WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.070 --> 00:00:05.040 In case you haven’t realized it by now, this channel is called Technology Connections 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.080 because I’ve always been fascinated by the way innovation happens. 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:14.140 When we think up new things, we’re often just making a connection between a number of concepts 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:17.000 and using those connections to achieve new goals. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:21.620 I also enjoy exploring the connections we humans have to technology itself 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:24.920 such as how we interact with it and the way it changes our lives, 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:26.100 or sometimes… 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:28.740 doesn’t, despite monumental efforts. 00:00:28.740 --> 00:00:33.720 And today I have a device which fits neatly into both of these categories. 00:00:33.720 --> 00:00:36.140 And it’s… not this. 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:37.660 You’ve seen the thumbnail and title. 00:00:37.660 --> 00:00:38.740 I know you know that, 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:41.740 but first we must make a Technology Connection. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:46.900 The Compact Disc was a truly revolutionary product in a number of ways. 00:00:46.900 --> 00:00:47.640 First, 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:49.080 it spins. 00:00:49.080 --> 00:00:52.200 Second, it brought digital sound technology to the masses. 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:57.040 And third, it wound up being the first truly successful optical disc format, 00:00:57.040 --> 00:01:01.329 unequivocally proving the merit of the technology through finding applications in everything 00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:04.460 from sound, to video, to software. 00:01:04.460 --> 00:01:08.540 Sorry, Laserdisc, but being first isn’t always best. 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:13.220 Compact discs were a radical departure from the conventional audio storage technologies 00:01:13.229 --> 00:01:14.840 we had at the time. 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:19.460 In 1981 you had your conventional vinyl discs, known as phonograph records -- 00:01:19.460 --> 00:01:21.700 Please. Never. Call this. 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:23.840 "A Vinyl," you heathens. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.400 It is a vinyl record 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.080 -- as well as your tape formats, 00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:33.100 mainly the compact cassette but if you wanted to get reel fancy maybe you’ll have a reel-to-reel deck, too. 00:01:33.100 --> 00:01:37.320 Or perhaps you’re clinging onto your 8-tracks like some sort of 8-track clinger. 00:01:37.320 --> 00:01:40.800 But in 1982 (more practically 1983) 00:01:40.800 --> 00:01:43.260 Sony and Philips released the fruit of their teamwork, 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:44.500 the Compact Disc. 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.840 See, it’s a disc, but smaller! 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:48.560 And shinier. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:49.540 Using a laser, 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:50.420 a photodiode, 00:01:50.430 --> 00:01:51.640 some focusy and tracky bits, 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:53.060 a spoonful of signal analysis, 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:54.440 a few quarts of quantization, 00:01:54.440 --> 00:01:56.300 some exciting error correction algorithms, 00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:58.240 a dash of data parsing and finally 00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:01.000 a delightful digital to analog converter (DAC), 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:04.160 you’ll experience sound like never before. 00:02:04.160 --> 00:02:09.760 I made a bunch of videos about the compact disc which you can check out in that playlist. 00:02:09.760 --> 00:02:13.840 As time wore on and we got better at making the mechanisms which read the disc, 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:16.240 we found we could make them more compact. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:21.200 Of course Sony had their famous Discman compact compact disc players, and so did everybody else, 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:26.180 but along with smaller transports came ways to automate the changing of discs. 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:30.480 In the late ‘80s CD changers started to appear on the market, many using magazines, 00:02:30.480 --> 00:02:34.300 with a particular niche establishing itself in the automotive world. 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:38.400 The idea of setting up a sequence of discs to play one after another wasn’t new at all, 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.880 in fact for decades record changers were a thing. 00:02:41.880 --> 00:02:43.920 I also made a video about those! 00:02:43.920 --> 00:02:47.680 They were responsible for the record sets you might have come across which have their sides 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:49.840 in a seemingly weird order. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:53.300 In fact, that order makes perfect sense for stacking changers. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:58.980 So, naturally, as CDs became more popular, CD changers became desirable. 00:02:58.980 --> 00:03:04.980 And the alternative to a magazine-based CD changer was the soon-to-be-popular carousel changer. 00:03:04.980 --> 00:03:10.300 With these, you can load up to five discs (usually) to be played one after another or even randomly, 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:15.280 and some like this one even allow you to load new discs as the one it’s playing is playing. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:19.350 These work by placing the actual CD transport deep within the machine, 00:03:19.350 --> 00:03:23.720 and a specialized disc tray holds the discs on a motorized turntable. 00:03:23.720 --> 00:03:26.780 To change discs, the player simply releases the disc it’s playing 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:30.260 and spins the turntable to move a new one into position. 00:03:30.260 --> 00:03:33.900 Then one day, somebody at Fisher thought to themselves… 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:34.780 "Turntable! 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:37.440 Tuuuurntable. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:40.260 Record players have those. 00:03:40.260 --> 00:03:42.040 What if…" 00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:43.720 and then this happened. 00:03:43.720 --> 00:03:46.920 This is a Fisher DAC-145, 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:49.940 a very clever if a bit silly device. 00:03:49.940 --> 00:03:54.520 A combination 5 disc CD changer and standard phonograph. 00:03:54.520 --> 00:04:00.340 It seems to have been released in 1990, though I have found a reference to it as far back as 1988. 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:03.980 It was also available as a component of the 9025 system; 00:04:03.980 --> 00:04:10.560 you might therefore find this device existing as a DAC-9025, but it’s the same thing. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:15.840 Now, Fisher Electronics began life as an American company manufacturing audio equipment. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:20.560 Founded by amateur violinist-turned philanthropist Avery Fisher in 1945, 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:25.120 they specialized in hi-fi gear and were pretty significant in their early years. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.620 Among their accomplishments were the first solid state hi-fi receiver 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:32.660 and also the precursor to the component systems this very product was a part of, 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:36.320 introducing combination turntables and radio receivers. 00:04:36.320 --> 00:04:39.100 Their early products used the tradename “The Fisher” 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:41.413 but at some point they dropped the The. 00:04:41.413 --> 00:04:45.520 Fisher the person sold the company to Emerson Electric in 1969, 00:04:45.520 --> 00:04:48.800 and apparently distributed a lot of the proceeds to his employees. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:49.960 Cool dude. 00:04:49.960 --> 00:04:54.640 Then in 1977, Emerson got bored with it and sold Fisher to Sanyo 00:04:54.640 --> 00:04:57.740 and from that point on, Fisher was a brand of Sanyo. 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:00.060 At least until Panasonic then bought Sanyo, 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:01.840 and now it seems they can’t be bothered with the brand. 00:05:01.840 --> 00:05:05.320 Anyway, that means that really, this thing was made by Sanyo, 00:05:05.320 --> 00:05:08.300 and though I have admittedly not looked super deeply, 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:13.340 I can’t seem to find an equivalent Sanyo model so it looks like it was produced for the US-market only 00:05:13.340 --> 00:05:15.400 under the Fisher brand. 00:05:15.400 --> 00:05:18.120 Underneath the dust cover you will find… 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:20.360 a very bizarre looking layout. 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:22.880 You have what is clearly a tone-arm to the right, 00:05:22.880 --> 00:05:27.520 and what looks to be another superlatively girthy tone-arm to the left. 00:05:27.520 --> 00:05:32.260 The turntable looks like nothing that could possibly belong in a record player, though. 00:05:32.260 --> 00:05:35.900 It’s full of holes, and a bit bigger than it needs to be. 00:05:35.900 --> 00:05:38.720 But, no doubt about it, that’s a turntable! 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:45.080 It’s got a silver spindle in the center, and we even have a space for your all-important 45 RPM adapter. 00:05:45.080 --> 00:05:50.620 You will find two buttons up here, a speed select button toggling between 33 and 45 ripms, 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:56.280 and a mode selector button which toggles between the oh-so-fancily spelt analogue 00:05:56.280 --> 00:05:58.800 (very chic, very European) 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.320 and CD. 00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:04.240 The power is on now, and if I unclip the tone-arm from its resting place, 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:05.940 there goes the turntable. 00:06:05.940 --> 00:06:10.140 If I put a record on it, you can see that the record doesn’t quite go to the edges. 00:06:10.140 --> 00:06:12.900 And you might also notice another glaring problem 00:06:12.900 --> 00:06:14.780 that we’ll get back to. 00:06:14.780 --> 00:06:19.680 Every time you turn it on, it powers up in record playing mode, ready to play a record. 