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TPS-L2 The missing link?

Discussion in 'Best Threads' started by Machaneus, Jun 17, 2017.

  1. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    Hi to all,
    This is an exact adaptation of my topic from the old forum ,fully detailed dialogs of fellow members were included for the sake of completeness but avatars, text etc are not corresponding to any links to this forum .
    Of course you can comment from here on. :)

    First posted January 31, 2015 9:06 AM :

    This is a commemorative photo from 1989 for the 10 years of Sony walkman:

    a_002.jpg

    Among all these walkmans,ranging from entry level to top models,there is one that looks a bit peculiar,this one:

    protobcde.jpg

    At first glance it looks like a wm 3EX with oversized headphones but its not,if you notice at the top left corner you'll see something that looks like a tape counter.

    So what it is?

    Probably a prototype based on this:

    2_004.JPG


    3_002.JPG

    The Sony BM12.

    We know that TPS-l2 derived from TCM-600 but probably that's half the truth because TCM-600 was mono on the other hand BM12 was not:

    1a.JPG

    1a20-20Copy.JPG

    But why this may be a prototype in the photo and not just a BM12?

    Because although the photo is not clear, it can be clearly seen that the large recording button of the BM12 ,on the top of walkman, is missing .

    You might argue that the button is pushed down but again the top seems pretty clear without shadows.

    There is also a rectangular color difference , in relation to the BM-12,to the outer right top corner suggesting a different part on that corner (hot line mic ?) .

    TCM-600 has to be excluded also because of the narrower plastic portion that contains the controls:

    a_005.jpg 2_003.JPG
    TCM-600 BM-12

    To the best of my knowledge BM-12 stopped being produced in 1978.

    And last but not least why it is in an anniversary photo with the large stereo headphones around it?


    193392314111619625avatar.jpg
    renzgiPro
    1/31/15 9:46 AM

    Thank you for this interesting post.
    You have observed very sharp.

    I think it is the legendary prototype from March 1979.
    Look at the control on the headphone.
    tpsl24_002.gif

    Like Reply (3 Likes)


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    AOPro
    1/31/15 10:41 AM
    Ha, love it.

    This is interesting actually, clearly a prototype, a bit more history here...

    http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/C...onyHistory/2-05.html

    Like Reply (1 Like)


    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    1/31/15 11:10 AM
    The official Sony prototype photo (or the prototype in the anniversary photo)must be either another or a modified prototype,there are two subtle but important differences,one already mentioned (rectangular color difference) A) and a small slot(B) that can barely be seen:

    4_002.jpg


    One can't be certain but I think the difference is obvious.

    The headphones seem to be the same.

    Like Reply (0 Likes)

    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    1/31/1512:12 PM
    Looking the magnified photo seems that the (B) difference (small slot) is just the door that is misaligned revealing that small slot (probably for the head alignment),but the (A) difference between the two prototype photos is there.

    Like Reply (0 Likes)



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    Brutus442Pro
    1/31/15 8:09 PM

    S2Go solves mysteries like this guy!
    horatio.jpg



    YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!:biggrin::smileycool:

    Like Reply (1 Like)

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    sotzaPro
    2/1/15 8:32 AM
    Thanks guys glad you liked it! icon_smile.gif

    Like Reply (0 Likes)


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    deechPro
    2/2/15 5:38 AM
    Sotza i like the way you unfold the story which
    is behind on how the TPS-L2 was brought by Sony
    to consumers. icon_smile.gif

    Like Reply (1 Like)

    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    2/2/15 7:36 AM
    Thanks Dimitri,just tried to resemble the research I've done only in fast forward! icon_smile.gif

    Check your PM. wavey.gif

    Like Reply (0 Likes)

    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    2/5/15 2:09 PM

    Part 2 DNA Decoding

    This time under the microscope (sort of) is the prototype you can see at the Sony website (photo from renzgi and link from AO, above).

    This prototype photo is tiny and has very low resolution.

    Magnifying the photo and raising the contrast the result was this:

    c1_002.jpg

    Not a pretty sight but some interesting things revealed:

    PROTO20COMPARE20B20-20Copy20229.jpg



    The text in fact is one disturbed black line, under the Sony logo,but that's exactly the point ONE line:
    1ROW.jpg

    This photo is from the front side of a Sony BM-12,only BM-12 had one row text under the Sony logo.



    The TCM-600 had two row text...

    220ROW.jpg

    ...and the identical TCM-100 had two row text also.
    2ROW20100.jpg


    Raising the contrast revealed this lighted rectangular area that looks like a cover plate:

    PROTO20COMPARE20B20-20Copy.jpg


    In this region Sony BM-12 has this:
    START.jpg


    The start button. Great for dictation but not needed on a stereo player.


