Wow. surprised to see this pop up. I designed this interface back in 1994 while at frogdesign. It's a handmade interface, written in machine code, running on a moto 6508 with 128kb ram- totally custom hardware and software build. Everything is custom drawn, even the fonts, as 4 bit art. And it supports a bunch of different languages. I have two sitting here at my desk at work. They still work.
I love how this thing gives off a late 20th century retro futurism vibe, like if the internet never existed sound systems like this would be everywhere.
@@dragon-id5uj Most people on the internet grew up in a world which always had internet. The dark ages which came before - no internet, no smartphone, no social media - would be unimaginably backward and primitive.
@user-wj2um9sr4i because nobody uses hard media anymore.. everything is streaming via Spotify or "pandora" ect... no reason to have a huge media player when your phone can control any Bluetooth speaker
@@pwnmeisterage I don't get the cynicism. Without the internet there would be less of a likelihood smart devices like smart phones existed meaning there wouldn't just be app replacements for real hardware, in my opinion that would be better. Hi-fi like this would be a premier choice for a long time.
The user interface is so timeless it made me speechless! Never in my life have I seen something so well designed and so much ahead of its time. I mean the whole design is timeless, but the graphic interface, wow that is something! It still feels modern.
I am actually unimpressed by the fancy interface remote. It was a marvel for its era but it could easily be duplicated and improved upon with hobby-grade computing boards, display screens, etc. What does impress me is the audio system itself. They still built pure analog in many high-end systems back then. The sound quality might be top tier, even better than many HiFi systems on market today. Sadly, the focus of this video review was the novelty remote. And, as it points out, there's few surviving examples and essentially no documentation, manuals, specs, or datasheets to be found for this product anymore.
@pwnmeisterage what stupid logic. You're unimpressed because 24 years later you can make something similar/better with hobby grade parts? That's an outrageous standard to have... considering this was designed in 1994 and manufactured in 1999 and didn't have standardized parts to go pick up at your local Amazon website.
Found your channel fairly recently from your mouse cursor video and have binged almost all of your content since. I’m shocked you haven’t grown sooner!
@@j377yb33n Honestly though it would be much more convenient nowadays to use a bluetooth speaker with your phone unless you specifically want to use physical media
@@zeppie_ yea just 3d print a holder for your phone and glue a qi charger on your bt stereo set and there you go.. maybe some sw to have some stick on spinny knobs work for volume and stuff.
In the long run, this control keyboard is the number one suspect for failures. Been there. Membrane keyboards and rotary encoders from the 1990s go down one by one. But hey, a compact stereo was not supposed to last for centuries.
@posy - Even with its flaws, I'm proud to have worked on this for several years in the '90s. Still a good example of how design ideas (some great, some naive) fare when they hit the realities of product economics, engineering and manufacturing realities.
OMG! What a blast from the past. Really enjoyed working on this and the video brought back so many memories. He says there was never a pull out remote like this. That's true for home audio but this was inspired by car audio systems with removable faces for security reasons. The original proposal was to have a GUI on the device and have a standard SONY-style remote. But that would require our users to learn two different systems. The removable car stereo inspired this (coincidentally I had one in my little pickup truck). Also love seeing all the graphics. I remember the constraint of no color - just 256 shades of grey. Posy, thanks for posting this. And you did it on my wedding anniversary - what a gift!
@@dragon-id5uj I was part of Mark roslton's team at the time. Several designs were presented and mine was ultimately chosen. Like most projects, we work as a team which is why several people say they designed it. But it started with my design. I worked thrugh the interactions, created the graphics, and a style guide for the engineers. At some point I left and the team continued to take it the rest of the way to production.
Wow, brings back so many memories, I *definitely* worked on this as well! In fact, I was the assistant (to the) lead designer. There's a few "easter eggs" hidden into the UI, hope you find them! 😉
The way my jaw dropped seeing how the remote was removed from the docking station! What a fabulous piece of design, your presentation of these machines that I would never normally think about is so exciting. Keep up the great work!
fabulously bad, as there was nothing to indicate that was a button, and the design is mirrored on all the other components but the button is not. and the button that looks like a standby button but isn't, and they couldn't be arsed including a 3v battery to remember the time after it was pressed.
Man. The simple styled black-to-white GUI really gives a sense of nostalgia for similar types of GUI that showed up on websites, mp3 players, and software in the early 2000s. It reminds me of one person in particular I really wish I payed more attention to before they got taken off the internet. Thanks for showing this off for all of us.
How the hell did you turn a review for obscure tech into actual video art. Your presentation, music, editing, narration, and storytelling are just fantastic! Bravo!
Cannot appreciate enough, how well the video is made. I am able to appreciate this dual player so much because of your amazing presentation that explores every hidden functionality & clear explanation. Chapeau!
I really like your music, it's refreshing to hear unique sounds rather than stock music and it's great that you put the effort in to make a backing track for your video work, wanted to let you know I appreciate it :)
Absolutely love the feel of every video I've watched from Posy! Truly worthy of anyone's time to watch. Also the music and little tidbits offered to the viewers and everyone else, i.e. cursors, music etc, is wonderful.
For a while I've been wanting to make an interface similar to this on E-Ink for displaying stats about my home (e.g. temperature, upcoming calendar events etc.), because there's something retro yet futuristic about a monochrome display, and it brings back memories of watching shows like Beyond 2000 (an Australian show about upcoming technology) where they often showcased "home appliances" like that.
I like to imagine some of the original designers watching his videos with pride. I can't imagine what a thrill it would be for them to get such recognition for their work so many years later.
Definitely a project of a talented and passionate staff member. Only someone with that kind of dedication would have put so much effort into getting the details in the GUI so pixel perfect.
This is an incredibly modern interface for the 90s, especially for a one-off piece of tech. Wild that it wasn't used in more devices, how did they amortize the cost of development?