00:06:19.690 --> 00:06:22.460 In this mode, the player’s display simply shows the word 00:06:22.460 --> 00:06:26.240 “uh-NAH-lo-guay” to the right of a teeny tiny record player icon 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:31.900 (it took me longer than I care to admit to realize that that wasn’t just a stylized numeral 1) 00:06:31.900 --> 00:06:35.180 and of course it also indicates which speed it will spin at. 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:38.800 Because this thing is in fact a functional phonograph. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.260 It even features automatic tone-arm return. 00:06:41.260 --> 00:06:42.620 How fancy. 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.260 But of course, there’s a lot more going on here. 00:06:45.260 --> 00:06:50.120 There are five spots for compact discs to go, complete with handy dandy labels. 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:53.000 Now if you know a thing or two about compact discs, 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:58.760 you’ll know that we should find a laser pickup mechanism of some sort under one of those cutouts. 00:06:58.760 --> 00:07:00.680 However, it appears we don’t. 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:07.460 I can spin this by hand quite easily, and nowhere do we find a laser’s objective lens to cavalierly touch. 00:07:07.460 --> 00:07:13.260 Ah but hit that mode switch to switch into CD mode (annoyingly spelled in boring US english) 00:07:13.260 --> 00:07:14.860 and watch what happens. 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:16.300 Nothing. 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:19.780 OK but instead let’s put a disc in the disc 1 position 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:23.360 and now select disc 1 on the front panel and hit play. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:27.120 Now the turntable moves but in a slower and more deliberate fashion, 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.420 and brings disc one near to the girthy tone-arm. 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:34.020 Once it stops, that tone arm slides over the disc automatically, 00:07:34.020 --> 00:07:38.780 and as it does so we can see a little shutter move from under the disc, to the adjacent space. 00:07:38.780 --> 00:07:43.980 That exposes the transport hiding beneath, and the CD gets lifted up into the arm’s embrace. 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:49.440 It starts spinning, and now witness the miracle of the Compact Disc. 00:07:49.440 --> 00:07:52.660 See, that tone arm wasn’t really a tone arm. 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:56.540 You probably knew that, but I appreciate the symmetry of the design here. 00:07:56.540 --> 00:07:58.040 The way these… 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:02.100 shoulders I guess flank the disc tray table is a nice visual touch. 00:08:02.100 --> 00:08:07.580 In reality the left arm contains the upper half of the CD transport’s disc clamp. 00:08:07.580 --> 00:08:11.880 See, aside from transports like these where you snap the disc onto the spindle, 00:08:11.880 --> 00:08:17.440 in general an optical disc transport will have a motorized spindle below the disc which spins it, 00:08:17.440 --> 00:08:22.080 and a receiving dead spindle above it which the disc gets sandwiched between. 00:08:22.080 --> 00:08:25.800 That helps ensure it’s centered correctly and can spin easily. 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:30.240 And this is no exception. Most if not all tray-loading drives work this way. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:34.120 But unlike a conventional disc changer which has a fixed disc clamp 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:38.420 and a spindle which moves up and down to grab hold of or release the disc, 00:08:38.420 --> 00:08:42.880 this machine moves both the spindle and the receiving clamp. 00:08:42.880 --> 00:08:48.360 This allows the entire CD mechanism to be completely out of the way for playing a record. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:52.180 The disc tray table can therefore be a literal turntable, 00:08:52.180 --> 00:08:56.780 and all it takes to make that play a record is a tone-arm and a phonograph cartridge. 00:08:56.780 --> 00:09:01.060 Oh but not so fast, already we have a bit of weirdness to explain. 00:09:01.060 --> 00:09:07.000 Every other carousel changer out there doesn’t need to bother with moving the carousel at all gracefully. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:12.020 It can be a sloppy ol’ plastic gear train with a terrible motor and horrible bearings, 00:09:12.020 --> 00:09:15.260 and so long as it can move well nothing else really matters. 00:09:15.260 --> 00:09:19.920 But if you plan to use the carousel as a phonograph turntable too, 00:09:19.920 --> 00:09:21.300 that ain’t gonna cut it. 00:09:21.300 --> 00:09:26.040 You need it to move very smoothly so you don’t get flutter from the record. 00:09:26.040 --> 00:09:29.880 And so, this is in fact made like a proper turntable. 00:09:29.880 --> 00:09:32.340 You can actually remove the disc tray, 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:33.820 or, I guess, platter 00:09:33.820 --> 00:09:39.840 simply by pulling up on it and you'll reveal that it’s driven by a belt much like many record players out there. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:43.500 They even provide a rear access hole to help with changing the belt. 00:09:43.500 --> 00:09:45.940 And this makes it even more intriguing. 