Being an old man now, and having grown up in very rural North Dakota in the 50's it was my pleasure to actually listen to one of the original Edison talking machine's. My uncle, who descended from a rich farming family, only to loose it all through his mismanagement lived in a small cabin on the Ceader Creek. He still had a few items from his family's holdings, and one of them was the tube playing Edison, along with over a hundred tubes of music. The other was a very rare 1882 Winchester, but that is a different story. When we were kids, and our folks drove the back roads to his place to visit, he was married to dad's sister of course, we children went into the loft area of the cabin and dug out the old Edison so we could listen to the music of the past. It was great fun. Well as the years went on, his twin daughters grew up, as did his son, of course, and after an argument with their folks, the daughters torched the house, there went the Edison, and sadly the rifle that was more valuable then his entire farm. Sad days. Oh well, it appears that the remake is just something to look at, and not use but it looked like great fun assembling at any rate. Best luck on the next version.
Actually it goes on much deeper, ending with one of the twins in prison for life following the murder of her husband, well her and her sisters husband, they had each been married to the much older farmer several times and he just would not die, despite his 50 years their senior, so they just killed him and made it look like natural death. Had they not been imprisoned later for (get this) stealing sheep, where she bragged about the crime to the wrong inmate, who reported it to authorities, she would still be free and clear. The other twin, who was not as bright (they were both mildly retarded) got off because the courts found her incompetent to stand trial. Ya it would make a great film, in fact one of those TV real life believe it or not shows, (I forget which now) did an story on national TV about it, they called it "The Lemmon SISTERS" I think, the show played back in the early 90's I believe.
Jerry Ericsson Hm. Too much (for my taste). The first part would suffice, circling around the cabin with various old precious objects as a reminecence of a more glorious past. But thank you for telling the full(er) story! (I hope your personal life is less interesting.)
Wow. Watching this really gives me some respect for Edison, in that he was able to get his phonograph to work despite having to build every component himself with the limited technology available then.
I've bought mine a couple of years ago in a Japanese book store in Düsseldorf. It works better, but I wouldn't call it good working. There is one difference: My kit uses a normal gramophone steel needle. It is shorter, so the lever action from the membrane to the writing needle is better. And also it uses 4 of those weights for recording. The needle is in an angle of almost 90 degrees to the cylinder. The result is not quite Hi-fi, but you can at least understand the words I'm shouting into it.
I just came back from visiting Düsseldorf and I think I saw this very device in a store in the Japanese district there. And I happened to come across this comment. Fun coincidence.
I'm wondering if a standard phonograph needle would do a better job. The needle has to be sharp enough, but the tip should also be pointing directly onto the cup.
@@louisnichols I think it was a store called Takagi by the main road along the Japanese district. It mainly had manga and other Japanese crafting gadgets.
@@josemendezfr a piece of crap is a piece of crap. The technology used to produce it might be advanced, and such a thin piece of plastic like the cup might be used for something else. But if Edison tried the same as this kit tried, the result would've been the same piece of crap.
And just to clear this up. Of course modern technology could reproduce it. Easily. Yet a few pieces of plastic evidently cannot reproduce what Edison made.
1) dip cup into the molten wax - it will form thin layer on outer surface of cup. 2) record at surrounding temperature +30C or more. (maybe outside when it's hot) 3) put into fridge to lower temperature of wax layer. 4) playback at surrounding temperature +20C or less. (inside with air conditioner switch max on) Above ideas are purely theoretical. However, I totally would try those if I would have this phonograph.
#1 is not a bad idea. This could be achieved by putting a high wattage incandescent light globe inside the wax coated cylinder or even directing a hot-air gun towards the area where the stylus is about to cut, but then you'd have to find a way to isolate the noise.
Sounds like (heh) it'd be worth a try. Just bear in mind that, yknow, Britain. We had a record breakingly hot summer this year and in latitudes significantly north of London (where I am, and where TM almost certainly is) the highest recorded tended to be in the low 30s celcius. The highest I saw personally was about 30~31'C. It does, however, get bone chillingly cold in winter, so it would work about as well to conduct the test indoors in autumn. Crank the heating right up on a sunny afternoon to make the recording (the maximum my thermostat goes to is 30, but you could push that by quite a few degrees by bringing an electric space heater into play after the main heating topped out, or maybe the high-wattage diesel burner TM reviewed a few years back), then turn it off completely, open all the windows and wait for night to fall before playing the recording. Or, yknow, as the cup is quite small but it and the wax should retain a temperature significantly deflected from ambient for the couple of minutes it would take to mount it on the spindle and record or play, conduct the test at a typical British indoor temperature (20ish celcius), but put the cup in a warm oven or airing cupboard (or blast it with a hairdryer) for a few minutes before recording, and chuck it in the fridge for a half hour (the freezer would probably be too harsh and lead to cracking/flaking) before playback.
I have tried these kits, since Edison used vertical cutting stylus method on cylinders and these use Berliner/Victor lateral method it's very hard considering the composition of the recording media (cup) and quality of the recording/playback stylus to get good (if any) results. The position of the stylus during recording, the stability of the cup and the weights make a difference, I have always added more weight than recommended for recording and secured the cup with inner inserts for stability and have gotten fairly decent results. A sharper stylus other than those provided also cuts a more distinct groove, but always use a less sharper stylus for playback.
From what I remember, the original cutting stylus didn't have vertical weight on it. It was held in a carriage that was at a set distance from the cylinder and the only force on it was longitudinal as it sliced into the surface. It resisted climbing up out of the grove made because of the triangular shape of the needle. This one is pushing and deforming the cup under the needle constantly, regardless of the velocity.
It must have been hugely frustrating building this device after paying over 100pounds for it and finding out it is an utter failure. Please remember, as a little comfort, that I/we had a lot of fun watching you building it and making it work properly. Especially the shouting at the device was hilarious! I also had great fun reading the comments. After all this, I wasn't a failure at all! Thanks for your video and patience!
I seldomly laughed that hard on techmoan clips. But this one made my day. Especially when you allmost sticked your nose into the funnel and shouted really loud :D But this is a japanese machine. You have to speak silent and polite. That was the error. You offended the machine.
You're right, it's the ones used for cold drinks, there coated on both sides to stop the condensation making them soggy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_cup#Waterproofing
Bluetac a piece of mirror to the end of the stylus and point a laser pointer at it and then speak into the funnel and see if the darn membrane is actually picking up any vibrations at all.