Your videos are incredible! I am consistently amazed by your production quality and attention to detail. I'm only sorry I didn't come across your channel sooner. Keep up the great work
I've never really been a big fan of 1990s design since It's always bubbly plastic. But THIS, this is awesome. I especially like those speakers in the catalogue, has a postmodern/art deco vibe to it
I said the same thing about it looking postmodern/Art Deco. It's very tasteful in my opinion. However I still love the older systems. It all depends on the theme of your decoration in the room the equipment is to be set up in. In my front room I've gone with an early 2000 midway minimalist with my Kenwood Series 21 Tower of Power as a centrepiece of the room. It just sits in the corner intimidating my guests with it's huge size and features waiting to blow the pants of anyone who dares criticise it's awesomeness. In another room I have a B&O Overture With some Penta Speakers and a pair of beolab 8000's. I'd love to make an 80's bedroom and put in an 80's Sony or a Kenwood Spectrum Series in it. It's all about the character you want to build in the room you are putting it in and it's also an expression of your personality. If it goes with the room and you like it who cares what other people think. Just go with it.
I actually love that early to mid 90s black bubbly plastic design, but it's true that there often lacks variety. But such style of design was just starting to become dated by the late 90s, which was when this hifi was released.
"90s bubbly plastic design"... yes, never liked it, I clearly remember the change in style from the 80s "professional straight lines look" into the rounded "bubbly" style of the 90s (for example the walkman WM2 VS the FX153) even cars became "bubbly" (96 ford taurus even the dash is "bubbly")... such a shame but at least now I see many new products taking design cues from the 80s using straight lines and a "clean" look. the 90s were kinda like a "transition" period were grunge finally "killed the 80s" and that cynicism of "grunge" finally set it and we got "stuck" there is no "futurism" anymore... now we only have "retro-futurism" the past looks more like the Future than our Present could ever imagine...
That wasn't always the case, the 'bubbly' plastic style only really came in the mid to later 90s(Aiwa seemed to kick off the excessive bulbous, flashing systems), and much moreso on midi systems. They were fun as a teenager(probably the main market), but they were far from beautiful. Rack systems pretty much always used traditional designs, and earlier 90s midi systems, discmans, etc were generally reserved, black, using either metal or flat matte plastic, with numerous buttons, and ample but subtle displays, etc. Micro systems also took the opposite route to midi systems, being relatively subtle, often using metal systems with wooden speakers - which I think started with Denon. eg 1998: cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qmP7Qxy4PRL5b4PG267PdJ-970-80.jpg.webp Micro systems are still sold which look nearly identical. Systems with unique designs such as in the video were fairly common for higher end/boutique companies. The Bose lifestyle series for example. It was fun looking in high end audio stores at the time. Personally I think the early 90s had some of the most appealing looking systems ever made, along with being high quality(largely made in Japan) and very usable. I loved looking through catalogs at the time. Panasonic tended to exemplify this style, eg this 1990 mini system: i.ebayimg.com/images/g/4MAAAOSwZXRfP9lB/s-l1600.jpg Even when stuff just started to get curvy/bulbous, it could still look nice, eg: ruclips.net/video/1DAVN-QVxyo/видео.html
This is the first video I've seen of yours, I'm half way through and I'm already so excited to go watch more videos of your videos. The production value is incredible and beautiful! Thank you for taking the time to make this and share it!
This is one of my favorite videos of all time. The self-produced music, the editing and narration, the cinematography, the backstory, the details of operation... just marvelous. I come back to this video once every few months. Incredible job. Also, I truly miss my mom's DUAL hi-fi system, my love for movie soundtracks started back then when I was just a child, beautiful memories.
I’ve only discovered your channel in the past couple weeks. But I am so glad it was recommended to me you truly make some remarkable videos and it was totally worth for me to stay up till 2:00 am Haha!
Making your own music is so fun, makes new videos not just that, but a new album release! Nearly every song you've made has found its place in my playlists, keep it up!
DUDE INSAINE VIDEO. !! seriously and honestly. I’ve recently found your channel. Like the fact you included that there was no information on the batteries in the MANUAL! Or even the battery power drain sound. SO thorough and such good content. Thank you so much! Your a top dog!
I just wanted to say that not only are your videos top notch quality, but your segments album is enjoyable to the point where I purchased it. Keep up the great work!
I find it very interesting that... what like 30 years later... I'm not seeing a GUI on any of their "Home" products on the Dual products website. Mad props to their design department for how (then and actually now) appear visually. These look neat. Good video!
Wow, despite the quirks this is the best concept of a home stereo I've ever seen. If they would have made a second model ironing out the long list of issues, it would have been a potential success.
this channel feels like a gold mine, so much quality dedicated to a topic quite unpopular. Thanks for making these, i would love to watch you speaking more of how does that Cold Cathode display works
i remember these! i had an school internship at karstadt on 98 or 99 and "worked" in the hi-fi section for three weeks. i remember the remote, it was the coolest gadget i ever saw. thank you for bringing me all the good memories an that :)
That is definitely the _COOLEST_ bit of hi-fi kit I've ever seen! Seems so modern... yet also alternate-worldly in a way. The detachable control panel is certainly a _really cool_ idea! If only it didn't suck in every way an infrared remote does... because instead of the control panel being your remote... it kinda makes it more like your remote is your _only_ control panel... which is something I always despise in AV equipment... need front panel controls! Remotes die, get lost, and break... front panel controls (mostly) don't! With some modern technologies like high-bandwidth wireless and bluetooth audio a similar designed system could be absolutely incredible! That said... dedicated audio equipment is quickly dying out for all except for professionals... and of course the nerdy prosumers like myself... All that aside... Really cool device!
What an unusual stereo set. Industrial design is wonderful. The detachable remote is a great idea and the UI looks pleasing, despite some silly bugs. They could have made a touchscreen but that would have broke the bank. And that power button was such an oversight. Great video.
That system was weirdly appealing for a mid-range system from that era. It does remind me of some higher end work stations of the 90s and early 2000s such as sgi and Sun.
Fantastic! Mooi! Dual had something decades ahead of their time. Engineering and marketing just didn't meet half way. The High End, as they call it, began a spiral in the 90s, very sad. "Home Theatre" systems gained popularity that began to eclipse absolute quality. I was part of the game in those days. I had friends with Threshold, Meridian, Revox, turntable manufacturers like Pierre Lurne. The early 1990s. I had a set of studio speakers made by a friend, we know it as Infinity. I had the prototypes of the RSII speakers, they were hand made. Arnie built them. Only amplifiers at the time that could really handle the 2 ohm monsters were made my Nelson Pass (Threshold) or Soundcraftsmen (later Martron). I had both. To this day, I still hold these friendships. Hey, we're all old men now. In the 90s? We partied, hehe. Dual made some excellent quality equipment in the day, I must attest.
