The fact that someone inveted this 40 years ago it's quite amazing. It is even more amazing that someone bought this 40 years later and made a video out of it. What is utterly incredible is that I have spent 15 minutes of my life amazed by this incredible machine. Now, I need one.
I truly want to meet the engineer who designed this. I just can’t imagine walking in to the board room and saying hey I got something really cool for you guys. Wow. Truly master design there.
Almost 3 years later and I’ve only just stumbled onto this video. What an AMAZING machine. That montage terrified me with the complexity of the mechanism. 45 years old now at least. Mind boggling. Also, I’d love to own this. Fabulous thing it is.
I am even later than that, and I often watch TechMoan's channel. But what got me curious was seeing this type of machine in the video game Receiver and watching the tapes go around. Then I came here to see the real deal!
Oh, the eating tape of a cassete player! You've brought the old days nostalgia on me... LOL. I had to carefully and slowly pull the tape from the casette player when it was scrambled all over... LOL and if I was lucky, the tape wouldn't brake, but even if I was unlucky and the tape did brake... I still "managed" to glue it together using nail polish... LOL The old times.... LOL
Happened to me during entire 80s and 90s only once. Problem of Tape eating happens only if you carry your tapes without protecting case or you cause the reels to move in all directions (slacks are the cause)
@@asamsonov34 Oh. For a walkman it was the best way to save the batteries. Though I was using a pencil only if I didn't have a pair of scisors at hand... 😂 For me, rewinding with a pair of scisors was the most accurate method back then...
Holy shit that's one of the most awesome devices I've seen so far, not only does it just look plain awesome, the brushed aluminium with the dark wood, but also the moving bits and professional look of it. Great stuff Mat, you must've been happy like a child when it arrived at your door :)
It's best to ask the seller if you can pay extra to have the object double-boxed ...double boxing has always been the best way I've avoided breakages...polystyrene beads, and bubble pack can help....but I've had things arrive where the packing material has all shifted to one side of the box and the object has been dropped and dented on the other side...so double boxing is the best thing you can do.
Techmoan Alright, I just tend to stick to the countries around the Netherlands such as the UK when buying stuff from Ebay, more often than not it ends up in 1 maybe 2 different transportation companies so that means they'll not be able to blame other companies for not handling your package properly. DHL for instance ships throughout Europe.
Actually not. If something broke, you would have a technician fix it. Televisions, tape decks, VCRs, etc were all totally serviceable and repair shops were a thriving business sector. Most of these repair shops have gone out of business due to the fact that most modern devices are designed to not be repairable, going as far as companies even refusing to issue service manuals, repair parts, etc. Today's electronics do not offer the same possibility of repair. Most devices made now are disposable and have no options for repair. They don't want you to fix things, they want you to buy another one. Planned obsolescence is the prevailing design drive these days. This is exactly why you still see plenty of vintage gear from decades ago that still works fine. It was designed to last and designed to be repairable. Try to find anything from the last ten years that will last 5 decades. Good luck.
If this thing ever chewed up a tape, it'd be a NIGHTMARE! Still, usually happened most to Walkmans. Maybe the miniaturisation, or low price point, made the mechanisms less reliable. Sometimes you'd have to take the whole player apart. At least for this thing, the player's mechanism is open. Once the bottom cover's off, you could probably untangle the tape. The tape mechanism makes me think of car stereos, they had the same insert-tape mechanism. Perhaps that's what this is, a car cassette player mechanism. Also would be a bit more rugged I'd think.
As far as servicing and repair, some modern stuff you can swap out an entire board or assembly, so they're a BIT repairable. As much as anything else though it's not worth the money. A skilled technician's time is worth more money than it costs to just replace your television, for the most part. More expensive things I imagine are designed more to be serviceable. Other thing is components. They've become more reliable, and more complex, in the case of ICs. So it's not worth the bother of trying to isolate a particular component to replace. You just swap out the whole board instead. Diagnostic procedures are designed at that level. The stuff that's most likely to go wrong in modern stuff, because it's the most complex, is the software.
The '70s and '80s was all about luxurious wood grain with silver highlights. ...Then the '90s came along and everything was made in matted black with aerodynamic curves... anticipating that people would throw away such unappealing electronics & appliances.
born in the early 90s, don't quite know that such complex cassette machine was already available in the 70s, and the sophistication of this machine actually surprised and inspired me. I also like to watch those mechanical parts working together in a symphonic and harmonious way to carry out different functions, it's as if they are "your responsible friends" who serve your need in a reliable and supportive manner.
wow, amazing, for 1972 that was genius. Just think for every single part there exists a full engineering drawing, assembly drawings, setup and alignment drawings etc. a huge amount of engineering has gone into that machine. It show just how clever and determined the Japanese are. Simply brilliant.
This know-how dates back to industrial revolution of 1800s -- an assembly of cogwheels and levers doing several jobs simultaneously, power from a single drive - a motor ( a steam engine in 1800s)
Just think in 1972 those drawings were done by a draftsman with a pencil and ruler on a sheet of paper. The math for the gear ratios would have been done on a slide rule...Today they would build and test the entire thing in a 3D model.....then again today all the music is digital. That tape player is way cool though! I had some old 70s marantz made in japan stero equipment back in the 90s the old 70s stuff sound blew away the 90s technics stuff I bought to replace it. I Wish i had kept all of it.
These older machines ARE fascinating. Back when the world ran on physical properties rather than digital streaming. That one device shown that withdraws the cassette, flips it over, then moves it back to the play head is so cool. So is the title carousel player. Brilliant stuff. That machine is the ultimate mix tape from back then.
I was thinking the same thing, since I still use lots of cassettes. But then I got to thinking -- 1974-75 vintage? What kind of shape would the belts and pinch rollers be in after 40-some years? I can just image that thing "eating" one tape after another....