I bought this exact same phonograph kit on my trip to Japan around 2007. After many failed trials I was able to record and playback a short clip of speech which was intelligible enough to understand what was said. Obviously the signal to noise ratio was extremely poor - I would estimate it to be around 0 dB. Based on my trials I believe that barely intelligle speech is the best you can achieve with this device. I'm afraid I cannot remember what needle angle or number of weights I used to make the "successful" recording - sorry about that. I do have one tip for you though: Always remove the rubber bands before storing the kit for long periods of time. It seems they are made from low quality rubber and if you leave them under tension and/or exposed to sunlight they will break apart in less than a year. The kit works as a pretty cool display item with the bands removed so it's a good idea to store the bands separately and keep them protected from UV radiation. Ps. Thanks for producing so many interesting & informative videos!
I built a kit which recorded on hard wax cylinders about 55 years ago. You could then erase the recording by rubbing off a layer of wax. Separate record and play styli. It worked quite well and I have a tape recording of the results somewhere. The cylinder was turned by a long screw thread which is the only part that I still have - its a fine screw thread about a foot long with a cranked handle attached and has had several uses over my lifetime. The latest was to turn a small satellite dish by hand!
My thought is that the top of the cup is too far off center relative to the top part that clamps on it. The wobble produced probably throws things like the needle and speed out of the range of usability. I think it would need to be centered on both ends carefully to avoid this wobble. Certainly not easy to do, and this is just a theory, but.. perhaps.
Kevin Carafa That's certainly one of the few problems with this design. Also, you'd have to make sure that the cup rotates continuously, Try out different amounts of weight on steeper angles of the needle, etc. etc. They really should have provided some optimal setup instructions...
It's why phonographs changed from the cylinder-based design to the flat disk. Stylus needs to ride the groove just perfect, and an off-center cylinder makes it bounce with inconsistent force. That is much less of an issue with the later design.
This is basically a lathe with a stylus cutting into a surface. It's the way Edison discovered recording in the first place. A technician had been cutting filament from a metal drum for use in various light bulb configurations. While recutting thru previous grooves, the tech thought he was hearing sounds (other than the cutting). Called the boss over who took his ear horn (Edison was deaf in one ear) and attached it to the cutting head to amplify the sound. What they heard was the background noise of the workshop. Voilá... phonograph. This is the story that came down to me from my father from his grandfather who worked for Edison for a time.
Has anyone ever told you that you have a perfect voice for narrating Thomas the Tank Engine? For some reason, your voice in this particular episode really brought me back to the Ringo Starr days.
That movie has yet another unsatisfying ending, but I think the joke was that the muppet in question doesn't consider himself to have watched a film unless there is someone there with him so he can have someone to hear his withering criticism.
its funny you uploaded this today, I just went to a house this morning, that Edison spent a couple years in and listened to a recording of 'My Old Kentucky Home' on a hand crank wax cylinder player
There's not enough mass for this to work reliably. Edison's worked because the whole thing was heavy, thick drum, lot of wax, heavy stylus apparatus. With this plastic trash you'd have to adjust a spring (very delicately) to put just enough pressure on the needle.
having heard a real edison recorder onto wax, they worked pretty well, of course not was well as a tape, but you could hear all the words spoken, edison himself recorded 'mary had a little lamb' which worked pretty well, his had a larger funnel, larger diaphragm , and cylinders which were more stout, its hard to say if this device would ever work for spoken word, but be nice if someone has a video of it working
It might work if you filled the cup with something like silicone to give it some weight and some strength. Of course then you have to hope that the machine can hold a heavy cup.
:) Everything wrong. The actual phonograph performs depth recording (depth modulation), not side recording (gramophone). Therefore, the forced movement of the needle by the screw slide was applied. Japanese modification with side modulation (gramophone hybrid) can provide recording and playback, but it is necessary to set the needle perpendicular to the crucible surface with a deviation of about 5 degrees. Tangential needle placement kills the ability to record and play. A flexible cup is also not the happiest solution.
@Techmoan, looking at those cups, they are quite flimsy and bendable, perhaps try a cup that is more rigid/brittle? You get those plastic cups that dont bend when you squash them, perhaps try them, maybe they will record the movement of the styles more precisely than those softer plastic cups.
Marius du Plessis my guess its the plastic thats too hard so the point takes too much force to move. its all about impedance. the force that the needle can do needs to be such that the plastic will move to the sides and the plastic needs to be soft enough so that the needle has enough force to move it away. if either is off you get less amplitude in the recording. imo the plastic is too hard or elastic and so he gets -200db SNR
but if the plastic isnt stiff enough it could be that the needle is just "pushing" the plastic around instead of scratching it the way you want. he should just give it a shot. the worst that could happen is that he looses a pound on a plastic cup
Dear Techmoan: I do not have a phono kit, but as the recording is done by the needle vibrating sideways to the groove, I guess it would be required for the rotating cup to not be allowed to move (nor vibrate) along its axis. That piece of foam looks like a source of elasticity; I would use some mild adhesive (couple of drops of nail polish) to hold the cup in place. Also the whole recording arm should be perfectly rigid as to not dampen the needle vibrations (a little plastic adhesive may help to strenghten it). My two cents...
While I like this video a lot (as with all the other videos posted on this channel), this Gakken kit (and the earlier one) is not doing much justice to the real Edison cylinder phonographs for two reasons. First, the reproducer/recorder part is definitely not the real design by Edison but the design by Emile Berliner for Gramophone discs invented in 1887 - the Edison system was employing hill-and-dale (vertically cut) grooves, whereas the Berliner system was employing the lateral cut (like the modern disc) system. This kit, however, had made the two different system into one unit, which is not historically accurate at all. The other part is that the built quality of this kit doesn't come close to the marvelous mechanical/sound quality of the real Edison cylinder machines. Most of the Edison Cylinder phonographs (and the later Diamond Disc machines) were mechanically "bulletproof" - I have seen these machines go up and running after sitting in the attic for 50 years or so without any mechanical problems or not even a drop of new oil in the mechanism. This unit is far from that built quality and could be described at best as a very poor representation of the real thing.
I'm going to wait for CCs (Compact Cylinder Digital Audio). It's a smaller, silvery cylinder with a laser head that packs more on a cylinder than the standard Blue Amberol. (That's an Edison joke.)
A suggestion: As was discovered when developing LP records in vinyl, Heating the stylus when making the recording in plastic makes for a much more compliant track. Of course Edison used 'hill and dale' recording which follows the lead screw better, though needs thicker plastic. A simpler means might be to heat the cup instead, though a heated metal centering piece to it might hold heat long enough for the few seconds it works.
that smug expression is actually her thinking, some idiots gona buy this garbage. Joking aside it does look cool, nice video. love your work, always entertaining to watch your stuff, I also had high hopes for this at the start, I wonder if you coated the cups in wax and make a hybrid design hehe.
