1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,429 Hello and welcome to Technology Connextras Sights and Sounds. 2 00:00:04,429 --> 00:00:07,113 It has been too long since I've done one of these. 3 00:00:07,113 --> 00:00:14,359 This is only the second one ever and we're gonna jump right in with a look at the CLD-M301. 4 00:00:14,359 --> 00:00:17,915 I should say a closer look since we saw  some of this in the last video 5 00:00:17,915 --> 00:00:24,458 but this is the Pioneer laserdisc player which also functions as  a 5-disc CD changer. 6 00:00:24,458 --> 00:00:32,587 And we are going to be looking at some footage in this video that was taken as b-roll for the video of this machine itself 7 00:00:32,587 --> 00:00:35,005 that happened a long time ago... 8 00:00:35,005 --> 00:00:39,973 uh, but first I'm going to do a general operational overview. 9 00:00:39,973 --> 00:00:45,219 So the very first thing I'm going to do is turn on the television  then power up the machine, 10 00:00:45,219 --> 00:00:49,188 open the tray and close it without a disc in place 11 00:00:49,188 --> 00:00:53,693 so you'll be able to hear the sequence it does while looking for discs. 12 00:00:53,693 --> 00:00:56,775 [clunky sounds and whirring motors as machine boots up] 13 00:00:59,535 --> 00:01:02,392 [a long and pronounced whirr as tray opens] 14 00:01:04,302 --> 00:01:08,774 [same whirr as before] 15 00:01:08,774 --> 00:01:12,156 [a new, higher pitched whirr with two pronounced clicks as it happens] 16 00:01:12,156 --> 00:01:22,078 [we hear the same whirr repeatedly with the motor which moves the disc tray intervening in spurts. Also lots of clicking] 17 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,321 So that was it not finding any discs. 18 00:01:25,321 --> 00:01:28,766 Now I will actually have the machine play a laserdisc. 19 00:01:28,766 --> 00:01:32,754 [before tray opens, we hear that high whirr and clicks] 20 00:01:35,174 --> 00:01:37,472 [clunk] 21 00:01:37,472 --> 00:01:41,035 [tray whir] 22 00:01:41,035 --> 00:01:43,717 [a similar but wavering whir as disc clamp engages] 23 00:01:43,717 --> 00:01:46,136 [laser moves and clicks as it checks for disc] 24 00:01:46,136 --> 00:01:55,571 [disc begins spinning up] 25 00:01:55,571 --> 00:02:01,209 [at speed, we hear a squirrely whistling in spurts as laser attains tracking] 26 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,579 Okay and now we have a picture on the screen. 27 00:02:04,579 --> 00:02:11,746 Now in the previous video I went over a lot of the general disc transport using this machine. 28 00:02:12,404 --> 00:02:17,389 At this point we're gonna skip ahead to the actual cd changing mechanism so 29 00:02:17,389 --> 00:02:26,112 I'm gonna load the machine up with five CDs and then we will go through what the machine sounds like as it plays them 30 00:02:26,112 --> 00:02:28,276 and moves between them. 31 00:02:28,276 --> 00:02:36,018 So first I will be ejecting the laserdisc and putting it away then you will be hearing me put the five discs onto the tray. 32 00:02:36,018 --> 00:02:41,577 [disc rapidly slows down] 33 00:02:41,577 --> 00:02:46,051 [more of the whirring heard before] 34 00:03:10,781 --> 00:03:15,048 [disc tray whirs in and the motor makes a few short bursts at varying speeds] 35 00:03:15,048 --> 00:03:16,295 [high pitched whir] 36 00:03:16,295 --> 00:03:17,155 [a similar one] 37 00:03:17,155 --> 00:03:18,253 [tray motor moves twice slightly] 38 00:03:18,253 --> 00:03:19,142 [second whir again] 39 00:03:19,142 --> 00:03:21,621 [now tray motor moves as if playing a disc] 40 00:03:21,621 --> 00:03:27,025 [click, disc spins, laser makes seeky noises] 41 00:03:27,025 --> 00:03:28,820 [music begins] 42 00:03:28,820 --> 00:03:35,427 Now I'm going to have it move from disc 1 which it has been playing to disc 3. 43 00:03:35,427 --> 00:03:38,341 [a similar sequence as before - the tray motor moves] 44 00:03:38,341 --> 00:03:40,145 [high pitched sounds, two tray motor move maneuvers] 45 00:03:40,145 --> 00:03:41,545 [high pitched whir with two clicks] 46 00:03:41,545 --> 00:03:42,589 [double tray motor] 47 00:03:42,589 --> 00:03:43,527 [high pitch] 48 00:03:43,527 --> 00:03:45,694 [tray motor moves to play disc] 49 00:03:45,694 --> 00:03:52,208 [and now laser clicks, disc spins-up, laser seeks and music plays] 50 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,304 just going to skip ahead some tracks 51 00:04:01,068 --> 00:04:02,132 [laser seeky noises] 52 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:25,738 [we hear the same tray motor, second motor, tray motor X2, third motor, tray motor X2, second motor, tray motor to play position sequence as before] 53 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:38,570 We just moved from disc 3 to disc 5 and it began playing disc 5. 