The RiddimVox
I’ve finally got something new (old) to show you - and despite all the issues I’ve had while making this video, I don’t think it’s turned out too bad in the end for something that's been assembled in such a disjointed manner.
https://youtu.be/OwcFaavyLJg
In other news I should have a couple of new to the market products arriving next week that I could do with completing the videos on pretty quickly so they are relevant. We’ll see how that goes, it all depends on when the parcels arrive. While I’m waiting for the deliveries though I’ll probably start on a quick video, just in case things get delayed.
My shoulder seems on the mend so that’s a big relief. Hope you’re coping with all this Christmas malarkey, take care.
UPDATE: Dulled the video down a tad to smooth off sharp edges. Replaced the embed and link.
Comments (40)
What/who was track 6? I kinda liked it..
Im straight away getting a Hitachi 3D80 vibe.
Now, red is normally a bad colour for an LCD backlight, but aesthetically it looks rad. Cheers Lee
I would not have guessed late 1990s, that looks early 1990s aesthetic to me. Would love to own one of these, and probably add a BT adapter to it like you suggest.
This video is a treat! Thanks. And you don't have to choose, you got both. Enjoy them
Love the enthusiasm - and the box.
The name may also suggest that if people are annoying you, you can get rid of 'em by using it to play loud music.
Given that guitar, mike and keys can be plugged in, it looks perfect for one of those noisy/annoying buskers (they often schlep a car battery on a trolley for power).
Im thinking of comparing with the Tube like JVCs , like the black one you had some time ago And also the type og JBL Bluetooth speaker that’s the most comparable I think that would talk to the gen-x’es they certainly know about and have heard the JBL’s Even to me owning a charge3 it would automatically compare
Hauling those massive boomboxes. No wonder you got shoulder pain 😉 Excellent video!
Glad you your nearly back to your self Mat. Loved the Video. I wonder how it would compare to a Sony FH model
I noticed that you can run it from 12V DC which is useful when it’s 110/120V AC.
Glad to hear that you're on the mend. I enjoyed the video - whatever issues you had weren't at all noticeable to me.
I'm pretty sure my 1994 Panasonic stereo system has the same cassette mechanism, although in its case it has a permanent magnet erase head. I would call it "semi-soft-touch" -- pushing the button does half the work of operating the mechanism, and then it takes over and smoothly engages the heads against the tape.
Yes I’m intrigued by how this works, I assume the activation of the motor somehow pulls the head into place. It’s a nice action, but not quite a full servo assist.
I reckon that after styling the RiddmVox the people responsible were moved into the Panasonic Toughbook Laptop team. While being rugged those have similar styling with faux ruggedness on the top of that.
The good thing about Christmas, is that it will be over in three weeks' time :)
What a difference a little colour makes. The SY-PA100 looks a little worse than it would have done due to yellowing plastics, but even new it would've had a more... industrial? ... look to it it, but red and black are such a classic combination - there's a reason the A-Team's van was black with red accents, and not an assemblage of various greys. Nice that its audio performance can live up to its looks. The wave machine looks great in the background, but maybe too good - I had to go back in the video to hear you talking about the tape decks because I realised I'd just been hypnotically staring at it for a few minutes. Glad your shoulder is healing - I'm sure everyone here is thinking something along the lines of "FFS, 2025, give Mat a bleeding break!".
This category of product still sort-off exists. Just usually packaged vertically instead of horizontally. But so called "party speakers" are pretty much just this. Usually featuring CD, USB, bluetooth and radio (no tapes sadly). Even Panasonic still makes them. My father has their SC-TMAX10 for example. Makes surprisingly good sound honestly.
Beware. They had an off-brand one for things like Aerobics at a hotel in Spain I stayed in last year. It sounded appalling.