You've got a problem. I suspect I may have the same problem only with old cars, trucks and, well, it does seem to include almost any old 'device'. Calculators, pencil sharpeners, mechanical pencils, drafting equipment, watches, tools, etc. Ok, I take it back. *I* have a problem. Not enough money to buy all of these outdated museum pieces.
So simple, but yet, so effective. These would have been great at house parties - there'd have been no more having to search for cassettes every hour then - surprised there weren't more of these machines around.
Watching this machine is hypnotic! Great find, sir. Especially in such a good condition. I'm happy it ended up in a connoisseur's collection, instead of rusting in a basement or attic, or being destroyed. Enjoy it! ... Excellent presentation. Subscribed!
Ya know, I just have this mental image of this being used as a prop in an 80's film where the computer guy of the movie has re-purposed this as a memory bank for his computer that uses cassette tapes for memory. "...each cassette holds a different program on it, allowing me to quickly switch between 20 applications at a time with only the push of a button. I call it the AB, or App Bank."
I'm 17 and no nothing about these type of machines haha. Still love and appreciate those mechanical machines. That mechanical montage aswell was amazing. Love the videos man.
+Kevin The Hyena so you. Took the time to go through the comment. Find someone to bitch and moan at. Then click comment. Then think of something to say. Then type it and send it? That seems like a lot of effort for someone who "doesn't care". Now off with you back to your troll cave and cuddle up to mama
I repaired consumer electronics for a living in the 1970's and as a warranty Tech for Panasonic I remember working on about 4 of these machines. They had a big design fault that showed up on all the ones that I repaired …. the mechanism that would pull the cassette down into the tape deck portion was too complicated and would fail. A cassette tape really doesn't have much to grab onto from a mechanical standpoint is the reason for the failure and why many of these didn't sell. UP NEXT: The CD jukebox took its place with much better results and the ability to store much more music before MP3 players came along. Thanks for the post.
J. Mack it didn't sell well because people knew it would break before too long? Seems like popular items often broke easy, too. Perhaps it sold poorly because of cost?
As I recall Panasonic and Sony were in a tech war to produce a jukebox of some kind. One company had an 8 track version of this and I'm thinking this machine was produced more of a showcase piece. These machines were not common because people I don't think felt it was a big chore to change a single cassette on a individual machine.
J. Mack Panasonic and Sony has been fighting for along time until recently " Samsung showed up for the war instead of Panasonic". i'm also an old school tech
Thanks for the video on this remarkable machine, Techmoan, and for the additional insight on it, J. Mack. I remember a few Japanese cassette changer models that held 5 or 6 cassettes and had a linear mechanism, but I had no idea someone had made a 20-cassette rotary model. As Mr. Techmoan alludes to at the end of the video, I would have to imagine there must have been a decent market for cassette changers for store background music for stores that wanted long-running continuous music systems that weren't propreitary and neither required a subscription service (Muzak and the like apparently used phone lines and special FM subcarriers, in the days before satellite- and Internet-based delivery), nor special media like radio-station-type carts.
I just found a technics 1200 in the garbage and its in fully working condition sorry this has nothing to do with the video but I'm just extremely excited and a had to tell someone
@@19580822 Turns out we were wrong about their "junk", I still have a bunch of old japanese electronics from the 1970s that still work clocks, record player and radios.
@@alexanderrosales7675 I loaded up on it too when I was active duty in the '70s. It was good stuff. I had an awesome Sansui stereo that I kept for over 20 years, but I'm really talking about the '60s here, when most Japanese products were cheap knockoffs of familiar American products. They turned it around quickly, I agree.
@cronos222 -- Yeah, I was about to say....He's a bit of a Hypocrite...He "Marvels" at 1970's Hi-Fi technology, yet there is NOT one 1970's Album/Cassette title played in that machine......Ridiculous !....SMDH...
Yes, and a lot of the software is clunky and/or crashes. I've got a new-ish Samsung Blu-Ray/Smart TV unit, great quality, but the factory-installed software is a joke- e.g. it takes about 12 steps on the remote just to delete a recording- and that's from the point of already being on the recordings list. Don't get me started on Huawei - I think they 'timebomb' everything they make to pack up just after the warranty goes void.
If anything this thing looks OVER-engineered. Way too many moving parts and it looks like it'd break incredibly easily and be impossible to fix. Ergonomic circuit boards aren't a bad thing.
Very good presentation! I still remember when I was a little boy at my friend's house around 1966. He received a birthday present in the mail. He opens it and is really excited and says "its a cassette player, I really wanted one!" I said "what's a cassette?"
What an amazing machine, the design the thought that went into that. The way it loads the cassette into the player is brilliant, though getting a messed up tape out (as cassettes always manage to do in the end) would be a total nightmare. Very interesting.
I remember when I was a kid thinking that the cassette player in our car actually had to flip it over to do the auto reverse and wondering how it managed to do it in the confines of a car stereo head unit lol.
So fascinating how all these mech were turned into just 0s and 1s later on till today 😁 And so entertaining to witness how those tapes on the rotator seemed to wiggle all at once
well that was the coolest thing ever! Really love the mechanical wizardry of pre-90's audio equipment. Imagine the time spent on coming up with that beast.
9:36 What a ballerina!!! Forget about seeing one, never new one such a thing even existed! Ahhhh those good ole days..... Thanks a lot for showing this amazing machine.
Do you have a museum to show your amazing collection?… ah, what am I asking, your youtube channel is the best museum for the whole world to watch. I didn’t suspect the majority of those devices even existed. Amazing.
I am just seeing this video pop up on my feed for the first time. That is freaking cool as hell. I would have loved that back in the 80's when I was a teenager. I never knew they made one.