It had a great bass and crystal clear sound, an amazing piece of tech, way ahead of it’s time. I was actually looking for it over the internet but the name is so generic for google search that I wasn’t able to find anything, I was really surprised to see this video pop up in my feed. Thanks. I’m subscribing to your channel!
Those are so cool. I have never heard of these before. Thank you so much for all the effort put into making this video. And I see that the developer has found and commented as well! What a small world. A well earned like and sub from me!
Here in the US, Dual is widely known as the cheapest car stereos and speakers you can buy at Walmart, costing roughly a quarter of the price of similar products from other entry-level brands like Pioneer and Kenwood. This version of Dual, which was purchased by TCL nearly a decade after the original German company dissolved, reverted to using the original Dual logo on its products
TV remotes changed a lot in last 8 years. First in high-end TVs, then in mid-range and lower. They use bluetooth now, so you no longer have to point at TV and they have additional features, like LG remotes have mouse pointer with motion controls like Wii remotes had.
My mom has an LG with that remote. I think they call it Magic remote or Magic wand or something like that. The cursor part of it works pretty decentlæy for a smart TV with apps and so on, but the buildquality is horrible to the point where everyone who dares to use it Will curse it to Hell😊
Hate smart TVs too! You must wait for it to finish booting completely before you can change the volume on some Sonys and on my LG you must wait a while and probably press the wrong button to get to HDMI or composite 😡😡😡
@@lachlanlau Yeah, the pointing part of it is nice, navigating the apps and All, but it has very few buttons, so you have to open Up the tv menu/homescreen for most things that isnt volume, channel +/- and power. Also the scrollwheels rubberring has become so loose that its pretty much impossible to get a grip and get it to scroll. Much prefer a normal style remote anytime
This vid was randomly recommended by YT. By the looks (the ad picture) and the name I was thinking it is somehting a-la 'aliexpress future things that you don't know about'. But it turned out to be something done 30 years ago by german company. Well, chinese these days are doing such things. Only 30 years late, hehe. And actually they still didn't do such brilliantly beautiful and in the same time usefull thing. Not speaking about quality, as ... well, we all know what is the difference between something that you just replace the batteries and it still works 30 years later and something that is DOA like 20%. Mark Rolston, Collin Cole and limawrittenwithL - you people are icons ! Thank you for your efforts !!! You really bring something to the humanity !!!!
Such a unique stereo system! I have something from that era from Marantz from the Slim Series. Unfortunately, even on standby the unit was super hot and the electronic sensor doors that covered the front control panels would randomly drop open - kinda creepy! But the sound from the unit was amazing! Sadly the CD and cassette deck is not functioning and am only left with the amp and receiver. But like your unit, it was amazing tech. Maybe someday when I have extra cash, I will send it for a overhaul repair.
Considering the period this was produced in, pretty much impossible. In the 90s the semiconductors industry still hadn't boomed yet, and processors were still very expensive, so most integrated circuitry more closely resembled an ASIC, i.e. hardware specifically designed to execute a certain task.
@@JohnnoNonno I see some motorola chip in there, could be a 68k? On the other side of that board there's also a socketed chip with a version number on - probably stores the program.
That is a beautiful sysyem. Sheer style. I'm rarely bowled over by HiFi aesthetics from the 80s/90s, though those decades DID have the best HiFi systems (mostly because they don't exist anymore unless you want to pay as much for your music system as for a car). But I can't stop boggling at this!
This channel is best random documentary channel i ever seen never thought such boring things can get that interesting! Love your channel, and content. Thank you
By the time they released this unit, they could had used radio on the remote control instead of infrared, so the user would not have to point the clunky remote to the unit. Totally viable by that time. When I was a teenager, circa 1993, a rich friend of mine had in his home a C band Uniden satellite receiver that already had a remote control that worked using radio (it could be switched between radio and infrared on the main unit). His house was pretty big at that time and the remote was able to communicate with the main unit in virtually any place inside and near ouside the house.
It's already not very energy efficient while using infrared, let alone if it used radio waves. Low energy radio waves is basically Bluetooth, and you'll have to wait until 1999 for that.
@@JohnnoNonno It was a mature technology already in the early 1990s, google for Uniden UST-4500, the first results will give you the pdf scans of its user manual. Its remote control used 4 AAA batteries and they never complained (my friend or his late dad) about the remote control being power hungry. It worked flawlessly and it had a range that bluetooth can only dream about it. According with the user manual, they used UHF to accomplish it. I remember that the receiver had a small thin antenna in its main back panel. So, yes, that DUAL system, being itself a Premium audio system, could have offered a more 'premium' user experience with a less clunky interface and a remote that does not require the user to always direct the remote controller to the front of the receiver by using radio like Uniden did years ago in its UST-4500 satellite receiver.
@@JonGallon Using radio waves would've meant to buy frequency licenses in Europe and also I wouldn't want to control my neighbour's stereo. Or in the case you have two in the same house, you wouldn't want to control the stereo in the next room at the same time. And using different frequencies would mean more costs in licensing fees. Using infrared was the right choice here. The remote has 4 (or 5?) IR blasters and the main station also has 4. It worked fine even in larger rooms.
@@mbirth About interference: this was also solve in the 1980s by using different channels. Wireless phones did that by auto selecting a non conflicting channel in the frequency range, like any current router does today in the 2,4 and 5Ghz. So you could have more than one device at same time without conflicts. About licensing: again, that Dual was not a cheapo budget stereo, it was meant to be premium and to has premium features. As the video shows, if you sit by side of the main unit, the remote will not work. And before you ask how could a long range remote controller could be useful on that Dual stereo: since the amp has A and B set of speakers, you could put the B set of speakers in a totally different room like a bedroom or even in a upstairs located room and fully control the system being far from the unit that you left located in a living room with the A set of speakers.
Incrível como os engenheiros foram criativos para dar tecnologia e beleza em cada detalhe da interface. Um banho de competência que falta nos aparelhos atuais.
Knowing what Karstadt is nowadays as a German and casually buying clothes there is really something. To think of them producing such systems or owning manufacturers like DUAL is quite something impressive.