What's interesting is that it's NOT actually an "Edison style" phonograph. That's also why this isn't working as well as expected. Edison used a horizontal diaphragm perpendicular to the stylus and etched a groove that varied in depth according to the sound. This model actually uses Emile Berliner's design with a vertical diaphragm and a parallel needle to record a groove with side to side movement. Berliner found this to be ineffective when recording on a cylinder, because he couldn't get the stylus to etch a deep enough groove, which is what eventually led to the transition to the disc.
I thought it looked a bit weird. The use of the Berliner design is probably due to the choice of recording medium - you can't really etch a groove of meaningful depth into a plastic cup that's only a fraction of a millimetre thick. The needle might not even manage any proper tracking as is, just relying on the screw advance system to get it "close enough" to the centre line to pick up most of the waveform from the nearest actual groove. If we used the "dip it in candle wax" idea (especially if the cup received multiple coats to grant it a millimetre or more's substrate thickness) and got rid of that final 90-degree elbow in the pipe running to the diaphragm, it might work far better.
Now you need a real cylinder phonograph with a recorder and some blanks to try making a record with. It would be interesting to see your perspective on the process with the real thing. They aren’t that expensive or hard to find.
This is brilliant. Your channel gets better and better. And I'm loving the puppet sketches at the end. Classic Italian Job line. 😄 Thanks for your hard work producing these.
There was a Sega Genesis game that if put it in a CD player had one track...."turn me on Deadman" repeated with "number 9" and some other WEIRD stuff. Accualy kinda creeped me out alot and did research on it and found all the conspiracy about "the dead man" don't ask me what game it was I don't remember but for some reason I had it no Sega to play game thou and stuck it in my PS4 and BOOM out came the music or message more than music...was CRAZY
This channel is VERY addicting!! Love the wry humor and the smooth, very easily understood delivery: so refreshing in an era of soulless, pronunciation-mangling robots reading canned scrips!! Thanks for this: my faith in UA-cam videos is renewed.
If you still have this cup phonograph, maybe try stiffening the cup. Maybe with some wax on the inside. i think its absorbing the needle vibrations on record and playback. That is my almost 3 years late suggestion.
You can play the cup song while building the thing. lol. No more wax piles.lol. One things for sure, it reminds me of the cheap toys we got for christmas back in the late 60's. I remember most of those motorized toys lasted till Spring, then they went in the trash for spring cleaning.lol.
Hot tip, Do you have a trash can bear by ? The sound of that piece of junk hitting the trash can is the most satisfying sound it will ever make. And the results are easy to reproduce. Kidding. Cover the cup in silver aluminum tape (don't stick the tape down leave the paper backing on) it should record onto the foil much easier than the plastic cup. Plus you can make many recordings and keep the "tapes". See the Science Wiz version of this kit on UA-cam and you'll get the idea.
Techmoan, my friend! He's got a phonographic memory. He repeats the exact same old lines like a scratched record. By the way, to get the Edison Cup Phonograph Kit, to work properly! You forgot to say... Mary had a little lamb. It's fleece was white as snow, Everywhere the child went. The lamb, the lamb was sure to go! (just kidding!) Cheers! :-)
You could try using a 2 inch thick smooth sided hard wax candle. That should allow for ample depth and integrity for the sound to groove and uniform surface. and when your done run a lighter over the surface very quickly to erase your audio. you would want to place the candel in a fridge for about 30 minutes prior to recording to firm it up though.
That might not get a smooth enough surface for recording (unless you have a good mold and know how to cast a candle properly). Also, I think plastic cups are more rigid, so using that with wax paper rather than just wax might make the recording quality a bit more constant.
I think you might have one of two problems (or maybe both). 1. The diaphragm is simply badly constructed and not working. Though there is sound scratched on the cup, so I think it might more be problem number 2.: The force pressing down the needle onto the cup is to weak. Have you tried putting some more weight on the needle arm? It looks to me as if the sound is just not scratched into the cup "deep enough" (you know what I mean). Plus, I would - as you already started - try to work out a better solution for holding the cup. I just cannot be good for the record if the cup wiggles around like it did in your video. An interesting try might also using a wax cylinder. Maybe you have a plastic tube that you can cover with wax, like, from a molten candle? I would use that with the weights on the needle actually thought for using a plastic cup. It might work better than plastic alltogether. Cheers from the country that invented the Tefifon, please keep up the great work!
The problem is more than just pressure on the needle, it's the recording method as a whole. Edison's design created a groove that varied in depth, not side to side movement. Emile Berliner tried his design of a side to side movement and found it to not work on cylinders, hence the creation of the disc.
I think these kits are more of a functioning model kit intended to be built than something that is designed to actually work. I wonder if you would have better luck trying a piece of PVC or some other plastic pipe, or perhaps a wood dowel that is flat instead of a cup.
LOL, "Nope, haven't even watched it on my own.". Can't ever figure if that's you and your dad, you and your son or just your take on the entitlement technology creates in each new generation but, in any case, you are not only tech savvy, you my friend are a philosopher. Good on you.
Cardinal Biggles i would try freezing it instead. if you heat it up it becomes more elastic, but what you need is it to be plastic so that it will deform and retain the shape instead of jumping back like a rubber band
Try a different type of plastic cup. That looks like HIPS, High Impact Polystyrene. It has a rubber type agent to make it less brittle. Rubbery surfaces would be a poor material to record sound on. You should try OPS Oriented Polystyrene or Polypropylene like 2 liter soda bottles are made from. I'm curious how well it would work with other types of plastic.
9:09 Why not try to slow down the recording after recording, it might be more legible. In theory Friction may be slowing the cup down when recording, and without that extra weight on playback, the cup could be going faster than when it is recording.
I think my grandfather had a cylinder recorder. It used wax cylinders rather than plastic cups. I would try using different kinds of materials. Maybe even try recording on a hot day and playing back on a cool day to take advantage of the softening with heat. Also, I think the needle should not be sticking out far. Make it as short as possible and at close to a right angle to the surface as you can.
Oh, you'll SEE it again... just in your bank report as having disappeared for barely any good reason at all! Plus, it probably cost them all of $1.43 to make! Rip-off bastards! Even if it cost them about $6 and I had to pay like $20, I still wouldn't buy this trash!
I would have been tempted to stick one cup inside the other just to give the plastic cup some firmness. The other thing is the diaphragm that records would not get enough purchase to vibrate to cut anything but a straight track, so I don't think you will get any sound. A coating of wax might also work, however it would need to be a hard wax. The needle would almost need to be straight up and down. They are putting so much weight on the needle it would have problems moving to vibrate to produce sound on the cup. It needs weight to cut a groove, but to much weight will stop it vibrating. Catch 22. A softish wax that will set after it is recorded might work if it was coated onto the cup, but it would need to be a paper cup for the wax to stick.
