Pioneer made a special version of this player for dealer showroom's - it had a see-through smoked top cover so you could see the disc changing taking place.
I wondered what happened to this PIONEER model Digital disc video / audio system. WOW I WANT ONE NOW! After viewing this super excellent demonstrations! 😱😵🔈🔈
I'm only 20 years old and the LD player was released way before I was even thought of, I'm very intrigued by this and will consider buying one, even though I live in South Africa, Awesome Video @databits, love the fact you went to the inside details!!!
With this type of changer and electronics that remember which disk was taken I wonder how this unit will behave after pulling the plug during playback. Will it try to do horrible things to discs after getting power back on or did they use some optical sensor or something to check whether there is a disk on the tray?
I just picked one up here in Seattle at the Goodwill for 20 bucks, and it's fantastic. Watched Moonraker on laserdic on my 32" lcd and it looked great!
Looks like the “Two Stair Gear” on your player will eventually need replacing (the reason the tray moves in a jerky fashion). I’ve had that problem on my CLD-M90 and it got so bad that it affected tray alignment that in turn caused CD skipping and other odd issues. Otherwise, great video explaining the basics of this model. It really is one of the more unique LD player designs.
I wonder what the difference is between the 301 and the 401? Couldn't find much info on them online. I just picked up a 401 for $70 shipped, no remote but I figured it'd be a good introduction to the format. I plan on stress testing it when I get it to warm it up and make sure there are no mechanical or electronic faults that pop up with use. Gonna put 5 CDs on shuffle for a while - both 3 inch and 5 inch!
CAV - Constant Angular Velocity, is the method that vinyl records are etched, so it's a fixed speed for the full disc, so the data rate should increase when the laser pickup is leading the outer edge of the disc. CLV - Constant Linear Velocity, the method that CDs and DVDs are recorded, the system equalizes the speed to the data rate that it needs, when the laser pickup is on the outer edge of the disc, it spins slower so the data rate is always the same
You probably know this already, but Pioneer also made a bunch of Laserdisc players that could play both sides of the disc. The laser pickup assembly rode on a U-shaped track that surrounded the disc. When one side finished playing, the disk would start to spin in the other direction, and the laser would ride on the track to the other side of the disk. It was a really neat feature, but all the extra moving parts necessary to pull it off made these players really unreliable. I've amassed a pretty sizable collection of old Pioneer LD players, and every single one needed at least some work to get back up & running.
The neat thing about this player is that you can leave all 5 CD's loaded and just put a LaserDisc on top of them and play it without removing the CD's. and to switch between video and CD tracks on a 5-inch CDV you select the track number of the CD track. The video clip is always the last track even though it plays first. So selecting track 1 would have played the CD part. And the CD part of all 5-inch CDV's is compatible with all CD players.
I still have 7 working laserdisc players and over 400 movies and concerts in that format. I would be them in blu ray even if I could. It would be difficult with Paul Simon in the park I guess.
Hey Databits Thanks for the video of your Laserdisc Player with the Steven Arts champaign with it i got a One Question what song did steven sing on Track 1 of Disc 2
yes, this particular model could play a LD on top of the inserted CD's, however, you could NOT play CD's with the LD inserted, you had to remove the LD first.
I just purchased this model off of eBay, does your player still function normally? I've heard that this model can have some problems. unfortunately I didn't know that before I bought it. I was just wondering if this player gave you any problems. Any advice would be much appreciated.
+JoeyFisticuffs - Joey, mine worked perfect. Although I sold it on ebay. Who knows if it survived shipment. I practically gave it away when I sold it. Have you received yours yet?
Image Entertainment interestingly enough would go on to continue releasing titles on VHS and DVD. I have their set of the Hyper Police anime series on DVD.
Good question! CDV is a hybrid disc, containing 5 minutes of analog laserdisc video and 3 or 4 tracks of digital audio (like a CD). VCD is 74 minutes of digitally compressed video/audio in MPEG1 format is not playable on a laserdisc player.
i have this one but laser lens doesn't work it always stop the disc when i press play botton some times it play but sometime it not i think i'll buy new laser lens from ebay
databits Nah, shipment is like $20-ish. But then again those thing are not cheap in my country and are pretty rare, I've only seen like 4 in my entire life xD.
