WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.429 Hello and welcome to Technology Connextras Sights and Sounds. 00:00:04.429 --> 00:00:07.113 It has been too long since I've done one of these. 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. 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:17.915 I should say a closer look since we saw  some of this in the last video 00:00:17.915 --> 00:00:24.458 but this is the Pioneer laserdisc player which also functions as  a 5-disc CD changer. 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 00:00:32.587 --> 00:00:35.005 that happened a long time ago... 00:00:35.005 --> 00:00:39.973 uh, but first I'm going to do a general operational overview. 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, 00:00:45.219 --> 00:00:49.188 open the tray and close it without a disc in place 00:00:49.188 --> 00:00:53.693 so you'll be able to hear the sequence it does while looking for discs. 00:00:53.693 --> 00:00:56.775 [clunky sounds and whirring motors as machine boots up] 00:00:59.535 --> 00:01:02.392 [a long and pronounced whirr as tray opens] 00:01:04.302 --> 00:01:08.774 [same whirr as before] 00:01:08.774 --> 00:01:12.156 [a new, higher pitched whirr with two pronounced clicks as it happens] 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] 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.321 So that was it not finding any discs. 00:01:25.321 --> 00:01:28.766 Now I will actually have the machine play a laserdisc. 00:01:28.766 --> 00:01:32.754 [before tray opens, we hear that high whirr and clicks] 00:01:35.174 --> 00:01:37.472 [clunk] 00:01:37.472 --> 00:01:41.035 [tray whir] 00:01:41.035 --> 00:01:43.717 [a similar but wavering whir as disc clamp engages] 00:01:43.717 --> 00:01:46.136 [laser moves and clicks as it checks for disc] 00:01:46.136 --> 00:01:55.571 [disc begins spinning up] 00:01:55.571 --> 00:02:01.209 [at speed, we hear a squirrely whistling in spurts as laser attains tracking] 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.579 Okay and now we have a picture on the screen. 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. 00:02:12.404 --> 00:02:17.389 At this point we're gonna skip ahead to the actual cd changing mechanism so 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 00:02:26.112 --> 00:02:28.276 and moves between them. 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. 00:02:36.018 --> 00:02:41.577 [disc rapidly slows down] 00:02:41.577 --> 00:02:46.051 [more of the whirring heard before] 00:03:10.781 --> 00:03:15.048 [disc tray whirs in and the motor makes a few short bursts at varying speeds] 00:03:15.048 --> 00:03:16.295 [high pitched whir] 00:03:16.295 --> 00:03:17.155 [a similar one] 00:03:17.155 --> 00:03:18.253 [tray motor moves twice slightly] 00:03:18.253 --> 00:03:19.142 [second whir again] 00:03:19.142 --> 00:03:21.621 [now tray motor moves as if playing a disc] 00:03:21.621 --> 00:03:27.025 [click, disc spins, laser makes seeky noises] 00:03:27.025 --> 00:03:28.820 [music begins] 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. 00:03:35.427 --> 00:03:38.341 [a similar sequence as before - the tray motor moves] 00:03:38.341 --> 00:03:40.145 [high pitched sounds, two tray motor move maneuvers] 00:03:40.145 --> 00:03:41.545 [high pitched whir with two clicks] 00:03:41.545 --> 00:03:42.589 [double tray motor] 00:03:42.589 --> 00:03:43.527 [high pitch] 00:03:43.527 --> 00:03:45.694 [tray motor moves to play disc] 00:03:45.694 --> 00:03:52.208 [and now laser clicks, disc spins-up, laser seeks and music plays] 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.304 just going to skip ahead some tracks 00:04:01.068 --> 00:04:02.132 [laser seeky noises] 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] 00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:38.570 We just moved from disc 3 to disc 5 and it began playing disc 5. 00:04:38.570 --> 00:04:42.011 okay and now i'm going to have it eject the disc tray 00:04:42.011 --> 00:04:51.961 [we hear the same multi-motor shenanigans before the disc tray opens] 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   00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:03.248 so 12 inches or 30 centimeters across however 00:05:03.248 --> 00:05:08.067 inset within that tray are spaces for five CDs. 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 00:05:14.884 --> 00:05:20.264 because that is where the hole is for the laser mechanism to read the discs. 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. 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 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. 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] 00:06:07.200 --> 00:06:11.314 Alright so we have the picture and while it is playing this disc 00:06:11.314 --> 00:06:16.640 there are five other CDs just chilling out below the laserdisc. It's pretty wild. 00:06:18.320 --> 00:06:23.440 Alright at this point we are looking  at old footage from the original video. 00:06:23.440 --> 00:06:30.189 We have the Pioneer machine sitting next to a  conventional 5-disc CD changer from Sony. 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   00:06:36.640 --> 00:06:41.599 one disc at a time whereas the pioneer machine  shows you all five discs 00:06:41.599 --> 00:06:44.099 and you can just reach out and grab 'em. 00:06:44.099 --> 00:06:50.928 Here the Sony machine is moving its discs towards the disk reader in the back left- 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. 00:07:01.603 --> 00:07:04.902 So i will let you hear those noises now. 00:07:06.897 --> 00:07:09.670 [disc spins up] 00:07:18.564 --> 00:07:21.128 [disc stops, a sort of creaky sound is heard as the disc is released] 00:07:21.128 --> 00:07:22.300 [whir as carousel moves] 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] 00:07:31.699 --> 00:07:34.815 [A similar-sounding motor/creaking is heard as the tray moves] 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. 00:07:41.362 --> 00:07:44.880 This is something that the laserdisc player cannot do. 00:07:46.366 --> 00:07:49.303 [whirring with clunks as the carousel changes direction] 00:07:49.303 --> 00:07:54.093 [creaky tray motor creakily motors tray and finishes with a clunk] 00:07:55.280 --> 00:08:01.052 This is just some pretty b-roll of the disc  markers on the carousel. 