The smallest ‘Walkman’?
Added 2025-01-09 14:57:19 +0000 UTCWhich was the smallest personal stereo Compact Cassette player?
https://youtu.be/nTwbpHp0TFI
I’m snowed in today, or to be more accurate, iced in. I’d have to be a nutter to try driving down the steep road from my house, especially when I have no need to. Instead I got to stay in and finish off this in-between type of video which is about very little.
Sometimes these simple videos work, sometimes they don’t - it’s all in the lap of the gods now.
Hope you are doing well and avoiding any of the carnage 2025 has managed to wreak in record time. Take care.
Comments
Solved the problem, we have HTTPS now. That one's safe.
Steffen Barabasch
2025-01-20 01:13:46 +0000 UTCI found it! It's the WM-106 https://walkmancentral.com/products/wm-106
Sean Doyle
2025-01-15 17:44:53 +0000 UTCUnfortunately Nagra SNS models cost thousands now - they were never cheap though. However they’re priced way beyond something I’d be able to buy for a video.
Techmoan
2025-01-14 18:18:06 +0000 UTCUnfortunately BNIB is proving difficult, even with the time machine.
Techmoan
2025-01-14 18:15:04 +0000 UTCInvented by parallel universe David Beckham from salvaged alien technology, it seems.
David Boddie
2025-01-14 18:10:10 +0000 UTCA giant fancy washing machine?!?
Arthur Robillard
2025-01-12 19:01:19 +0000 UTCThis is a related tangent. Adam Savage with another YouTuber went quickly through a bunch of "oddities" devices that Mat already covered in detailed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uw3WIwnnOE&t=5s I like Adam, but compared to the job Mat does, this is weak compilation. Full credit for recognizing the job that Mat has already done on these devices as well as another gentleman I did not recognize. There is only one device I don't remember Mat doing a video on and that was the reel-to-reel recorder. I have seen the 8-bit guy do an over view video like this on Magnetic Media. Maybe there should be some compilation videos with links to the full length videos to get people into the wealth of content created so far. As I watched the video I kept saying to myself. "yup, seen that, they did not mention this feature, you got that wrong" and so on.
Dan Weiss
2025-01-11 20:00:22 +0000 UTCSpeaking of your time machine at the end, we haven't seen your one that brings back 'brand new in box' items from the past in a very long time 😄 Imagaine how small Walkmans would be if music on micro cassettes had taken off.
Tim Barker
2025-01-10 23:12:17 +0000 UTCThe Toshiba is obviously intended for 1990s hippety-hopsters. Their underpants were always hanging out of their trousers as well.
Andrew Torrance
2025-01-10 22:48:30 +0000 UTCThank you Matt. I’ll give that a go.
Neil Jones
2025-01-10 18:31:16 +0000 UTCI’d probably just spray some WD 40 brand Contact Cleaner in the socket and repeatedly plug and unplug a cable. I only mention that brand as it’s easy to find in the U.K. Deoxit is expensive here.
Techmoan
2025-01-10 18:29:11 +0000 UTCGreat video Matt. Thank you. I always liked Toshiba personal stereos back in the 80s. Always reliable and seemed to give more bang for your buck than Sony. I did consider the one where the cassette protruded out of the case, but rejected it because it looked too fragile, especially for travelling on the Northern Line every day in the rush. Ahh nostalgia…. While I’m here, can you recommend a cleaner suitable for getting dirt off 1/4 inch jack sockets please?
Neil Jones
2025-01-10 17:00:01 +0000 UTCThe Tosh is from perhaps around four years earlier than the Sanyo so it's really a different generation of device, heavier construction. The radio module uses the standard audio out and power in over the pins...like the other ones I showed in the Twin Tape Walkman video recently.
Techmoan
2025-01-10 12:36:14 +0000 UTCThat’s a bigger difference than what I thought, I suppose there will be more circuitry for the radio module interface. Ooo I wonder if those contact pins are just for power and the radio module just uses a tape head like the old castle to aux adapters.
McClegend
2025-01-10 11:43:03 +0000 UTC...and only has Fast Forward (as far as I can make out).
Techmoan
2025-01-10 11:21:24 +0000 UTCI hadn't done...but I have now: Toshiba 190.8g Sanyo/Grundig 142g
Techmoan
2025-01-10 11:18:48 +0000 UTCI had one of those, too. A little fragile but cool. I actually thought being the size of a cassette case was kind of genius, cheating or not. Tapes, Walkman, and a radio shack hand rewinder all fit cleanly in the case logic case. Except headphones.
Paul
2025-01-10 10:16:09 +0000 UTCGreat video, as always, Mat. The protruding cassette tape design reminded me of that Sony Discman which had the CD extending outside of the player housing - a design that seemed to me to be wilfully courting trouble, like blowing bubble-gum bubbles in class. Your closing remarks made me laugh - brought to mind a scene from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which a Management Committee on prehistoric Earth couldn't progress their first invention of 'The Wheel' because they couldn't decide what colour it should be. Have a great weekend, Mat.
