An odd Walkman

Both my parents were deleted a while ago, Dad when I was 16 and mum when i was 43 ( I'm 51 now) . Life is like that, you bash on!

I'm loving the salt from Tudor music fans. I'm surprised they haven't threatened to come around to your house and subject you to several hours of morris dancing.

This is most certainly old news by now, but I used the Wayback Machine on Soundalive.co.uk (1999 is earliest year available) and downloaded these PDF pages. No mention of the WM-TOUR, as it seems they are moving on to new technologies. https://we.tl/t-ztABodAB8q

If one of the commenters on this video is correct, Techmoan was mentioned in this week's issue of The Beano. Apparently in the Dennis and Gnasher strip, where Techmoan was referred to as "dad-tube". lol

I’m just impressed Sony included Dolby NR on it. I mean they didn’t really have to, but clearly they made some effort to make it the best it could be for a cost.

I love it when you find "Mystery Machinery" like this. Fascinating video, Mat. Not seen in the US, far as I know.

Mat, I couldn't help myself and made some inquiries with several museums in the UK. Here's a reply from Kev who works at Barley Hall in York: "I recognise the walkman as something we used at Barley Hall from the early 90's until the mid noughties as a means of delivering audio tours to visitors at Barley Hall. Anyone admitted into the building at that time was offered an audio tour to take around with them as part of their visit. The walkmans we used just played a standard audio casette, which housed an anolog magnetic tape. The audio tour on the tapes contained two tracks for every room, I think - one track which gave an interpretation of the room, and a second track which presented a first person narrative of two medieval servants talking as if they were in a medieval hall in the 14th century. The name of the male actor escapes my memory, but the female actress on the audio was Dame Judi Dench."

The machine's general layout gave me flashbacks to my WM-33 which I got for Christmas in 1980-something, and looking it up the general construction is very similar: https://www.petervis.com/walkmans/Sony_WM-33/Sony_WM-33_Inside.html It shares a very similar internal construction with the PCB-mounted mechanism but the PCB itself is of course different. Looks like Sony based this model on that series of Walkman but with a simpler door (because no EQ) and the rewind button blanked off with the internal mechanism left in place. It even has the two indentations on the back to the sides of the screw thread which would have allowed the attachment of the same belt clip as the WM-33. I guess this means the design itself can be dated to about 1987, which tallies with the date on the cassette.

Lucie and Roddy Skeaping, mentioned on the tape as the directors of the Consort, are also behind "The City Waites"; Michael Brain is also a member. (I have a couple of The City Waites albums: "Bawdy Ballads of Old England" and "Penny Merriments")

I've had a look at the merch from the etsy shop. If I had the money to spend at the moment I'd probably buy some, they look cool

Looks like there was a FF or REW control also in the machine that was blanked out (it would fit between the Restart & Stop buttons). This would make sense as it was almost a std Walkman mech, so there was no need to remove it.

I'm thinking the pause activation might have nothing to do with an RF receiver. Sometimes the actual interference causes an audible buzzing or pulsing noise when it's very close to the tape head, and that might have had a tone or particular sound signature that some circuitry was listening for. I remember back in the early 2000s, my father sometimes placed his 2G cell phone in the compartment below the tape deck in his car, and whenever he received a text message while playing a tape, you could hear a pulsing sound. This is only a theory for this particular device, of course. :)

Very intriguing video! And comments here already starting to reveal more info. Mat, please do another video or a text post, when you collect enough information on the subject.

Here's a button that lets you show off yr soundalive pride: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114211913560

Interesting! I wonder if there's a special head inside that picks up the pause signal from the other side of the tape or something. Or maybe they used foil tape and a couple of contacts? Putting in 4-track head and adding a simple circuit to stop the tape would do the trick, and the fact that such a head would easily pick up wifi interference, explains why it stops at your workbench. I also wonder what the middle button does (it's covered up but clearly the mechanics are still there). Is that where the rewind button would normally be?

Oh, I dunno, I've often listened to baroque music whilst wandering round York Minster. Bit of Albinoni in me lug'oles, looking up at the sheer height of the place from within is quite breathtaking. As for your tape, maybe they advertised it for sale in Lute? I'll get me cloak.

Could the copper plate be an induction loop receiver? If so, it could be used to pause the music and receive commentary from induction loops placed around an exhibition. There’s an interesting science museum post about early induction loop use in audio tours here: https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/researching-the-humble-audio-guide/

Thanks for reminding me... I'm kicking myself for not ordering one of those "Flippin' 'eck!" coffee mugs when you had them.

I clicked that merch link and placed an order so fast I didn't notice the discount code until I came back to continue reading the post! Funnily enough I bought a VU meter design T-Shirt from AliExpress a couple of weeks ago. Patience clearly isn't one of my virtues.

I was thinking maybe it automatically paused a narration when you moved from one room to another. "Now in if you make your way in to the bedroom you will see the king's chamber pot." Wait 20 second then auto-pause. Once everyone has made their way, then press "restart" when the are ready for the next bit. "If you look closely at the pot, you will see that it was made in China from china."

