Vintage Electronics - The Tefifon
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- Опубликовано: 5 апр 2015
- Here's a video about something different. A vintage German audio player that's an intriguing marriage of record and tape. PART 2: With a direct Tefifon Recording HERE: • Tefifon Part 2 - more...
Additional information - the Tefifon model I demonstrate does not have a built in speaker, although portable devices with speakers were available. The music plays from the beginning of the tape to the end in one go, at which point it needs to be stopped manually. There is no need to manually move the stylus on the tape to different songs.
More of my HiFi related videos here ruclips.net/user/playlist?list...
My website: Techmoan.com: goo.gl/BN1f6P Tefifon on ebay: goo.gl/Zj6C4E
How were the carts made? .... see here www.radiomuseum.org/forum/tefi...
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If you want to hear more - the second and final part of the video is here: ruclips.net/video/9tTURrAWVYE/видео.html *it answers many common questions*
+Techmoan I really like these old tech videos, thanks for making them. What kind of record player is that on your shelf?
Yes thank you, I really dig this retro stuff and I would likely have never seen one of these crazy things without ya.
This time you really got me Techmoan, if someone had described the workings of that Tefophone I would have been skeptical ...even to a thing like that even existed. :P
You lucky bitch how do find this stuff
is that me or the reading head is actually grinding off some of the plastic band ? at 6:00 we see tiny specks of plastic detaching, it doesn't seem to be dust.
so how durable do you think these bands are ? in particular compared to stuff from the same era ?
"The reason I'm taking this one apart? It teaches Germans how to speak Italian..."
That may be the neatest piece of unknown audio gear I have ever seen.
Justin Updyke Always glad to find out that I'm not the only one who hasn't heard of something (and thinks it's interesting).
Man I wish I already knew about this its pretty cool.good old times
Surprised it wasn't a success
I think it looks like a very good and neat system and I'm at a loss as to why it wasn't more successful. All I can think of was it might have been post war anti German xenophobia.
I agree. This was a very interesting video. Thanks Techmoan!
I loved the German-language version of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti." It sounds like a cocktail-lounge band trying to figure out what this new rock 'n' roll stuff is all about.
the singer who performed this cover is called Peter Krauss...its definitely his voice
Pre-historic Jazz Fusion
Search for: Tutti-Frutti - Peter Kraus und die "Rockies"
Sounds like AI generated music lol
It's not Peter Kraus I'm afraid. This is definitely a cover version. @@MartinMundorf
This looks like a record player that fell out of an alternate universe.
Alternate universe where Germany won WWII
@@NadDew Shades of _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas._ "The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war. This is the sixth Reich."
It’s a very odd feeling. Almost Twilight Zone-ish.
A STEAMPUNK ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!!
Alternate universe 8-track
As a 52 year old German I have never even heard about this device. Now I finally learn about it in 2023 from an 8 year old British youtube video. Fascinating.
I honestly didn't even know that you did cameras. I have only ever seen your sound stuff. :-)
amazing what a difference half a decade makes
Same!
I HAVE SEEN MOSTLY AUDIO VIDEOS FROM HIM ALSO
Same
same !
Basically this is the "tape" version of a vinyl record. Pretty neat concept. Also the exhibits which are shown here are in very good condition and the sound quality is VERY good, even compared to a vinyl record.
These whole things are even older than me - I was born 16 years after these were released.
I think I know why the Tefifon sounds so good for its age. The grooves are linear across the length of the tape so the signal never degrades regardless where the needle is on the tape. On vinyl, the grooves become denser as you get closer to the inner portion of the record, so the sound degrades because there is less and less room for the grooves to be placed.
How funny I'm new to this channel and I haven watched a single camera video. This old tech fascinates me endlessly.
Yeah, I thought it was all about weird old audio devices.
same lol
Same here & the English accent always makes it sound much cooler
Same here, I recently found the channel - am currently watching pretty much everything bar the camera stuff!
@@raycourtsi Absolutely. I came to the comments just to see if anyone else felt the same.
