Crap Hifi

[@blitzhardt3592]

I really appreciate that even if something is objectively old and crap, someone can still find a way to love it. Especially the creative mind of a bored kid.

[@phs125]

Some of the best music I heard in childhood were the various ringtones in my dad's nokia phone, So yeah...

[@joshm7769]

The world before internet was an interesting one.

[@jonathaneastwood2927]

@@joshm7769 Better too!

[@taviso]

I had a similarly crap mini system. Once during a power cut, I noticed that if I rotate the turntable manually I could get the radio to work! That provided enough entertainment (and exercise) until the power was restored! 😆

[@D3nn1s]

Haha thats awesome! :D

[@rkan2]

Lol

[@brentfisher902]

So it was basically the vinyl version of the clockwork dynamo radio....I'm guessing...

[@SamiJumppanen]

Woow, talking about redundant systems! 😁 Really cool!

[@richardmoloney689]

Crystal radio.

[@localhost4460]

The fake 6-band equalizer is incredible!

[@CatFish107]

It clearly works as a multi band filter bank. Just listen to the noise timbre changing. Lovely stuff

[@video99couk]

There is a reason for it. Each channel had its own linear potentiometer. If you pulled the plastic links off, you would almost certainly be able to apply the equaliser to each channel independently. Perhaps try it.

[@dougodyssey50]

I was always appalled by that as a teenager. But if people are ok with it (because it's cheap) then that's ok with me.

[@pcorf]

Highly advanced in it's time.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

It was common on cheap systems.

[@classydays43]

Despite it being objectively crap, it's lasted 31 years, inspired your whole career, and continues to make it's idiosyncratic noises. Subjectively speaking, it's a work of art.

[@barkbuck5521]

Honestly I miss how tactile hardware use to be. Not just because you could actually fix things without going to an officially licensed shop, but because all the clicks, jingles, whirls, and hums was a part of the experience.

[@richardcrook2112]

I know right, and when you pressed a button - you actually made it perform the function. Now when you press a button it feels like your asking it's permission.

[@goodun2974]

@@richardcrook2112 Well, when I push my wife's buttons, I definitely *am* asking for permission! 😃

[@MasDouc]

Yeah we somehow lost "fun."

[@alexanderbateman5581]

This type of thing is what makes analog devices so special - the ability to have fun! It's sorely missing in more "perfect" but much more boring digital technologies that have overtaken any sort of analog tech. We need more devices you can play with!

[@koffing2073]

that why vinyl is so popular

[@reggiep75]

I feel this. All of those unlisted features we found by half-pressing keys and the fun we had. I no longer feel alone, my brothers are out there!

[@4.0.4]

Like a computer that you can program to do absolutely anything? 🙃

[@alexanderbateman5581]

@@4.0.4 Computers are much too abstract, and lack an element of "play". Early computers actually are better for this, since you had to mess with it to do anything. It's why stuff like Scratch is so awesome for introducing kids to programming. I'm also a big fan of PICO-8.

[@brentfisher902]

That's why I wrote a C program that takes a stereo WAV file and writes a mono WAV file that alternates the left and right channels 60 times a second plus some synchronizing signals so you can record stereo music on the linear MONO track of a VHS video cassette recorder...one 2 hour SP tape holds a little over 40 minutes of stereo sound...I did this so I can experience the tape dropouts and hiss of the VHS magnetic tape surface...of course...this is not a real-time solution...and I had a heck of a time getting the program to not have discontinuities in the output as it reads the WAV file digitized back off the tape and algorithmically splices back the stereo sound...now with artifacts of tape recording effects. I even used the system() command to run the Dolby B software encoder decoder to get better signal to noise ratio...the level that you digitize the signal back in doesn't matter much as there is a sine-wave after each packet which is used to set the DC offset and volume level, so song fade-outs remain intact even with automatic level control recorders.. In the future I want to make a program that takes a high-definition/4K 60 frames per second video file and re-draws it slower into a DVD video MPEG file which you would be able to record on a VHS tape then use a capture card to capture the image off of the VHS tape and re-assemble it into a high-definition 4K 60 frame per second video file complete with all the tape dropouts, static and other VHS glitches..(this is vaporware--I haven't wrote this yet!)