I just found your channel and now I’m binging your videos. I love how clean and professional the videos look and sound, everything about them is excellent. I also really adore the music, cheers
This was wonderful, especially love the sarcasm 😂 I love learning about obscure old technology. What a flawed yet brilliant system for its time. Also makes me appreciate how technology has improved since.
Only at 12:12 it hit me: this is a Wii U gamepad 15 years ahead of its time. It's got everything: it's a dumb screen that just receives an image from the main machine; it's got all the controls; without it, the main machine is basically bricked; it can double as a TV or VCR remote control; it has disappointing battery life; it's what makes this model completely unique, and this sort of thing is not likely to ever be made again.
The WiiU gamepad actually had decent battery life, for what it was. I thought it was a fantastic idea and I wish more games actually took advantage of it. Even for games like Zelda, where having the map on a separate screen and being able to drag items to specific buttons while you're walking was super cool. And it's still the most comfortable game controller I've ever used, with all of the buttons and joysticks exactly where I want them.
That block sculpture is dope, yo. I would have never thought to use something like that as a backdrop. You would think it would be too busy, but it worked great! I like your over-all style too... and there were some cool musical choices as well.
What would the other company responsible for the remote be? It might still be Grundig or they were the ones putting it together with the engineering coming from an independent bureau. The display seems actually spectacular for the time, even if the control concept is unconvincing, and a lot of it is outright baffling. Having a power cut button in the same location as CD/cassete eject in the rest of the tower was a bad call. It's a possibility that this was actually all Grundig in-house design but was rejected internally for being too expensive and too cumbersome; at which point Karstadt group picked it up. I do remember Dual brand products at Karstadt in the early 2000s but they were... very generic, wouldn't pay attention. Though if i knew they had some Hifi products made by Grundig i would have give them more attention in the late 90s. And of course i know the record player company.
This is really interesting since here in USA the Dual brand name in the late 90's and early 2000's was known as really cheap, and ultra low budget stuff. So this is pretty neat to see what looks like a really well put together high end system. Though I do need to mention that Bang & Olufsen also made a single remote for all of heir products, from stereo systems, TV's, VCR's and even home lighting. While not GUI, they are still pretty cool, especially the Beolink 7000 with it's capacitive touch glass, and a built in motor that tilted the screen when it was placed flat.
This looked like something LGR or Technology Connections would talk about. Very impressed with the novelty find, the ability to source them, and the production quality. I just wish you went into how it sounds (for $2200 is it even a good sounding system???)
Wow. surprised to see this pop up. I designed this interface back in 1994 while at frogdesign. It's a handmade interface, written in machine code, running on a moto 6508 with 128kb ram- totally custom hardware and software build. Everything is custom drawn, even the fonts, as 4 bit art. And it supports a bunch of different languages. I have two sitting here at my desk at work. They still work.
Hello and well done. Do you know anything about the battery for him?
holy moly! pretty nice work honestly, for something so relatively limited at such an early time it's very usable and pleasant
It looks great!
Very beautiful interface! Excellently done!
So interesting!!!
I’ll watch anything this channel makes.
Slololo
Momomo
Common Slow Mo Guys W
Same!
Cool to see you here!
your editing is always so nice. very stylized and professional, but not in an in-your-face way. like a good documentary
Squimpus McGrimpus
yo!
criminal
:D
Yes
I love how this thing gives off a late 20th century retro futurism vibe, like if the internet never existed sound systems like this would be everywhere.
I'm curious how the internet's absence would have caused that...
@@dragon-id5uj Most people on the internet grew up in a world which always had internet.
The dark ages which came before - no internet, no smartphone, no social media - would be unimaginably backward and primitive.
@@pwnmeisterage
Plus no LED lighting system.
@user-wj2um9sr4i because nobody uses hard media anymore.. everything is streaming via Spotify or "pandora" ect... no reason to have a huge media player when your phone can control any Bluetooth speaker
@@pwnmeisterage I don't get the cynicism. Without the internet there would be less of a likelihood smart devices like smart phones existed meaning there wouldn't just be app replacements for real hardware, in my opinion that would be better. Hi-fi like this would be a premier choice for a long time.
The user interface is so timeless it made me speechless! Never in my life have I seen something so well designed and so much ahead of its time. I mean the whole design is timeless, but the graphic interface, wow that is something! It still feels modern.
I am actually unimpressed by the fancy interface remote. It was a marvel for its era but it could easily be duplicated and improved upon with hobby-grade computing boards, display screens, etc.
What does impress me is the audio system itself. They still built pure analog in many high-end systems back then. The sound quality might be top tier, even better than many HiFi systems on market today.
Sadly, the focus of this video review was the novelty remote. And, as it points out, there's few surviving examples and essentially no documentation, manuals, specs, or datasheets to be found for this product anymore.
@pwnmeisterage what stupid logic. You're unimpressed because 24 years later you can make something similar/better with hobby grade parts? That's an outrageous standard to have... considering this was designed in 1994 and manufactured in 1999 and didn't have standardized parts to go pick up at your local Amazon website.
@@randybobandy9828 it has a navigation system VERY similar of the first iPod which was released 5 years later...
Found your channel fairly recently from your mouse cursor video and have binged almost all of your content since. I’m shocked you haven’t grown sooner!
Same with his segmented display vid. I can't get enough
same here!
Fourth!
foind
Same! His voice is so soothing like ASMR I could listen to it forever.
honestly i quite like the way they implemented the controls on this device, just a few quality of life tweaks and youve got a beautiful machine
honestly, with a modern bluetooth module and some tweaks, it'd be pretty decent
@@j377yb33n Honestly though it would be much more convenient nowadays to use a bluetooth speaker with your phone unless you specifically want to use physical media
@@zeppie_ yea just 3d print a holder for your phone and glue a qi charger on your bt stereo set and there you go.. maybe some sw to have some stick on spinny knobs work for volume and stuff.
@@zeppie_ bluetooth is doodoo (mostly) perfectly fine for most casual spotify listeners nowadays, not suitable for hifi (imo)
In the long run, this control keyboard is the number one suspect for failures. Been there. Membrane keyboards and rotary encoders from the 1990s go down one by one. But hey, a compact stereo was not supposed to last for centuries.