Wonderful video Mat. I really enjoyed the comparisons to traditional boomboxes and your conclusion at the end! I really do wonder if a device like this could sell nowadays, especially likely being a high price compared to the cheap junk people are used to nowadays (in terms of portables). Not to mention I don't know how the market would deal with a "new" idea for a product that doesn't incorporate ai or something of the like. Forget quality, lets make sure everythings "smart."
Both the RiddimVox and the PA-100 are very cool devices just as they are and the sound they make comes across as impressive even on YouTube. Do you think they'd be appropriate when watching a big blockbuster action movie on the projector screen in your shed? They should make some awesome sound to match the visuals, although maybe they're just too overpowering.🤔 Good to hear you're mending and I hope it's a looooooooong time before you have another health problem--you definitely deserve a break.
I rely on wireless EARC over AirPlay to a pair of HomePods providing Atmos spatial sound, so this wouldn’t work in my situation.
11:30 - Not sure I follow the argument? A speed error on the decks wouldn’t cause a dubbing problem, as long as both were running at the *same* speed. Kinda like the 2x dubbing mode in some dual deck machines - both decks run fast. Or maybe I’m misunderstanding and the speed change only shows up on one of the decks? Maybe they assumed that having both decks running was the more likely circumstance and adjusted it accordingly?
Looks like I need to edit out some things to make this a more anodyne video.
Well done! I especially liked your conclusion. I couldn’t agree more.
• I'm pleased to see you demonstrating this item. The video didn't seem disjointed at all to me. • Your RiddimVox 'promotional mix' with the following "yeah" response reaction was completely hilarious and entertaining. I need to rewatch that now. • I thought the sound was a direct camera line-in, it sounded so great. • Faux Ruggedness vs. Real Ruggedness - yes indeed. I really enjoy the operation of the press-down cassette buttons. • Why did Japan hoard all of their most awesome audio equipment? I've been avoiding the Christmas malarkey by staying home. I don't have anyone to exchange gifts with and that's a relief. Take it easy and take care. 🤍
I live in a pretty downtrodden corner of a disadvantaged area of a financially troubled country…so yesterday’s visit to a run down shopping centre to pick up my new spectacles left me with a strong feeling of ennui. Amplified somewhat by mingling with the very worn down looking shoppers trudging past boarded-up units while ‘Simply having a wonderful Christmas time’ blared out from the background music system.
Wonderful news about being on the mend!
Glad your shoulder’s improving, I have a dodgy shoulder that the NHS are (slowly) dealing with and it’s not nice.
Is it physiotherapy?
EDIT: I misheard. Deleting the comment about that. I do think the sound shockingly comes through on this. I heard the wobble on the recording and when you played the cassettes I was thinking "holy shit that Sony does great." Then I thought "holy shit his recording setup really sounds great." Then I thought "wow that boom box sounds great." Great trick by the way with the dual deck speed adjustment. That could be a YouTube short. This one is definitely cooler looking than the other one...but the midi controller on the other one is really awesome, so I think I would prefer it.
Oh yeah and the Riddimvox name segment was very funny. Great job.
Playing it here through surprisingly good Panasonic speaker I bought secondhand a couple of years ago and they both sound pretty good! I'm a bit surprised about your remarks about the red record button: I don't think that's something from Panasonic, it's quite universal the colour of record: red: a red filled circle, a red line around the button, or completely red, and of course a red light. As yellow for pause, blue for eject and green for play...
I disagree. Look back at 1960s devices, Panasonics have the big red button on all their recorders. Pick any other brand and while they might have some text in red, the whole button being red is very uncommon whereas on the Panasonics it’s ubiquitous.
Yay! A reason to rush through Sunday chores! (“I don’t think it’s turned out too bad in the end for something that's been assembled in such a disjointed manner.” I hope somebody says that about my life one day.)
I'd be doing belts and pinchrollers on that. Seems like about the nicest 'boombox' you can get.
I'll leave it under the pillow and wait for the repair fairies to do their work.
Looking forward to watching this later glad your shoulder is on the mend take care
My weekend just suddenly got a lot better