What a fascinating, cool and bizarre machine! - I'd sure hate to deal with fixing it after it has eaten a tape way down inside that labyrinthine turntable deck mechanism, though...
I just subscribed...this particular upload should be Awarded, somehow, somewhere...it just 'should! It's beautiful, especially this classical music part. Thanks, man.
I doubt it. In the part where he takes off the bottom to reveal the inside he mentions the main motor and he says it has a new belt on it. Come to think of it, that micro switch looks suspiciously new.
That the best kind of mechanical pornography to start the day off with :) I'd also say that this particular machine is more special than the 8-track one because it is actually programmable. The whole control section and different ways of playing back the tapes is fascinating considering the limited technology they were working with back then.
Love it mate, absolutely love these old mechanical machines. Someone had to sit down and work hard to make that thing work properly with no microprocessors to do all the work for them. Yeah I know computers were around but would have made it too expensive for a wide customer audience back then. Something soothing about listening to a real 'robot' working for you. I loved the almost 'sexy' mechanical montage :) and is that a complimentary dead carcus of a spider on that counting wheel ? lol Thanks for sharing :)
This video help me and my grandfather so much we bought the same cassette player in great condition not joking for only 15 dollars at a yard sale so there was some stuff that were screwed with but by seeing this video it helped now it works perfectly.
I know I'm super late to the party but OMG I was almost in tears watching this gorgeous work of art going thru its paces! There's 1 on eBay now, $850 or best. Seller claims it's all functional & even comes with a full rack of cassettes, even has the cover for the write-on tabs. Matt you're a terrible influence!
I agree 100%, just like their cars and that is why I only buy Japanese cars like Toyota, Nissan and Honda. They are #1 when it comes to technology as well as Israel.
Impressive collection of cassettes there. You are a legit hip-hop head! However, where's the Eric B. & Rakim?? Grand Daddy I.U. is a poor substitute...
Interesting, I've been interested in electronics since the early 60's and was quite into cassettes when this came out, however this is the first I have ever heard of one of these. They must have been very rare.
The mechanisms in those old machines are dumb but clever at the same time: It can't actually determine which tape it's playing, so what it does by deliberately stopping at the 20th cassette is actually resetting the system, so the next time it's activated it advances the tapes correctly by the amount you specify as it always starts off from the same point every time it's activated. It obviously has no real memory to speak of but uses that calibration routine to ensure it doesn't need memory.
Brek Martin me too!! I was thinking it _must_ have some sort of basic IC microcontroller to handle programming, but maybe not if it's all mechanical. But still I'd love to see the boards. And I have this perverse desire to update the playback electronics with better head, updated playback amps, Dolby B/C/S chip, etc. no idea why, but would be a great project. Maybe even control the carousel from a Raspberry Pi. Maybe I'll have to find one myself. That newer 90's model I saw once might be a good candidate.
I’ve really come to enjoy your channel. Your enthusiasm coupled with your knowledgeable presentation make for excellent videos. I also appreciate your vocabulary as many of these type videos the hosts swear their heads off. Irritating to listen to and, as he gets older, I’m looking forward to watching these with my step-son, as he shows an interest in fiddly little mechanisms and the like. Thankyou for all your work
Do you ever get a strange feeling that we were somehow more advanced 40+ years ago compared to now if you consider built quality and the tools to work with? Ranges from electronics to vehicles.
It's called planned obsolescence. Our glorious capitalist empire (/s) couldn't function unless all its citizens did their patriotic duty and replaced all the gizmos in their house every five years.
At some point starting in the 90's they went from making things better to making them cheaper and by the early 2000's they started engineering in life spans as well. Don't want you to get 40 years out of a piece of tech, even if its just a light bulb.
Mark my words, in a 100 years we will have an entire industry based on sifting through those landfills for raw materials to re-use. There is just no way we can sustain our accelerating pace of consumption.
jose luis pinzon C Some rap is good. The only rap I don't like is where all the rapper does is moan on about how amazing he is, "you're an 8 track tape and i'm a compact disc" for instance. Ugh.
{in an angry puppet YT troll voice} "I am gobsmacked there is not a video/review on CD mega players, (SONY CDP-CX681, Pioneer PD-F100) How am I supposed to make a buying decision without a video? (that I can later skewer)" back to normal now, both myself and my 16 y/o son were home under the weather the other day and an afternoon watching your videos, gave us some stuff to chat about. I am a vinyl junkie but I have ~200 CDs left over that I would rather not replace but would like to hear once and a while..
Well things are coming up trumps (Trumps?) Last night my home record den had a sony mega storage 200 cd that had only come in that morning. (hopefully after he fully tests & cleans the unit, it will be there after the Thanksgiving holiday travel) Thanks for the rapid response, I appreciate your channel and the hard work you you put in to make it entertaining. (even though I suspect it's more fun than work)
I had a cd player that just stored 5 cds on a giant platter, was pretty cool too see it whirl round as it changed discs but i think i eventually threw it out as it kept spitting discs out even after i put in one of those head cleaner disc things.
Ooh, I remember those! My childhood friend was so proud when his dad got one of those. He had me over to show it off but insisted on just playing Chumbawamba's Tubthumping (which I thought was dreadful) on repeat, defeating the entire purpose of the machine.
I had a Pioneer PFD25. It was great. Now I don't own an single cd or DVD. Computer has a blu-ray player but fever owned. Blu-ray Disc either...that was a technology which was obsolete before it arrived.
I was amazed at how clean and tidy it was on the inside after forty plus years. Of course, someone may have cleaned it recently, but I was impressed to see that even the belt mechanism was still intact. A little dust but hardly anything worry about. Panasonic has always made great products, but you'd be hard pressed to find something like this still working so well after all these years.
hahahahaha, do not remove cover, okay :) spilled my coffee when you said that. I was in a coverband once, and in the practise studio there was a little electric heater which had an emblem on it saying 'do not cover', so I left the band...