@posy - Even with its flaws, I'm proud to have worked on this for several years in the '90s. Still a good example of how design ideas (some great, some naive) fare when they hit the realities of product economics, engineering and manufacturing realities.
Thank you mr. Cole for the fantastic work that had been put into this little piece of machinery.
Thank you for working on it. I really enjoyed the design and the GUI!
I'd love to hear more about the history behind this design, and how it ended up how it did!
Hi @collin!
Thank you for your service, sir!
OMG! What a blast from the past. Really enjoyed working on this and the video brought back so many memories. He says there was never a pull out remote like this. That's true for home audio but this was inspired by car audio systems with removable faces for security reasons. The original proposal was to have a GUI on the device and have a standard SONY-style remote. But that would require our users to learn two different systems. The removable car stereo inspired this (coincidentally I had one in my little pickup truck).
Also love seeing all the graphics. I remember the constraint of no color - just 256 shades of grey.
Posy, thanks for posting this. And you did it on my wedding anniversary - what a gift!
Hi @mat!
may I ask what your contribution was? there's several other commenter stating they worked on it as well.
@@dragon-id5uj I was part of Mark roslton's team at the time. Several designs were presented and mine was ultimately chosen. Like most projects, we work as a team which is why several people say they designed it. But it started with my design. I worked thrugh the interactions, created the graphics, and a style guide for the engineers. At some point I left and the team continued to take it the rest of the way to production.
Car audio systems was the first thing I thought of when I saw it!
Wow so many forgotten memories are now flooding back....
Wow, brings back so many memories, I *definitely* worked on this as well! In fact, I was the assistant (to the) lead designer. There's a few "easter eggs" hidden into the UI, hope you find them! 😉
The way my jaw dropped seeing how the remote was removed from the docking station! What a fabulous piece of design, your presentation of these machines that I would never normally think about is so exciting. Keep up the great work!
fabulously bad, as there was nothing to indicate that was a button, and the design is mirrored on all the other components but the button is not.
and the button that looks like a standby button but isn't, and they couldn't be arsed including a 3v battery to remember the time after it was pressed.
The blue one is the same color as the Game Boy Advance SP I had back in the day!
Very very interesting and bizarre system. Great to see you cover it!
Same colour as my ‘Alba’ 14 inch CRT television I played Dreamcast on!
Get your hands off my game boy advance, SP, blue edition…..
@@kowhaifan1249 I can't say I'll resist if an _accident_ happens you know...
Hi, thanks for this cool video! Some Philips VCRs came in a similar shade of silvery pale grey-blue in the early 2000. And a Citroën Berlingo van too!
Man. The simple styled black-to-white GUI really gives a sense of nostalgia for similar types of GUI that showed up on websites, mp3 players, and software in the early 2000s.
It reminds me of one person in particular I really wish I payed more attention to before they got taken off the internet.
Thanks for showing this off for all of us.
Which person?
Don't be a dick, tell us who it is.
@@riccardoorlando2262 I don't know
I can't even come up with a guess
Gary Busey?
Clive Sinclair?
I really wish they still made smartwatches with B&W transflective displays D:
@@ToxNano pebble watches were so good
How the hell did you turn a review for obscure tech into actual video art. Your presentation, music, editing, narration, and storytelling are just fantastic! Bravo!
Cannot appreciate enough, how well the video is made. I am able to appreciate this dual player so much because of your amazing presentation that explores every hidden functionality & clear explanation. Chapeau!
I really like your music, it's refreshing to hear unique sounds rather than stock music and it's great that you put the effort in to make a backing track for your video work, wanted to let you know I appreciate it :)
The production value of these videos is just insane. Every segment is well-edited and thought through, and the sound-mixing is perfect. Thank you!
Absolutely love the feel of every video I've watched from Posy! Truly worthy of anyone's time to watch. Also the music and little tidbits offered to the viewers and everyone else, i.e. cursors, music etc, is wonderful.
The little cry the remote gives before death when the battery is flat, is just so... adorable, sad, funny and frightening all at the same time.
For a while I've been wanting to make an interface similar to this on E-Ink for displaying stats about my home (e.g. temperature, upcoming calendar events etc.), because there's something retro yet futuristic about a monochrome display, and it brings back memories of watching shows like Beyond 2000 (an Australian show about upcoming technology) where they often showcased "home appliances" like that.
I like to imagine some of the original designers watching his videos with pride. I can't imagine what a thrill it would be for them to get such recognition for their work so many years later.
if another comment is to believed, this did actually happen
At least two are already here lol
I’ve found at least four people in the comments involved in the original design, development and production of this. Amazing!
@@CassettePlaya1 only on the Internet, Go future!
Your like baiting will not succeed
Killer production once again!!! Eveyrhing just flows so nicely, and the sound mixing is on point.
Definitely a relic of a forgotten age. Something like this in modern tech, with a Bluetooth paired remote would be pretty cool
It's called a Chromecast. The remote is your phone :D
song which start at 4:55 is Come Along-Posy , Shazam couldn't find so i searched manually , your are welcome
Definitely a project of a talented and passionate staff member. Only someone with that kind of dedication would have put so much effort into getting the details in the GUI so pixel perfect.
They're here in the comments section lol rate reddit moment on RUclips
This is an incredibly modern interface for the 90s, especially for a one-off piece of tech. Wild that it wasn't used in more devices, how did they amortize the cost of development?
probably by hoping for the best
They invested in tech like this while Jeff Bezos invested differently for his bookshop Amazon. :-)
You had to get into the new tech with something with your engineers. Amortizing could come from other contracts.
Considering that Karstadt is a state of failing since th 2000s I guess they didnt
@@Shrrrg I really miss shopping at Karstadt, they had everything.
Your videos are incredible! I am consistently amazed by your production quality and attention to detail. I'm only sorry I didn't come across your channel sooner. Keep up the great work
I've never really been a big fan of 1990s design since It's always bubbly plastic. But THIS, this is awesome. I especially like those speakers in the catalogue, has a postmodern/art deco vibe to it
I said the same thing about it looking postmodern/Art Deco. It's very tasteful in my opinion. However I still love the older systems. It all depends on the theme of your decoration in the room the equipment is to be set up in. In my front room I've gone with an early 2000 midway minimalist with my Kenwood Series 21 Tower of Power as a centrepiece of the room. It just sits in the corner intimidating my guests with it's huge size and features waiting to blow the pants of anyone who dares criticise it's awesomeness. In another room I have a B&O Overture With some Penta Speakers and a pair of beolab 8000's. I'd love to make an 80's bedroom and put in an 80's Sony or a Kenwood Spectrum Series in it. It's all about the character you want to build in the room you are putting it in and it's also an expression of your personality. If it goes with the room and you like it who cares what other people think. Just go with it.