00:09:45.940 --> 00:09:49.810 See, every other record player just needs to spin the turntable 00:09:49.810 --> 00:09:54.580 at two maybe three speeds . But this one can’t just spin it, 00:09:54.580 --> 00:10:00.420 it also needs fine control to turn it slowly and stop it correctly for the CD mechanism. 00:10:00.420 --> 00:10:05.730 Which of course means that the device needs some way to know the absolute position of the turntable as well. 00:10:05.730 --> 00:10:11.420 That’s done through these index markings which ride between an LED and photodiode beneath the platter. 00:10:11.420 --> 00:10:14.880 Each disc position has a unique pattern, allowing it to know in as little 00:10:14.880 --> 00:10:19.960 as one fifth of a rotation exactly where it is, and I suspect it also uses these markings 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.500 as feedback for the speed of the platter when playing a record. 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:28.740 It’s actually quite a shame that Sanyo chose not to support 16 ⅔ RPM records 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:34.540 as it seems totally possible given the wide range of control it has over turntable speed and position. 00:10:34.540 --> 00:10:36.160 And yes, it does in fact 00:10:36.160 --> 00:10:40.940 use the turntable motor and belt drive to turn the tray table in CD mode. 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:45.620 If you noticed these gears near the center, those are simply for returning the tone arm. 00:10:45.620 --> 00:10:47.640 There's a bit of an odd quirk, though. 00:10:47.640 --> 00:10:52.080 You might have caught that something engaged when it switched into CD mode. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:53.500 Listen carefully. 00:10:54.420 --> 00:10:55.700 [clunk occurs right before tray starts to move] 00:10:56.020 --> 00:10:59.060 And you’ll also notice that rather than spinning freely, 00:10:59.060 --> 00:11:03.060 there’s a click now as each CD position passes the reader. 00:11:03.060 --> 00:11:06.460 That definitely wasn’t there when it was playing a record. 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:11.520 This was puzzling to me until I tried engaging CD mode with the plattertray removed. 00:11:11.520 --> 00:11:14.080 This little nubbin thing moves outward, 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.260 that’s what we hear being engaged, 00:11:16.260 --> 00:11:22.480 and you’ll find that it rides against this ridge which has an indentation at each position, causing that click. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.040 I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of this is exactly. 00:11:26.040 --> 00:11:29.580 It may be simply to provide mechanical alignment with the tray table 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:32.200 to ensure it stops in the full upright position, 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.600 but if that’s its task it doesn’t do a great job of it. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.900 You’ll see that as the CD reader lifts up it nudges the platter tray a bit, 00:11:39.900 --> 00:11:43.360 so clearly it didn’t stop exactly where it should have. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.130 My other leading theory is simply that it needs to add some resistance 00:11:47.130 --> 00:11:49.800 in order to be able to stop it precisely. 00:11:49.800 --> 00:11:53.820 With the belt removed you can see that, thanks to a decent bearing design, 00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:58.520 the disc platter spins with very little resistance as any decent turntable should, 00:11:58.520 --> 00:12:03.620 and perhaps that’s just too loosey-goosey for the precision world of Compact Disc. 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:06.000 Oh, and I’m sure many of you want to know this; 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.600 Can you leave CDs in place and play a record? 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:10.300 Why, of course you can! 00:12:10.300 --> 00:12:13.730 Records sit quite a bit higher than the CDs so you can leave 00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:17.540 as many CDs on there as you like and still listen to your vinyl. 00:12:17.540 --> 00:12:21.720 See, that’s an appropriate use of the term "vinyl", you can have a collection of vinyl, 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.000 but individual discs are not vinyls, 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:24.800 GOT IT? 00:12:24.800 --> 00:12:31.560 Anyway, I must say that the sight of five CDs going for a spin at 45 RPM is mighty hilarious. 00:12:31.560 --> 00:12:35.760 You might also wonder what happens when you try to play one of those CDs while a record 00:12:35.760 --> 00:12:37.500 is still on the turntable. 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:41.640 Well, because the record sits so much higher, as the CD player arm 00:12:41.640 --> 00:12:46.740 attempts to move into position, it slams right into its edge and can’t move. 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:52.060 After realizing the mechanism never made it to its final destination in time, it reverses the direction, 00:12:52.060 --> 00:12:54.780 gives up, and switches back to analogue mode. 00:12:54.780 --> 00:12:56.400 No harm no foul. 00:12:56.400 --> 00:12:57.720 Oh, and, by the way 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:02.020 you don’t have to press the mode selector button to switch it into CD mode. 00:13:02.020 --> 00:13:05.040 It will do that whenever you select a disc with the front panel, 00:13:05.040 --> 00:13:11.620 so it’s not like if you leave some CDs up there you’ll have to open the dust cover every time you turn it on. 