The build up visible on the stylus (when viewed at a microscopic level) is the fluff and dust that's present in the 60 year old grooves on the tape (rather than the red tape getting worn away). You can see white marks on the red tape as its moving, the tape should be pure red, so anything that isn't red is 'dirt'. These things have sat around on the spools for probably 50 years so there's bound to be a bit of stuff transferred from the felt pads in the cart.
I was wondering what that was.
Techmoan I am surprised that it was in such good condition, almost like new and was really surprised how the plastic stood up over 50 years with out breaking down.
Techmoan I swear I didn't almost break out into a cold sweat when I first saw that...
As usual, great vids!
Techmoan so you are getting mony with us
Francisco Herrera Yes RUclipsrs get paid for their videos, works out to about 1-7 dollars per thousand views. At least thats what I get paid.
The sound reproduction of this machine is gorgeous! It sounds like you’re right 1950s, and with bass! The fact that it’s mostly cheesy covers makes it uniquely of its time. Very cool thing. I’d totally play this at an art school party.
Just like sounds a mp3 player today..... 🙄
@@benjaminbenavidesiglesias52 Idk what MP3s you're listening to because because the ones I listen to don't sound anywhere close to that
Wish I had one of those machines.
Hipsters: "I only listen to vinyls, the sounds much better then digital or CD's offer"
Teachmoan:
My wife complained, one day that the old stereo system we had didn't do justice to her record collection from before our wedding in 1969. Now the best record machine I ever had was a Pioneer PL-50 when I was stationed in Vietnam. That machine never made it home and after that I was just trying to find something that played fairy well and in stereo. So it was off to Ebay where I found a successor to the PL50 although I don't recall the number any more, the deck sits on my entertainment system where it has remained mute since it's purchase because the wife wanted quality with a record changer, and being a professional grade turntable it would only play one record at a time. Well my wonderful wife now awaits my death so I can join her in the afterlife, having contracted cancer and passing away some 2 years ago. Saddest day in my life only 2 days after our 51st anniversary.
The levels of ingenuity in some of this old gear never fails to amaze me.
I never knew stuff like this even existed, i mean the one that he shows where its a portable record player that sits on a cover of a book like a coffee mug was pretty awesome
Back before the world went to shit
before the vaults closed
@@JohnDangcilGeekWere Nice Fallout reference.
The tape's making me hungry for those red liquorice strips.
Know the ones you mean. They go rather viscose on the surface as you lick them and have a pleasing al dente texture when you bite into them.
To come back to this again and watch the origin story of that glorious jingle you put into your videos.
It's like a little bit of magic.
I wonder what amazing plastic they used, that the rubber rollers haven't perished, and the tape itself is still completely flexible! Without even threatening to snap itself into a thousand brittle pieces! That's some very good plastic. I suppose being kept away from light and air in it's cartridge, in it's little cardboard box, will have helped. But still, bloody good plastic! NASA ought to be notified!
Its made by AGFA / ORWO close related to 35mm Cinema Film
@@Schlipperschlopper interesting, thanks. I hope it's well known among people who could use it
Plastic generally has a bad rap as the material of cheap, low-quality things, but there are some amazing plastics.
@@ironcito1101 Sure but they tend to perish over long time scales. Oxygen and light don't do them any favours.
It was also made in the era of products that were built to last. Good solid, rugged design and materials unlike the garbage made today designed to break after a few years.
Looks like a device that could be straight out of Fallout
+EpicLPer Exactly what I was thinking!
+EpicLPer Yes definitely.
I was just thinking that ☺ watching the video lol.
Definitely the roots of the idea of a Halotape.
Brazil (the film, not the country)
The tape looks delicious.
Musik war nie so lecker.
(I know, google translate sucks.)
no step on snek wow, guess i got rather close.
Like a strawberry lace!!
That is what I was thinking when I saw the tape xD
The forbidden fruit by the foot
Born in 1950, I thought I had seen it all, however this one is "new" to me!
Great machine!
7:43 Ahh yes, those classic German songs "Texas-Jimmy", "Jolly Dixie" and "The Banana Boat Song."
Schlagermusik is weird.
Wer sich Schlager nüchtern anhört hat die Kontrolle über sein Leben verloren.
