New Rowland Criterion 2-chassis battery pre

Thank you Audiofil, except for the relative insensitivity to eye-candy, blindness is hardly a disability for an audiophile. . . more of a persistent annoyance, which can be circumvented to a reasonable extent by bits of added shrinkwrap on positive wire leads (thank you Cardas!) and a few written notes about remote control and component layouts.

I agree completely about the rigidity of display ergonomics and related input/output labelling. If I recall correctly -- and I may be wrong -- Criterion lets you assign meaningful text label on the display to connected devices. As for display color, the Criterion at RMAF had only an engineering level display with a temporary color. Criterion uses a series of filter jells to tune display color. Therefore it may be possible -- at least in principle -- to ask Jeff Rowland to install color filter tuned to the requirements of a particular user as a special order.

In some bright and wonderful future, I would like to see all system components able to communicate with and being remotely controlled by an external Mac/Linux/Windows computer via a platform independent web or Web 2.0 interface. . . at which point current international standards can be applied for developing highly usable/accessible control environments compatible with all audiophiles, including those of us with certain sensorial/motor/cognitive inconveniences/disabilities. See the World Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative technical guidelines at:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/guid-tech.html

Those reading Audiofil's post may mistakenly believe that the Jeff Rowland Design Groups are radically designed. In my view their physical appearance is very conservative, giving the feeling of understated quality. The blue lights for the buttons are very small and the display can be muted on devices like the Capri and Continuum. The engineering sample of the Critereon was similarly understated.

Whether the Critereon will ultimately allow users to customize their displays, I have no answer. The USB allowing firmware update would make that a possibility. All I need is Phono, Digital 1 and Digital 2 and maybe Tape in the future, we'll see. Lacking that a simple 1, 2, 3, 4, as on my Continuum 500, will suffice. I really have no trouble remembering what's what and don't let anyone else use my rig without supervision.

BTW, my Playback Designs MPS-5 has a large, red LED display and some complain about that. I mute it when not in use, but there's no satisfying everyone. There'll always be someone bitching about something. I just make sound my first priority and follow that cue.

Dave

I agree that the Rowland product is somewhat tamed and my comment pertaining to fashion was a general one addressed to the marketplace as a whole.

Then again, if you go for the right feel, the switches on the JRDG are in my view too small and oddly shaped for comfortable pressure to be found (here imagine what fun would it be to have them in different colors, just as large like the ones Tandberg once used on the 910!) I think as B&O lost its design factor appeal by having employed an outside of the industry stylist a good number of high end products are still just an engineering vision turned reality without the involvement of the right and talented industrial designer. Please take note that I am not addressing this to any specific brand. To comment Dave's reply, I differ here and I am a strong advocate of sharing the music system as an appliance with all others. Appliances are however best when they are good, robust in performance, reliable, beautiful and intuitive to operate by all.

Audiofil, you have a point about buttons on JRDG. . . they are a little to small for me as well. . . in particular, the on/standby power switch on the 312 amp is a tiny round thing. . . flush with the front plate. . . I always hunt around with my fingers before finding it. On the other hand, I thought buttons and volume knobs on Capri and Criterion to be no problem at all. G.

As for the Capri (I have to ask Jeff again about this) you still cannot display the balance situation. My hands have not touched the Criterion, but it appears that Jeff employed the slightly larger M&Ms. Then there is yet another element rapidly changing in video and not seeing new technologies in audio. Connectivity. Today, the traditional XLR and RCA could just as well be replaced with something smaller in size and also with better performance as well as the ease of use. I hope new standards will be implemented in the near future - a market wide benefit to all. There is an enormous amount of new technology in connectors today... By now we should all be used to illuminated switches, as well as illuminated remotes, but how many can you list? BTW, what is the Criterion remote look like? The Cardas implementation by JRDG is clearly a winner and I hope more brands would use this solution. In any case, the Criterion today looks just lovely.