EEVblog #752 - Original Sony Walkman TPS-L2 Teardown

[EEVblog]

What's inside the original 1979 Sony Walkman TPS-L2?
The product that started the personal music revolution.

Service manual: http://freeservicemanuals.info/servicemanuals/download/Sony/tps-l2.pdf

[miguelvp]

I had one of those (Sony Walkman), but I think it was silver color, but I think I got mine in 1986 or so.

[pplaninsky]

Very nice! Thanks!
Check out these prices:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Sony-TPS-L2-WALKMAN-1979-cassette-player-/121418292176

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xtps+l2.TRS0&_nkw=tps+l2&_sacat=0

These seem to be the later model - branded walkman. Yours should be valued higher as it is really 'the first' ....

[German_EE]

Happy memories from when Sony were good. I only threw my collection of TDK mix tapes away last year because I suddenly realized that I had nothing to play them on.

[miguelvp]

Happy memories from when Sony were good. I only threw my collection of TDK mix tapes away last year because I suddenly realized that I had nothing to play them on.

I still have a drawer full of them (tapes) including some ZX Spectrum tapes, not sure why I keep them because my double deck cassette player has been dead and gone for many years, I don't even have an amp on the living room, it's on the basement with the speakers all stowed away since 2009 from my last move.

Previous amps where Sony, my last one is JVC, but as I said, it's not even plugged in, it even has a dongle that will stream music from my PC (really just acting as a speaker because it's old tech).

But we do have a Victrola (no electricity at all) that we use every now and then and it's around 100 years old and still works.

Similar if not identical to this one from the internet (I would take a picture but don't want to wake the wife up):

[Fungus]

Was the (very visible) "mic" just a marketing trick to make people in shops think it could record sound?

[miguelvp]

it was to talk to the other person since it did support dual stereo jacks. So if the music was too loud you could talk to them, same thing if used on a motorcycle, but only one person controlled the mike.

[Fungus]

it was to talk to the other person since it did support dual stereo jacks. So if the music was too loud you could talk to them, same thing if used on a motorcycle, but only one person controlled the mike.

OK, it wasn't *just* a marketing trick, but how many people would think it could record based on looking at it?

I'm sure the other uses were dreamed up after they figured that adding a recording head was too expensive and the boss had already said "It must have a mic!!!". I doubt the music was ever 'too loud' to talk to a person 1m away and as an intercom it's almost useless because the other person can't reply.

[SpiderElectronics]

**OOPS**

[miguelvp]

it was to talk to the other person since it did support dual stereo jacks. So if the music was too loud you could talk to them, same thing if used on a motorcycle, but only one person controlled the mike.

OK, it wasn't *just* a marketing trick, but how many people would think it could record based on looking at it?

PS: I'm sure the other uses were dreamed up after they figured that adding a recording head was too expensive and the boss had already said "It must have a mic!!!". I doubt the music was ever 'too loud' to talk to a person 1m away and as an intercom it's almost useless because the other person can't reply.

As far as I remember, and I might be totally wrong, the read head was the same thing as the write head. But recording cassette players/recorders had an erase head so during recording it would erase the tape prior of recording.

[Fungus]

As far as I remember, and I might be totally wrong, the read head was the same thing as the write head. But recording cassette players/recorders had an erase head so during recording it would erase the tape prior of recording.

Yep.

The read/write head would need added high-current drive circuitry for recording and you'd need an extra 'erase' head.

It would be expensive to do if only a small percentage of your customers would actually use it.

I can imagine the chain of command: High up pointy-haired boss saying it must have mic. Lower down bean counter doing the marketing math. Engineers coming up with a solution that kept them both happy.

[rollatorwieltje]

Would be fun to compare it to a player from when the cassette was finally dead, like the Panasonic RQ-SX series. Those were barely bigger than the cassette itself. They used a gumstick battery, but came with a screw-on adapter to use a AA battery for extended life.

Found a teardown of one: http://vintage-technics.ru/Eng-Panasonic_RQ-SX97F.htm

[max_torque]

The motor on that^^^ is a work of art!  ;-)

[moemoe]

This reminds my of my Aiwa HS-G08, the flagship in 1985, available in three nice colors: http://www.stereo2go.com/topic/aiwa-g08-three-flavors

Some of the features they managed to throw into the device only 6 years after Sony's first walkman:
- Auto reverse
- IC control logic
- Dolby
- 5 band EQ
- Remote Control

- Double sided, both sides populated PCB

Sadly the belt of mine disintegrated, forming a greasy black undefinable paste covering the whole mechanics, and it seems that I can't take it any further apart without serious desoldering.