That's quite a find, Mat. I have used all sorts of similar devices in English Heritage and National Trust places but not one of those. There is still something to learn about these; maybe you'll be able to make an update in a future video.

The D-Day Museum near Portsmouth seems to have used them: https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/831990

This does ring a very vague bell of a school trip using something similar at Quarry Bank Mill (before it became part of the NT). We had some kind of walkman style headset thing but I don't think it was this...

It seems crazy to me that they'd go through the trouble of making that radio signal pause function. Couldn't you either have a sign directing people to pause the player or a message on the recording itself? I guess it was a cool function intended to help sell the players to attractions and prove "it's not just a walkman". Best supporting role by wifi interference ever!

Clickbait title: “The Walkman that reacts to WiFi”

Nice video! I like the mystery, and the way you take us with you in this journey.

Those are some truly excellent designs.

merch looks awesome

oh no that is annoying when y=something break esspeciall whne its caused byt he perosn who ownes it hope the part comes soon I look forward to see =ing that video in the meantime I will enjoy watching this video I am sure

Wow, this machine is very intriguing. I love a mystery, but sadly I have no first-person information. I̶ a̶m̶ d̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ t̶o̶ d̶o̶ a̶ d̶e̶e̶p̶-̶d̶i̶v̶e̶ r̶e̶s̶e̶a̶r̶c̶h̶ p̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶, t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶. Crisp editing at the take-apart section - I like it very much. W̶a̶i̶t̶, I̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ a̶n̶s̶w̶e̶r̶. I̶t̶'s̶ m̶a̶g̶i̶c̶. I̶t̶'s̶ s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ o̶u̶t̶ o̶f̶ t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ R̶o̶n̶ W̶e̶a̶s̶l̶e̶y̶ b̶o̶o̶k̶s̶. H̶o̶g̶w̶a̶r̶t̶s̶ t̶o̶u̶r̶. B̶u̶t̶ i̶t̶'s̶ i̶n̶ S̶l̶y̶t̶h̶e̶r̶i̶n̶ c̶o̶l̶o̶r̶, n̶o̶t̶ a̶ g̶o̶o̶d̶ s̶i̶g̶n̶. 😁 Nope; Dan Fry answered with info in the video comments. Edit: I like the merch options - the toast one gave me a good laugh 😂. Are there any colors other than black, I wonder? Cannot find any other color options, but I rather like the VU meter one if it was in grey. Edit #2: I contacted seller to find out about shirt color options.

I believe I encountered a similar system at Westminster Abbey in the late 1990s, was a spoken tour rather than just music playing (quite interesting as I recall). I'm on a different continent right now but perhaps a listener closer could confirm if they still use them.

It is company that does tour guides, so that is what it was for. I expect the Tudor music tape was something they sold at the giftshop! References here to the company from 2003: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/business/firm-brings-historic-ports-heritage-4853435

OMG, the mech designs are amazing. Wish it did say Walkmoan. Been thinking about a new laptop bag, and that Minidisc one looks great. Probably too small though.

Added to 'Watch later'. Took a quick look in the merchandise store. The parody logos are awesome! I once suggested "Walkmoan" and similar, but the designer has made it way better than I could even hope. Not to mention copyright infringement safe! Nicely done. 👍

How strange - and remarkable how you accidentally found out about the externally triggered stopping feature! I wonder if the external DC power could be used to recharge rechargeable batteries? That would be useful if these were in use for guided tours at some historic venue. I shall bait my breath to see if anyone can provide some more information on this thing. Great video as always, Mat.

This is an intriguing little story. One thing that stands out is that if you can't find any info on this Walkman from your usual sources, these players must be exceedingly rare. The Soundalive organization doesn't sound like a very large outfit and it makes you wonder why Sony would put out a small batch of tricked out Walkmans just for them. Being in the castle and stately home touring business could mean they've got more influence and money than your run-of-the-mill local historical association however. Quite a serendipitous way to find out the use of the Restart button. Also really like the new designs for the merch as well.

Hi, I actually refurbed this walkman and actually sent it to Andrew, who sent it to you. I came to the same conclusion but found that passing my mobile phone next to it engaged the pause function. this is were i got it from - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115129089623

Never seen one before Mat so a nice find or a rare Walkman.

I have no info on this unfortunately, but I have to say, this made me realise the reason they usually didn't make these things aesthetically pleasing (like the one you are showing). Because if I was a kid, walking around a castle with a Sony Walkman (be it a horrid green). I would have tried to pocket it somehow.

Cool. Take it to Tesco and see if it stops when you walk past those security panels on the way in and out. Reminds me of the audio tour players I used to use at English Heritage sites, although they had no auto-stop, and all the transport controls. Thanks, btw.

All those shirts are quite sharp. The Sony blob logo got a chuckle out of me.

Thanks for this unintentional b-day present 😃; I'm out and about, but when I get home I will not only have some fun shipments to open but I will have a new video to watch on TV. The day can't get any better. 🌞

I really dig the shirt design. I might get one or two for summer.