    Here is a direct comparison of the prototype with a Sony TCM-100:

    comparisonB.jpg


    And one by one:

    The prototype.

    proto20comp.jpg



    Among the details spotted ,to the prototype,identical to the BM-12 there is also a small semicircular indentation near the edge of the door common to both (probably a cup for the head alignment screw).

    The Sony TCM-100.
    comp100_002.jpg

    There are two unique details on the prototype:
    C_.jpg


    A) There is a protrusion, at the bottom, that looks like an adjustment screw .

    and B) The location of the headphones jacks at the bottom in the area where should be the DC IN on the BM-12.


    For comparison the bottom of a SONY bm-12:
    bottom.jpg


    In conclusion, the Sony BM-12 looks almost identical to the prototype with the exception of the start button that is not in place but this area clearly seems covered,the similarity with the BM-12 is also internal,as can be seen at the first part with the "4 track two channel recording system".

    The Sony TCM-100/TCM-600 on the other hand has major and obvious differences from the prototype externally but also internally being a mono.

    It just doesn't seems logical ,if you want to build a portable stereo cassette tape player only and in your laboratory you have from the existing production line a BM-12 and a TCM-100/600 to choose the latter to build a prototype.



    A Sony BM-12 is on the way for comparative tests with a Sony TPS-L2 until then,
    Enjoy!

    Like Reply (2 Likes)

    193392314111619625avatar.jpg

    renzgiPro
    3/28/15 2:38 AM
    Hi sotza

    Thanks to your post I have buy such a BM-12 for my TPS-L2 variants-collection. icon_thumbsup.gif


    Now a question about yours unit.

    What did you for a serial number.
    Is on the serial number sticker only the number or text "SERIAL No."and number?


    Danke,
    Renato

    Like Reply (1 Like)

    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    4/4/159:31 AM
    Hi Renato,

    I'm very glad that you added a BM-12 to your collection icon_smile.gif

    Sadly my BM-12 never came through mail so I'm looking for another one icon_frown.gif ,that's why I didn't post any tests,just for the record it had a serial number sticker with the words "serial No" on it.

    It would be very interesting to hear what is your impressions of BM-12 in relation to the TPS-L2. icon_smile.gif


    Like Reply (1 Like)

    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    7/10/15 6:48 AM
    Back in Business Machine again!

    After a long long delay before I could finally get my hands on a BM-12 and an even longer delay before I could replace my laptop I can share with you some interesting new info ,photos and tests .

    I couldn't figure out what "BM" stands for until I saw this photo:

    1_002.jpg

    Simply business machine..

    The most interesting aspect of BM-12 is the "4 track 2 channel system" ,carefully chosen words: "2 channel" but not "stereo" ,that's because you need 2 channel to have a mono cassette recorder with E-IDX system but that doesn't make it stereo.

    What the hell is E-IDX system ? I hear you say,it simply means Electronic InDeXing system, Sony explains:

    eidx_002.PNG

    The above is from the owners manual ,the pdf I found is interrupted at that page (15) but you get the idea.

    I couldn't find a service manual to see how exactly the system works but in general the second track is used to record a signal to certain points of the recording , chosen by the user ,that signal is recognized by the "secutive" system to stop the tape at these prerecorded points :


    secutive.PNG


    Here you can see the tape head of my BM-12,it looks stereo but is two channel:

    DSC03075_002.JPG



    ...and front side :
    DSC0307220b.jpg


    I haven't tested how that system works in practice yet but I was amazed by the sound quality even from the internal speaker with crisp and clear sound clearly on another world in comparison with my TCM-600B, although ,to be fair, this BM-12 looks almost unused contrary to TCM-600B which is heavily used.

    I found myself enjoying listening BM-12 from its internal speaker with a strange feeling to listen to something that looks like a TPS-L2 without headphones or external speakers !

    Sony BM-12 was a technically advanced evolution of TCM-600 with the addition of E-IDX system and that in turn brought BM-12 closer to the TPS-L2 concept with its two channel tape head.

    I hope to find a BM-12 service manual to find out what else is common with TPS-L2 internally.



    Regards

    Like Reply (1 Like)


    193392314111619625avatar.jpg

    renzgi
    Pro
    7/18/15 3:27 PM
    Thanks for the additional contribution.

    I am pleased to see, you've buy the boxed BM-12 from West Haven. icon_wink.gif
    Congratulations.

    The disadvantage of the BM-12 is that it is not suitable as a music player.
    You can hear in stereo recordings only the right channel.

    And records of the BM12 listen on stereo player only on left channel.
    Left you can only hear the beeps of the Index.

    Like Reply (1 Like)


    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    8/20/15 3:46 PM

    Originally Posted by renzgi:

    The disadvantage of the BM-12 is that it is not suitable as a music player.
    You can hear in stereo recordings only the right channel.

    And records of the BM12 listen on stereo player only on left channel.
    Left you can only hear the beeps of the Index.