Laughing. Yes, it's rather like the Italian, French and German tunes that had popular versions in the UK and USA .. there were loads, this one might still sound familiar to some modern ears: ruclips.net/video/RK--XOF3OUY/видео.html
@@g00st62 aber wer Schlager gar nicht hört hat eine Facette am Alkohol verpasst 😅
TheLeonhamm Whoa! I heard that song and realized that I’ve heard it in Spanish played in the Norteño genre. Lol.
TheLeonhamm I found the song! Lmao. It’s a Norteño played in a Cumbia rhythm.
ruclips.net/video/gOz7NsOyah8/видео.html
For something that old that didn't catch on, IT SOUNDS F*ING AMAZING.
@uni blab Yes really
I thought so too!!
Whatever polymer that is, that's not bad for 60ish years old. Many similar rubber-like plastics would be cracked and flaking.
Fracture I thought that it would have to be soft enough that it wouldn't have any well-defined high frequencies, but it sounds great for the era.
Over all this seems like a much better format than vinyl disks.
It's not rubber-like...
Well be constructive tell us what it is like.
@@johnsmith-wx5fb
It's not soft it's flexible but not elastic, like normal tape but thicker.
It's PVC, apparently. www.radiomuseum.org/forum/tefi_cassettes_how_were_they_produced.html
The inside of the tape thing looks like a fruit roll up, I wanna eat it lol
It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways people have come up with for having recorded music. Endless inventive creativity 🎄
8:57 So that's where the music in the shorts at the end of your videos comes from!
it's like if a record and an 8-track had a baby. :D
Roo I was about to say it
Brilliant!
In that case the floppy disk must be it's little sister.
the way the "tape" looks up close makes me think of cranberry sauce lol
still brilliant!
"The best thing about this particular cartridge is that once you get tired of listening to the tape, you can actually eat it."
It's a record on tape. Man, that's impressive. I can't believe it didn't catch on except in Germany.
In those days people didn't run out and buy the newest tech when they had a record player and stacks of records.
What a wonderful thing. A very long thin vinyl record
This thing was so ahead of its time, amazingly futuristic compared to contemporary systems and still holds up pretty well today, save for the weird plugs.
2:40 when the tefi is pulled from the sleeve, you can see the name of the dirigent (conductor) is Otto Klemperer. He was the father of Werner ‘Col. Klink’ Klemperer.
Thats a sharp observation.
On the creepy algorithm side I watched a video about Hogans Heros yesterday with some focus on him.
That is a very cool machine. Never heard of this concept of a groove on a tape in a cartridge. Still very good audio quality. The Germans made some interesting audio devices over the decades. Thanks for sharing.
The sound was pretty good for it being 60+ years old! I was expecting much lower quality...
Everybody in Germany has a Tefifon. That is how we store our launch codes.
Just imagine somebody would point a giant scrapyard magnet or an EMP-KANNON on your launch computer...
Vorsprung durch Technik!
The Kaiser but it's not magnetic?
Exactly. those tapes aren't ;D
Bu the US-American launch-systems are magnetic. There was this recent discussion about how the US-Nuke-Silos still use those "ANCIENT" 5,25" floppy-disks. They are magnetic, and hence prone to EMP :P
The plastic/rubber tape above though would still be prone to heat, or scratching, or the plastic hardening & crumbling.... As just anything else used in their times :)
In Britain, we're still using punched cards for that... ;-)
Not because we believe it keeps our codes safe from foreign access, but more because our Government just can't be bothered to upgrade to anything half modern! :-p
@@MistedMind 8" floppy disks*
So THAT'S where that enjoyable music you use for the puppets came from. Well done sir!
That outro sound suddenly descending on you! The content required significantly higher volume then the outro. You can imagine.
8:58
So that's where that's from. I though you'd taken that music from some random free bgm website or from good old Kevin Macleod. Almost surreal to hear it start up as one of the tracks on that old player.
Daniel A what’s the name of the song? I have been looking on Kevin’s channel and cannot find it
@@Progamer420_69 It's not, it's actually from one of the Tefis! :D We'd always assumed that Kevin wrote it, heh.