[@glenkamo]

This was just beautiful. Something very specific and individual and personal to you yourself ends up resonating with others who are different and don't share the same experiences and yet ... I really like what you are doing on this channel and I look forward to more. Thanks for sharing!

[@kernelpaniiic]

3:42 the lovely sound of Eurosignal transmissions… Tons of memories. Was mysterious for me as well in my childhood.

[@PosyMusic]

So THAT's what it was. Another mystery solved 😁

[@markr9069]

Oh my god. I've wondered what this was since about 1992

[@nvrndingsmmr]

The stop motion bit at the end was so heartwarming and special. Thank you for that! I hope the little stereo comes back even though it did not want to play the record!

[@izzieb]

Growing up before streaming (and as MP3 files were becoming popular), I had a few crappy stereos. It didn't matter if they were crappy, they were mine and the ability to record allowed me to make my own music or "radio" shows. I know this to be true for many other people. They might have been objectively bad, but they were the gateway to more 😁.

[@reggiep75]

I have finally found someone who is as guilty as I am of meddling with HiFi systems. Mic inputs, half pressing the buttons and finding new functions that weren't in the manual and everything else that made summer holidays and boring days less boring. 🤘😂

[@HulluJanne]

For whatever reason, I seem to always find a way to "half press" digital stuff, especially the more modern "smart" crap, making them do all kinds of errors and freezes. It's kinda annoying being an unintentional bug finder.

[@ThatBenKraft]

Honestly one of my favorite channels for its uniqueness!

[@chrispowder2713]

1992, as I turned 7, I got a real component system from my Dad, with a Pioneer A-333, Sony CD-Player, a NEC Cassette deck and a Dual CT-19 Tuner connected to Braun 3-way Speakers with dome mids and tweeters. I was so proud and I knew I'm having the best Dad in the world. 🙂 Since I got this system I'm an hifi-enthusiast. Thanks Dad!

[@w4439]

This has to be my favorite channel. The world of full of so many AMAZING things which we take for granted. Your videos communicate this fact incredibly. Big thanks for keeping this content coming

[@craigjensen6853]

I like how the AKAI has "DAD" mode. I assume that's so I can play my dad music at an extra loud volume while locking out my kids trying to turn it off. I need to get one of those.

[@kpanic23]

My old Denon amplifier also had a DAD/AUX input. According to the manual it stands for "Digital Audio Device", aka. CD!

[@dougodyssey50]

It only works with Journey or Tom Petty.

[@corncobjohnsonreal]

This makes me miss getting cheap garbage from goodwill and the depths of ebay to just go ape on it and hope maybe something cool will come out of it. In a world where everyone knows every trick, is nice finding something no one knows about and making secret discoveries. I love your brain

[@IvanStepaniuk]

Another great video! Loved the Tim Hunkin'esque stop motion. Goed bezig!

[@9034833838]

"Wake up babe. New Posy just dropped"

[@l4game]

R E A L S H I T ???!!?😳

[@crocornaw]

REAL!

[@rj5529]

I'm having a hard time pinning down the nostalgia vibe I feel watching your videos lol, it's almost like the kind of far out videos you would get on VHS in the late 90's early 2000's in school, I love it.

[@ErraticPT]

That makes Amstrad "HIFI" equipment look like quality!

[@Psycandy]

we used to put a switch on the erase head so you could overdub on cassette, sometimes bridge the selector so you can have the mic live over source, then overdub during cue/review. If the motor has a pot, you can adjust the transport speed. The beauty of a crap hifi - the beauty of a crap anything - is the freedom to experiment.

[@csonweedagain5054]

Everytime this man posts it brightens my mood - even if I have to wait a year for the next video it's worth it; the amount of childhood wonder he has brought back to me is beyond words. I didn't notice, but it really started with the hot water color video - I used to sit and stare at the pretty patterns unfolding in front of me when mom cooked and I didn't remember that before this channel. I'll probably never know you, but you've done a lot for many, many people, and it's appreciated :)

[@alexp8555]

The Irresistible Force! Such a great project, as well as that whole era of Ninja Tune records

[@yahyachagri7248]

THIS IS NOT WEIRD MUSIC THIS IS A MASTERPIECE!!!!!