Try pointing the cups toward the ceiling and creating a Dolby atmos affect like in your home Theater system, or maybe even tape the cups to the ceiling. That should work
According to some historic records Edison was not patient. He was also egocentric and was torturing animals to prove that his DC current was superior to Tesla's AC, which was not actually the case (except in his head). Edison also had a crew and it is really questionable how many of his inventions were actually creations of his crew members that never got credit.
I have an original Edison phonograph, it is amazing how it works and how it was designed, without a 4 year degree nor computer. also have a lot of the phonograph cylinders (records) that will play.
Not satisfied?
Please send a cup recorded with your complaint to the address shouted to you in Japanese on the About Us cup.
This is beautiful
a single sentence that made my day for the rest of my life.
This comment should be pinned.
And how do you suppose I'm going to send in my complaint cup with a broken machine?? hmmm?
@@ChristmasEve777 exactly ! :P
Being an old man now, and having grown up in very rural North Dakota in the 50's it was my pleasure to actually listen to one of the original Edison talking machine's. My uncle, who descended from a rich farming family, only to loose it all through his mismanagement lived in a small cabin on the Ceader Creek. He still had a few items from his family's holdings, and one of them was the tube playing Edison, along with over a hundred tubes of music. The other was a very rare 1882 Winchester, but that is a different story. When we were kids, and our folks drove the back roads to his place to visit, he was married to dad's sister of course, we children went into the loft area of the cabin and dug out the old Edison so we could listen to the music of the past. It was great fun. Well as the years went on, his twin daughters grew up, as did his son, of course, and after an argument with their folks, the daughters torched the house, there went the Edison, and sadly the rifle that was more valuable then his entire farm. Sad days. Oh well, it appears that the remake is just something to look at, and not use but it looked like great fun assembling at any rate. Best luck on the next version.
Jerry Ericsson Your short family history sounds like a good exposé for a film.
Actually it goes on much deeper, ending with one of the twins in prison for life following the murder of her husband, well her and her sisters husband, they had each been married to the much older farmer several times and he just would not die, despite his 50 years their senior, so they just killed him and made it look like natural death. Had they not been imprisoned later for (get this) stealing sheep, where she bragged about the crime to the wrong inmate, who reported it to authorities, she would still be free and clear. The other twin, who was not as bright (they were both mildly retarded) got off because the courts found her incompetent to stand trial. Ya it would make a great film, in fact one of those TV real life believe it or not shows, (I forget which now) did an story on national TV about it, they called it "The Lemmon SISTERS" I think, the show played back in the early 90's I believe.
law.justia.com/cases/south-dakota/supreme-court/1992/17621-1.html The End of the story, we hope.
Write it up and send it to the Fargo screen writers.
Jerry Ericsson Hm. Too much (for my taste). The first part would suffice, circling around the cabin with various old precious objects as a reminecence of a more glorious past. But thank you for telling the full(er) story! (I hope your personal life is less interesting.)
Wow. Watching this really gives me some respect for Edison, in that he was able to get his phonograph to work despite having to build every component himself with the limited technology available then.
And I bet none of the shops near him even stocked any plastic cups
they'll say aw topsy at my autopsy
Heyo! I love your videos
In case you still own the other edison machine, try blasting the funnel with a big speaker, that might engrave a stronger signal.
so that's why he used foil, no plastic cups.
I've bought mine a couple of years ago in a Japanese book store in Düsseldorf. It works better, but I wouldn't call it good working. There is one difference: My kit uses a normal gramophone steel needle. It is shorter, so the lever action from the membrane to the writing needle is better. And also it uses 4 of those weights for recording. The needle is in an angle of almost 90 degrees to the cylinder. The result is not quite Hi-fi, but you can at least understand the words I'm shouting into it.
I just came back from visiting Düsseldorf and I think I saw this very device in a store in the Japanese district there. And I happened to come across this comment. Fun coincidence.
I'm wondering if a standard phonograph needle would do a better job. The needle has to be sharp enough, but the tip should also be pointing directly onto the cup.
Lol. I happen to also live close to Düsseldorf. Could you share where this Japanese store is?
@@louisnichols I think it was a store called Takagi by the main road along the Japanese district. It mainly had manga and other Japanese crafting gadgets.
@@weegle. Haven't looked for it yet. When I start going back to the office I will try to find a day for that.
I think the biggest problem you were not shouting loud enough, I use mine to record jet engines and it works perfectly.
LOL
I use mine to record the sound of a needle scraping on the outside of a plastic cup.
I used mine to record Hiroshima and Nagasaki
I used mine to record meme review
I used this device to record Schwerer Gustav’s cannonfire
That's cool as heck, especially the satanistic replies.
This comment is a surreal expirience
yes its Robbaz! i need to start watching your videos again!
Late to the party, but surprised to see the king of Sweden here
@@cursedcliff7562 you know I was just thinking the same thing because I am the same age Robbas was when he made the comment. This video is a milestone
I'm dead 😂😂😂
The look on that woman's face says to me: "You're a fool for spending $100.00 on a cup scratcher."
Same thought i had.... Sorry Techmaon.... But guess you understand.
That is Very accurate with a V
🤣🤣🤣🤣
The look of a con man.
So that's what a Japanese version of the Trollface looks like...
Does it have DRM software to prevent copying from one cup to another?
Good one, made me laugh out loud. 👍
It’s called the low volume of the cups’ sound
Yeah, and they even managed to solve the otherwise universal problem of "the analogue gap"
Funny!!!
Don't copy that cup. :p
The lady has the face of satisfaction in knowing that she trolled you into buying this POS device
xD
TWICE.
cosmicrdt in hindsight it seems as if that's the exact case lol
TT
Haha baka gaijin will buy this useless plastic machine.
1877 Edison invents the Phonograph allowing voices to be recorded. 2017 modern technology can't replicate it.
@@robfriedrich2822 Would the materials in this product have been considered "cheap" in Edison's time?
@@robfriedrich2822 Then you're obviously a dumbass.
@@josemendezfr a piece of crap is a piece of crap. The technology used to produce it might be advanced, and such a thin piece of plastic like the cup might be used for something else. But if Edison tried the same as this kit tried, the result would've been the same piece of crap.
And just to clear this up. Of course modern technology could reproduce it. Easily.
Yet a few pieces of plastic evidently cannot reproduce what Edison made.