@@Progamer420_69 Cuba Baion by Kurt Drabek
And thus a legend was born
You actually hear a snippet at 8:25 too and you can see the track listed on the Tefi label
I remember this my grandparents had one wow this brings back memories
looks like the Tefifon is running a bit faster. the 5th Symphony is in a higher key. In fairness, the sound quality is pretty good for an obsolete media.
I fully agree with you. It sounds remarkable good.
its actually pretty good sound quality for what it is, i wouldnt complain about listening to it at all today, imagine at the time it was out
This is amazing. A cross between tape and vinyl. And it sounds great. This is the first time I saw and lesson this. In the beginning of this video I understand immediately this reminds the 8 track tapes. But a tape with grooves like a record and a needle to read it! amazing.
Fallout, this needs to be in Fallout. It belongs to that time. It's so sexy.
Though sadly none of the fallout games take place outside of America.
Or the Man in the High Castle
G4mmaLotus he‘s talking about the design not where it‘s from
I keep watching this video. There's something intoxicatingly delightful about the Tefifon.
During the 80's I worked at pizza hut. The stores had a music system, much like this, that played when the jukebox was not playing. Thanks for the video.
I vaguely remember seeing something like this when my cousin, who worked at Pizza Hut showed me around the back.
Just when you think you have seen every recorded music format.. lol
i want tefifon with cassetes with music from fallout
that was my 1. thought too
Timo Black
it looks like something took out from Fallout universe
+Hideki Shinichi I'm pretty sure the only type of storage in the fallout universe is all disc drives, no solid states, meaning that holotapes and such are basically cassettes, so there could be holotape players (if holotapes are capable of Storing full albums, I assume they are because in fallout four they can store games)
James O Reilly I would imagine they aren't on easily magnetically fuckable things though, so perhaps specific radioactive particles, or indeed even plastic. I'm not sure how an EMP affects magnetically written tapes, but I imagine it isn't favorable.
Awesome idea - the fact that everything is mechanical and essentially a 'vinyl record'-type material means it would have survived and would still be playable after The Great War (as long as it survived the heat/etc - it would be unaffected by both EMP effects and radiation).
and 5 years later, your retro audio equipment videos get the most plays. my how things have changed...
I have watched many of your vintage vids. I often see this device in the end, been waiting for it to come up in suggestions!! This is one of my new favorites. Thanks.
The sound quality is very good for what it is I have to say.
I love old equipment like this. Never herd of one of these though.
My reel-to-reel player is still waiting for restoration, it has been since I got it at school not far off of ten years now. One day I will get round to restoring it.
*****
Yeah if you can replace the batteries that far in the future lol.
Not to mention some devices like ipod classics have hard drives in them. The longest I've seen a hard drive last is 11 years and who knows how long the ipods will last.
Nick Schafer
I have some 20 year old computers with working HDD's, but you are right they are not known for long term reliability.
This is a great device. I have CDs that are scratched and unplayable but this thing still works after all these years. Works just like an 8-track but doesn't eat the tape. BTW, hearing Little Richard's "Tutti Fruiti" in German was cool.
Like 8 track tapes this was before my time. I was born in 1982, I only go as far back as compact cassettes. They still had records in 1982 however.
Absolutely fascinating piece of audio equipment and nicely engineered.
I loved listening to this tutti fruti. It was funny.
Its so amazing to see tech stuff from yesteryears that was cutting edge back then! 60 years from now there will be review of device called a "cell phone" that could show videos on a 2D screen.
I have been watching your channel for HOURS! Amazing stuff here!
@Liam. You have replies turned off, that's why no one can reply to you. I'm not an expert, but it seems to often happen when you haven't linked you youtube account up to a Google+ one. Look down the list of comments and you'll see plenty of people missing the Reply button. They'll also be wondering why no one ever answers their questions too.
Techmoan I think he did that purposely. He wrote the comment and then clicked the drop down and selected 'disable replies'.
158k subs, mate you deserve double that. no one else that does videos in your style.
+Zombie Jesus please tell your friends...although perhaps it's my style that's putting people off.
