Dirt yellow

I could have sworn this was a bees bottom (not the black bit) yellowy mustardish faggynubend yellow 🐝 Which is commonly known as BBYMFY. Dude, you definitely did not let me down with this little ‘wtf are you talking about’ video 😂 Oh, also, my father used to have one of the Sony sports Walkmans, lasted for years, although I’m pretty sure it never felt any water whatsoever in its time! Cheers Matt.

This thing is a close match color-wise, I think: https://www.ebay.com/itm/386921368000

What a fabulous vid. It contained all my favourite elements in a Techmoan video: 1) Unusual consumer audio tech. 2) A trip out with Mat. 3) Mat socking it to the trolls/smart ars*s in a very funny but dry way. And I am now left anticipating the next Sony Sports video!

This is a lovely video. For some reason everytime I come down with a bug (adenovirus this time) I have a lovely techmoan video to cheer me up. I grew up next to the beach in norther Spain where we had bay of viscay standard weather. I never knew there were sport Walkman, till a few years ago really. Been trying to get a discman one though, but they ain't cheap. So for me it was a Walkman wrapped on a tshirt in my rucksack on the good days and in an inside pocket on the wet ones. Now it was not a Sony brand but some dreadful thing that made me hate tapes.

I remember vibrant colours on Sony's kids electronics line "My First Sony". Might be an idea for some more video content?

"A lightweight video" ? You really shouldn't have jinxed yourself like that. Very enjoyable and informative. Thank you.

My wife and I really enjoyed the humor with this one. And the reaction of my wife too. "OMG, did he just throw that in?!"

On the subject of seeing one being used in the wild, I worked in Silicon Valley for a while in the mid 1980s, and at the apartment complex I was living at was a swimming pool. I remember a girl coming to swim in the evening with a sports walkman, and she did not get on with it at all… the headphones used to keep falling out as she swam. Otherwise waterproof, just problematic headphones…

If any of Mat's videos were *begging* for a puppet skit, it's this one. I couldn't help imagining a voiceover saying, "You know when you've been Techpwned!". (90s Tango advert reference)

I had that boombox and I seem to recall a MD player in similar colors. Was that a Sports line revival in the 90s?

Really liked this one and I'm keen to see your future videos about the Sports Walkman(s). Back when they were a current product line, I noted the chonkier design and the presence of something that reassuringly looked like a gasket. But I thought that the only part of the design that offered any real function towards water damage was the color. I reckoned that the bright yellow would really make it stand out against the bottom of the lake when you dove down to find it. The gasket would have done jack squat, of course, but maybe you could wash off the bottom mud and dry it out and return it to the store as having Just Stopped Working. This was before the technology for magic red dots had been invented, of course... Speaking of pocketable audio, are you curious about new digital music players? I've been thinking about replacing my Sony A55 later this year (I still love it, but now that I've proven that I'm still using a DAP years later, I'm ready for a better one). If I do, I'll probably just keep an eye out for a good deal on an A306. But due diligence requires me to look around and the HiBy line looks pretty interesting. The HiBy R3 even looks like the Activo you did a video about a few years ago. (And: the algorithm being what it is, YouTube has also shown me videos about Android-based component audio streamers, like the Eversolo DMP-A6. The category strikes me as something that might have at least been on your radar recently.)

ARG yes, this sort of thing drives me bananas (and it really shouldn't). Just the other day, I made a little joke on Threads that porcupines, unlike pigs or mules, had no kinds of cultural stigmas associated with them that inherently make being called one an insult, and maybe when Moe calls Larry "porcupine" he's suggesting that Larry has a lot of emotional barriers that make it difficult to maintain friendships. A couple of people responded with the helpful explanation that Moe was probably remarking upon Larry's hair, which, one recalls, was quite prickly and wiry. My first thought was, as always "jesus christ do you think i'm an idiot this is a joke i wasn't casting my despair upon the heavens and beseeching for an answer to a question that's been bedeviling me night and day for years because I lack the kind of intellect that can grasp the obvious." And (also As Always) I forced myself to follow that thought up with "fundamentally, these people were following an impulse to be helpful, which is a positive thing" because, really, I shouldn't get even a tiny bit upset.