[@trtotally]

Posy and Dankpods are like two extremes but I still want them to collab.

[@PrincessShokora2002]

The greatest crossover in history

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

The feeling when you switched on the BASS BOOST on you mini hifi set.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

I had Grundig M1 Mini, and now when i googled it.. it looks kinda cool.

[@fabiopakk]

Jesus, I can't stop laughing! 😅😂🤣 Unbelievable! I thought it was only me and some other local kids who have discovered that half pressing the record button in a cassette player would make it speed up. You see, different cassette players, different countries and different lives... But we are all connected 🙂. I appreciate another nicely done video!

[@reggiep75]

The Half-Presser Brotherhood is alive and kicking. Unity in every half press of every button! 🤘

[@Watcher4111]

I discovered it around 1997

[@brentfisher902]

I knew this from my FIRST boombox when I was 6 years old in the summer of 1988 way back at the end of the Crusades...Push the pause button halfway while playing and the pinch roller lifts up but not enough to take the take up spindle out of mesh with the motor...and Instant Rim Drive high speed mode...I did it so many times that the pinch roller fell off and got mislaid somewhere and from that point on it was always Chipmunk music...until I that discovered the top outlet which was wired to the light dimmer switch...simply dim the cassette player and normal speed is achieved....flash forward to Veterans Day in 2017 or 2018 when my father got the bright idea to dim the electric space heater...a loud POP!....then darkness....

[@MattExzy]

If memory serves me well, dictaphones of the similar era had some sort of tape speed selection... of course the quality was much worse, but you could carry it around school recording fart noises or toilets flushing and different speeds with silly voices.

[@FranciscoBurrola]

This is so wholesome, this was my childhood too

[@kncars7]

the whole video from start to finish - the visuals, the audio, the stop motion, the songs made - just amazing

[@WDC_OSA]

It's good to see the personal history that led to your sampling masterpiece, Some Kind Of.

[@tristank9821]

Never has the bell notification icon made me so happy before.

Unironically, the best channel on KZbin.

[@Povilaz]

I'm beginning to fall in love with this channel. This stereo brought back so much nostalgia to me, as I grew up with a stereo with the same kind of "quality".

[@HanZie82]

"All work and no play makes Posy a dull boy"

[@testcardsandmore1231]

Cool to hear the old Eurosignal at 3:44. Eurosignal was a pager system used in West Germany and a few other countries. It was transmitted just below the FM band.

[@thenameless3271]

You are a true artist When I grow up, I want to be a Posy

[@EllaBananas]

I too grew up with a gifted piece of crap hifi. That pile of buttons, with its gorgeous vfd and overstylized speakers, was probably one of the most important things I was ever given. It sent me down the road of electronics and now here I am doing pcb level repair of complex industrial equipment.

[@toldyouitsvibe]

man i love your videos it has a nostalgic feel old youtube style please continue making videos

[@wullapwullap6270]

That man is something else. I love every video. I mean you have that special magic feeling which connect to your memories and brings you happiness.

[@growingup15]

There's something about Crappy Audio and Crappy sets that has a much more homie feeling to them compared to High end ones. I think the reason is majority of us grew up middle class or poor and one could afford or our parents could afford the cheaper stuff. Cheap CRT TVs, Cheap Computers, Cheap Cassettes and CD Players. it all had a effect on our lives. Like just looks how what's popular now? Lo Fi, Vaporwave, Neo Y2K videos and Music sounds. there's a reason we all resonate with those sounds.

[@ygtx44]

When my dad was small he loved that Sony set you talked about that you said that you bought! he gave it to his brother and it now sits in my uncles house in Istanbul the volume control doesn't really work :/ and tape decks but its awesome!