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:13.440 And, well, it will also 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:17.280 switch back to analog mode whenever you move the tone arm out of its park position 00:13:17.280 --> 00:13:20.720 so in fact that button up there is completely redundant. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.980 I must admit this device is quite clever, and a delight to behold. 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:30.340 I mean, ten-year-old me would be thrilled to see a CD spinning in the air like that. 00:13:30.340 --> 00:13:32.820 That’s objectively cool on its own. 00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:37.240 So much so that Fisher sold variants of this model which couldn't play records 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:40.200 and were instead just unique CD changers. 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:45.740 That probably explains these gear teeth under here that don’t engage with anything at all on this model. 00:13:45.740 --> 00:13:50.300 On those other models, including the DAC-143 and its component system brother 00:13:50.300 --> 00:13:52.580 the DAC-9115, 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:56.440 there's probably a gear engaged with those teeth to spin the tray. 00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:00.620 Interestingly, those models place the upper clamp in a fixed position 00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:03.680 and move the CD mechanism to the center-rear. 00:14:03.680 --> 00:14:08.320 Sadly they made the clamp much larger, so I’m not sure how much of the disc 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.660 is actually visible while it's playing, if any. 00:14:11.660 --> 00:14:15.540 But notice that the clamp extends over the center of the disc tray, 00:14:15.540 --> 00:14:20.860 likely to hide that center spindle which I suspect is *absolutely* still there 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:25.520 and that it’s the same exact part, minus the rubber feet which grip the record. 00:14:25.520 --> 00:14:30.600 Which, appropriately, leads us neatly into the discussion about this device’s merit. 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:36.440 Just because an idea is clever or cool doesn’t mean it’s useful or even good. 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:39.060 As a CD player, this is perfectly fine. 00:14:39.060 --> 00:14:41.772 It has all the features of any other 5 disc changer, 00:14:41.780 --> 00:14:45.780 including the ability to change discs while another is playing because… 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:47.820 well they’re all right there. 00:14:47.820 --> 00:14:51.340 Just... just grab one and swap it out. 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:55.700 As far as sound quality, well you’ve only got standard RCA jacks for output so you’re 00:14:55.709 --> 00:14:59.880 stuck with its internal DAC, but honestly aside from hardcore audiophiles 00:14:59.880 --> 00:15:01.540 that’s not gonna bother anyone. 00:15:01.540 --> 00:15:05.180 Your average person with a HiFi is gonna hook their CD player up this way, 00:15:05.180 --> 00:15:07.180 doesn’t even know what TOSLINK is, 00:15:07.180 --> 00:15:10.480 and will be perfectly dazzled by this marketing babble. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:10.980 I mean, 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:13.940 who wouldn’t want an 18-bit 8 times oversampling digital filter 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:17.340 and dual 16-bit linear high speed D/A converters? 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:19.380 As a record player, though… 00:15:19.380 --> 00:15:21.140 ehh it’s not fantastic. 00:15:21.140 --> 00:15:22.760 So, first; grip. 00:15:22.760 --> 00:15:27.020 That's the problem I referenced a long time ago when you saw this. 00:15:27.020 --> 00:15:31.400 There is hardly any contact between the turntable and the record. 00:15:31.400 --> 00:15:35.200 It’s just these five little feet, and this rather small center puck thing 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.720 which, by the way, is itself not solidly attached to the turntable. 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.240 Pretty much any record is gonna slip when the turntable starts and stops, 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:47.600 and some like this picture disc do so an almost alarming amount. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:51.120 Now, in fairness, that’s generally not harmful to a record 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:55.880 as the sound is in the grooves not on them, but it means that the record itself is 00:15:55.880 --> 00:16:00.600 pretty much the only thing providing noise and flutter isolating mass. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:08.080 Even if it had a really nice grip, the turnplatter is itself very light, and the entire device is, too. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:12.300 This is not prosumer gear by any stretch of the imagination. 00:16:12.300 --> 00:16:13.400 It’s cheap. 00:16:13.400 --> 00:16:17.580 But, as many of you may know, I don’t get along all that well with audiophiles 00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:20.040 because I say things like this; 00:16:20.040 --> 00:16:22.120 it sounds fine, though. 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:27.040 Yep, I have but one complaint, honestly, about its sound - the cartridge is a little tinny 00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:28.980 and could use better bass response. 