My only cassette Walkman was a Sports model. Going into junior high, I thought I would be more active than I actually was. It was mostly used for long field trip bus rides and sometimes walking home from school. It worked well but the headphones with plastic earbuds were uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure the beige Outback line hinted at the end of this video had come out by the time I made my Sports Walkman purchase but the Sports yellow was more iconic.

Colour reproduction on a digital media display of any kind is subjective. If the monitor is not calibrated to a set standard and a camera's settings is not adjusted accordingly, then whatever you see is what YOU see. Plus most people do not see the exact same colour.

I've got a bright canary yellow Casio watch somewhere that I acquired as a youngster. I think yellow was the 'sports' colour of choice for the late 80s/early90s! It has a depth sensor, which I don't recall working very well in my local swimming baths. I think its claim to fame was that is appeared in some episodes of Baywatch. I must dig it out and put some new batteries in it.

The things people will nitpick about in the public comments section...

Worlds colliding! I owned a Sports Walkman, I did think the karaoke machine was the same yellow (obviously wrong), AND i watch too many narrowboat videos. I cannot wait for the next video in this series, thank you for a great one.

I remember making a comment at the time of the earlier video, that it would sit well with the yellow Sound Burger, but I was only going from memory of the colour as it wasn't near me as I commented. I can see now they're completely different. As for dropping it in the water, you wait, you'll get all the "OMG!! U distroyed a priseles hair loom!!!!" comments, now.

I thought my sister was crazy when she bought a Sony Sports Walkman. All that money for a basic Walkman? But I went through 2 or 3 decent quality Walkman knock-offs before hers bit the dust

I can attest to seeing these in Los Angeles in the Walkman's heyday so there is definitely a "lifestyle" element to them. Definitely a "SoCal" vibe. Usually folks on bikes and in-line. skates from what I recall. Neon lycra and spandex outfits. Wraparound sunglasses. The whole cliche.

Mat, maybe you'd know... it seems to me that someone could have developed water-tight case that a small portal stereo like the one you show at the canal could fit into if someone wanted the "sport" features. Did any manufacturer attempt such a peripheral device at one time?

I think I must have good settings on my 32" LG monitor - by sheer happinstance I can assure you, because the stereo looked every bit the color of what I'd call "brown mustard" without the specks of black mustard seed. That specific color was ubiquitous in the 1970s suburban interior design pallet along with "Burnt Orange" and "Avocado". This style of yellow was referred to as "Harvest Gold!" Whereas, the yellow of the Walkman is the more standard color that in the US is used for police tape and traffic signs that expect you to slow down rather than stop. (Official designation for that color BTW, is OSHA 1910.144)

Westlife's Shane Filan mentioned having a yellow Sports Walkman when he was a kid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_CPn85PNKE

I had a later model Sports Walkman, basically the same as that but with auto reverse. The headphone sockets (mine had 2!) had rubber covers on them, presumably so that you didn't drown the electronics if using only one set of headphones. Plugging the headphones in as normal created enough of a seal so that the unit was splash proof. Mine also had a socket on the bottom with a plug which was purely for allowing you to equalise the air pressure inside the machine. I did actually test the Walkman in the bath and it worked perfectly under water! The sound quality was that of a basic Walkman, which is pretty much what it was (it had the features of a £25 model wrapped in a waterproof shell, meaning it cost about £60 if I remember rightly). It was also huge and heavy. I exchanged it for an Aiwa that was not much bigger than a cassette box and had more features including servo control and far better sound quality, better than some personal CD players of the time.

Not to deride your camera of choice, but Canon are known to reproduce colours more accurately than Sony. But as you say, screens all vary. I have mine colour calibrated but most people don't.