The fact that someone inveted this 40 years ago it's quite amazing. It is even more amazing that someone bought this 40 years later and made a video out of it. What is utterly incredible is that I have spent 15 minutes of my life amazed by this incredible machine. Now, I need one.
Also, the fact that it still worked perfectly after 40 years, and didn't need refurbishing.
HuH??? we sent folks to the MOON 50 years ago... the first car over 100 years ago.. steam and mechanical equipment for many 100's before that!!
New-age Rip van winkle spotted ha ha ha....
Yes...it would be so very cool to own one of those multiplayer cassettes carousel.
Closer to 50 years ago
I love how the machine just swallows the tape sooooooooooo silently.
"This is my tape. My preeeeeecious."
Lol
I truly want to meet the engineer who designed this. I just can’t imagine walking in to the board room and saying hey I got something really cool for you guys. Wow. Truly master design there.
Completely mad and completely awesome machine :)
I suscribed to your channel when it was called "Phreakindee".
Discovering that two of my favourite UA-camrs watch each other's videos. That's awesome.
why in the heck am i not surprised to see you pop in here to drool at this machine with us :D
The EEVblog is out there
=)
seems borderline as being good enough for dave to review seriously once you seen inside one multimeter or scope they are basicly the same
Almost 3 years later and I’ve only just stumbled onto this video. What an AMAZING machine. That montage terrified me with the complexity of the mechanism. 45 years old now at least. Mind boggling. Also, I’d love to own this. Fabulous thing it is.
I just saw the thumbnail and was utterly confused as to what I was looking at! This is fascinating!
I am even later than that, and I often watch TechMoan's channel.
But what got me curious was seeing this type of machine in the video game Receiver and watching the tapes go around.
Then I came here to see the real deal!
This is such a great machine. But it was probably a living hell when it ate the tape.
Probably why they didn't make too many, and no one really heard of these crazy machines.
Oh, the eating tape of a cassete player! You've brought the old days nostalgia on me... LOL. I had to carefully and slowly pull the tape from the casette player when it was scrambled all over... LOL and if I was lucky, the tape wouldn't brake, but even if I was unlucky and the tape did brake... I still "managed" to glue it together using nail polish... LOL
The old times.... LOL
Yes, I had an abundance of #2 pencils on hand... 😉
Happened to me during entire 80s and 90s only once. Problem of Tape eating happens only if you carry your tapes without protecting case or you cause the reels to move in all directions (slacks are the cause)
@@asamsonov34 Oh. For a walkman it was the best way to save the batteries.
Though I was using a pencil only if I didn't have a pair of scisors at hand... 😂
For me, rewinding with a pair of scisors was the most accurate method back then...
Holy shit that's one of the most awesome devices I've seen so far, not only does it just look plain awesome, the brushed aluminium with the dark wood, but also the moving bits and professional look of it. Great stuff Mat, you must've been happy like a child when it arrived at your door :)
I was just so relieved that it arrived undamaged and was working well. I've had a lot of stuff from the US get trashed in transit.
Techmoan Any difference between paying through the nose for transportation or having cheap-o transport?
It's best to ask the seller if you can pay extra to have the object double-boxed ...double boxing has always been the best way I've avoided breakages...polystyrene beads, and bubble pack can help....but I've had things arrive where the packing material has all shifted to one side of the box and the object has been dropped and dented on the other side...so double boxing is the best thing you can do.
Techmoan Alright, I just tend to stick to the countries around the Netherlands such as the UK when buying stuff from Ebay, more often than not it ends up in 1 maybe 2 different transportation companies so that means they'll not be able to blame other companies for not handling your package properly. DHL for instance ships throughout Europe.
I have best luck with DHL from Germany...always quick and safe.
You do realise that removing the cover voids the warranty...
It was probably already expired by then anyway.
Lack of humor detected.
Initiating retort sequence.
Retort sequence initiated.
"Derp."
Retort sequence completed.
LOL!!!! But it nothing about removing the bottom part...where everything is at because no one would be that stup....oh shit he did it.
Brenden Allen dur dur dur
Chris Testerman I never followed those labels.
The amount of hours you put into your videos is amazing and awe inspiring. Thanks, cheers from Mexico.
So many moving parts inside. I can only imagine the amount of work that went into designing this machine. And if something breaks, you're screwed.
Awesome electromechanical design.
Just imagine a twenty foot tape overrun.
What a mess!
Actually not. If something broke, you would have a technician fix it. Televisions, tape decks, VCRs, etc were all totally serviceable and repair shops were a thriving business sector. Most of these repair shops have gone out of business due to the fact that most modern devices are designed to not be repairable, going as far as companies even refusing to issue service manuals, repair parts, etc. Today's electronics do not offer the same possibility of repair. Most devices made now are disposable and have no options for repair. They don't want you to fix things, they want you to buy another one. Planned obsolescence is the prevailing design drive these days. This is exactly why you still see plenty of vintage gear from decades ago that still works fine. It was designed to last and designed to be repairable. Try to find anything from the last ten years that will last 5 decades. Good luck.
If this thing ever chewed up a tape, it'd be a NIGHTMARE! Still, usually happened most to Walkmans. Maybe the miniaturisation, or low price point, made the mechanisms less reliable. Sometimes you'd have to take the whole player apart.
At least for this thing, the player's mechanism is open. Once the bottom cover's off, you could probably untangle the tape.
The tape mechanism makes me think of car stereos, they had the same insert-tape mechanism. Perhaps that's what this is, a car cassette player mechanism. Also would be a bit more rugged I'd think.
As far as servicing and repair, some modern stuff you can swap out an entire board or assembly, so they're a BIT repairable.
