This week due to a variety of circumstances I just have a simple video to show - a review of a retro styled speaker with a built-in Phono pre-amp.
For one reason and another most of the the week slipped away from me. With time running out I decided to do a quicker project, one that couldn’t really go wrong, hence why this is a video about a speaker.
There’s ...
2021-11-13 12:33:57 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a short video about something very simple, but its one I’ve been meaning to cover for a few years. A tidy up and hunt for something else resulted in this project finally rising to the top of the pile. Getting this done also opens the door to following it up with other later but related tech in the future. I’d better see how far this lead balloon flies first.
In other news,...
2021-11-05 19:46:04 +0000 UTC View Post
It’s a good job that I haven’t been covering obscure music formats in chronological order, as if I had, this video might have signalled the end of the line. There can’t be many newer than the two I’m showing here. Today I’m talking about slotRadio and slotMusic, both of which flew so far under the radar, they crashed and burned largely unnoticed. Here’s what you missed.
I ...
2021-11-01 18:56:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Yes it's a bit early...but you could always wait a few days before listening if the timing is an issue.
I needed to post now to try and get ahead of a couple of things. Trust this is OK.
A video version is available in a separate post.
2021-10-26 12:25:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Yes it's a bit early...but you could always wait a few days before watching if the timing is an issue.
I needed to post now to try and get ahead of a couple of things. Trust this is OK.
An audio version is available in a separate post.
2021-10-26 12:25:30 +0000 UTC View Post
You may recall when I recently made a rather ill considered double-dip and bought another bundle of untested MiniDisc machines from Japan. At the end of that video I stated that I would show how many machines from the batch I could get working at some point in the future. That future is now.
I remember now though why I don’t normally announce future video ideas. A lukewarm rec...
2021-10-23 11:49:18 +0000 UTC View Post
I started off this week catching up on general admin. So when it got to Wednesday lunchtime and I had nothing recorded for this week I decided that this should be a week without a video.
For a while I’ve been thinking about moving to a less rigid schedule. I want to base things more around how long a video takes to make rather than trying to fit each one to a week.
It turned out though that towards the end of the week there was sufficient time to make a less elaborate video, so ...
2021-10-16 10:22:05 +0000 UTC View Post
I have no idea how this video got so complicated. I know how it started though. A very nice chap sent me a movie on HD-VMD. This was the missing piece to my recent HD-VMD video and it opened up a rabbit hole that I fell down and then kept burrowing.
Next thing you know it’s over a week later when I emerge from my editing fog and I've made an elaborate, wordy and long video about something very few care about. I 'm not even sure that I’m this interested in the subject. Bu...
It’s time for another hour of navel gazing nonsense just for Patrons.
A video version is available in a separate post.
Links to things mentioned in this one
Miikshi https://miikshi.com
2021-10-04 11:17:26 +0000 UTC View Post
It’s time for another hour of navel gazing nonsense just for Patrons.
An audio version is available in a separate post.
Links to things mentioned in this video
Miikshi https://miikshi.com
2021-10-04 11:17:09 +0000 UTC View Post
A shorter and simpler video this week consisting of a look at an unusual boombox from 1986.
I was hoping to have recorded a Patreon update video by now but I blinked and the week was over. I’ve already got a list of topics to cover in it - so I’ll aim to get myself in gear and shoot something this weekend.
Technical issues:
Yes there are some sound issues in this video...
2021-10-01 15:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I enjoy watching movies at home. Outside of making YouTube videos it’s been my biggest and most consistent passion since the 1980s. Movie nights can be my happiest times and while must-see new movies have been very thin on the ground over the last couple of years I’ve still been enjoying catching up on 4K and HD remasters of classics movies as well as discovering some films that passed me by first time.
Since the foreseeable future involves staying at home rather than travelin...
2021-09-24 18:11:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Over the last year or so it seemed very likely that this Kickstarter might never arrive. I've lost so much money on Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects that I just won't back them any more. I'm still awaiting that AHD Android Home Device ;-)
However this time the team at Coturn were true to their word and their CT-01 arrived earlier this week. So here is my review of a modern day reimagining of a Sound Burger (whether intentionally or not).
After experiencing so ...
2021-09-17 14:22:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I’m posting this for you now - but it’s definitely not the best video ever made. It was however relatively quick to make, so it helps me to get back on track. I’ll have another new video for you in a day or so - so you might want to just skip most of this one.
After this frenzy of work I’m taking a couple of days out, so I’ll offer my apologies in advance fo...
2021-09-15 20:57:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Better late than never. This week I’m featuring what appears to be a ridiculously rare device - this may even be the only surviving example. That’s unlikely, but I also suspect I won’t be tripping over another one any time soon, so it’s a good job I managed to acquire this.
Anyway here you go - nearly forty minutes of an old bloke looking at a thing that’s roughly the same age he is but looks to be in better shape.
Thanks to a viewer in Korea I’ve received a new personal stereo cassette player (aka a ‘Walkman’ but not really). I had hoped that this device would prove that it is still possible to make a reasonably specced, adequately performing tape player in 2021. I was wrong - it ended up proving the exact opposite.
Since my original premise for the video had evaporated, ...