It never looked to me to be the same color as the Sony sport stuff. What it did look like, to me, is what in North America (dunno about other places) would be called "construction yellow". Much heavy equipment is painted similarly. And then "construction yellow" made me think that (karaoke aside) the unit would be useful at a work site. Stereo effects are largely lost in an open area and the downward-facing speaker would be unlikely to be easily damage or collect dust. Your Mileage May Vary w/r/t the cassette portion. We also have "school bus yellow" over here (yes, many jurisdictions run a public transit systems twice per day) but that's not the same shade of yellow.

Definitely a duller color, but I quite like it nonetheless. The sports yellow is too garish for my tastes.

Had a conversation this past week about colour monitoring with the manager of a global motion picture post production facility. He mentioned they can use iPads for reliable off-site colour reference monitors (they use rare, crazy-expensive Sony OLED reference monitors inside the facility). Apparently the screens for the newer iPads are very consistent when manufactured and are reliable enough to be trusted to give the colourists notes.

I bit my tongue saying that looks like the sports line because it looks the same to me. I'm not that detailed focused so yeah but I didn't say anything due to the fact you are kind of a connoisseur of old tech.

When I saw the initial video, I also thought: it reminds me a little of sports yellow, although that is brighter. But at https://youtu.be/Qmv3ZU_3vcE?t=200 3:20 you decide that the karaoke device looks a 'little bit close' to PMS 1235 before you move on to the right page and settle on 1375. Next you classify the sports walkman as PMS 1235. So I think checking the color sheet, while they are different colors, they might also be not as far apart as you thought they were, as you initially color matched the karaoke machine to the same color as the sports walkman. EDIT: great teaser at the end!!

I've always wondered if there's some Internet prize round I'm not aware of, and you can only win by spouting random facts you (think you) know. I work in a very niche sector of defense, and online defense enthusiasts are some of the most insufferable people you can ever imagine. The amount of WELL ACKCHUALLY in that community is staggering. I've had them try to tell me how things *I literally built* "really" work. I usually just shrug it off, but honestly--the smug, confident incorrectness *does* grind my gears a bit sometimes.

Ah, the sound of running water, lovely but had to go to the loo, what did I miss? PS, SONY Present on the way to you Mat 😉

The local baseball stadium has huge pillars showing the team through the decades. The 1980s pillar has a 6 foot tall sports walkman on the pillar. It's the exact model my parents got me and my sister and we've been having fun showing it to kids. These are the best pictures I can find. https://ballparkratings.com/wp-content/uploads/3-148.jpg Here it is at the lower right side of the pillar, and here's one of it close up. https://ballparkratings.com/wp-content/uploads/4-148.jpg Of course I think this is a 1990s model. RE: the comments in the previous video, I just think people are dumb as hell. Sometimes I go on car repair forums and people say "my car cranks but doesn't start" and people always tell them it's the battery when it obviously isn't since juice is getting to the starter motor. They just go "dur car won't start battery." I think people just went "Duuuurrrr yellowish Sony SPORTS." I bet they've never even seen one in person. It was OBVIOUSLY a brown yellow, not sports. But good video.

The 8 track looks the identical shade of mustard yellow as a 1973/4 jeans beetle imo 😎

Fun vids thanks. Not sure how people were confusing the two very different colours.

Great video! I work in color management for print and learned early on that memory is terrible for color. One may think when they see a yellow it was sports yellow but as you proved, it was just in the ballpark.

I do like it when you feature something I don't want, instead of something I desperately want, but don't need and can't afford. Even then though, there's the Wheel 2 in the background whispering buy me... buy me...