As much as anything else though it's not worth the money. A skilled technician's time is worth more money than it costs to just replace your television, for the most part. More expensive things I imagine are designed more to be serviceable.
Other thing is components. They've become more reliable, and more complex, in the case of ICs. So it's not worth the bother of trying to isolate a particular component to replace. You just swap out the whole board instead. Diagnostic procedures are designed at that level.
The stuff that's most likely to go wrong in modern stuff, because it's the most complex, is the software.
I thought the same! How would it be if this thing chewed up a tape!!
The 70s sure loved putting wood grain on everything
80s too. I have a wood grain TV from 1987.
The '70s and '80s was all about luxurious wood grain with silver highlights.
...Then the '90s came along and everything was made in matted black with aerodynamic curves... anticipating that people would throw away such unappealing electronics & appliances.
LGR approves!
I have an old cassette tape container with, I'm pretty sure, the exact same wood grain as the player in this video.
@@trollsthatlol1 damn I'm a month to late
born in the early 90s, don't quite know that such complex cassette machine was already available in the 70s, and the sophistication of this machine actually surprised and inspired me. I also like to watch those mechanical parts working together in a symphonic and harmonious way to carry out different functions, it's as if they are "your responsible friends" who serve your need in a reliable and supportive manner.
You're damn lucky that thing worked when you got it. Repairing that would be a nightmare.
Yeah itwould
nah, just an afternoon job in frony of tv.
the gears could be rooted and would be a pain in the ass print them again
Forget repairing it... just look what you have to go thru to clear a tape it "eats"!
Very true my friend - very true!
wow, amazing, for 1972 that was genius. Just think for every single part there exists a full engineering drawing, assembly drawings, setup and alignment drawings etc. a huge amount of engineering has gone into that machine. It show just how clever and determined the Japanese are. Simply brilliant.
This know-how dates back to industrial revolution of 1800s -- an assembly of cogwheels and levers doing several jobs simultaneously, power from a single drive - a motor ( a steam engine in 1800s)
@@tvoommen4688 yeh just like a F1 engine does ;)
Just think in 1972 those drawings were done by a draftsman with a pencil and ruler on a sheet of paper. The math for the gear ratios would have been done on a slide rule...Today they would build and test the entire thing in a 3D model.....then again today all the music is digital. That tape player is way cool though! I had some old 70s marantz made in japan stero equipment back in the 90s the old 70s stuff sound blew away the 90s technics stuff I bought to replace it. I Wish i had kept all of it.
Thats why everything back in the 70's was so well built, not made of plastic.
These older machines ARE fascinating. Back when the world ran on physical properties rather than digital streaming. That one device shown that withdraws the cassette, flips it over, then moves it back to the play head is so cool. So is the title carousel player. Brilliant stuff. That machine is the ultimate mix tape from back then.
Ok now I have to find one of these. This guy has cost me money every time I view his videos. Thanks buddy.
i know know i really want one
I was thinking the same thing, since I still use lots of cassettes. But then I got to thinking -- 1974-75 vintage? What kind of shape would the belts and pinch rollers be in after 40-some years? I can just image that thing "eating" one tape after another....
true. but that's why you'd need to do some testing first. but chances are you'll be changing the belts.
Check Ebay
You've got a problem. I suspect I may have the same problem only with old cars, trucks and, well, it does seem to include almost any old 'device'. Calculators, pencil sharpeners, mechanical pencils, drafting equipment, watches, tools, etc. Ok, I take it back. *I* have a problem. Not enough money to buy all of these outdated museum pieces.
I would have loved this thing back in the 80’s, my tape collection was so good! Great video, a real treat to see!
@KelMaster Construction me too!!!!
So simple, but yet, so effective. These would have been great at house parties - there'd have been no more having to search for cassettes every hour then - surprised there weren't more of these machines around.
That is a beautiful piece of analog electromechanical technology. Thanks for the video.
Watching this machine is hypnotic! Great find, sir. Especially in such a good condition. I'm happy it ended up in a connoisseur's collection, instead of rusting in a basement or attic, or being destroyed. Enjoy it! ... Excellent presentation. Subscribed!
Never knew there was such a thing.
Me too !
And my self!
That is so cool, where was this in the 80's when I wanted to play non-stop music in my youth
In the 80's I used to record to VHS. 4hrs of music right there!
Ya know, I just have this mental image of this being used as a prop in an 80's film where the computer guy of the movie has re-purposed this as a memory bank for his computer that uses cassette tapes for memory.
"...each cassette holds a different program on it, allowing me to quickly switch between 20 applications at a time with only the push of a button. I call it the AB, or App Bank."
Cameron Farley pair this up with something like commandor and you'll be fucking golden
please do this
Cameron Farley f
Or a cheap cart-solution for a small radio station too.
Cameron Farley a compact cassette version of a RAID lol
I did have that when I was a kid. Handed down by my dad, to listen to audiobooks in the early 80‘s. Greetings from Germany, your channel is a gem.
"It's a Classic".... "No it's not. It's a IIC"... Niche joke right there, and it's my kinda niche.
Nostalgia Nerd by an amazing coincidence, your comment is right below LGR. The niche is uniting!
Wow that rack of audio cassette tapes behind him sure brings me back those '80s memories... :)
Not as classic as a II-E
I'm 17 and no nothing about these type of machines haha. Still love and appreciate those mechanical machines. That mechanical montage aswell was amazing. Love the videos man.
*know nothing haha
+niall cw also when I saw death certificate in your collection 😍😍
im 16 i used these, how funny is living in a sub-developed country
No one gives a shit.
+Kevin The Hyena so you. Took the time to go through the comment. Find someone to bitch and moan at. Then click comment. Then think of something to say. Then type it and send it? That seems like a lot of effort for someone who "doesn't care". Now off with you back to your troll cave and cuddle up to mama
A wonderful and marvelous machine I have ever come across. The engineer who has designed this complicated machine is really a genius.