54 00:04:38,570 --> 00:04:42,011 okay and now i'm going to have it eject the disc tray 55 00:04:42,011 --> 00:04:51,961 [we hear the same multi-motor shenanigans before the disc tray opens] 56 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:59,040 An important thing to make clear about this disc tray is it is a normal laserdisc-sized disc tray   57 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,248 so 12 inches or 30 centimeters across however 58 00:05:03,248 --> 00:05:08,067 inset within that tray are spaces for five CDs. 59 00:05:08,067 --> 00:05:14,884 They go around the perimeter of the tray forming almost a complete circle except there isn't a cd at the very back 60 00:05:14,884 --> 00:05:20,264 because that is where the hole is for the laser mechanism to read the discs. 61 00:05:20,264 --> 00:05:26,384 Now that I've ejected it I'm going to place a laserdisc on top of the five CDs. 62 00:05:26,384 --> 00:05:32,180 A somewhat unique thing about this machine is that the CDs  can just hang out there no matter what 63 00:05:32,180 --> 00:05:39,305 and you can put whatever else you might want to in the center  position whether that is a sixth CD or a laserdisc. 64 00:05:43,487 --> 00:05:55,491 [in this case, the sequence is exactly as it was before we played CDs - the second and third motors don't really come into play and it simply starts playing after loading] 65 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,314 Alright so we have the picture and while it is playing this disc 66 00:06:11,314 --> 00:06:16,640 there are five other CDs just chilling out below the laserdisc. It's pretty wild. 67 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:23,440 Alright at this point we are looking  at old footage from the original video. 68 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:30,189 We have the Pioneer machine sitting next to a  conventional 5-disc CD changer from Sony. 69 00:06:30,189 --> 00:06:36,640 At this point I'm opening the disc trays to show that on  the Sony machine you only have complete access to   70 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,599 one disc at a time whereas the pioneer machine  shows you all five discs 71 00:06:41,599 --> 00:06:44,099 and you can just reach out and grab 'em. 72 00:06:44,099 --> 00:06:50,928 Here the Sony machine is moving its discs towards the disk reader in the back left- 73 00:06:50,928 --> 00:07:01,603 the cover is off this machine and we are witnessing the actual discs being moved around and then brought to the disk reading mechanism. 74 00:07:01,603 --> 00:07:04,902 So i will let you hear those noises now. 75 00:07:06,897 --> 00:07:09,670 [disc spins up] 76 00:07:18,564 --> 00:07:21,128 [disc stops, a sort of creaky sound is heard as the disc is released] 77 00:07:21,128 --> 00:07:22,300 [whir as carousel moves] 78 00:07:22,300 --> 00:07:27,389 [the same creaky sound is heard as it picks up the disc, then disc spins and we hear laser seeky sounds] 79 00:07:31,699 --> 00:07:34,815 [A similar-sounding motor/creaking is heard as the tray moves] 80 00:07:34,815 --> 00:07:41,362 This is demonstrating the Sony machine's ability to play a disc while you load the other four. 81 00:07:41,362 --> 00:07:44,880 This is something that the laserdisc player cannot do. 82 00:07:46,366 --> 00:07:49,303 [whirring with clunks as the carousel changes direction] 83 00:07:49,303 --> 00:07:54,093 [creaky tray motor creakily motors tray and finishes with a clunk] 84 00:07:55,280 --> 00:08:01,052 This is just some pretty b-roll of the disc  markers on the carousel. 85 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:03,498 Labels, I suppose. 