00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:33.640 But I don’t hear any flutter, the speed is correct, and clarity is perfectly fine. 00:16:33.640 --> 00:16:37.140 I wouldn’t mind this being my only way to play a record. 00:16:37.140 --> 00:16:40.860 Go ahead and revoke my audiophile card, I didn’t want it anyway. 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:45.560 Want a sample? Well, thanks to Anders Enger Jensen we have one right here; 00:16:45.560 --> 00:16:48.340 [electronic music fades in; Discovision] "Now I'd like to show you some of the valuable things 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.400 your MCA Discovision system lets you do" 00:16:51.660 --> 00:16:53.460 "Most persons find it more convenient" 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.680 "Gently pull up as you press down on the center cap with your thumb" 00:16:58.640 --> 00:16:59.860 "You'll hear a click" 00:17:00.380 --> 00:17:02.780 [instrumental portion] 00:17:03.300 --> 00:17:06.040 Here it is loaded up with 5 CDs, too. 00:17:06.620 --> 00:17:08.640 "h-h-h-how 'bout that, pretty easy isn't it?" 00:17:09.860 --> 00:17:13.960 [another instrumental section] 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:16.920 "D- D- D- D- 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:17.800 Discovision!" 00:17:22.620 --> 00:17:25.980 "This red light comes on, simply press STOP" 00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:29.580 And now just with two CDs on one side. 00:17:29.900 --> 00:17:33.800 "After I've stopped the action, you're going to practice using these buttons" 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:37.580 "The Discovision player gives you many special capabilities" 00:17:38.080 --> 00:17:38.580 "Stop 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:39.700 Play 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.720 Slow; forward and reverse" 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:45.800 "Imagine a dog chasing a rabbit around a tree" 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:48.780 "How can you get there in a hurry?" 00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:52.400 [instrumentals resume, then speed suddenly changes] 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.720 Oh right, that. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.320 Ahh, this unit is a bit faulty in a couple of ways. 00:17:57.320 --> 00:18:01.500 One is that the switch which activates the turntable when you move the tone arm 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:05.100 is a little messed up, and rather frequently it thinks you’ve put it back 00:18:05.100 --> 00:18:08.000 for a brief moment leading to… [music fades in, then slips drastically] 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:08.580 that. 00:18:08.580 --> 00:18:14.429 The other thing is that in CD mode it rather frequently gets stuck in this loop where it stops at 00:18:14.429 --> 00:18:17.580 the correct disc, but then decides it should go for another spin. 00:18:17.580 --> 00:18:22.660 It can do this up to a dozen times before it finally decides to engage the transport. 00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:27.999 Luckily, once it’s done that, it doesn’t have a problem going from disc to disc as it leaves the upper clamp 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.180 in position. 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:32.620 But anyway, back to the real problem with this thing. 00:18:32.620 --> 00:18:34.860 Who is this for? 00:18:34.860 --> 00:18:37.780 What problem does this solve? 00:18:37.780 --> 00:18:42.960 Consider that by 1990, conventional vinyl records were pretty close to over. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:47.860 Yes, they never went away and have seen quite a resurgence in the last decade and a half, 00:18:47.860 --> 00:18:51.300 but there was a time when they weren’t fashionable at all 00:18:51.300 --> 00:18:55.060 and the early nineties through to the early aughts was that time. 00:18:55.060 --> 00:18:59.180 It was compact disc for the home, maaaaybe cassettes for the car, 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:02.080 and vinyl for your grandparents. 00:19:02.080 --> 00:19:08.060 If you had a collection of vinyl already, well then you almost certainly already had a turntable! 00:19:08.060 --> 00:19:13.120 So, when it came time to get with it and buy a totally rad CD player, 00:19:13.120 --> 00:19:17.600 you didn’t need another turntable so this device has no appeal to you. 00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:24.220 There’s a small potential argument for space savings, but it’s not like a CD changer was a mandatory item. 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:28.649 Yes, they were quite popular, and I’d imagine for a time they represented the majority of HiFi 00:19:28.649 --> 00:19:32.880 component sales, but if you were sensitive to space requirements 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:37.240 you would probably forgo that option and get a smaller single-disc player. 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:42.960 Heck, you could even get a Discman and save even more space, plus get a portable player, too. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:51.340 Also, this thing is not small by any stretch - tons of much better turntables are nowhere near this big. 00:19:51.340 --> 00:19:57.700 And finally, if you’re buying a component system, space is clearly not a huge problem for you anyway. 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:00.200 But it is… very neat. 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:03.680 And I suspect that made for a meaningful point of differentiation 00:20:03.690 --> 00:20:07.540 for shoppers looking at entirely new HiFi systems. 