Your style is just fine man and content super interesting,including all the stuff I wasted money on that failed.Like DCC.Change nothing please.
Learned so much from this channel. I had a dbx cassette deck and lots and lots of tapes, but the deck broke and I couldn't find a replacement. I think I tossed all my tapes, they sounded terrible on a regular tape deck. I wish I knew about standalone dbx converters...
Oliver S Now he is about 3/4's of a million subs. He deserves more as his vids are awesome and so informative and fun. So much info and research. :)
Suprised this didnt become a popular format
I love this thing with all my heart. What a strange, unique, and beautiful piece of equipment.
This is an amazing technology for the era!
Wow, that's really cool. It's amazing how many different old music formats I'm still not aware of. Great stuff. (And I was an electronics repair tech specializing in audio equipment for over 20 years)
Fascinating. I've never seen this format before. Very cool. Thank you for sharing.
I knew someone who collected broken and outdated electronic equipment, always claiming that he would use it for spares or get it running again. In reality he just ended up with a house and two garages full of useless junk. He got more space for his useless junk when his wife left, but he didn't actually notice that she had gone for a month - he thought she was just hiding behind the stack of betamax players and Amstrad computers.
I like the way that you actually get the stuff working and make informative, entertaining vidos about it.
What amazing musical history. The tefi pre-dated my birth by a decade. Today is the first time seeing this music device, however, I do recall the 8-track. My Dad had one in the family station wagon. And my eldest brother had one in the basement in addition to black lights and Groovy posters of musical bands playing at Madison Square Garden. Those posters today would fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars. If we only knew that back then.
I found this absolutely amazing. The thumbnail reminded me of water filter cartridges but the product was much more exciting! Thank you for sharing :)
Absolutely amazing! Thanks so much for presenting us these precious items.
That is the most bizarre device I've ever seen! Almost combining a record and tape together -- VERY cool. I am also very impressed by the great condition that unit is in!
Ah, this is an early one! A classic! Seen it before but I thought I'd have another dip in. "Why do you only review cameras?", Things have changed since then.
I never heard anything about until this evening, even I'm 56... Thank for this !!!!!!
It's incredibly funny looking back on this now and seeing how your vintage and obscure tech videos got huge. Keep it up
Glad to have discovered this channel, I love archaic tech and it's nice to know others do as well. Keep up the great videos.
Now I need some Fruit by the Foot!
@uni blab and your that guy
I'm assuming non-Americans just think we're insane.
Just crack open a Tefi!
That record player will outlast all new MP3's, Cellphones, Gadgets made today...the crap made today is manufactured with the idea/thought of DISPOSING IT in the trash within a 3-5 years. Were does all that crap end up?
All the crap they make now days is making some Chinese millionaires selling it to the USA and other countries. Germany however get's better built CD players then we get here in the USA. My relative in Germany has a CD player which has a felt tray that slides out on a drawer and you place the CD upside down so it never gets scratched. The CD players here the trays plastic and comes out and when closing bounces around and scratches the CD all to hell before it's fully inserted.
TekReview's Well, what you're describing sounds like the typical 90's Pioneer (Japanese brand) 'stable platter' design. Well available in those days, all over the world. See: muziekfreak.isfanatiek.nl/homepage/show/854008.jpg
jeanious2009 Not true. It is the users stupid idea to get rid of it so fast! I find most of this "crap" at our local transfer station. CD Players, MP3 players, flat screen TVs. All work fine, it is just the user wanted new.
not true. that really depends on a person who is using it. I myself take care of my personal stuff well and it's always pretty much in mint condition when I hand over it to someone else. In fact, my first mp3 player, bought early 2000, the Creative Nomad II is still with me and fully functioning.
mg23
respect. I'm still carrying my MpMan. There isn't a lot of our kind left ;)
JUST WOW.
That's brilliant, thank you for sharing this!
It's been beautiful restored. Thanks for another awesome review
OMG I never even watched the polaroid cube videos. I am here because of the turnatable and amplifiers, hi-fi videos in general. I am enthusiast myself and appreciate those videos. I hope more people are like me so you can feature more hi-fi gear :) 1 of my favourite channells recently-Techmoan.