Dude... That Mechanical Montage. Nerdgasmic
Can you imagine the systems engineering that went into making something like that work? The montage was fantastic! Thanks for that. DB
I repaired consumer electronics for a living in the 1970's and as a warranty Tech for Panasonic I remember working on about 4 of these machines. They had a big design fault that showed up on all the ones that I repaired …. the mechanism that would pull the cassette down into the tape deck portion was too complicated and would fail. A cassette tape really doesn't have much to grab onto from a mechanical standpoint is the reason for the failure and why many of these didn't sell. UP NEXT: The CD jukebox took its place with much better results and the ability to store much more music before MP3 players came along. Thanks for the post.
J. Mack it didn't sell well because people knew it would break before too long? Seems like popular items often broke easy, too. Perhaps it sold poorly because of cost?
As I recall Panasonic and Sony were in a tech war to produce a jukebox of some kind. One company had an 8 track version of this and I'm thinking this machine was produced more of a showcase piece. These machines were not common because people I don't think felt it was a big chore to change a single cassette on a individual machine.
J. Mack Panasonic and Sony has been fighting for along time until recently " Samsung showed up for the war instead of Panasonic". i'm also an old school tech
what about the ridges on the aides of the cassettes it could have locked around those.
Thanks for the video on this remarkable machine, Techmoan, and for the additional insight on it, J. Mack. I remember a few Japanese cassette changer models that held 5 or 6 cassettes and had a linear mechanism, but I had no idea someone had made a 20-cassette rotary model. As Mr. Techmoan alludes to at the end of the video, I would have to imagine there must have been a decent market for cassette changers for store background music for stores that wanted long-running continuous music systems that weren't propreitary and neither required a subscription service (Muzak and the like apparently used phone lines and special FM subcarriers, in the days before satellite- and Internet-based delivery), nor special media like radio-station-type carts.
Serious tape collection, some gems there . Great video as always.
Paris' "The Devil Made me do it" - quite a deep cut!
I absolutely adore these videos. I love seeing all the whacky stuff people came up with and it's super interesting to see how they work! Great work!
watching your "mechanical montage" again and...this really IS quite a feat of engineering for it's day...love it....totally 70's
Techmoan you made a work of art in that scene, although the clicks and pops from the machine were too loud imho. Well done artist!
CAUTION - DO NOT REMOVE THIS COVER. I'm so glad you did as there is something really satisfying about watching mechanical precision at work.
The mechanical montage is fantastic!
straight up mechnical engineering pornography there
Homage to both the "Waltz King" Johann Straus, Jr. (1825-1899) and 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey"!
Huzzah for “The Blue Danube”! So perfect for this sort of thing. 🎶🎵
I just found a technics 1200 in the garbage and its in fully working condition sorry this has nothing to do with the video but I'm just extremely excited and a
had to tell someone
Does it actually work well? Those are great turntables - damn that's quite a find, congratulations!
+javaking1000 thanks yeah it works great i was actually saving up for the audio technica lp120 now I don't have to
Holy shit, that's amazing
Excellent turntable. One hell of a find! Congrats
So that's where my mom put it when she asked me to move out! Haha can i have it back
That would of been perfect for Pirate Radio Stations back in the day!
this thing looks more like a tiny factory assembly line than a consumer electronic device.
The Japanese have always surprised us with their inventions and innovations.
made in china is a copy of the japanese innovations....
Quality too
I remember the days when "Made in Japan" meant poor quality.
@@19580822 Turns out we were wrong about their "junk", I still have a bunch of old japanese electronics from the 1970s that still work clocks, record player and radios.
@@alexanderrosales7675 I loaded up on it too when I was active duty in the '70s. It was good stuff. I had an awesome Sansui stereo that I kept for over 20 years, but I'm really talking about the '60s here, when most Japanese products were cheap knockoffs of familiar American products. They turned it around quickly, I agree.
I am in awe of the mechanical wizards who devised all these steps that work together to make it operate smoothly.
That was a lot of hip hop and rap . Don't take this the wrong way but I had you pictured as more of a Phil Collins man .
@cronos222 -- Yeah, I was about to say....He's a bit of a Hypocrite...He "Marvels" at 1970's Hi-Fi technology, yet there is NOT one 1970's Album/Cassette title played in that machine......Ridiculous !....SMDH...
Much much better Phil Collins (he at least is a REAL Musician) than (c)rap garbage.
Is it the glasses
... Or Elvis Costello
I loved the mechanical montage
I love the olden days when remote controls came with 20 foot cords on them. Reminds me of my old cable box from '79.
Not so common in the UK. I'm in my mid 40s and don't recall ever seeing one. No doubt they were susceptible to damage and a major tripping hazard.
Some reason, Colecovision comes to mind... :P
Loved the nod to Kubrick's 2001 with the mech montage
And to the "Waltz King" Johann Strauss Jr, who composed "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" in 1867. Wow, but they really wrote 'em to last, back then!
I was in the electronics repair field for 28 years, and I've never seen one of these machines
Not me either
Perhaps that's a statement to the build quality, and or rarity
This channel is so cool. Showing the inner workings in high res. A step above the other tech channels.
You make really great videos! I am happy to support!
Some seriously shitty taste in music however.
Back when actual engineering went in to product design.
Back when it had to...all software now essentially
Yes, and a lot of the software is clunky and/or crashes. I've got a new-ish Samsung Blu-Ray/Smart TV unit, great quality, but the factory-installed software is a joke- e.g. it takes about 12 steps on the remote just to delete a recording- and that's from the point of already being on the recordings list. Don't get me started on Huawei - I think they 'timebomb' everything they make to pack up just after the warranty goes void.
But the engineering method is the backbone of product design.