[@HDXFH]

Has long wave thats neat, that intro was epic

[@julian117xd]

What a beautiful human being you are and it shows in the quality, creativity and sensitiveness of your videos Thank you for always making me smile with them 💖

[@kaitlyn__L]

Wow, I love that you used this more as an instrument than a stereo. (Or perhaps just as much.) Also, tulip plugs being a selling feature in your fake ad was funny. And then the stop motion at the end was a treat! Reminded me of the things I used to make.

[@gregx5096]

This is amazing! I never thought to check if my childhood analog stereo had such capabilities...

[@partack1]

I love these videos. Always charming, playful and interesting. More please.

[@donniecatalano]

Seeing some of your content throws me into a strange happy-sad mood of remembering what a great youth I lived. Thanks man.

[@NeckUno1]

All work and no play makes Posy a dull boy :) Nice easter egg and great video as always! I have a very similar experience playing with crappy Hi-Fi in my childhood, I will never forget this. It was very joyful and true, it's a pity that today's youth will never feel this taste. You are making great job, I love your channel! Cheers

[@WaffleStaffel]

One of my favorite Skinny Puppy songs has them live, tuning through the radio dial connected to a sampler. I can't believe I tortured my brain with that stuff.

[@Gazdatronik]

I remember that concert

[@Artichoked1]

Posy, you never fail to achieve such amazing quality and authenticity in your videos. The professionalism, the storytelling, the music, everything. Thank you for bringing such incredible experiences to us through your videos.

[@jplourde11]

this channel is underrated such high quality as usual posy!!!

[@starwantrix5324]

You're a just the definition of awesomeness! I love your style, positivity, humor and general vibe)

[@paranoiia8]

My first hifi was Aiwa with 3 cd changer that was amazing to look how that mechanism worked...

[@acalmerkarma]

There's something about your channel that just gives me the greatest vibes. I check literally every day for new uploads

[@Speak4Yourself2]

Everyone knows that Posy music is the best.

[@alherrera9390]

Double deck cassette players were my favorite thing 20 years ago. I hadn`t a childhood as musically creative as yours, but a cool one indeed, due to this thingys. Thanks for sharing your talent and a bit of your history with us!

[@Voshchronos]

God tier channel and god tier video. Your love for music is so beautiful!

[@bretthull8017]

As an enjoyer of watches, cars, and basically any kind of technology, I love the intimacies you unravel with these objects and such that I feel are hard to experience without physically being with the object.

[@1480-b5g]

2:15 omfg! I've asked people my entire life if they've ever done this, I've never seen anyone else do this before. You're bringing back memories. Mixing nirvana with slowed down eminem, or making my own version of the "hula-hoop" christmas song.. Aaand I'm subbed.

[@FaBianrecord]

That's makes me travel to my early teen age, full o fun making and rediscovering the pitch possibility and basic and not so (but exhausting) editions from cassette to cassette, lot of experimentations were made whit that. Very touching nostalgia in there.

[@lucaslemonholm6410]

thank you for posting this and reminding us that the closer we listen and the more we explore sound, the more we enjoy it. i wish there was as much content like this as there is content talking about how "good" or "bad" certain audio gear is. i feel very inspired by this video

[@papasnejk87]

At 1:48 it's a Sanyo JA 220 from 1981 from what i recall. It's a very good and a reliable tape deck. I'm pleased to say that I have it with both radiotuner and aplifier equppied with my Pioneer CDJ-100 at the top. All hooked to a pair of beatuiful Pioneer speakers from REAL WOOD and around late 60's

[@Wolfie66]

I got a cheap integrated system for Christmas when I was 13. Thought it was the best thing ever. Discovered a lot of great music on that system. Great video!

[@alejandroalzatesanchez]

0:22 Average 90's ads pretty funny

[@rmyers99]

I have a similar nostalgia for this kind of gear. My first "real stereo" was the same as yours though the layout was slightly different. Super cheap dual-cassette player, AM/FM radio, shitty record player. Loved the montage of tapes too. I once had entire boxes of them. Wish I hadn't thrown them out years ago though. I didn't record effects like you but made dozens of my own mix tapes. I also remember finding out about weird stuff like half-pressing buttons. Analog tech definitely had some fun little bits like that.