2021-09-01 18:29:09 +0000 UTC View Post
I just managed to squeeze in this August update. It’s been bit of a hectic month which means unfortunately I haven’t had the time to shoot any extra inserts this month. Also I must apologise for my rather low-energy delivery - I’m a bit knackered. But you’ll still get behind the scenes info, a couple of updates and the odd tangent or two. Hopefully some of this is even almost interesting in parts.
A video version is available in a separate post.
Links to things mention...
2021-08-26 18:19:06 +0000 UTC View Post
I just managed to squeeze in this August update. It’s been a bit of a hectic month which means unfortunately I haven’t had the time to shoot any extra inserts this month. Also I must apologise for my rather low-energy delivery - I’m a bit knackered. But you’ll still get behind the scenes info, a couple of updates and the odd tangent or two. Hopefully some of this is even almost interesting in parts.
2021-08-26 18:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I don’t normally feature apps, my interests lie more in physical devices. This week though I’m making an exception to show you one that I found fascinating.
Here’s the video link. https://youtu.be/eEOOGpjSexI
This video follows on from the Kurzweil reader I featured a few months ago. The functionality of a reading device that cost £80,000 in 1979 is now available for free in a sm...
I’m back with a camera review. In this video you’ll also get to see a few clips of where I’ve been. Here’s the direct YouTube link https://youtu.be/Yc_oFZpqe8k
It’s taken me a little bit longer than I’d hoped to assemble this as there were a lot of different elements to tie together. I prefer to give Patrons a longer window of exclusivity, so I’ll most likely delay the public YouTube release until Sunday....
2021-08-20 11:12:24 +0000 UTC View Post
A review of two ‘Amazon Basics’ Boomboxes. Things go about as well as you’d expect.
In my last update I mentioned I’d need to make some simple videos in an attempt to catch up. This is another one of those. The handy thing with review videos is that if something goes wrong, it still forms part of the review. Whereas If I’m making a video where I’m attempting to repair...
2021-08-07 15:01:17 +0000 UTC View Post
After the HD-VMD video was finally completed you might have seen me mention that my next couple of videos would need to be far simpler so I could get back on track. This is one of those simple videos. It’s a review of a budget MMC record player.
Sometimes in the past these by-the-numbers, matter-of-fact reviews have proved surprisingly popular. It’ll be inte...
2021-08-04 14:58:09 +0000 UTC View Post
I'd like to share an update about the HD-VMD video.
Here’s the link to this video message just for Patrons https://youtu.be/oCiYnU7mWIA
Finally here’s the link to the newly updated version of the HD-VMD video https://youtu.be/07Z4iL8hy1A
UPDATE: The unviewable demo disc. Lots of people have tried various ways to w...
2021-07-29 16:42:40 +0000 UTC View Post
You might have noticed there’s been a longer than usual gap since the last video. That’s because this one has been a bit of an epic to assemble.
In a way it all started back in 2015 when I bought a HD-VMD machine. The real work on this video though started in earnest eleven days ago and hasn’t let up until just now.
Delving into the history of this format felt at times lik...
2021-07-27 18:37:22 +0000 UTC View Post
It’s the July Patreon exclusive update. A spectacularly disjointed effort this month - but a ruthless edit means that it’s almost listenable now.
A video version is also available via the link below.
Links to things mentioned this month
Skip Intro’s dodgy videos
3hr21 of functional music from the Philips BGM ...
2021-07-17 09:12:16 +0000 UTC View Post
It’s the July Patreon exclusive update. A spectacularly disjointed effort this month - but a ruthless edit means that it’s almost watchable now.
An audio version is available in a separate post.
Links to things mentioned in the video
Skip Intro’s dodgy videos
3hr21 of functi...
2021-07-17 09:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Have you noticed all these portable monitors showing up recently. I thought I’d give one a try.
I’ve rushed this video out today as there’s a £20 off voucher on Amazon UK (only) that expires on 15 July. Since it's still there it must run out at midnight. Don’t let that sway your decision though - most people really don’t need one of these at all and then even if you did the...
2021-07-15 15:40:24 +0000 UTC View Post
I spotted an interesting looking boxed set of ‘stuff’ on the Japanese auctions. Here’s a video about what this is and what it does. As well as linking neatly with some earlier videos, this one opens a window on the nascent days of a cultural phenomenon.
I hope the YouTube feedback for this video goes on to show there’s sufficient interest in t...
2021-07-10 10:49:37 +0000 UTC View Post
A follow up to the recent video about medical thermal printers. During the course of making that video I googled to check current prices and my search results filled up with these novelty mini printers.
So I decided to get a couple of them in to try out - and here’s the video.
It’s just a quick one again this time due to ongoing offscreen issues, but hopefully I’ll have so...
2021-07-03 09:28:05 +0000 UTC View Post
NOTE - NEW VERSION with added information replaced the original vid
Something a bit different this week. Few of us will recognise this machine and yet most of us (in the U.K.) will have used one. When it comes to the joy of watching things in motion, the unintentional Kinetic Art on display here is up there with a Lava Lamp.
If after watching this you feel like ...
2021-06-26 14:21:03 +0000 UTC View Post