I think the J-08 was the same model but without Equalizer, so http://www.stereo2go.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/263906035089896803/filePointer/442795680608968290/fodoid/442795680608968285/Aiwa%20HS-J08%20-%20J500%20Service%20Manual.pdf could be the right service manual.

Note the 4 track head, there was just no space inside this really small device for any rotating mechanism.

[Fungus]

This reminds my of my Aiwa HS-G08, the flagship in 1985,

The soldering on that thing is awful!

[c4757p]

Meh, pretty typical wave-soldered SMD.

[SeanB]

Easy to replace that belt set, though you will need a screwdriver with a JIS tip to undo those 2 stuck down screws holding the capstan base bearing.  After that the rest of the rubber parts looks in good condition, so they will run for a while longer before you have to replace them. Might still all be available from Sony as spares or as a kit, though you will pay for it. The kit however does include the felting pads for the take up spool clutch, which does wear.

I have some later versions somewhere........

That manual funny enough is not atypical of older 1980's and 1990's eastern made equipment, I bought manuals ( yes actual paper manuals with either 3 colour print or full colour Pantone images inside, often with a fold out A2 circuit diagram in 4 colours inside the middle, and often with multiple colour pages or detailed exploded diagrams of assembly and service instructions) for things like TV sets, VCR's, cassette decks, CD players, radios and even washing machines.

The quality of the manuals was very good, but as the manufacturers moved away from quality to cheap junk the manuals dropped both in detail and in quality, often they now are barely more than a copy of the instruction booklet ( often only a poor copy as well) and a block diagram, with the fault finding going down a tree to "change XXX board" at best, and barely a diagram of how it goes together.

The old manuals from Goldstar, JVC, Aiwa, Technics and Matsushita were often very well made works of art.

[Porto]

Was not at all a Sony man, found Aiwa has better sound and had more functions.

My quite expensive Aiwa HS-JX505 from the early '90s, fully recapped, fully working (shown here with optional 2x AA battery pack unit):









 

[mushroom]

It was too expensive for me at this time...

But later, I got (and still have) a Walkman DD-100 Boodo Khan. The sound was fanstastic, nearly as good as the 19" Marantz cassette deck I used at this time (an anchor boat) ! The same year, I also got the Discman 1 (lead battery powered !). It was my first CD reader, and I used it for 10 years with my HiFi set... (1986).

[RobertoLG]

It was too expensive for me at this time...

But later, I got (and still have) a Walkman DD-100 Boodo Khan. The sound was fanstastic, nearly as good as the 19" Marantz cassette deck I used at this time (an anchor boat) ! The same year, I also got the Discman 1 (lead battery powered !). It was my first CD reader, and I used it for 10 years with my HiFi set... (1986).

Still have my discman too, it's a sony d-151, works fine too

[Alex Eisenhut]

Wow. When I was a kid I couldn't afford this, so I got the Candle (JIL) knock-off with very similar looks and coloring, but very inferior materials and functions.
It was the kind of cassette player with play/forward only, you had to flip the cassette over to rewind.
For some reason, the radio was very good though.

The most fun thing I ever did with it was cheating on my history exam in high school: I wore a long-sleeve shirt and had an earbud go up that sleeve, and I listened to a tape of me reading the history book...

[hikariuk]

The Hotline function was there so you could listen to someone talking to you without stopping the cassette; that's why they removed the pause button.  The case was repurposed from one of their dictaphone devices, hence why it had a microphone in the first place.

[Fungus]

that's why they removed the pause button.

Did it ever have one to be removed?

What would be the point of adding a 'pause' button to a Walkman? Waste some battery power?

(Or indeed any cassette player - it's useless on a device which always starts up where it left off!)

[hikariuk]

that's why they removed the pause button.

Did it ever have one to be removed?

What would be the point of adding a 'pause' button to a Walkman? Waste some battery power?

(Or indeed any cassette player - it's useless on a device which always starts up where it left off!)

That's a very good point.  I'm trying to remember where I read it now.

*searches their browser history*

Ah hah, it's on http://www.walkmancentral.com/products/tps-l2

Apparently the TCM-600, the dictaphone type device they used as the basis for the TPS-L2, had an electrical pause which just removed power from the motor, but left everything else energized.

[Fungus]

the dictaphone type device they used as the basis for the TPS-L2

I still don't see how being d4rived from a dictation machine is an excuse for a fake 'mic' input on it. Almost everything else on the case has changed, removing the 'mic' wouldn't be a problem.

The only answer that makes sense (to me) is a Pointy Haired Boss insisting on it. Maybe the boss had a TCM-600.

had an electrical pause which just removed power from the motor, but left everything else energized.

It's (slightly) different on a recording device.

Pause mode on a recording device will keep the automatic recording-level circuitry active so it starts up quickly. It also lets you look at the blinkenLEDs to see if your external microphone is working, etc.