00:08:01.880 --> 00:08:03.498 Labels, I suppose. 00:08:10.025 --> 00:08:12.733 [disc tray creaks in] 00:08:12.733 --> 00:08:16.696 [as carousel rotates, it slows slightly as the trays pass the reader] 00:08:16.696 --> 00:08:18.425 [creaky creaking as disc clamp engages] 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. 00:08:23.666 --> 00:08:25.564 [tray moves out] 00:08:26.647 --> 00:08:28.513 [disc placed on it] 00:08:28.513 --> 00:08:33.029 [tray moves in, carousel whirs] 00:08:33.029 --> 00:08:35.258 [the motor stuggles until...] 00:08:35.258 --> 00:08:36.008 [POP] 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 00:08:44.225 --> 00:08:50.400 is not always great so what happened was the disc clamp kind of got stuck 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:56.345 and didn't grab the disc correctly  and suddenly popped into place 00:08:56.345 --> 00:09:00.774 it, uh, happens a lot on this machine  it makes quite the terrible noise. 00:09:00.774 --> 00:09:07.984 [whirring as carousel moves] 00:09:07.984 --> 00:09:12.369 [disc is placed, then carousel motor whirs and finally the tray closes] 00:09:12.369 --> 00:09:17.573 Just there I loaded another disc while it was playing the original disc. 00:09:18.757 --> 00:09:23.643 [motor struggles after disc is in position] 00:09:23.643 --> 00:09:25.179 [SNAP] 00:09:25.179 --> 00:09:29.132 And there is another example of  it not grabbing the disc correctly. 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. 00:09:53.680 --> 00:09:54.640 That made it worse. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:06.400 I'm trying to get a clean shot of  the disc going into the machine   00:10:06.400 --> 00:10:10.538 and the clamp picking it up which is what's going on here. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.033 Finally we got one. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:40.240 Okay now we have the laserdisc  player again put next to a tv 00:10:43.680 --> 00:10:50.000 i selected disc 3 and while it was moving  the mechanism it displays a graphic for   00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:51.925 "DISC 3" on the television it's ... 00:10:52.243 --> 00:10:52.958 pretty clever. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:55.998 It doesn't look great but it's clever. 00:10:57.038 --> 00:11:00.834 Okay, and now we're finally going to look at the inside of the machine. 00:11:00.834 --> 00:11:04.723 I'm pretty proud with the follow-through shot you are about to see. 00:11:05.280 --> 00:11:10.953 What is wild with this machine is that there is  a small robotic mechanism 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. 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. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:33.120 We are watching it move around and  pick discs up and move it to the center   00:11:33.680 --> 00:11:36.180 and it's just... 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... 00:11:42.498 --> 00:11:44.251 that it made it to production. 00:11:44.251 --> 00:11:46.960 But now we're gonna be looking at a number of different shots 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. 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] 00:11:59.587 --> 00:12:03.391 [the disc tray motor is also responsible for lifting the tray AND the robotic arm] 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] 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] 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. 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 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   00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:19.695 but that's what you're hearing and seeing 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] 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. 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:52.640 There are little plastic fingers that are  extending out of the center of the disc holder. 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. 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   00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:14.333 that was put in to actually engage  those little grabby fingers at each end. 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 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   00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:34.543 will be centered in the tray somehow it can grab them. 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 00:14:43.475 --> 00:14:46.000 and part of that rack can move. 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 00:14:52.864 --> 00:14:59.234 and that moves the grabby fingers that would grab  the cd it's very very clever 00:14:59.234 --> 00:15:02.245 but... just wild. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.538 And here we are looking at a side-on shot of  the laserdisc 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   00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:38.971 but more importantly the sharp edges of the  robot mechanism above the laserdisc. 00:15:38.971 --> 00:15:43.920 There is maybe five millimeters of clearance  between the disc which is spinning   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. 00:16:18.160 --> 00:16:19.701 And that's about it! 00:16:19.701 --> 00:16:24.000 This is a shot of me manually manipulating the robot arm and actually 00:16:24.880 --> 00:16:28.160 revealing it and picking it up out  of the machine and flipping it over   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   00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:37.434 I hope you enjoyed this further look at the CLD-M301. 00:16:37.434 --> 00:16:41.378 It's a fascinating machine I just cannot believe it exists. 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   00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:57.701 but the lengths they went to turn the laserdisc  mechanism into a CD changer 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 00:17:04.676 --> 00:17:10.139 but also pretty amazing that it still works 30 years  later or whatever it is. 00:17:10.139 --> 00:17:11.680 So thanks for watching!