I am really thinking of buying the same model from a guy here in Brazil. It is working great. I'm thoughful about it if it happens to stop running and there's no fix! I think i'll take the risk! Could anybody help me!?
Unfortunately, didn't work out so well... DOA :( I'll have to keep an eye out on craigslist postings and such maybe for an elite model if I can find one for a decent price.
Hey databits, I apologize that I can't respond directly... The mobile commenting system is very flawed/awkward. Anyhow the 401 I purchased was fully and completely tested by the seller who was very knowledgeable and even sent a disc for testing with it. No bad intentions on his part, he expected it to arrive in fully working condition and he did say he would refund the cost if I couldn't get it to power on. It was packed like a tank, one of the best prepared shipments of vintage electronics I've ever received - it sustained no damage whatsoever from what I could see. With that said, I thought that maybe a ribbon cable became dislodged in transit. Checked all the boards and as far as I can see everything is fine, so I'm really baffled. Not sure how something can go from fully working to not even being responsive. No signs of life on this unit- no lights, no buttons do anything, just won't turn on. Tried different outlets even haha. I even waited a couple of hours by letting it sit in the room to adjust to temperature before even plugging it in. Of course it remains to be seen if the unit is even mechanically functional IF it were to power on so unfortunately I think it's just going to go to the landfill or given to someone who may need parts. Do you have any other ideas on what can be done? I thought maybe the fuse got dislodged too and there's no connection but I'm not sure where it's located on this unit.
MrRom92DAW - Sorry for my late response, I've been swamped at work. Without someone with some electrical troubleshooting skills, the issue is uncertain. You might try replacing the fuse, making sure the power button actually works or isn't busted. Other than that, it needs a doctor with a voltmeter. If you want to ship it to me, I can check it out for you, but there may be a chance it's just gone.
Years ago i had a como dvd laserdisc player i put a dvd in the small tray and the disc never came out it must of went into the black hole i threw it in the bottom of the river along with all my laserdiscs every laserdisc player i owned was a piece of junk that had to be repaired in a year of less maybe pc richard sold be broken players the biggest mistake in my life was buying a laserdisc player im glad you were lucky with your player
Sadly this player had the video section from Pioneer's lowest end LaserDisc player at the time and while better than VHS or even Super VHS, it had the worst video quality of Pioneer's available LaserDisc players.
Thanks for your comment about my CLD-M301 laserdisc video! I still enjoy collecting this cool format.
Pioneer made a special version of this player for dealer showroom's - it had a see-through smoked top cover so you could see the disc changing taking place.
That robot arm is the coolest way of changing CDs I've ever seen.
ChakatBlackstar Totally agree.
Your video helped convince me to buy one. I had no idea it could even play the CD Video format. Thanks for the info!
You're welcome! I wish I still had mine and I'd remake the video in HD. I rarely see laserdisc players in my shopping experiences these days.
I wondered what happened to this PIONEER model Digital disc video / audio system. WOW I WANT ONE NOW! After viewing this super excellent demonstrations! 😱😵🔈🔈
I'm only 20 years old and the LD player was released way before I was even thought of, I'm very intrigued by this and will consider buying one, even though I live in South Africa, Awesome Video @databits, love the fact you went to the inside details!!!
Dude! Thank you for watching my video! Enjoy the new machine!
That was pretty cool.. I have never seen one of those. Thank you for sharing and explaining how it all works!
You're welcome, Mike. I wish I had a better camera back then!
With this type of changer and electronics that remember which disk was taken I wonder how this unit will behave after pulling the plug during playback. Will it try to do horrible things to discs after getting power back on or did they use some optical sensor or something to check whether there is a disk on the tray?
I just picked one up here in Seattle at the Goodwill for 20 bucks, and it's fantastic. Watched Moonraker on laserdic on my 32" lcd and it looked great!
Looks like the “Two Stair Gear” on your player will eventually need replacing (the reason the tray moves in a jerky fashion). I’ve had that problem on my CLD-M90 and it got so bad that it affected tray alignment that in turn caused CD skipping and other odd issues.
Otherwise, great video explaining the basics of this model. It really is one of the more unique LD player designs.
This would make some great stuff for some vaporwave.
This was my first player, back in 1998!
amazing mechanism...i never seen this before..