I like Mat's term, "browny, mustard, nicotine-stained-teeth yellow..." Now is a good time to take another look at Technology Connections' BROWN video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh4aWZRtTwU

Loved the video. Of course, this was in the days before IPX standards for waterproofing. I agree that it was as much a marketing ploy to get young, active folk to buy this over the off-brands. I'm pretty sure that, although this was a 'bare bones' model of player, it probably cost more than the upper models of some of it's competitors. And, yes, although you certainly couldn't call me a 'sports' person when I was younger, I did own one of these lemon squawkers. And, at the time, I thought the color was... groovy. P.S. I, too, have occasional problems with my DJI Mic 2s volume level. But I do like them for the quality.

I remember the sports models from back in the day. they look very robust until a guy from school crashed on his bicycle and we discovered that there are limits to their sturdiness.

Great video! Colour science is fascinating, especially to those of us who try to print our photos. Two terms that may prove useful under some set of extremely unlikely circumstances are ‘Metamerism’ whereby two different colours appear to be the same colour under some lighting conditions, and ‘Colour inconstancy’ where the same colour appears different under different lighting conditions eg the pictures of the Mini you showed.

Judging from when I walk by the canal, if it did sink some bloke with a huge magnet on a string would recover it for you, along with a bike frame, a huge knife and a hand grenade from world War 2

Mat I guess they made it yellow to be easy to find when you dropped it in a canal! I guess they were used by joggers and it had some kind of mech to keep the tape speed stable. I used to go all over the UK on narrow boats for holidays.

XXXXTREME Techmoan!!!

I appreciate what Sony did with the battery placement on the sport Walkman. That's a lot easier and no chance of losing or breaking the flap you normally got on most personal tape players.

(Spoilers) —- Drop was unexpected as well as teaser for the future video :) loved both of them: drop and teaser!

Ochre vs Yellow :)

I liked the outdoor scenes. The fact that you brought a dip net suggests a certain amount of preparation. Dropping the walkman into the canal was probably still a bit of a gamble. But it worked out well, and even if it had sunk with lots of bubbles rising, it would have been hilarious. Regarding the colours; one way to test one's own colour perception is to take the Xrite colour IQ test: https://www.xrite.com/en/hue-test

Richard Gere did loan his one too his “girlfriend“

I wonder if this lady I shoot a picture of in New York City have one? :) Or the cabbies... https://i.postimg.cc/W1zTVdMr/bild.png

• Nice change of pace here. You tactfully approached the fact that colors come across differently depending on the media and lighting variations. Your in-person selections on the color table is brilliant. • Nice thumbnail; it looks very 'actiony' and dramatic. • 'Previously on Techmoan' in Deep Voice Greyscale is a light humorous touch. 😀 • I've never been a sports person, but I have a fond nostalgia for the anti-yellow version of the Sony Sports WM-F5. I have a distinct memory using a thoroughly beaten version of one in the late 80's. • The scene change at 8:47 really threw me, and I doubt you intended it - but your 'on-location' footage further demonstrates how lighting plays a factor on how we see colors on video. Your blue eyes are much brighter outdoors. All of the spring colors really pop in that footage. Dare I say that it calls back the heady days of action camera demonstrations in Manchester and the rural West Lancs outings on the motorcycle... *sigh* • I absolutely loved your visit to the Leeds and Liverpool canal - it's very beautiful to me, even though it's standard fare for you. • Is it odd that I could almost hear Pennywise saying, 'We all float down here,' when you threw the Walkman in. 😳 EDIT: Is that the Sony 'boombox' that hid the cassette mechanism on its back? I look forward to the Oddcast. Have a wonderful week ahead, take care. 🤍🤍

I was wondering if there was an oddcast coming. I look forward to those.

Haha I like the outside bit of the video. You could have just tested that using a tub or sink but you went through the effort to use the canal.

There should be scanning apps that give you a Pantone color number from what you looking at with the camera of your phone. At least in the Google Play Store there is.

Love how you ended the video with a tease of a future video. 😭

Am I right to say there was a underwater housing for the Sony 8mm camcorder back in the 80’s too, which was branded the same Sports range?