86 00:08:10,025 --> 00:08:12,733 [disc tray creaks in] 87 00:08:12,733 --> 00:08:16,696 [as carousel rotates, it slows slightly as the trays pass the reader] 88 00:08:16,696 --> 00:08:18,425 [creaky creaking as disc clamp engages] 89 00:08:18,425 --> 00:08:23,666 that was the machine checking to see if it had any  discs in it and quickly discovering it does not. 90 00:08:23,666 --> 00:08:25,564 [tray moves out] 91 00:08:26,647 --> 00:08:28,513 [disc placed on it] 92 00:08:28,513 --> 00:08:33,029 [tray moves in, carousel whirs] 93 00:08:33,029 --> 00:08:35,258 [the motor stuggles until...] 94 00:08:35,258 --> 00:08:36,008 [POP] 95 00:08:36,008 --> 00:08:44,225 Ah, so this clip of b-roll... a quirk of this machine  is the alignment of the carousel as it moves 96 00:08:44,225 --> 00:08:50,400 is not always great so what happened was the disc clamp kind of got stuck 97 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:56,345 and didn't grab the disc correctly  and suddenly popped into place 98 00:08:56,345 --> 00:09:00,774 it, uh, happens a lot on this machine  it makes quite the terrible noise. 99 00:09:00,774 --> 00:09:07,984 [whirring as carousel moves] 100 00:09:07,984 --> 00:09:12,369 [disc is placed, then carousel motor whirs and finally the tray closes] 101 00:09:12,369 --> 00:09:17,573 Just there I loaded another disc while it was playing the original disc. 102 00:09:18,757 --> 00:09:23,643 [motor struggles after disc is in position] 103 00:09:23,643 --> 00:09:25,179 [SNAP] 104 00:09:25,179 --> 00:09:29,132 And there is another example of  it not grabbing the disc correctly. 105 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:44,597 I'm actually fiddling with the tray to try  to get it to be aligned a little better. 106 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:54,640 That made it worse. 107 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,400 I'm trying to get a clean shot of  the disc going into the machine   108 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,538 and the clamp picking it up which is what's going on here. 109 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,033 Finally we got one. 110 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:40,240 Okay now we have the laserdisc  player again put next to a tv 111 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:50,000 i selected disc 3 and while it was moving  the mechanism it displays a graphic for   112 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:51,925 "DISC 3" on the television it's ... 113 00:10:52,243 --> 00:10:52,958 pretty clever. 114 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:55,998 It doesn't look great but it's clever. 115 00:10:57,038 --> 00:11:00,834 Okay, and now we're finally going to look at the inside of the machine. 116 00:11:00,834 --> 00:11:04,723 I'm pretty proud with the follow-through shot you are about to see. 117 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:10,953 What is wild with this machine is that there is  a small robotic mechanism 118 00:11:10,953 --> 00:11:19,280 sitting above the disc tray which actually reaches out, grabs each disc, and brings it to the center to play it. 119 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:28,240 It is such a wild mechanism and it's amazing  that it got put into a consumer device. 120 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:33,120 We are watching it move around and  pick discs up and move it to the center   121 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:36,180 and it's just... 122 00:11:36,180 --> 00:11:42,498 Man if you aren't able to see this  it's hard to describe how bonkers this is that it got... 123 00:11:42,498 --> 00:11:44,251 that it made it to production. 124 00:11:44,251 --> 00:11:46,960 But now we're gonna be looking at a number of different shots 125 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:54,381 showing the same action from different angles and  I will just let these sounds speak for themselves. 