Working replica ua-cam.com/video/bJ8an6LND-U/v-deo.html
1) dip cup into the molten wax - it will form thin layer on outer surface of cup.
2) record at surrounding temperature +30C or more. (maybe outside when it's hot)
3) put into fridge to lower temperature of wax layer.
4) playback at surrounding temperature +20C or less. (inside with air conditioner switch max on)
Above ideas are purely theoretical. However, I totally would try those if I would have this phonograph.
#1 is not a bad idea. This could be achieved by putting a high wattage incandescent light globe inside the wax coated cylinder or even directing a hot-air gun towards the area where the stylus is about to cut, but then you'd have to find a way to isolate the noise.
Keep in mind that he lives in England. You’re lucky if you get above 25C on a hot summer day
Imagine alt reality where this is only music format
Sounds like (heh) it'd be worth a try. Just bear in mind that, yknow, Britain. We had a record breakingly hot summer this year and in latitudes significantly north of London (where I am, and where TM almost certainly is) the highest recorded tended to be in the low 30s celcius. The highest I saw personally was about 30~31'C.
It does, however, get bone chillingly cold in winter, so it would work about as well to conduct the test indoors in autumn. Crank the heating right up on a sunny afternoon to make the recording (the maximum my thermostat goes to is 30, but you could push that by quite a few degrees by bringing an electric space heater into play after the main heating topped out, or maybe the high-wattage diesel burner TM reviewed a few years back), then turn it off completely, open all the windows and wait for night to fall before playing the recording.
Or, yknow, as the cup is quite small but it and the wax should retain a temperature significantly deflected from ambient for the couple of minutes it would take to mount it on the spindle and record or play, conduct the test at a typical British indoor temperature (20ish celcius), but put the cup in a warm oven or airing cupboard (or blast it with a hairdryer) for a few minutes before recording, and chuck it in the fridge for a half hour (the freezer would probably be too harsh and lead to cracking/flaking) before playback.
@@sparkspl You mean the late 1800s and very early 1900s?
Perhaps if you use Dolby B while recording.....
I think a Dolby B-cup is too small
DBX, anyone ? :D
Wow, good-times :)
For this turkey you're gonna need Dolby Z.
Don't you mean Dublin?
I have tried these kits, since Edison used vertical cutting stylus method on cylinders and these use Berliner/Victor lateral method it's very hard considering the composition of the recording media (cup) and quality of the recording/playback stylus to get good (if any) results. The position of the stylus during recording, the stability of the cup and the weights make a difference, I have always added more weight than recommended for recording and secured the cup with inner inserts for stability and have gotten fairly decent results. A sharper stylus other than those provided also cuts a more distinct groove, but always use a less sharper stylus for playback.
i think the vibration is pushing the stylus sideways, it needs to push it downwards to cut the material better, i think thats the flaw
Jusb1066 So does a real record player/recorder. The groove depth is mostly constant (for mono), but it swings sideways to draw/read the sound wave.
From what I remember, the original cutting stylus didn't have vertical weight on it. It was held in a carriage that was at a set distance from the cylinder and the only force on it was longitudinal as it sliced into the surface. It resisted climbing up out of the grove made because of the triangular shape of the needle. This one is pushing and deforming the cup under the needle constantly, regardless of the velocity.
Timothy Harnish Exactly.
You should probably turn on the Dolby C(up) noise reduction.
Change the caps. It always helps. With everything. If there are no caps, put some in it, and change them thereafter.
Actually, if one pronounces "cups" with a south London accent you could be closer to the fix than you think lol...
@@danmackintosh6325 Maybe he should try audiophile wax and paper cups.
Bumble Bee cups? lol
LOCK THE CAPS FOR MORE EFFICIENT SHOUTING!
*_i put caps on my willy_*
Damn, I was hoping to back up my old ZX Spectrum programs in used cups...
Lol
Surely you would have gotten a better result with Chrome or Metal cups! (I'll see myself out...)
Dont you need to drive them very hard to get something onto them?
I think he couldnt scream that loud to get a recording onto them :P
He needs a digital phonograph with Dolby S!
I know you're joking, but etching a groove into tin might work better.
@Brunosky Inc. Dolby Styrene ?
@Mihovil Beck It might work better, but I'm afraid it's still going to sound rather.... tinny.
It must have been hugely frustrating building this device after paying over 100pounds for it and finding out it is an utter failure. Please remember, as a little comfort, that I/we had a lot of fun watching you building it and making it work properly. Especially the shouting at the device was hilarious! I also had great fun reading the comments. After all this, I wasn't a failure at all! Thanks for your video and patience!
You should definitely try with some pre-recorded cups.
He needs the royalty-free UA-cam music library on every conceivable medium.
Why wasn't a pre-recorded one included? Cost?
The comments section on this video is pure gold.
Try HMV
4:47 The magnetic screwdriver tries to escape, then he realizes he's been caught on camera and acts casual.
I'm kinda glad this didn't work out. I was thinking about how long it would take to convert my whole music library to cups.
12:20 Now I can imagine Techmoan ordering his McMuffins at a McDonalds Drive-In ...
"IIIIIIIIIIII WAAAAAANT AAAAAAAA MCCCCCMUFFFFFFIN PLEAAAASE."
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"let's have a listen"... then get completely busted watching Techmoan at work.
gtoger there’s worse to be caught watching
You'll have to explain yourself for this one.
You better not be doing what you're implying in front of Pedant.
Im guessing patreon first watchers
"I waste my money so you don't have to", should be his tagline.
10:44 - "As you can see I'm shouting quite loudly"
[ youdontsay.jpg ]
I seldomly laughed that hard on techmoan clips. But this one made my day. Especially when you allmost sticked your nose into the funnel and shouted really loud :D
But this is a japanese machine. You have to speak silent and polite. That was the error. You offended the machine.
You could try dipping the outside of the cup in liquid bees wax and record in the wax layer..
Jerry cool idea
Then you can eat your own words.
Or use them disposable wax coated paper cups... The ones for hot drinks.
But the wax is on the inside on everyone I've seen. I see a flaw here.
You're right, it's the ones used for cold drinks, there coated on both sides to stop the condensation making them soggy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_cup#Waterproofing
Bluetac a piece of mirror to the end of the stylus and point a laser pointer at it and then speak into the funnel and see if the darn membrane is actually picking up any vibrations at all.
I bought this exact same phonograph kit on my trip to Japan around 2007. After many failed trials I was able to record and playback a short clip of speech which was intelligible enough to understand what was said. Obviously the signal to noise ratio was extremely poor - I would estimate it to be around 0 dB.