00:20:07.540 --> 00:20:13.960 If you’re building a system from the ground-up, then this device is quite logical in addition to dazzling. 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:18.100 I do however wonder how many people looking for a new system in 1990 00:20:18.100 --> 00:20:20.520 even cared about being able to play records. 00:20:20.520 --> 00:20:23.140 One of the many reasons I wish I had a time machine. 00:20:23.140 --> 00:20:28.940 But I can say that from personal experience, records were not a thing in my childhood. 00:20:28.940 --> 00:20:31.920 The first time I ever played one was in middle school, 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:35.330 and me and this device are in the same ballpark of age. 00:20:35.330 --> 00:20:39.780 Regardless, although I suspect the venn diagram overlap between new system shoppers, 00:20:39.780 --> 00:20:41.560 five-disc CD changer seekers, 00:20:41.560 --> 00:20:47.049 and people who still wanted to play records in 1990 was pretty small, 00:20:47.049 --> 00:20:51.970 to people in that niche it’s an excellent option, though with a compromised turntable 00:20:51.970 --> 00:20:54.380 (not that my ears are good enough to care). 00:20:54.380 --> 00:20:59.480 However, I must add here that I think Fisher really missed the mark by not including 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:01.620 a pre-amp for the record cartridge. 00:21:01.620 --> 00:21:06.559 It has two separate outputs for the CD player and the phonograph, and because there’s no preamp 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:10.999 you need an amplifier with a dedicated phono input. Of course, the component system this 00:21:10.999 --> 00:21:16.299 belonged to had one, and they were common at the time, but I still think it was a miss. 00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:20.249 It forces you to change the amplifier’s input when you switch between modes when that 00:21:20.249 --> 00:21:22.720 could have been solved in the device itself. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:27.760 On a holistic level though, this device is clearly one of those things that, 00:21:27.760 --> 00:21:32.380 while it could be done, didn’t need to be done. 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:38.920 It doesn’t really solve a problem and while I’m sure it’s not like the R&D costs to build it were tremendous, 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.580 I do wonder if Fishyo took a loss on it. 00:21:41.580 --> 00:21:45.679 The CD transport mechanism in this model is unique to it, as it uses 00:21:45.679 --> 00:21:51.980 a single motor and gear train to move the arm, shutter, nubbin thing, and transport up and down. 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:58.160 I know because I had to deal with its belt that had gone to goo. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:03.100 Maybe that’s easier to design and manufacture than I imagine, but my business sense tells me 00:22:03.100 --> 00:22:06.540 that the ROI on this was was probably pretty weak. 00:22:06.540 --> 00:22:12.460 And the derivative models that shared this design but couldn’t also play records were… 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:14.100 bad CD changers. 00:22:14.100 --> 00:22:19.080 Again, novel, but who wants to need to access it from the top? 00:22:19.080 --> 00:22:24.399 This model gets away with it because that’s just how record players do but forcing that 00:22:24.399 --> 00:22:28.300 design onto a CD-only player... is dumb. 00:22:28.300 --> 00:22:32.380 The entire reason VCRs went from top-loading to front loading 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:35.940 was because people like to put things on top of other things. 00:22:35.940 --> 00:22:40.940 And so, in a HiFi, the record player usually ends up on the top. 00:22:40.940 --> 00:22:45.560 With this design, you really couldn’t also have a record player unless you had a 00:22:45.560 --> 00:22:48.660 wide-enough space to put them side by side. 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:54.860 Or you, just for fun, had a tray-loading record player and this top-loading CD player. 00:22:54.860 --> 00:22:58.249 Which, let’s be honest, is totally something I would do. 00:22:58.249 --> 00:23:05.020 But anyway, again, I find myself back to saying that while this is a Certifiably Neat HiFi Gadget, 00:23:05.020 --> 00:23:11.799 it fails to actually solve a problem in a meaningful way. That meant that of course it had a small target market. 00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:17.269 It’s mainly just flashy. And while Fishyo definitely made a good call by adapting 00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:22.859 the core design into multiple models to spread the development costs out, those models themselves 00:23:22.860 --> 00:23:28.360 required their buyers to value flashy design more than they do practical considerations. 00:23:28.360 --> 00:23:31.940 This is a very frustrating device to me. 00:23:31.940 --> 00:23:35.660 Upon first glance you think, “oh wow, what a neat idea!” 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:37.960 and on second glance you see it in action and go 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:40.520 “Woah, that’s so cool!” 00:23:40.520 --> 00:23:41.740 (when it works) 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:46.260 But when you start to look at it objectively, it makes less and less sense. 00:23:46.260 --> 00:23:51.929 I would totally love to get it working properly and use it in my main HiFi system because who wouldn’t 00:23:51.929 --> 00:23:57.129 want to see this whenever you play a CD, but I don’t like the record player’s cartridge 00:23:57.129 --> 00:24:02.179 (though I suppose that could be changed) and I also just don’t particularly care for 00:24:02.179 --> 00:24:03.780 its design otherwise. 