126 00:11:54,381 --> 00:11:59,587 [we have the same sequence of sounds as before, but now we can see what each part is doing] 127 00:11:59,587 --> 00:12:03,391 [the disc tray motor is also responsible for lifting the tray AND the robotic arm] 128 00:12:03,391 --> 00:12:09,543 [a second motor moves the grabby thing to the end of the arm, and a third rotates the arm around the disc tray's edge] 129 00:12:12,345 --> 00:12:20,901 [now it's apparent why the disc tray motor made two quick spurts - it's lowering and lifting the robot arm to pick up or replace discs] 130 00:12:54,880 --> 00:13:03,244 Okay now we have the machine partly disassembled  and we are looking at the underside of the robotic arm. 131 00:13:03,244 --> 00:13:09,579 And I have a couple of test leads attached to  it so I can power it back and forth manually 132 00:13:09,685 --> 00:13:16,320 So this is not the machine doing this it's me  just reversing leads from a power supply   133 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,695 but that's what you're hearing and seeing 134 00:13:21,690 --> 00:13:28,204 [the sounds consist of a whirring as it moves and a few sharp clicks at each end] 135 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:47,500 An important part of what's going on here is  when the mechanism reaches each end of its travel. 136 00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:52,640 There are little plastic fingers that are  extending out of the center of the disc holder. 137 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:58,960 They actually reach into the center hole of a  CD and spread out so that it can be picked up. 138 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:07,040 This shot is revealing an interesting sliding  cog or I guess you would call it a rack   139 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:14,333 that was put in to actually engage  those little grabby fingers at each end. 140 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:22,425 And I should say one of the... the most clever thing  about grabbing the cd from the center 141 00:14:22,955 --> 00:14:30,320 is that the changer can handle small CDs or even  non-standard shaped CDs so long as they   142 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,543 will be centered in the tray somehow it can grab them. 143 00:14:35,668 --> 00:14:43,475 I don't have a great way to describe what is on screen except that there is a gear traveling over a rack 144 00:14:43,475 --> 00:14:46,000 and part of that rack can move. 145 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:52,864 So when it gets to the end of its travel it  actually pulls the rack towards itself 146 00:14:52,864 --> 00:14:59,234 and that moves the grabby fingers that would grab  the cd it's very very clever 147 00:14:59,234 --> 00:15:02,245 but... just wild. 148 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,538 And here we are looking at a side-on shot of  the laserdisc 149 00:15:25,538 --> 00:15:33,680 and the reason why I included this in the video is it shows rather small clearances between both the discs below   150 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:38,971 but more importantly the sharp edges of the  robot mechanism above the laserdisc. 151 00:15:38,971 --> 00:15:43,920 There is maybe five millimeters of clearance  between the disc which is spinning   152 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:51,993 VERY fast and a sharp piece of steel so  that's very fun not at all anxiety inducing. 153 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:19,701 And that's about it! 154 00:16:19,701 --> 00:16:24,000 This is a shot of me manually manipulating the robot arm and actually 155 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,160 revealing it and picking it up out  of the machine and flipping it over   156 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,480 but there's nothing really to hear because  it's just me moving my hands around but   157 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:37,434 I hope you enjoyed this further look at the CLD-M301. 158 00:16:37,434 --> 00:16:41,378 It's a fascinating machine I just cannot believe it exists. 159 00:16:41,378 --> 00:16:51,120 Well actually I can believe it exists because as I said in the video I understand Pioneer wanting to try to make a laserdisc player a more justifiable purchase   160 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:57,701 but the lengths they went to turn the laserdisc  mechanism into a CD changer 161 00:16:57,701 --> 00:17:04,676 are just so above and beyond what you would expect and it's amazing that's... that it is a consumer product 162 00:17:04,676 --> 00:17:10,139 but also pretty amazing that it still works 30 years  later or whatever it is. 163 00:17:10,139 --> 00:17:11,680 So thanks for watching!