Based on my trials I believe that barely intelligle speech is the best you can achieve with this device. I'm afraid I cannot remember what needle angle or number of weights I used to make the "successful" recording - sorry about that.
I do have one tip for you though: Always remove the rubber bands before storing the kit for long periods of time. It seems they are made from low quality rubber and if you leave them under tension and/or exposed to sunlight they will break apart in less than a year. The kit works as a pretty cool display item with the bands removed so it's a good idea to store the bands separately and keep them protected from UV radiation.
Ps. Thanks for producing so many interesting & informative videos!
I built a kit which recorded on hard wax cylinders about 55 years ago. You could then erase the recording by rubbing off a layer of wax. Separate record and play styli. It worked quite well and I have a tape recording of the results somewhere. The cylinder was turned by a long screw thread which is the only part that I still have - its a fine screw thread about a foot long with a cranked handle attached and has had several uses over my lifetime. The latest was to turn a small satellite dish by hand!
My thought is that the top of the cup is too far off center relative to the top part that clamps on it. The wobble produced probably throws things like the needle and speed out of the range of usability. I think it would need to be centered on both ends carefully to avoid this wobble.
Certainly not easy to do, and this is just a theory, but.. perhaps.
Kevin Carafa That's certainly one of the few problems with this design. Also, you'd have to make sure that the cup rotates continuously, Try out different amounts of weight on steeper angles of the needle, etc. etc.
They really should have provided some optimal setup instructions...
Yes. Though i doubt that functionality was the point of this product. I think it was more for the people who get of on history.
Doubt it. There's a reason that the bell can move up and down like that. You'll notice it on records too where it can be warped but work fine.
🎶Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.🎶
It's why phonographs changed from the cylinder-based design to the flat disk. Stylus needs to ride the groove just perfect, and an off-center cylinder makes it bounce with inconsistent force. That is much less of an issue with the later design.
This is basically a lathe with a stylus cutting into a surface. It's the way Edison discovered recording in the first place. A technician had been cutting filament from a metal drum for use in various light bulb configurations. While recutting thru previous grooves, the tech thought he was hearing sounds (other than the cutting). Called the boss over who took his ear horn (Edison was deaf in one ear) and attached it to the cutting head to amplify the sound. What they heard was the background noise of the workshop. Voilá... phonograph. This is the story that came down to me from my father from his grandfather who worked for Edison for a time.
Good story, but Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 and didn't start working on the incandescent lamp until 1878.
Did you try replacing the capacitors?
Lol
Jake Sky Ellis You mean replace them by cupacitors? ;)
I think the belt disintegrated
Yeah either that or the bridge cupifier.
there are no compositors and you spelt it wrong
Has anyone ever told you that you have a perfect voice for narrating Thomas the Tank Engine? For some reason, your voice in this particular episode really brought me back to the Ringo Starr days.
-Have you ever seen the italian job with michael caine?
-nope I haven't even watched it on my own
I snorted with laughter
TheMarwa7a can you explain, I don't get it.
erm, it explains itself.
That movie has yet another unsatisfying ending, but I think the joke was that the muppet in question doesn't consider himself to have watched a film unless there is someone there with him so he can have someone to hear his withering criticism.
quality dad jokes from techmoan
@Benjamin Middaugh you didn't get it.
its funny you uploaded this today, I just went to a house this morning, that Edison spent a couple years in and listened to a recording of 'My Old Kentucky Home' on a hand crank wax cylinder player
There's not enough mass for this to work reliably. Edison's worked because the whole thing was heavy, thick drum, lot of wax, heavy stylus apparatus. With this plastic trash you'd have to adjust a spring (very delicately) to put just enough pressure on the needle.
having heard a real edison recorder onto wax, they worked pretty well, of course not was well as a tape, but you could hear all the words spoken, edison himself recorded 'mary had a little lamb' which worked pretty well, his had a larger funnel, larger diaphragm , and cylinders which were more stout, its hard to say if this device would ever work for spoken word, but be nice if someone has a video of it working
It might work if you filled the cup with something like silicone to give it some weight and some strength. Of course then you have to hope that the machine can hold a heavy cup.
Makes sense. The cup has to move the needle, so it must be able to exert some force. For that it needs to be heavy or stiff. And it is neither.
"No, I haven't even watched it on my own!" - LOVE IT!
It works perfectly if you speak Japanese.
For sure xD
"Tekkumōano: Retsurewiebu!" Now that is something I would watch.
My ass it would.
I can't disagree because I effectly understand what's on the recording just as much as I understand japanese
:) Everything wrong. The actual phonograph performs depth recording (depth modulation), not side recording (gramophone). Therefore, the forced movement of the needle by the screw slide was applied. Japanese modification with side modulation (gramophone hybrid) can provide recording and playback, but it is necessary to set the needle perpendicular to the crucible surface with a deviation of about 5 degrees. Tangential needle placement kills the ability to record and play. A flexible cup is also not the happiest solution.
@Techmoan, looking at those cups, they are quite flimsy and bendable, perhaps try a cup that is more rigid/brittle? You get those plastic cups that dont bend when you squash them, perhaps try them, maybe they will record the movement of the styles more precisely than those softer plastic cups.
Marius du Plessis my guess its the plastic thats too hard so the point takes too much force to move. its all about impedance. the force that the needle can do needs to be such that the plastic will move to the sides and the plastic needs to be soft enough so that the needle has enough force to move it away.
if either is off you get less amplitude in the recording.
imo the plastic is too hard or elastic and so he gets -200db SNR
but if the plastic isnt stiff enough it could be that the needle is just "pushing" the plastic around instead of scratching it the way you want.
he should just give it a shot. the worst that could happen is that he looses a pound on a plastic cup
Dear Techmoan:
I do not have a phono kit, but as the recording is done by the needle vibrating sideways to the groove, I guess it would be required for the rotating cup to not be allowed to move (nor vibrate) along its axis. That piece of foam looks like a source of elasticity; I would use some mild adhesive (couple of drops of nail polish) to hold the cup in place. Also the whole recording arm should be perfectly rigid as to not dampen the needle vibrations (a little plastic adhesive may help to strenghten it). My two cents...
The Puppet section needs to have a separate youtube channel. I like it! :)
GPUtest It has. Its called youtube pedantic
I love the puppets. They reveal a different aspect of the subject, deeper and more personal. Bravo! Please keep them.
This thing is incomplete without a terrier sitting infront of it.
but this one wasn't made by HMV...
In these politically correct days it would probably be called His mistress's chihuahua.
are terriers not politically correct or what?
everyone knows terriers are far right
It's Japanese. It would be JVC.