Roland Bogush
2025-01-10 09:15:57 +0000 UTCMat I don’t suppose you weighed them?
McClegend
2025-01-10 05:35:51 +0000 UTCSame thing happened when I made a video about the smallest microcassette recorder, the Olympus L400. People claimed the Sony M-909 is smaller, and it is slightly shorter and thinner than the Olympus -- but the Sony is wider, which puts its total volume above that of the Olympus.
VWestlife
2025-01-10 03:02:57 +0000 UTCCan't recall the Sony model I had, circa 1992, but it was the slimmest one I'd ever owned, and had soft touch controls. Sadly, it had a tendency to turn tapes into streams of folded ribbons.
Brad Jones
2025-01-09 23:59:59 +0000 UTC😂
Stephen Bell
2025-01-09 22:35:28 +0000 UTCWhen you think about it, it completely ruins every time travel story. The Earth’s moving at about 820,000 mph relative to the cosmic microwave background, so any time machine would also need to double as a teleporter.
Tunix
2025-01-09 22:11:43 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed that video. Interesting to see the Toshiba properly after all these years and realise it wasn't that small after all and rather delicate.
Gideon Jones-Davies
2025-01-09 20:45:40 +0000 UTCThe radiation is a bit of a problem.
Grace Robbins
2025-01-09 20:09:03 +0000 UTCI’d be concerned about the effect it appears to have on fingers.
Techmoan
2025-01-09 20:00:08 +0000 UTCThe WM10 is still my favorite cassette Walkman that I ever owned, and it was certainly compact for its day. However, I had to take the tape out and collapse it for it to fit in my Case Logic portable cassette carrier, and I always felt that was cheating a bit.
Brad Hood
2025-01-09 19:51:31 +0000 UTCHi there Kickstarters - we are pleased to bring you closer to a breathtaking human achievement! https://ibb.co/g6D3YYq The creators of AHD™ (By Idiots) are bringing you from Science Fiction to Science Fact: the first useful Home Time Transportation Portal (HTTP)! You can now experience the electrified giddiness of departing your current time to begin a new life in another century! But we need your help to hire replacement engineers (the original engineers never returned in time) to track down the reason why the HTTP is a one-way time-trip. HELP機能 ! Back us now at £1M!
Grace Robbins
2025-01-09 19:39:21 +0000 UTCSanyo / Grundig had a long standing partnership I think. I have a Sanyo turntable that's really pretty decent, sold in the UK, but in mainland Europe it was sold via Grundig.
Jimmy Mounsey
2025-01-09 19:38:58 +0000 UTCThe first time I saw that Toshiba cassette player was in the movie the Man with one red shoe.
Godzilla
2025-01-09 19:33:58 +0000 UTCLooks like a good job for Mend It Mark.
Earl Plotner
2025-01-09 19:21:17 +0000 UTCCan’t wait to see people squabbling over who’s got the tiniest. Get the popcorn ready.
Tunix
2025-01-09 18:50:37 +0000 UTCAre the conspiracy theories that "it can be done if you really want" already there for the Elbow? 😅 Sorry folks, it's analog, the speed needs to be precisely controlled, you would need a capstan and pinch roller for that... Philips actually created a cassette format without capstan and pinch roller, but it was definitely not suited for music...
MrHammond
2025-01-09 18:49:20 +0000 UTCIt's virtually the top prize you could find inside the Cracker Jack box or the Frito Lay value packs. ❤️
Grace Robbins
2025-01-09 18:39:27 +0000 UTC😃
Jørn Birkeland Rosengren
2025-01-09 18:22:15 +0000 UTCJust googled those and it’s neither. I can picture it in my minds eye. Rounded edges, dark gun metal grey, plastic. Flap for the wound up earbuds at one end and flap for the battery on the other.
Sean Doyle
2025-01-09 18:17:42 +0000 UTCI know the Sony WM51 had wind up earbuds…there may well be more Update, yes there’s others e.g. the WM-EX911.
Techmoan
2025-01-09 18:12:22 +0000 UTCI’ll re-do it yesterday.
Techmoan
2025-01-09 18:06:23 +0000 UTCThe smallest Walkman I ever had was a Sony. I can’t remember the model, but I had it in the late 80s/early 90s. My dad worked in an electrical goods shop and it was delivered by mistake. Allegedly it was never released outside of Japan. It was the same size as a cassette case but a little thicker. It ran off one AA or a gum stick and the headphones were hard wired and could be wound into It when not in use. Does that ring any bells with anyone?
Sean Doyle
2025-01-09 17:55:34 +0000 UTCSee you nov 5 1955 Mat. Great video
Retro Nick
2025-01-09 17:55:00 +0000 UTCI'm not sure about the paint colour of your time machine, Mat.
Stephen Bell
2025-01-09 17:51:28 +0000 UTCCan't wait for the "well actually bro..." youtube comments on this one! Let the triggering begin...
Buckaroo Bunny Slippers
2025-01-09 17:27:14 +0000 UTCI saw this on a Facebook reel thing for the first time this morning.. then 2 hours later you posted a video about it. My timeliness is converging in to a single point of everything happening at once.