I actually love that early to mid 90s black bubbly plastic design, but it's true that there often lacks variety.
But such style of design was just starting to become dated by the late 90s, which was when this hifi was released.
"90s bubbly plastic design"... yes, never liked it, I clearly remember the change in style from the 80s "professional straight lines look" into the rounded "bubbly" style of the 90s (for example the walkman WM2 VS the FX153) even cars became "bubbly" (96 ford taurus even the dash is "bubbly")... such a shame but at least now I see many new products taking design cues from the 80s using straight lines and a "clean" look.
the 90s were kinda like a "transition" period were grunge finally "killed the 80s" and that cynicism of "grunge" finally set it and we got "stuck" there is no "futurism" anymore... now we only have "retro-futurism" the past looks more like the Future than our Present could ever imagine...
That wasn't always the case, the 'bubbly' plastic style only really came in the mid to later 90s(Aiwa seemed to kick off the excessive bulbous, flashing systems), and much moreso on midi systems. They were fun as a teenager(probably the main market), but they were far from beautiful.
Rack systems pretty much always used traditional designs, and earlier 90s midi systems, discmans, etc were generally reserved, black, using either metal or flat matte plastic, with numerous buttons, and ample but subtle displays, etc.
Micro systems also took the opposite route to midi systems, being relatively subtle, often using metal systems with wooden speakers - which I think started with Denon. eg 1998:
cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qmP7Qxy4PRL5b4PG267PdJ-970-80.jpg.webp
Micro systems are still sold which look nearly identical.
Systems with unique designs such as in the video were fairly common for higher end/boutique companies. The Bose lifestyle series for example.
It was fun looking in high end audio stores at the time.
Personally I think the early 90s had some of the most appealing looking systems ever made, along with being high quality(largely made in Japan) and very usable. I loved looking through catalogs at the time. Panasonic tended to exemplify this style, eg this 1990 mini system:
i.ebayimg.com/images/g/4MAAAOSwZXRfP9lB/s-l1600.jpg
Even when stuff just started to get curvy/bulbous, it could still look nice, eg:
ruclips.net/video/1DAVN-QVxyo/видео.html
This is the first video I've seen of yours, I'm half way through and I'm already so excited to go watch more videos of your videos. The production value is incredible and beautiful! Thank you for taking the time to make this and share it!
This is one of my favorite videos of all time. The self-produced music, the editing and narration, the cinematography, the backstory, the details of operation... just marvelous. I come back to this video once every few months. Incredible job. Also, I truly miss my mom's DUAL hi-fi system, my love for movie soundtracks started back then when I was just a child, beautiful memories.
This video just oozes excellence. Incredibly well made (including the music), and such a pleasure to watch.
Thanks so much, Michiel! 💜
I’m glad that RUclips recommended me this channel. You make amazing videos
I’ve only discovered your channel in the past couple weeks. But I am so glad it was recommended to me you truly make some remarkable videos and it was totally worth for me to stay up till 2:00 am Haha!
Design of the GUI is lovely. Although a limitation of the time, greyscale is somewhat fitting too. Congrats to the team behind design.
Making your own music is so fun, makes new videos not just that, but a new album release! Nearly every song you've made has found its place in my playlists, keep it up!
From 6k subs to 120k. Congratz man!
DUDE INSAINE VIDEO. !! seriously and honestly. I’ve recently found your channel. Like the fact you included that there was no information on the batteries in the MANUAL! Or even the battery power drain sound. SO thorough and such good content. Thank you so much! Your a top dog!
Posy hmu I’m giving you my collection of first press Rolling Stones vinyl
The reason I like simple things: they just work.
But this one is really incredible device. Espesially for its time
i'm so absolutely glad that youtube decided to push your content, seeing you rise this quickly is amazing.
I just wanted to say that not only are your videos top notch quality, but your segments album is enjoyable to the point where I purchased it. Keep up the great work!
Wow this is really innovative and well though through!
Kudos on the great video production quality!
Thank you :)
I find it very interesting that... what like 30 years later... I'm not seeing a GUI on any of their "Home" products on the Dual products website. Mad props to their design department for how (then and actually now) appear visually. These look neat. Good video!
Wow, despite the quirks this is the best concept of a home stereo I've ever seen. If they would have made a second model ironing out the long list of issues, it would have been a potential success.
this channel feels like a gold mine, so much quality dedicated to a topic quite unpopular. Thanks for making these, i would love to watch you speaking more of how does that Cold Cathode display works
i remember these! i had an school internship at karstadt on 98 or 99 and "worked" in the hi-fi section for three weeks. i remember the remote, it was the coolest gadget i ever saw. thank you for bringing me all the good memories an that :)
This is honestly so cool! The design and interface is so well-made and timeless
everything about your video is incredible. editing, presentation, and especially the music. the posy universe is awesome
Your videos really got me interested in HIFI systems and how they changed over the years. Really great content, thanks! :)
This channel should have 10 million subscribers. The content is excellent and very detailed. RUclips algorithm suxs.
That is definitely the _COOLEST_ bit of hi-fi kit I've ever seen!
Seems so modern... yet also alternate-worldly in a way.
The detachable control panel is certainly a _really cool_ idea!
If only it didn't suck in every way an infrared remote does...
because instead of the control panel being your remote...
it kinda makes it more like your remote is your _only_ control panel...
which is something I always despise in AV equipment... need front panel controls!
Remotes die, get lost, and break... front panel controls (mostly) don't!
With some modern technologies like high-bandwidth wireless and bluetooth audio
a similar designed system could be absolutely incredible!
That said... dedicated audio equipment is quickly dying out for all except for professionals...
and of course the nerdy prosumers like myself...
All that aside...
Really cool device!
I love old user interfaces. Love the way icons looked just with pixels and gray scaling.