Depeche Mode back-catalog on Tefifon PLEASE! I want one of those.
I don’t know how well this thing works, but it looks incredibly cool. It would fit right in to an early French “New Wave Movie.” Basically, a phonograph and a tape player had a baby, and they called it Tefifon! The grandson, of course, was the 8-track tape player.
What a fantastic piece of weird hybrid technology. Had I had the concept described to me as a potential way of reproducing music, I would probably have dismissed it out of hand, but it clearly works, and very well too. A lot of thought clearly went into this design. Very impressive.
I wonder about the durability though. At around 6:05 it looks like the stylus is actually scraping plastic flakes off the tape, although it may just be dirt caught in the groove.
It's a record on tape.
Thanks captain obvious
Captain Obvious! Not the hero we want, but the hero we need!
@@not_riley The sidekick Floridaman desperately needs.
I love it. I should hire you for my imaginary company. You could be my spokesman, who could market my new flavor of edible cassettes.
Just found out that the Tefifon was originally designed in the 1930s.
No, they say "Fick dich ins Knie, du bist nicht lustig!" :3
Idioten...
he isn't kidding, it was actually designed in the 30s.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefifon
Drop Therapy o0
A wonderful bit of kit. Thanks for showing.
awesome video, as always. you are the only youtuber that I actually look forward to watching. man, to find one of these players would be amazing!
Great to see Adam Savage giving you a plug :-)
I've heard of these but thought they were always magnetic. Fantastic demonstration A saltwater-taffy LP
Cheers !
So cool & in such pristine condition! I’ll watch every video like this one.
I admit the camera stuff is cool but stuff like THIS is honestly why I come to your channel, I love older tech and learning about it. Keep up the amazing work.
Another vintage tech I'd never heard of, those clever Teutons :) Thanks TM.
never seen anything like this in my life..... and we laugh at today's kids that have never seen a cassette.
+id104335409 Granted, most people never saw those things when they were out. That's not something you can say about a cassette tape.
I'm a kid... And I use cassette more than CD!
+reuben Parfrey I only own one CD, I own a lot more vinyls.
***** as a dog, you must be really fond of the cylinder phonograph. At least according to that painting that Victor and EMI butchered into their logo at the beginning of 20th century.
You're not the only one. I'm wasting countless hours on this channel being amazed by all the retro-tech that's been shown to us. Sometimes my jaw falls to the floor. Not in the least if I see what effort Mat puts into these things to bring them back to life. All while he's calmly explaining what is going on.
Respect.
I feel that your instructional videos are a real, exciting discovery. Thank you so much.
Fascinating look at an old piece of high technology
Now you have a new subscriber from germany
Now, you've said these aren't magnetic tapes. So if they're stored properly, these Teffys will actually outlive these kinds of media!
Hard to imagine, really.
FieryWingedAngel : Not necessarily. These cellulose or tri-acetate bands will be subject to the same dépolymérisation over time, and can degrade seemingly overnight from a stable substrate to a sticky goo that can no longer be played mechanically. At this stage, if the content is to be recovered, optical imaging techniques will have to be employed at great expense. The contentious archivist does not make these calls based on the perceived value or importance of the content, for history has shown us we will often be mistaken about what will be considered valuable at some future date.
I love all your vids. Especially the audio and video themed ones.
What a lovely piece of vintage technology. I can't say I'd want one but I'm very impressed! Thanks for doing this video!
This thing is brilliant.
OMG, I never knew this existed! Great idea! Maybe sounds better than magnetic tapes from the same era.
+Paulo Santos If you like this...you might like the follow up video here : ruclips.net/video/9tTURrAWVYE/видео.html
+Techmoan yeah, I have seen this too! It is really quite interesting!
Huh, I find myself watching your non-camera videos more than anything else. Either way, enjoyable. And always nice to learn some new information about the days I just wasn't alive for. But I love finding a video like this where I can show it to someone who LOVES vinyl and I can go, "nah man, THIS is the true way to listen to music"
I loce all this older tech stuff. It's the kind of thing that got me interested in elctronics, and tech generally, as a kid. Thanks so much.