Techmoan, have you tried wrapping the cup in tin foil, as smooth as possible and trying it? According to wiki, thats what Edison did.
The problem is the diaphragm orientation more than the recording medium.
While I like this video a lot (as with all the other videos posted on this channel), this Gakken kit (and the earlier one) is not doing much justice to the real Edison cylinder phonographs for two reasons. First, the reproducer/recorder part is definitely not the real design by Edison but the design by Emile Berliner for Gramophone discs invented in 1887 - the Edison system was employing hill-and-dale (vertically cut) grooves, whereas the Berliner system was employing the lateral cut (like the modern disc) system. This kit, however, had made the two different system into one unit, which is not historically accurate at all. The other part is that the built quality of this kit doesn't come close to the marvelous mechanical/sound quality of the real Edison cylinder machines. Most of the Edison Cylinder phonographs (and the later Diamond Disc machines) were mechanically "bulletproof" - I have seen these machines go up and running after sitting in the attic for 50 years or so without any mechanical problems or not even a drop of new oil in the mechanism. This unit is far from that built quality and could be described at best as a very poor representation of the real thing.
I'm going to wait for CCs (Compact Cylinder Digital Audio). It's a smaller, silvery cylinder with a laser head that packs more on a cylinder than the standard Blue Amberol. (That's an Edison joke.)
I would love a Muppet Channel sarcastically reviewing hack products,...chinese knock offs etc.
Chinese knock offs are dirt cheap. What can we expect? They do have high-quality ones, but those are expensive as well.
Then testing them on Beaker.
A suggestion: As was discovered when developing LP records in vinyl, Heating the stylus when making the recording in plastic makes for a much more compliant track. Of course Edison used 'hill and dale' recording which follows the lead screw better, though needs thicker plastic. A simpler means might be to heat the cup instead, though a heated metal centering piece to it might hold heat long enough for the few seconds it works.
that smug expression is actually her thinking, some idiots gona buy this garbage.
Joking aside it does look cool, nice video. love your work, always entertaining to watch your stuff, I also had high hopes for this at the start, I wonder if you coated the cups in wax and make a hybrid design hehe.
Mikej1592
i can totally imaging her thinking "some baka gaijin will buy this"
Mikej1592 She looks more like an overbearing girlfriend thinking "really, is than all, it doesn't say anything?".
What's interesting is that it's NOT actually an "Edison style" phonograph. That's also why this isn't working as well as expected.
Edison used a horizontal diaphragm perpendicular to the stylus and etched a groove that varied in depth according to the sound. This model actually uses Emile Berliner's design with a vertical diaphragm and a parallel needle to record a groove with side to side movement. Berliner found this to be ineffective when recording on a cylinder, because he couldn't get the stylus to etch a deep enough groove, which is what eventually led to the transition to the disc.
I thought it looked a bit weird. The use of the Berliner design is probably due to the choice of recording medium - you can't really etch a groove of meaningful depth into a plastic cup that's only a fraction of a millimetre thick. The needle might not even manage any proper tracking as is, just relying on the screw advance system to get it "close enough" to the centre line to pick up most of the waveform from the nearest actual groove.
If we used the "dip it in candle wax" idea (especially if the cup received multiple coats to grant it a millimetre or more's substrate thickness) and got rid of that final 90-degree elbow in the pipe running to the diaphragm, it might work far better.
"I'M DOWN TO MY LAST CANDLE!"
Sorry Matt, no more plastic cups for you.
Now you need a real cylinder phonograph with a recorder and some blanks to try making a record with. It would be interesting to see your perspective on the process with the real thing. They aren’t that expensive or hard to find.
This is brilliant. Your channel gets better and better. And I'm loving the puppet sketches at the end. Classic Italian Job line. 😄 Thanks for your hard work producing these.
TIP-I am a pro reviewer -don't buy crap products with NO REVIEWS! Love your work on your channel.
look at this phonograph.. everytime i do it makes me laugh
"Paul is a Dead Man"
That's all I could hear.
ramairgto72 😂🤣
@@cermisan pffffffff..... i only heard "number 9, number 9, number 9 and so on".... These dang beatles put it everywhere!!
:) :) :)
There was a Sega Genesis game that if put it in a CD player had one track...."turn me on Deadman" repeated with "number 9" and some other WEIRD stuff. Accualy kinda creeped me out alot and did research on it and found all the conspiracy about "the dead man" don't ask me what game it was I don't remember but for some reason I had it no Sega to play game thou and stuck it in my PS4 and BOOM out came the music or message more than music...was CRAZY
It's everyday bro with that Techmoan flow
This channel is VERY addicting!! Love the wry humor and the smooth, very easily understood delivery: so refreshing in an era of soulless, pronunciation-mangling robots reading canned scrips!! Thanks for this: my faith in UA-cam videos is renewed.
I have to agree with you how refreshing this channel is thank you Techmoan
"Have you ever seen the italian job with Michael Caine?"
"No, I haven't even watched it on my own."
LOL!
If you still have this cup phonograph, maybe try stiffening the cup. Maybe with some wax on the inside.
i think its absorbing the needle vibrations on record and playback. That is my almost 3 years late suggestion.
Motoring on... On to the Motor - I see what you did there! :-)
I was expecting a fanfare sound clip every time he said "horn section".
"Have you watched the Italian Job with Michael Caine?"
"No, I haven't even watched it on my own."
LOL!! xD
micheal Cain is not in Italian job ... donald sutherland mark walberg
If you want it to work you should hire Nikola Tesla to fix it, just make sure you don't pay him.
Or Give him credit for his work... In fact totally discredit him afterwards.
@@dgdixon704 dont forget to profit off of all his other work too!!
Heat the cup up so that it is softer & then talk into it. It may need to get a deeper cut into the plastic. Softening it may help.
Your almost there....just add a pre-amp, graphic equaliser, surround sound amp and
some extra speakers then....bingo!
It would work just fine for recording rock band rehearsals.
The Edison originally used "hill and dale" recording versus this machine using vertical. I think another redesign is in order.
Bingo. Emile Berliner tried to use the vertical diaphragm on a cylinder and found it to not work, hence the eventual transition to the disc.
You can play the cup song while building the thing. lol. No more wax piles.lol. One things for sure, it reminds me of the cheap toys we got for christmas back in the late 60's. I remember most of those motorized toys lasted till Spring, then they went in the trash for spring cleaning.lol.
Love the end puppetry.
The Tefifon music is perfect! ua-cam.com/video/nBNTAmLRmUg/v-deo.htmlm58s
Hot tip, Do you have a trash can bear by ? The sound of that piece of junk hitting the trash can is the most satisfying sound it will ever make. And the results are easy to reproduce.