00:24:03.780 --> 00:24:09.070 It’s... it's too busy, visually, and I really cannot stand the layout of these 00:24:09.070 --> 00:24:11.660 transport buttons. Like, at all. 00:24:11.660 --> 00:24:17.440 I hate how small stop is, and that it’s between track forward and back. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:19.440 Ugh, it’s just so bad. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:22.020 I’m also not a huge fan of its display. 00:24:22.020 --> 00:24:26.040 This is certainly 100% personal preference territory, 00:24:26.040 --> 00:24:30.400 but while I of course love the fact that it’s a vacuum fluorescent display (and am happy 00:24:30.409 --> 00:24:35.380 it’s clear and bright on this example) I don’t really like how it’s laid out. 00:24:35.380 --> 00:24:41.729 Track time elapsed is really small, though I appreciate that you can change it to time remaining among 00:24:41.729 --> 00:24:44.260 other settings with the display button. 00:24:44.260 --> 00:24:47.519 Though, I really don’t like how the default state 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.279 insists on leaving the word "each" floating over there. And while I commend Fisher for 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:57.299 bothering to put an index display next to it, I actually think it makes the design too 00:24:57.299 --> 00:25:02.210 busy and they should have just left it out. The index, for those unaware, is a subdivision 00:25:02.210 --> 00:25:06.120 of a track which was extremely rarely used in CDs 00:25:06.120 --> 00:25:09.320 so this will read "01" essentially forever, 00:25:09.320 --> 00:25:13.380 and therefore I think it would be better to just... make it go away. 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:18.480 Or at least, they should have had the time display the same size as the disc and track indicator. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:20.660 Ehhh.. I just don’t like it. 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:22.500 But am I getting rid of this? 00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:24.920 No! It’s just way too cool. 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:31.720 I mean, I love the idea of combining devices like this and think that it's done in an extremely clever way here. 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:36.180 One day I will fix that switch and will get this going in a secondary HiFi system or something 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:40.460 because it is certainly a treat to use, despite my qualms with it. 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:43.520 But I’m also not afraid to say that on the whole 00:25:43.520 --> 00:25:45.860 this wasn’t the best idea out there. 00:25:45.860 --> 00:25:49.739 I’m glad it exists, and that I get to share this fun novelty with you, 00:25:49.739 --> 00:25:53.520 but it’s easy to see why this didn’t exactly take the world by storm. 00:25:53.520 --> 00:25:57.640 It was just too niche, too late, and full of compromises. 00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:03.320 Thanks for watching, and a big thanks to AmEv7Fam on Twitter for bringing this device to my attention. 00:26:03.330 --> 00:26:08.690 I had no idea these were ever made, and find the concept absolutely fascinating. 00:26:08.690 --> 00:26:11.700 If mostly questionable. 00:26:11.700 --> 00:26:16.100 I’m willing to bet, though, that this device is just waiting for its own renaissance. 00:26:16.100 --> 00:26:19.500 I’ve thought for a while now that it won’t be too long before the CD 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:23.880 gets the same resurgence that vinyl and lately the cassette have enjoyed. 00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:29.540 If and when that happens, maybe this is gonna make more sense than it ever has. 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:33.000 ♫ combinational smooth jazz ♫ 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:39.460 The compact disc was a truly revolutionary product in a… oh I should totally be holding one 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:41.880 And third, it would end up.. Ehh bibuduh 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:44.300 It would up‽ 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:47.100 Wound up! 00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:52.300 Underneath the dust cover you will find… a very creaky dust cover 00:26:52.300 --> 00:26:55.680 Well, because the record sits so much higher ah… 00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:57.680 Fah there’s a comma! 00:26:58.020 --> 00:27:03.780 This thing is in fact… Because this thing is in fact a functional phonograph. 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:08.000 Even though it’s not behaving right right now. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.340 Because this thing is in fact a functional phonograph. 00:27:12.340 --> 00:27:14.460 [laughs] 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:16.440 Ugh! Why is it doing this now? 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.380 Ok, we’re gonna turn you off and on again. 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:24.100 Did you notice how I said "rather frequently" twice within like three sentences? 00:27:24.100 --> 00:27:28.700 I certainly did, but of course not during the MULTIPLE days of script work and revision. 00:27:28.700 --> 00:27:32.160 Only during the video edit, when it was way too late. 00:27:33.040 --> 00:27:33.760 So it goes.