[@tgrcode]

The way you passionately introduce to me things I've never touched in my life. I love it

[@valentijn82]

I had a very similar crappy audio system, but it lacked the microphone input. When I wrapped the FM antenna around the antenna of my walkie-talkie, the tuner somehow switched to the walkie-talkie frequency and I could record my voice. The cassette deck had the same buttons with these slow-mo effects. Wonderfull times playing with thes things. Unfortunately, all my cassettes are lost now.

[@dominateeye]

The sense of style in your videos is incredible!

[@Seth-hc2bj]

I love this video so much. Crappy equipment being a gateway to experimental music is a very real thing

[@Zazyski]

I never thought I would find so much inspiration in seemingly random channel. You are awesome man, stay safe!

[@axelhanne8238]

These videos are so full of love and passion

[@jasonsong86]

Posy please never change. Your production style is a fresh breath of air.

[@SMELLE]

Wow, i just discovered your channel about a month ago and I'm so in love with your stuff. Thanks for the awesome content!

[@Selrisitai]

The sound design in this video is phenomenal. That, and your creativity, kept me watching.

[@joshm7769]

Hit the nail on the head with the amount of fun you could have on cheap old analog apparatuur.

[@natevirtual]

Your voice is just so captivating. I'm hypnotized now.

[@AtomicSymphonic]

I'm sorry, you made the track at 1:30 in the year 1992? While you were still a kid?! Holy cow! You have an INSANE amount of talent! You are a bona-fide creative genius, Posy!!! I don't think I could have even dreamt of creating something like what you made in 1992, especially as a child! I truly cannot wait to see what else you'll make! Glad to have subscribed to you!

[@snoosri]

kids are all more pure and talented. they just dont have the experience, knowledge and status. we devolve into adults due to society programming our talents away into mindless robot slaves. good job, society!

[@PosyMusic]

Well thank you 😁You may be exaggerating a bit though...

[@joko49perez]

He has some music on his channel, check it out.

[@slimeprivilege]

bro whats wrong with you

[@P4nzerk93]

As much as a love my quality stereo and bluetooth preamp and how they made cd obsolete my top music memory will forever be how I finally got bomfunks mc freestyler recorded on a tape with a similar system, still got the tape in my desk drawer instead of a dusty box somewhere. Changing the tape/cd was a chore sometimes but boy was it worth it, especially when you read the booklet for the lyrics and band facts.

[@nickographer6528]

You're brilliant Posy. So glad I found this channel.

[@amplifierheadache]

I had a cheap Sanyo radio/tape/CD combo growing up, in the shed where I laid out my grand plans to conquer the cul-de-sac next to mine was my father's Lloyd's dual tape deck radio, my father had the nice Aiwa radio in his office. Truly some fun times were had with these machines. Still have the Aiwa and Lloyd's, the Sanyo melted in a fire. Anyway I really enjoy these vidoes you put out Posy, I also really like the music you make. Keep doing what you do.

[@randybutcher5713]

I loved pressing fast forward while recording fm radio. When it played back it would be so slowed down you could hear every vibration in clear detail. It was very eerie sounding but so fascinating!

[@Gunzee]

In the UK this was sold under 'Acadamy'. My uncle had a cheapo Amstrad hi-fi. Only nice thing about it was the record player was a big slow moving motorised tray.

[@gianlucalocri]

Woooow... You really are an Artist with capital A. Amazing weird music, superb video editing, great humour! I really enjoy your videos! Keep it up! Greetings from Italy!

[@Alxvndro]

A relic of a video, truly a venture into childhood discovery and creation.

[@vikiai4241]

I've never heard RCA-jacks called 'tulip connectors' before finding your channel. But I love it, and will use it myself going forward.

[@wert6398]

I love your content so much dude. It is so satisfying seeing you dive into small details of old tech and make highly produced content from it. Your videos scratch an itch in my brain that I didn't know could be scratched. Thank you.

[@MasDouc]

I did a similar thing as a kid, my parents bought me this cassette player with an attached microphone. I would record AM and FM stations and mess around with frequencies/tape hiss/microphone pops to produce what I like to believe is the first "Lo-Fi beats to Study to" ever made. All I'd ask for Christmas and my birthday were for more blank cassette tapes. I couldn't get enough.

