- and called the 800# about an issue with the adapter.
OK, I have to know. What issue could one possibly have with an RCA-to-1/4" adapter that would prompt a call to technical support?
__________________ - It looks just like a Telefunken U47 - with leather. You'll love it ... - Jazz is not dead - it just smells funny.
- It doesn't make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.
OK, I have to know. What issue could one possibly have with an RCA-to-1/4" adapter that would prompt a call to technical support?
How to use it.
With some new ones I bought recently, the lip inside the shaft is lower than ones I bought some time ago. I'd take pics if I could.... There is a slight level difference when going XLR > 1/4" > RCA - I think this has to do with the shield from the top not making contact with that lip.
Funny, I bought a Saffire Scarlett and was having noise issues and I was told to get some balanced monitor cables. Guy in Jaycar said exactly the same thing to me. I had been reading up on this but the sales-person was adamant that these cables don't exist.
Down under we have Dick Smith Electronics, and Tandy (which I believe owns, or used to own Radio Shack) and they're consumer level electronics shops. I would've put Jaycar a level above DSE and Tandy, but I'm not so sure now.
I bought some batteries from them and took them home. They were all dead. I took them back to the store the same day I purchased them and the store employee said. "I am sorry but we don't replace batteries as they can be used up" I explained that I had just bought them, I had the dated and time stamped sale receipt and no batteries could go bad in under two hours. I finally talked to the store manager and he replaced them saying "I think we got a bad batch of batteries because you are not the first person to return them completely dead in a short amount of time"
I needed some light bulbs for a project. I had the RS part number and the specs the person at RS said that they no longer carried the bulbs as they were old style and asked if I wanted some new LEDs to replace them. After haggling with the employee I asked where their parts cabinet was and went over and got what I needed. The employee said "oh so those are bulbs" as he rang me up.
I needed some caps for replacement. I usually would order them from Digi-key but I was in a hurry. I went to RS and the person I showed them to said "I don't think we carry anything like that - they look like something old and we only carry new parts" He also offered to sell me a new cell phone with "unlimited range". I went to their parts cabinet and found what I needed and brought them up to the counter. The salesmen said "Oh I see you found what you needed, I am so happy for you" I paid and left.
RS has turned into a phone store that also sells electronic parts and supplies but I think, based on my own observations, that will soon cease and they will be only a phone store. Too bad they use to be a really good store for parts and in some cases advice.
Oh well I must be getting old...
__________________
-TOM-
Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
Room with a View Productions
Oberlin, OH 44074 www.acoustikmusik.com
Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.
Celebrating 18 years in the mastering business in 2013
RS: Are you interested in trying the iPhone 4 today?
Me: No, I have one already.
RS: The iPhone 4 or the 4S?
Me: 4S
RS: .... ummm.... do you have a case for it?
Me: ... can you print my receipt (for the unrelated item I was purchasing)?
"You're hired"
Worked there for a week in college till I realized their pay scam was minimum wage and had to sell $100 an hour to get commission when nobody ever bought a TV or stereo there. People just bought watch batteries and diodes.
Only way to make money was to sell cell phones and their accessories. Trouble is people go to Best Buy for that!
This is why you only get goofy teeny- boppers who have no idea what a RCA cable is.....
I always hated the fact that no matter what you buy at The Shack, they have to get all of your personal info from you. I can't buy $3.00 worth of fuses without giving my phone number? F you, Rat Shack!
me on the phone: hi do you have someproduct in stock.
local Radio Shack: yes we do.
me at the store: hi i called about someproduct ealier. where is it?
Radio Shack: oh, we dont have it in stock here.
me: but.................... goodbye.
I applied for a Radio Shack sales position in the late 80s. They asked if I was willing to sit for a polygraph test. These were just given by the store manager, and not a qualified polygrapher. The poly ran out of ink, so they tried a new fangled personality test on a computer. They took exception to my political views (actually, the lack of them), so I didn't get the job.