What an unusual stereo set. Industrial design is wonderful. The detachable remote is a great idea and the UI looks pleasing, despite some silly bugs. They could have made a touchscreen but that would have broke the bank. And that power button was such an oversight. Great video.
That system was weirdly appealing for a mid-range system from that era.
It does remind me of some higher end work stations of the 90s and early 2000s such as sgi and Sun.
Fantastic! Mooi!
Dual had something decades ahead of their time. Engineering and marketing just didn't meet half way.
The High End, as they call it, began a spiral in the 90s, very sad. "Home Theatre" systems gained popularity that began to eclipse absolute quality. I was part of the game in those days. I had friends with Threshold, Meridian, Revox, turntable manufacturers like Pierre Lurne. The early 1990s.
I had a set of studio speakers made by a friend, we know it as Infinity. I had the prototypes of the RSII speakers, they were hand made. Arnie built them. Only amplifiers at the time that could really handle the 2 ohm monsters were made my Nelson Pass (Threshold) or Soundcraftsmen (later Martron). I had both. To this day, I still hold these friendships. Hey, we're all old men now. In the 90s? We partied, hehe.
Dual made some excellent quality equipment in the day, I must attest.
It had a great bass and crystal clear sound, an amazing piece of tech, way ahead of it’s time. I was actually looking for it over the internet but the name is so generic for google search that I wasn’t able to find anything, I was really surprised to see this video pop up in my feed. Thanks. I’m subscribing to your channel!
this old product somehow succeeds to impress me more than most revolutionary products we get today
Those are so cool. I have never heard of these before.
Thank you so much for all the effort put into making this video. And I see that the developer has found and commented as well! What a small world.
A well earned like and sub from me!
Here in the US, Dual is widely known as the cheapest car stereos and speakers you can buy at Walmart, costing roughly a quarter of the price of similar products from other entry-level brands like Pioneer and Kenwood. This version of Dual, which was purchased by TCL nearly a decade after the original German company dissolved, reverted to using the original Dual logo on its products
I have a Dual turntable from the mid 70s and that thing is super high quality. Sad that most Americans know it for cheap crap from Walmart
@Tony Baloney So, dual Dual?
This was un-appreciated gold of it's time
your channel is so special, I don't know what it is but everything, your cinematography, music, script just pulls me into another world.
TV remotes changed a lot in last 8 years. First in high-end TVs, then in mid-range and lower. They use bluetooth now, so you no longer have to point at TV and they have additional features, like LG remotes have mouse pointer with motion controls like Wii remotes had.
My mom has an LG with that remote. I think they call it Magic remote or Magic wand or something like that. The cursor part of it works pretty decentlæy for a smart TV with apps and so on, but the buildquality is horrible to the point where everyone who dares to use it Will curse it to Hell😊
@@magnuswf nah magic remote is nice
In general smart TVs are awful. outdated hardware -> buggy ui, long waiting times, old os
Hate smart TVs too! You must wait for it to finish booting completely before you can change the volume on some Sonys and on my LG you must wait a while and probably press the wrong button to get to HDMI or composite 😡😡😡
@@lachlanlau Yeah, the pointing part of it is nice, navigating the apps and All, but it has very few buttons, so you have to open Up the tv menu/homescreen for most things that isnt volume, channel +/- and power. Also the scrollwheels rubberring has become so loose that its pretty much impossible to get a grip and get it to scroll. Much prefer a normal style remote anytime
7:55 expected "oh my pukcell!", took me a moment to figure out I'm on the wrong channel
Dankpod😂
He’s from the Netherlands.
Your content is literally always so good. I share your videos with all my tech-geek friends, and we all love them!
this dude's content really stands out; so personal, so stylish
This vid was randomly recommended by YT. By the looks (the ad picture) and the name I was thinking it is somehting a-la 'aliexpress future things that you don't know about'. But it turned out to be something done 30 years ago by german company. Well, chinese these days are doing such things. Only 30 years late, hehe. And actually they still didn't do such brilliantly beautiful and in the same time usefull thing. Not speaking about quality, as ... well, we all know what is the difference between something that you just replace the batteries and it still works 30 years later and something that is DOA like 20%. Mark Rolston, Collin Cole and limawrittenwithL - you people are icons ! Thank you for your efforts !!! You really bring something to the humanity !!!!
The integration of the removal button into the texture is an incredibly display of tasteful design. Hadn't even noticed a button there. Good stuff
Such a unique stereo system! I have something from that era from Marantz from the Slim Series. Unfortunately, even on standby the unit was super hot and the electronic sensor doors that covered the front control panels would randomly drop open - kinda creepy! But the sound from the unit was amazing! Sadly the CD and cassette deck is not functioning and am only left with the amp and receiver. But like your unit, it was amazing tech. Maybe someday when I have extra cash, I will send it for a overhaul repair.
that's an incredibly interesting system, I wonder how easy it would be to flash a custom UI onto it
Considering the period this was produced in, pretty much impossible. In the 90s the semiconductors industry still hadn't boomed yet, and processors were still very expensive, so most integrated circuitry more closely resembled an ASIC, i.e. hardware specifically designed to execute a certain task.
@@JohnnoNonno I see some motorola chip in there, could be a 68k?
On the other side of that board there's also a socketed chip with a version number on - probably stores the program.
Well, there's a RS-232 port on the back. Although I never dared to play around with that.
That is a beautiful sysyem. Sheer style. I'm rarely bowled over by HiFi aesthetics from the 80s/90s, though those decades DID have the best HiFi systems (mostly because they don't exist anymore unless you want to pay as much for your music system as for a car). But I can't stop boggling at this!
This channel is best random documentary channel i ever seen
never thought such boring things can get that interesting!
Love your channel, and content. Thank you
The quality of this video is art, every shot is so elegant...
By the time they released this unit, they could had used radio on the remote control instead of infrared, so the user would not have to point the clunky remote to the unit. Totally viable by that time. When I was a teenager, circa 1993, a rich friend of mine had in his home a C band Uniden satellite receiver that already had a remote control that worked using radio (it could be switched between radio and infrared on the main unit). His house was pretty big at that time and the remote was able to communicate with the main unit in virtually any place inside and near ouside the house.
It's already not very energy efficient while using infrared, let alone if it used radio waves. Low energy radio waves is basically Bluetooth, and you'll have to wait until 1999 for that.