[@fangthewarrior]

I once got a pencil set with many hardnesses and tools. Though I found it was often too many options to decide what to use. After some time I just settled with a standard 2B pencil, one that isn't too hard or too soft to me, and when is there not a 2B nearby? I eventually found not only could the outline of a drawing be made but shading too! I've squeezed out about three to four shades all varying with pencil pressure. Shading makes a huge difference because it helps give depth, it almost looks three dimensional. And I like how graphite shimmers. limitations, wether by choice or not, can be inspiring and make us see new ways in and around it.

[@nicolaskim93]

What a criativity from an eleven years old boy... When I was ten, my mom gave me an second hand Stereo System from a brazilian brand called Gradiente. It was an "Audio/Video System" with a lots of inputs and outputs, AM/FM digital radio, 7-band equalizer, double logic cassete deck, an awesome CD player and a magnetic cartridge turntable. Due to the electronic cassete deck, I was not able to record crazy things like you, but I did a lot of music recordings from the radio. But I was able to experiment a bit with speed records an noise with a portable radio-cassete-recorder with internal mic (from a brand called Precision) that also my mom gave me, and it was very fun. The Gradiente Stereo System still with me in my bedroom, until today, and it partially works!

[@PosyMusic]

Cool! Never heard of the brand before :-)

[@nicolaskim93]

@@PosyMusic it was manufactured in Brazil and exported only for a few South America countries. The brand also sold some of the Garrard england turntables here in the country. The model of my system is Gradiente DS-800 "Citation", in case you want to take a look ;-)

[@Foervraengd]

this reminds me of when I was a kid and discovered that if I placed my small tv on its side it would change the colors of the screen, I dont remember the brand unfortunately. I would place sonic 2 on the megadrive with my head tilted because it was fun seeing knuckles turning green

[@orangejjay]

For Christmas my sister and I got a karaoke machine ... she didn't like it. I used a baby monitor that I wired the speaker output into a headphone jack, plugged that into the microphone port, and would record SNES music from the black and white TV in the basement wirelessly into my bedroom upstairs (wasn't allowed to have a TV in the bedroom and couldn't bring the karaoke machine downstairs). Absolutely loved it but never saved it or any of this stuff. This was quite the nostalgia bomb. Appreciarte it.

[@andreybrodianski5596]

Great idea to put dozens of cassettes with magnetic tape around speakers with strong magnetic field. Genius! Brilliant!

[@pcorf]

4:43 the beauty of cassettes, so many different designs.

[@dan.w.2432]

holy shit it felt like the last time I watched a Posy video you had ~3k subscribers! happy you are finally getting the youtube attention you deserve.

[@hexaforest]

my friend. Thank you!! thank you for such the great videos, this one is so perfect. such an inspiration, you have such a great mind for sound design

[@RedHeadForester]

I've never seen this channel before, and to be honest I wasn't focusing on the video the whole time, but this is a masterpiece and deserves more views.

[@crewrangergaming9582]

underrated channel... damn quality videos these are.

[@wdavem]

I'm envious, I never had a 'REC on REW' capable machine, but I wanted that! My favorite thing (30 years ago)was getting a sony 2 deck cassette boom box to record the radio at extra-high-speed dubbing speed; then play it back at the same high speed. This actually improved the sound quality enough so I didn't like regular audio cassettes ever since! Just don't overheat the motor by running it too fast; ALSO tiny tape capstans + extra high speed can result in a catastrophic tape jam (capstan can/WILL wrap LOTS of tape quickly and that can break off the pinch roller possibly destroying the deck... like mine did) otherwise, you could tune the speed for the best sound you can get out of it.

[@D3nn1s]

Man i love your videos, theyre just perfect

[@winstonwong8217]

This video is a work of art. The word “crap” in the title is clear a misnomer.

[@RothmanHarv]

I'd take a Sony TCM-939 around everywhere with me as a kid. That also had the same speed funkiness by half pressing the pause button, and distorted automatic gain. Lots of fun, as was this video!