If anything this thing looks OVER-engineered. Way too many moving parts and it looks like it'd break incredibly easily and be impossible to fix. Ergonomic circuit boards aren't a bad thing.
Great video. Your mechanical montage was mesmerizing
Very good presentation! I still remember when I was a little boy at my friend's house around 1966. He received a birthday present in the mail. He opens it and is really excited and says "its a cassette player, I really wanted one!" I said "what's a cassette?"
Loved the montage. Great work as usual.
What an amazing machine, the design the thought that went into that. The way it loads the cassette into the player is brilliant, though getting a messed up tape out (as cassettes always manage to do in the end) would be a total nightmare. Very interesting.
I remember when I was a kid thinking that the cassette player in our car actually had to flip it over to do the auto reverse and wondering how it managed to do it in the confines of a car stereo head unit lol.
1:18 This tape collection looks like it's been frozen in time since 1991. I'm taken aback!!
Mai visto😂💕
So fascinating how all these mech were turned into just 0s and 1s later on till today 😁
And so entertaining to witness how those tapes on the rotator seemed to wiggle all at once
well that was the coolest thing ever! Really love the mechanical wizardry of pre-90's audio equipment. Imagine the time spent on coming up with that beast.
9:36 What a ballerina!!!
Forget about seeing one, never new one such a thing even existed! Ahhhh those good ole days.....
Thanks a lot for showing this amazing machine.
I like the "caution do not remove this cover" sticker. Sort of like "this sign has sharp edges
I've never seen or heard of that player before. Amazing! Technology has been continuously amazing throughout the years.
amazing ... so much engineering into that unit
FINALLY. A convenient way to listen to almost the entire 27 hours of the Deathly Hallows I have on cassette tape.
And skip over a section containing a boring bit
Do you have a museum to show your amazing collection?… ah, what am I asking, your youtube channel is the best museum for the whole world to watch. I didn’t suspect the majority of those devices even existed. Amazing.
I love how you seem to completely lost it at the end when mentioning other carrousel devices
I love the way he recorded UA-cam music so that he doesn't violate copyright law.
I am just seeing this video pop up on my feed for the first time. That is freaking cool as hell. I would have loved that back in the 80's when I was a teenager. I never knew they made one.
1st tape 'Edward Van Halen'! Even more respect Techmoan!
What a fascinating, cool and bizarre machine! - I'd sure hate to deal with fixing it after it has eaten a tape way down inside that labyrinthine turntable deck mechanism, though...
I just subscribed...this particular upload should be Awarded, somehow, somewhere...it just 'should! It's beautiful, especially this classical music part. Thanks, man.
"Edward Van Halen" this is why I love British humor. Oh wait, I mean humour
Brandon Bartz it’s a nod to Back to the Future.
@@Steve.2112 It might even be the original prop.......
Mark I doubt that
And "Awesome Mix Vol.1" is a reference to the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy"
"Jump"!
haha "Edward Van Halen" and "Awesome Mix #1"- nice back to the future and boogie nights references!
BrooklynPerson30000 ahaha I get it now. Haha
I prefer Strauss' "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" myself.
That Mechanical Montage reminded me of watching fairground organs playing... The music helped no end! Great video and a great machine!
For a 40 year old device that is in excellent condition. Are those original belts?
I doubt it. In the part where he takes off the bottom to reveal the inside he mentions the main motor and he says it has a new belt on it. Come to think of it, that micro switch looks suspiciously new.
Hmm, I don't know how I missed that part.
john carlaw I wonder, even back then belts should have been made from synthetic rubber. Does synthetic rubber rot like natural rubber?
john carlaw same here! In that order, too.
He said new belts in the video. 8:59
That the best kind of mechanical pornography to start the day off with :)
I'd also say that this particular machine is more special than the 8-track one because it is actually programmable. The whole control section and different ways of playing back the tapes is fascinating considering the limited technology they were working with back then.
at times the music in the mechanical montage was in time with the various clicking from Panasonic. very satisfying!
Love it mate, absolutely love these old mechanical machines. Someone had to sit down and work hard to make that thing work properly with no microprocessors to do all the work for them. Yeah I know computers were around but would have made it too expensive for a wide customer audience back then. Something soothing about listening to a real 'robot' working for you. I loved the almost 'sexy' mechanical montage :) and is that a complimentary dead carcus of a spider on that counting wheel ? lol Thanks for sharing :)
JohnnyX50
Great attention to detail, that spidey was old, dry and mummified, irony of life XD.
Thank you for showing it on UA-cam!
This video help me and my grandfather so much we bought the same cassette player in great condition not joking for only 15 dollars at a yard sale so there was some stuff that were screwed with but by seeing this video it helped now it works perfectly.
My god. So many microswitches and actuators. What a marvelous machine. Im kinda ashamed to call myself an engineer haha.
An excellent collection of hip hop cassettes there sir!
i shed a tear of appreciation during the mechanical montage. the clockwork complexity of this machine, it's almost victorian.
damn this makes me miss my early 00's sony sterio with 5 cd trays and 2 casette slots! what a beuty it was
mechanical montage is soothing
Agreed. To the 1867 all-time classic waltz "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss Jr. They just don't write 'em like that anymore!
I know I'm super late to the party but OMG I was almost in tears watching this gorgeous work of art going thru its paces!
There's 1 on eBay now, $850 or best. Seller claims it's all functional & even comes with a full rack of cassettes, even has the cover for the write-on tabs. Matt you're a terrible influence!
MADE IN JAPAN built to last!!!!!!!
Tommy Sands made in China now what
All the best stuff is made in Japan Doc.
+Samuel pyke Not all "Made in China" produts can last.
.oO(with the exception of the quartz lock tape transport mechanism of the JVC DD series tape decks)
I agree 100%, just like their cars and that is why I only buy Japanese cars like Toyota, Nissan and Honda. They are #1 when it comes to technology as well as Israel.