Someone is selling one of these in my local area with 20 laser discs for 50 bucks. I am definitely contemplating taking up on that deal.
I wonder what the difference is between the 301 and the 401? Couldn't find much info on them online. I just picked up a 401 for $70 shipped, no remote but I figured it'd be a good introduction to the format. I plan on stress testing it when I get it to warm it up and make sure there are no mechanical or electronic faults that pop up with use. Gonna put 5 CDs on shuffle for a while - both 3 inch and 5 inch!
Sounds great! Let me know how it works out for you?
What clever engineering.
CAV - Constant Angular Velocity, is the method that vinyl records are etched, so it's a fixed speed for the full disc, so the data rate should increase when the laser pickup is leading the outer edge of the disc. CLV - Constant Linear Velocity, the method that CDs and DVDs are recorded, the system equalizes the speed to the data rate that it needs, when the laser pickup is on the outer edge of the disc, it spins slower so the data rate is always the same
André Campana Merétika You are correct!
Keeping promotions for forthcoming and available Laserdisc movies on separate discs? Why didn't they do that for VHS cassettes?
You probably know this already, but Pioneer also made a bunch of Laserdisc players that could play both sides of the disc. The laser pickup assembly rode on a U-shaped track that surrounded the disc. When one side finished playing, the disk would start to spin in the other direction, and the laser would ride on the track to the other side of the disk. It was a really neat feature, but all the extra moving parts necessary to pull it off made these players really unreliable. I've amassed a pretty sizable collection of old Pioneer LD players, and every single one needed at least some work to get back up & running.
Yes, I have seen those machines. That was a very high-end feature.
GREAT DEMONSTRATION !!! GO ON !!! THANKS !!!
Awesome! Let me know what you think of it.
The neat thing about this player is that you can leave all 5 CD's loaded and just put a LaserDisc on top of them and play it without removing the CD's. and to switch between video and CD tracks on a 5-inch CDV you select the track number of the CD track. The video clip is always the last track even though it plays first. So selecting track 1 would have played the CD part. And the CD part of all 5-inch CDV's is compatible with all CD players.
I see that you didn't finish watching the entire video! I highly recommend it!
databits can you tell me if it plays CAV laser discs?
A friend gave me a player like this not as fancy but it does the job. My only gripe is the long gear drive has a crack in it so it skips at time
Pretty cool! How it pick's up the CD to the center to play it. Good quality play from your I Phone. "Robot arm", lmao.
Thanks for your comments and for watching!
You're welcome. Keep making video's like this.
I still have 7 working laserdisc players and over 400 movies and concerts in that format. I would be them in blu ray even if I could. It would be difficult with Paul Simon in the park I guess.
This is fine machinery!
I had one of those Laserdisc machines a while ago, but it wasn't working, but i always imagined to put a 12 inch record on them to see what they do xD
André Campana Merétika Haha, they would do nothing.
Imagine putting in the "Dragon's Lair" Laserdisc in there.
Hey Databits Thanks for the video of your Laserdisc Player with the Steven Arts champaign with it
i got a One Question what song did steven sing on Track 1 of Disc 2
+Alexis Smith - please scroll down through the comments, I believe I've answered that one..thanks!
Do you have to remove the CDs to play a LD? Looks like the mechanism could pick up the LD in the middle there when the CDs still in place...(?)
yes, this particular model could play a LD on top of the inserted CD's, however, you could NOT play CD's with the LD inserted, you had to remove the LD first.
This is really GREAT
I just purchased this model off of eBay, does your player still function normally? I've heard that this model can have some problems. unfortunately I didn't know that before I bought it. I was just wondering if this player gave you any problems. Any advice would be much appreciated.
+JoeyFisticuffs - Joey, mine worked perfect. Although I sold it on ebay. Who knows if it survived shipment. I practically gave it away when I sold it. Have you received yours yet?
not yet, I really hoped it survived the shipping, are laser disc players dedicate?
Does anyone know how to repair these? Where can one buy parts and so forth. Help would great!!
just imagine if the full size LD was Blue Ray !!!
Mike Cramp I was thinking the very same thing, a blue ray version with all the same formats. 🔈🔈
Databits. your pioneer cld-m301 is Great what Disc was that on track 2
+Debbie Travis - Track 2 or disc 2?