Steven harris
2025-01-09 17:14:37 +0000 UTCI think the unintended result of this video is my strongest desire to have a chance to peruse your storage locker. It seems you have every possible piece of vintage tech within that space. I have an idea: Why don't you hide a select number, (say five), of vouchers, (or tickets), into some consumable products, (I could say chocolate bars, but let's be different and say inside the lid of Nissan ramen cups), where the winners get to tour your storage locker. Each winner could also pick their choice of one unrepairable gadget. It would be a sensation.
CrimsonPig808
2025-01-09 17:11:50 +0000 UTCThe WM10 came in at number 8 with 155.50 cm3
Techmoan
2025-01-09 16:47:09 +0000 UTCI wonder - how does the Grundig/Sanyo measure up against Sony's WM10? Back in the day, I could slot the player in my cassette rack with my tapes - the WM10 was literally the size of a cassette in its box.
Ken Klavonic
2025-01-09 16:36:57 +0000 UTCSpeaking about Walkmans... Bougth the first blue SONY Walkman (TPS-L2) back in 1981.... went to Greece on holiday (Rhodes) in the late summer and noticed that owners of restaurants, bars and other establishment wanted to BUY the Walkman from me! Every day! "Yeah, maybe when I go home was my standard answer!". They were really pushy and showed me cash and wanted me to sell to just "him" and eventually I did... last day before going home: Got about 5 times more in cash than what I thought was expensive back in Sweden! Why? I asked "Well, we have absurd luxury TAXes here in Greece (1981) and no one is really selling these SONY things!" When I got back home. about 1 week later... I bought a new Blue SONY Walkman (TPS-L2) at discount price for about ½ the price of the one I sold... that was a great deal! :) Just remember that another guy sold his Canon AE-1 SLR camera for much more than it would cost in Sweden. :)
Pin Swede
2025-01-09 16:27:21 +0000 UTCNice dose of sarcasm at the end. Love it! And now you can expense the purchase of the Toshiba you bought so long ago.
Big Car
2025-01-09 16:11:36 +0000 UTC... foreshadowing 😲
Grace Robbins
2025-01-09 16:00:18 +0000 UTCUrghhh that Toshiba looks so impractical : any pressure on the cassette mech (eg . In the pocket) would slow it down and cause issues… and that open design!?!
Ant Wakefield
2025-01-09 15:49:58 +0000 UTC• Your funnel graphic is amusing and it reminded me of your creative illustration of H 261 compression here: https://youtu.be/I6El_iKwQsY&t=2m3s • The fun thumbnail made me wonder if you'd stumbled upon a working Barbie or Sindy Walkman (sadly, it only exists in my imagination). • Why did I think there was a later Sony model that was smaller than that Sanyo? As always, enjoyable - especially when you include the word 'arsebook' - which should be a standard practice for all videos. 😉 As well as protective film peel music, when applicable. Take care 🤍
Grace Robbins
2025-01-09 15:47:56 +0000 UTC"Arse book" - haha - it's what we call it round here too. Thanks for another great video. You're absolutely right - that Toshiba is nowhere near as small as the Sanyo - can you imagine all the pocket lint that would collect in that thing? And if you do use the radio attachment - what are you supposed to do the attachment when you listen to the cassette? I am pretty sure some rich people would be regretting their choices. I mean it must have been super expensive.
Amro
2025-01-09 15:43:49 +0000 UTCIf you are going to make a Time Machine, don't make it look like a washing machine. I don't want to be accidentally sending my dirty underwear into the future.
evilution
2025-01-09 15:35:17 +0000 UTCI'm sure this will completely end the discussion... (snerk)
Longplay Games
2025-01-09 15:33:05 +0000 UTCGreat stuff, that Toshiba it quite a device, but yeah definitely not the smallest, or best suited to being a jacket pocket either.
Mark Elliott
2025-01-09 15:28:45 +0000 UTCToshiba seems like a crazy design! I am not surprised there are few in working condition with the mech being that exposed. I was a big fan of the Aiwa personal stereos of the late 80s and some of the high end Pana models of the early 90s.
Phil Sheldon
2025-01-09 15:26:44 +0000 UTCI know it's petty as hell but I always take issue with non Sony portable cassette players being called Walkmans. I know it's silly but I'm old. Now this video is out. I will no longer be able to correct anyone on Reddit! Excellent video Mat.
Mav
2025-01-09 15:23:44 +0000 UTCArsebook - priceless!
David Peaker
2025-01-09 15:23:23 +0000 UTCI look forward to watching this later. I remember many years ago seeing someone in London with a personal cassette player (not Sony) that was so small the cassette stuck out. I wonder if my memory has deceived me or if I will see this in your video!? Great picture for the video by the way.
Gideon Jones-Davies
2025-01-09 15:16:56 +0000 UTCAlways happy to seen an upload! Especially since I've been getting back into the hobby lately
EllieEleanor
2025-01-09 14:59:44 +0000 UTC