Kidding. Cover the cup in silver aluminum tape (don't stick the tape down leave the paper backing on) it should record onto the foil much easier than the plastic cup. Plus you can make many recordings and keep the "tapes". See the Science Wiz version of this kit on UA-cam and you'll get the idea.
I’ve actually have been anticipating for this video!!! :)
same
Techmoan, my friend! He's got a phonographic memory. He repeats the exact same old lines like a scratched record. By the way, to get the Edison Cup Phonograph Kit, to work properly! You forgot to say... Mary had a little lamb. It's fleece was white as snow, Everywhere the child went. The lamb, the lamb was sure to go! (just kidding!) Cheers! :-)
that was brill...was in tears laughing when you were shouting into it...great stuff :)
You could try using a 2 inch thick smooth sided hard wax candle. That should allow for ample depth and integrity for the sound to groove and uniform surface. and when your done run a lighter over the surface very quickly to erase your audio. you would want to place the candel in a fridge for about 30 minutes prior to recording to firm it up though.
Kinda wondering if this would work a little bit better if you cover the cup with a piece of wax paper (so that it's actually a "wax cylinder").
That might not get a smooth enough surface for recording (unless you have a good mold and know how to cast a candle properly). Also, I think plastic cups are more rigid, so using that with wax paper rather than just wax might make the recording quality a bit more constant.
nothing like a cold lager and a new techmoan video
I think you might have one of two problems (or maybe both). 1. The diaphragm is simply badly constructed and not working. Though there is sound scratched on the cup, so I think it might more be problem number 2.: The force pressing down the needle onto the cup is to weak. Have you tried putting some more weight on the needle arm? It looks to me as if the sound is just not scratched into the cup "deep enough" (you know what I mean).
Plus, I would - as you already started - try to work out a better solution for holding the cup. I just cannot be good for the record if the cup wiggles around like it did in your video.
An interesting try might also using a wax cylinder. Maybe you have a plastic tube that you can cover with wax, like, from a molten candle? I would use that with the weights on the needle actually thought for using a plastic cup. It might work better than plastic alltogether.
Cheers from the country that invented the Tefifon, please keep up the great work!
The problem is more than just pressure on the needle, it's the recording method as a whole. Edison's design created a groove that varied in depth, not side to side movement. Emile Berliner tried his design of a side to side movement and found it to not work on cylinders, hence the creation of the disc.
I think these kits are more of a functioning model kit intended to be built than something that is designed to actually work. I wonder if you would have better luck trying a piece of PVC or some other plastic pipe, or perhaps a wood dowel that is flat instead of a cup.
Fhave you tried playing audio through a loudspeaker really loud in front of it
LOL, "Nope, haven't even watched it on my own.".
Can't ever figure if that's you and your dad, you and your son or just your take on the entitlement technology creates in each new generation but, in any case, you are not only tech savvy, you my friend are a philosopher. Good on you.
Would it help to warm the cups up with hot water before recording - it might soften the surface a bit.
Cardinal Biggles i would try freezing it instead. if you heat it up it becomes more elastic, but what you need is it to be plastic so that it will deform and retain the shape instead of jumping back like a rubber band
Cardinal Biggles The thinness of thevplastic cups would cause them to cool to quickly
Try a different type of plastic cup. That looks like HIPS, High Impact Polystyrene. It has a rubber type agent to make it less brittle. Rubbery surfaces would be a poor material to record sound on. You should try OPS Oriented Polystyrene or Polypropylene like 2 liter soda bottles are made from. I'm curious how well it would work with other types of plastic.
Could you record Dixie on a Dixie cup? (Sorry non-US viewers. None of that makes sense.)
I think you need to look at the diaphragm. Make sure its completely sealed. Its obvious that the needle isn't vibrating enough.
"I haven't even watched it on my own."
9:09
Why not try to slow down the recording after recording, it might be more legible.
In theory Friction may be slowing the cup down when recording, and without that extra weight on playback, the cup could be going faster than when it is recording.
Now look at this nick
that I just found,
when I say go
it fits in the hole!
I think my grandfather had a cylinder recorder. It used wax cylinders rather than plastic cups. I would try using different kinds of materials. Maybe even try recording on a hot day and playing back on a cool day to take advantage of the softening with heat. Also, I think the needle should not be sticking out far. Make it as short as possible and at close to a right angle to the surface as you can.
no mate that look on the box is showing ,lol fool got your $99 you will never see again!!!!
That may apply to some but not him,he's easily made that back and then some from add revenue ;-)
so true forgot.
never would buy a recorder that records on a solo cup....lol
Oh, you'll SEE it again... just in your bank report as having disappeared for barely any good reason at all!
Plus, it probably cost them all of $1.43 to make! Rip-off bastards! Even if it cost them about $6 and I had to pay like $20, I still wouldn't buy this trash!
Solo cups are for monophonic recording only.
I would have been tempted to stick one cup inside the other just to give the plastic cup some firmness. The other thing is the diaphragm that records would not get enough purchase to vibrate to cut anything but a straight track, so I don't think you will get any sound. A coating of wax might also work, however it would need to be a hard wax. The needle would almost need to be straight up and down. They are putting so much weight on the needle it would have problems moving to vibrate to produce sound on the cup. It needs weight to cut a groove, but to much weight will stop it vibrating. Catch 22. A softish wax that will set after it is recorded might work if it was coated onto the cup, but it would need to be a paper cup for the wax to stick.
Stylus should be in 90° angle to penetrate the plastic good enough and make uniform grooves
Try pointing the cups toward the ceiling and creating a Dolby atmos affect like in your home Theater system, or maybe even tape the cups to the ceiling. That should work
Disappointing results. for $100. I hope you sent it back... how else will they know that this product is defective in design and engineering.
They should know their product is defective by testing it before putting it on the market.
love your style, tech, videos, ideas. thank you
eindeutig. Die Nadel ist zu flach auf dem Becher. Richtige Position zu sehen in der Bedienungsanleitung bei 2:03...
Horsteci Al eegensen mies an strugen
@Neoxenum is this a German comment or is this auto-translated??!?
The ending with the puppets made suffering thru the first 15 minutes worthwhile.
Thank you, Now we know how patient was Thomas Edison !
According to some historic records Edison was not patient. He was also egocentric and was torturing animals to prove that his DC current was superior to Tesla's AC, which was not actually the case (except in his head). Edison also had a crew and it is really questionable how many of his inventions were actually creations of his crew members that never got credit.
I have an original Edison phonograph, it is amazing how it works and how it was designed, without a 4 year degree nor computer. also have a lot of the phonograph cylinders (records) that will play.