Brad it’s Gio,do you own this cause I want to buy this one also😊Let me know if you still have the two Pioneers?Thanks Gio.
This one is a keeper! You'll need to shop ebay to find one. Best wishes!
Image Entertainment interestingly enough would go on to continue releasing titles on VHS and DVD. I have their set of the Hyper Police anime series on DVD.
whats the difference between vcd and cdv please?
Good question! CDV is a hybrid disc, containing 5 minutes of analog laserdisc video and 3 or 4 tracks of digital audio (like a CD). VCD is 74 minutes of digitally compressed video/audio in MPEG1 format is not playable on a laserdisc player.
But as I've looked on eBay, some players could play VCD!
i have this one but laser lens doesn't work it always stop the disc when i press play botton
some times it play but sometime it not i think i'll buy new laser lens from ebay
I see that it isn't a LaserDisc player. It is only a CD player. A LaserDisc is a big (30cm) double side disc.
I can get one like this, but it's like $100 xD, is still worth it?
Then again, old stuff like this is not cheap in my country.
Gordon Freeman I suppose $100 isn't horrible. Does that include shipment/post?
databits
Nah, shipment is like $20-ish.
But then again those thing are not cheap in my country and are pretty rare, I've only seen like 4 in my entire life xD.
I am really thinking of buying the same model from a guy here in Brazil. It is working great. I'm thoughful about it if it happens to stop running and there's no fix! I think i'll take the risk! Could anybody help me!?
Cool buddy thanks
Any time!
Unfortunately, didn't work out so well... DOA :( I'll have to keep an eye out on craigslist postings and such maybe for an elite model if I can find one for a decent price.
So the unit was completely dead, no power? Was it damaged in shipment?
Hey databits, I apologize that I can't respond directly... The mobile commenting system is very flawed/awkward. Anyhow the 401 I purchased was fully and completely tested by the seller who was very knowledgeable and even sent a disc for testing with it. No bad intentions on his part, he expected it to arrive in fully working condition and he did say he would refund the cost if I couldn't get it to power on. It was packed like a tank, one of the best prepared shipments of vintage electronics I've ever received - it sustained no damage whatsoever from what I could see. With that said, I thought that maybe a ribbon cable became dislodged in transit. Checked all the boards and as far as I can see everything is fine, so I'm really baffled. Not sure how something can go from fully working to not even being responsive. No signs of life on this unit- no lights, no buttons do anything, just won't turn on. Tried different outlets even haha. I even waited a couple of hours by letting it sit in the room to adjust to temperature before even plugging it in. Of course it remains to be seen if the unit is even mechanically functional IF it were to power on so unfortunately I think it's just going to go to the landfill or given to someone who may need parts. Do you have any other ideas on what can be done? I thought maybe the fuse got dislodged too and there's no connection but I'm not sure where it's located on this unit.
MrRom92DAW - Sorry for my late response, I've been swamped at work. Without someone with some electrical troubleshooting skills, the issue is uncertain. You might try replacing the fuse, making sure the power button actually works or isn't busted. Other than that, it needs a doctor with a voltmeter. If you want to ship it to me, I can check it out for you, but there may be a chance it's just gone.
Are you willing to sell this machine. My LD player died
Okay what band is on disc 2 databits
+Debbie Travis - Steven Curtis Chapman
Can I buy your stuff? :)
Years ago i had a como dvd laserdisc player i put a dvd in the small tray and the disc never came out it must of went into the black hole i threw it in the bottom of the river along with all my laserdiscs every laserdisc player i owned was a piece of junk that had to be repaired in a year of less maybe pc richard sold be broken players the biggest mistake in my life was buying a laserdisc player im glad you were lucky with your player
robert szvetics - That is by far the worst laserdisc ownership story I've ever heard. Thanks for sharing.
your welcome i guess im not very lucky after that happened i never played a dvd in that player again
Oh that's how it work fanasnating
Hey guys i'm back! Looks like raining today.
+Jumpy Bird - it's raining technology!
Sadly this player had the video section from Pioneer's lowest end LaserDisc player at the time and while better than VHS or even Super VHS, it had the worst video quality of Pioneer's available LaserDisc players.
Oh boy this player must be a bitch to repair and put back together.
databits o_o
William William O_o
You wouldn't need any data compression..................
O_O
William William o_O