Impressive collection of cassettes there. You are a legit hip-hop head! However, where's the Eric B. & Rakim?? Grand Daddy I.U. is a poor substitute...
It's amazing how clean it was inside when you opened it up.
Interesting, I've been interested in electronics since the early 60's and was quite into cassettes when this came out, however this is the first I have ever heard of one of these. They must have been very rare.
Me too, I worked in dixons.. they didnt exist
Increíble esta máquina. Nunca había visto ésta clase de aparatos. Además lo has abierto para mostrárnoslo por dentro. Guauuuuuuu
Thank you for the camera work. I think its a background music player for hotels and department stores.
"This thing is a classic'"
"No it's not! It's a II C!"
I'm laughing way too hard lmao. That was funny.
The mechanisms in those old machines are dumb but clever at the same time: It can't actually determine which tape it's playing, so what it does by deliberately stopping at the 20th cassette is actually resetting the system, so the next time it's activated it advances the tapes correctly by the amount you specify as it always starts off from the same point every time it's activated. It obviously has no real memory to speak of but uses that calibration routine to ensure it doesn't need memory.
On the middle board to the far right could be the footprint for a pair of decade counters. I'd have liked to see the boards.
dumb?
Brek Martin me too!! I was thinking it _must_ have some sort of basic IC microcontroller to handle programming, but maybe not if it's all mechanical. But still I'd love to see the boards. And I have this perverse desire to update the playback electronics with better head, updated playback amps, Dolby B/C/S chip, etc. no idea why, but would be a great project. Maybe even control the carousel from a Raspberry Pi. Maybe I'll have to find one myself. That newer 90's model I saw once might be a good candidate.
I’ve really come to enjoy your channel. Your enthusiasm coupled with your knowledgeable presentation make for excellent videos. I also appreciate your vocabulary as many of these type videos the hosts swear their heads off. Irritating to listen to and, as he gets older, I’m looking forward to watching these with my step-son, as he shows an interest in fiddly little mechanisms and the like.
Thankyou for all your work
Do you ever get a strange feeling that we were somehow more advanced 40+ years ago compared to now if you consider built quality and the tools to work with?
Ranges from electronics to vehicles.
It's called planned obsolescence. Our glorious capitalist empire (/s) couldn't function unless all its citizens did their patriotic duty and replaced all the gizmos in their house every five years.
Depends on what you're talking about, where it was made and what you're comparing it to.
At some point starting in the 90's they went from making things better to making them cheaper and by the early 2000's they started engineering in life spans as well. Don't want you to get 40 years out of a piece of tech, even if its just a light bulb.
If you get a chance look up a little short film called "The Light-Bulb Conspiracy". Shocking but absolutely eye opening.
Mark my words, in a 100 years we will have an entire industry based on sifting through those landfills for raw materials to re-use. There is just no way we can sustain our accelerating pace of consumption.
I saw a van halen tape and all I can say is that I'm happy that techmoan has a healthy music taste.
jose luis pinzon C Some rap is good. The only rap I don't like is where all the rapper does is moan on about how amazing he is, "you're an 8 track tape and i'm a compact disc" for instance. Ugh.
an Offensive Narwhal do you know which sing he played in the starting on the awesome mix tape?
''edward van halen''
an Offensive Narwhal wtf is that a real lyric??
That's Marty McFly's Edward van Halen tape from planet Vulcan (used to melt George McFly's brain).
i have watched many of your editions, this is one of the best !
{in an angry puppet YT troll voice} "I am gobsmacked there is not a video/review on CD mega players, (SONY CDP-CX681, Pioneer PD-F100) How am I supposed to make a buying decision without a video? (that I can later skewer)"
back to normal now, both myself and my 16 y/o son were home under the weather the other day and an afternoon watching your videos, gave us some stuff to chat about. I am a vinyl junkie but I have ~200 CDs left over that I would rather not replace but would like to hear once and a while..
I have a megachanger lined up for a video next year.
Well things are coming up trumps (Trumps?) Last night my home record den had a sony mega storage 200 cd that had only come in that morning. (hopefully after he fully tests & cleans the unit, it will be there after the Thanksgiving holiday travel) Thanks for the rapid response, I appreciate your channel and the hard work you you put in to make it entertaining. (even though I suspect it's more fun than work)
I had a cd player that just stored 5 cds on a giant platter, was pretty cool too see it whirl round as it changed discs but i think i eventually threw it out as it kept spitting discs out even after i put in one of those head cleaner disc things.
Ooh, I remember those! My childhood friend was so proud when his dad got one of those. He had me over to show it off but insisted on just playing Chumbawamba's Tubthumping (which I thought was dreadful) on repeat, defeating the entire purpose of the machine.
I had a Pioneer PFD25. It was great. Now I don't own an single cd or DVD. Computer has a blu-ray player but fever owned. Blu-ray Disc either...that was a technology which was obsolete before it arrived.
Wonderful machine, really enjoyed that video (and keep up the puppet sequences please :) ).
I was amazed at how clean and tidy it was on the inside after forty plus years. Of course, someone may have cleaned it recently, but I was impressed to see that even the belt mechanism was still intact. A little dust but hardly anything worry about. Panasonic has always made great products, but you'd be hard pressed to find something like this still working so well after all these years.
Thank you for that “do not remove cover”... it made me laugh, I needed that hahaha ! 🤣
hahahahaha, do not remove cover, okay :) spilled my coffee when you said that.
I was in a coverband once, and in the practise studio there was a little electric heater which had an emblem on it saying 'do not cover', so I left the band...
THESE OLD MACHINES WERE GREAT,BEAUTIFUL,THE BEST,THANKS TO YOU.
beautiful piece of machinery.