I used to go in Radio Shack for something simple like a 1/4 inch jack. As soon as I'd get in the door, the sales guy would say "can I help you"? I'd say I need a 1/4 inch jack. He'd act confused. "What's this for?" I'd explain. Then he'd still act confused and ask more questions. Most of the time, I'd end up showing him where they were and what they looked like. Irritating. Now, when I go in for some small part, I ignore the "Can I help you" and go straight to the place where the part is and get it and take to the register.
At my local Radio Shack there are a couple of guys who always ask a lot of questions about what's in the component box. They seem genuinely interested that there are a few people who go in there and root around for a while. These are the same guys who don't bother to ask me to switch my cell service, although they do ask the obligatory question about whether I need any batteries.
RS: Are you interested in trying the iPhone 4 today?
Me: No, I have one already.
RS: The iPhone 4 or the 4S?
Me: 4S
RS: .... ummm.... do you have a case for it?
Me: ... can you print my receipt (for the unrelated item I was purchasing)?
My love/hate ....actually mostly hate, started in the 70's when I went in asking if they have a box that will allow me to connect two tape decks so I can play from one and record onto the other. The guy said "what you want to do is what is called sound on sound". I said yes, that's right. He said they have whats called a mixer....and it's $120 bucks. I didn't know jack about recording yet so I didn't know there were other places to get audio gear. This guy was making me think he was the authority on sound and this is what I need to get. Well I tried to save up money but it's not real easy being in high school in the 70's. I think I finally got it for my birthday. The punch line here is a while after I got it I went into my local big guitar store and I went to the area I never really went before because I always just looked at the guitars....I went to the back where the PA equipment is. I saw every kind of mixer you could imagine, big small, used, new, old ones for like 50 bucks, new little ones for around 100 bucks. And I was stuck with this RS crap mixer. My first lesson? RS is for someone who doesn't know any better. It took me a while, but I learned they are for getting adapters and batteries. That's all.
Funny RS story:
I haven't been going there much for quite a few years and one of the last times I did the salesman was standing at the front door smoking a butt. I asked if he was open and he gave me a squint and answered in his best geek, wanna-be Clint Eastwood voice "Yeah...we'll be open in just a minute". We stood there while he finished his cigarette. A couple days later I see his face on the local news, he was charged with setting up a robbery from the inside.
the other day I went in and asked for solder wick; the lady said they didn't have it, but had a vacuum for like $16. I looked for 2 minutes and found the wick....
Funny, I bought a Saffire Scarlett and was having noise issues and I was told to get some balanced monitor cables. Guy in Jaycar said exactly the same thing to me. I had been reading up on this but the sales-person was adamant that these cables don't exist.
Down under we have Dick Smith Electronics, and Tandy (which I believe owns, or used to own Radio Shack) and they're consumer level electronics shops. I would've put Jaycar a level above DSE and Tandy, but I'm not so sure now.
Woolworths own petrol stations, supermarkets and poker machines. Their customer are shareholders.
We used to have a Tandy locally back when we were building a synth (this was about '78/'79)
The synths oscillators were based around a transistor array inside a moulded chip, and we kept on blowing it because of an error on the circuit design (go figure)
Anyway, when Tandy eventually ran out of this chip (we ended up exhausting their supply) the tech guy recommended that instead of the chip, we should use 5 BC109 transistors instead.
The fact that the transistors had to be thermally coupled i.e. inside a chip was totally lost on him
Yesterday I returned a crappy clip-on fan (Radio Shack changed its name to "The Source" here in Canada for whatever reason) and this is how it went:
"Hey I just want to return this fan, it's noisy and rattles constantly"
"Okay no problem"
Starts refund procedure on my debit card...
"So do you need batteries for this today?"
"Uh, no...I'm returning it".
"Oh right!"
Money is refunded to my debit card...and then dude hands me the same amount in cash.
I probably shouldn't have, but I gave him back the cash.
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