistics such as your most played artists and songs. Bands and artists are able to create their own pages which allows fans to 'follow' them and listen to their music. In addition the service will compare your music tastes with those of other users of the site providing you with a list of 'neighbours' with similar listening habits...

hestheblade 11.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Last.fm