@@JohnnoNonno It was a mature technology already in the early 1990s, google for Uniden UST-4500, the first results will give you the pdf scans of its user manual. Its remote control used 4 AAA batteries and they never complained (my friend or his late dad) about the remote control being power hungry. It worked flawlessly and it had a range that bluetooth can only dream about it. According with the user manual, they used UHF to accomplish it. I remember that the receiver had a small thin antenna in its main back panel.
So, yes, that DUAL system, being itself a Premium audio system, could have offered a more 'premium' user experience with a less clunky interface and a remote that does not require the user to always direct the remote controller to the front of the receiver by using radio like Uniden did years ago in its UST-4500 satellite receiver.
@@JonGallon Using radio waves would've meant to buy frequency licenses in Europe and also I wouldn't want to control my neighbour's stereo. Or in the case you have two in the same house, you wouldn't want to control the stereo in the next room at the same time. And using different frequencies would mean more costs in licensing fees.
Using infrared was the right choice here. The remote has 4 (or 5?) IR blasters and the main station also has 4. It worked fine even in larger rooms.
@@mbirth About interference: this was also solve in the 1980s by using different channels. Wireless phones did that by auto selecting a non conflicting channel in the frequency range, like any current router does today in the 2,4 and 5Ghz. So you could have more than one device at same time without conflicts. About licensing: again, that Dual was not a cheapo budget stereo, it was meant to be premium and to has premium features. As the video shows, if you sit by side of the main unit, the remote will not work.
And before you ask how could a long range remote controller could be useful on that Dual stereo: since the amp has A and B set of speakers, you could put the B set of speakers in a totally different room like a bedroom or even in a upstairs located room and fully control the system being far from the unit that you left located in a living room with the A set of speakers.
We pushed hard for radio during the design of this in 1994. It was too expensive and the power requirements were too high.
Incrível como os engenheiros foram criativos para dar tecnologia e beleza em cada detalhe da interface. Um banho de competência que falta nos aparelhos atuais.
Knowing what Karstadt is nowadays as a German and casually buying clothes there is really something. To think of them producing such systems or owning manufacturers like DUAL is quite something impressive.
I just found your channel and now I’m binging your videos. I love how clean and professional the videos look and sound, everything about them is excellent. I also really adore the music, cheers
Thank you!
I love the subject of video, but i absolutely adore your voice. It's hypnotizing. You should do documentaries!
This was wonderful, especially love the sarcasm 😂 I love learning about obscure old technology. What a flawed yet brilliant system for its time. Also makes me appreciate how technology has improved since.
That's a pretty weird Nintendo Switch version...
I was just heading to bed but fine. It can wait 14min.
This is by FAR!!! my favourite review of a vintage HIFI!!!! 🔥🔥🔥
I thank the algorithm for reccomending this to me. Your narration, voice and music choice reminds me of the "how it's made" show on tv. Love your work
Only at 12:12 it hit me: this is a Wii U gamepad 15 years ahead of its time. It's got everything: it's a dumb screen that just receives an image from the main machine; it's got all the controls; without it, the main machine is basically bricked; it can double as a TV or VCR remote control; it has disappointing battery life; it's what makes this model completely unique, and this sort of thing is not likely to ever be made again.
The WiiU gamepad actually had decent battery life, for what it was. I thought it was a fantastic idea and I wish more games actually took advantage of it. Even for games like Zelda, where having the map on a separate screen and being able to drag items to specific buttons while you're walking was super cool. And it's still the most comfortable game controller I've ever used, with all of the buttons and joysticks exactly where I want them.
This system is a unicorn.
7:44 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........
I just found you through your mouse cursor video, and..I...
Have subscribed. This is the most unique content I have ever seen!
That block sculpture is dope, yo. I would have never thought to use something like that as a backdrop. You would think it would be too busy, but it worked great!
I like your over-all style too... and there were some cool musical choices as well.
What would the other company responsible for the remote be? It might still be Grundig or they were the ones putting it together with the engineering coming from an independent bureau. The display seems actually spectacular for the time, even if the control concept is unconvincing, and a lot of it is outright baffling. Having a power cut button in the same location as CD/cassete eject in the rest of the tower was a bad call.
It's a possibility that this was actually all Grundig in-house design but was rejected internally for being too expensive and too cumbersome; at which point Karstadt group picked it up.
I do remember Dual brand products at Karstadt in the early 2000s but they were... very generic, wouldn't pay attention. Though if i knew they had some Hifi products made by Grundig i would have give them more attention in the late 90s. And of course i know the record player company.
7:20 says Fusion Design
Fusion Design Inc
But does the SciFi HiFi have WiFi?? 😳😩
No, Princess Carolyn.
The GA version had wireless satellite speakers. So it actually had ... (puts down sunglasses) ... Wireless Fidelity.
Wow that control unit sounds like it's screaming in pain
First vídeo from Posy I saw, amazing ❤️❤️❤️ I love you, Posy
The quality of your documentary is like watching David Attenborough doing product review. Great job
"reminds me of modern cars actually"
Thats the truth. I hate those, especially the ones on Teslas.
9:27 haha theres a typo its sprache wählen not spache wählen
8:38 rip headphone users
I discovered this chanel not long ago , the content here is mesmerising.
This is really interesting since here in USA the Dual brand name in the late 90's and early 2000's was known as really cheap, and ultra low budget stuff. So this is pretty neat to see what looks like a really well put together high end system. Though I do need to mention that Bang & Olufsen also made a single remote for all of heir products, from stereo systems, TV's, VCR's and even home lighting. While not GUI, they are still pretty cool, especially the Beolink 7000 with it's capacitive touch glass, and a built in motor that tilted the screen when it was placed flat.
Do you do voice over for PBS
This looked like something LGR or Technology Connections would talk about. Very impressed with the novelty find, the ability to source them, and the production quality. I just wish you went into how it sounds (for $2200 is it even a good sounding system???)
8:07 Godverdomme
This is such a good and gorgeous video! I love everything about it, the sound-design, the imagery, the pacing. 🤟🏽
Let’s not forget the acting 😉👍
The glamour shots and general framing on this video or top notch. Well done!
I can't believe how well done this video is. Subscribed
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