    Thanks renzgi icon_smile.gif

    That's right BM-12 is not suitable as a music player ,it can be used as a monitoring player or, if someone has recordings on mono boomboxes or mono cassette recorders shouldn't miss anything except of course the stereo feature .

    Like Reply (0 Likes)


    1.gif

    sotzaPro
    8/20/15 5:08 PM

    Part 3: The Final Evolution

    It was all the time in front of us and all of us, subconsciously, had noticed but it was Tim Jarman and Nick Jarman from the wonderful WALKMAN CENTRAL site that put it down in words:

    "The WM-D6 used a very similar mechanism to that of the TCM-600 and the TPS-L2. The similarity is evident in the layout of the controls and tape transport components. However, to raise the quality to the high level demanded, the mechanism was upgraded by fitting a disc drive capstan servo similar to that of the TC-D5. "



    You can read full article here :http://www.walkmancentral.com/products/wm-d6



    This is an ad from 1982 of the famous Sony WM-D6 :

    d6_002.jpg



    Above is the first model (notice the green lettering under WALKMAN logo) of a long running production that lasted until 2002.

    In other words the WM-D6 had an evolution from 1982 until 2002, 20 years, but that's another interesting story.

    As far as TPS-L2 is concerned the first WM-D6 could be considered as its final evolution but the concept that started with the 1978 Sony TCM-600 and lasted with the 2002 Sony WM-D6C had a lifespan of 23 years, remarkable for a consumer electronics product.

    The only industrial product with uninterrupted , long running, production/evolution and close to the original concept that comes to my mind is from the automotive world with the Porsche 911 which by the way was born in 1963 the same year that Compact Cassette was introduced.

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    Last edited: Jun 17, 2017
  2. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Great thread and great re-living. Thanks Sotza!
     
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  3. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    Thank you Hugo ,really appreciate It !
     
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  4. Boodokhan

    Boodokhan Well-Known Member

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    Enjoyed reading it
    nowadays most of the BM-12 models being repainted and sold like TPS-L2
     
  5. buzbox

    buzbox Active Member

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    That is true. Seeing so many on ebay.
     
  6. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    I'm not at all surprised.
    bm12 (2).PNG
     
  7. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    20 years separate the first picture of this thread and the one bellow :

    tcm100.jpg

    This one is from the 30th walkman anniversary Sony exhibition in July 2009 , you could see in this display several walkman milestones.
    Starting from top left is a TCM-100 and then a TPS-L2 but nowhere the prototype that was present in the 10th anniversary photo.
    Strange though ,is the prototype missing or they just wanted to display a final product ?

    disp.jpg

    The exhibition's location was at Sony's Archive building in Tokyo.
    30th.jpg
     
  8. samovar

    samovar Well-Known Member

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    This thread is pure gold, too bad it doesn't get the recognition & support it deserves. Please don't stop sotza: there are a lot of avid readers waiting for new DNA decodings & the like among the s2go silent majority :)
     
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  9. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Samovar! Actually s2go silent majority is heard loud and clear, also I know its recognition is there and really appreciated.:)
    As for the support, ideally, Toshio Asai the man behind the prototype could shed some light, if someone from our friends in Japan knows of an interview or even better the man himself that would be a huge contribution ! Its a long shot I know... But then again a good quality photo(s) of the prototype would be also a major addition to this thread.
    Hope is not lost, if the man responsible for the 40th Walkman anniversary in 2019, two years from now, is reading this and have access to the prototype please consider to include it to that future exhibition.
     
  10. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    Hello S2G friends , two years have passed since the last post in this thread , the last sentence that you still can read above was :

    In the context of the 40th Walkman Anniversary Sony uploaded a series of videos , in one of them an interview was given by Toshio Asai and Yoshiyuki Kamon , at 0:39 we can see side by side a black TCM-100 and the Prototype !

    So I have to say , thank you Sony ! For fulfilling that wish even in that subtle way.

    Clearly now a BM-12 , the prototype in color with details , following a screenshot and a bit rendered picture of the prototype.
    Enjoy !

    Tcm100-Prototype.png

    And the Prototype alone :

    Prototype.png

    Here you can watch the whole video at the Walkman Designers thread.
     
  11. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    The video is very interesting. I never realised that the 3.5mm Stereo Jack was first designed for the Walkman.
    It makes sense though. Am I right in thinking that some airliners used a pair of mono 3.5mm jacks for the in flight entertainment.
     
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  12. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    Indeed a very interesting and historic video. I'm impressed that you're aware of the airline Sony headphones , I have a set of them , they are indeed mono and as I recall they have a 3.5mm jack , I'll find them and post a photo.

    Edit : I jumped on the wagon but they are stereo with an unusual "mono cable" configuration that runs all the way through the metal part to the Right headphone also the jack is 6.3mm, so not the ones you have in mind. If interested how they look can post a photo in the gallery.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2019
  13. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    I was thinking of the standard dual 3.5mm jacks that seem to be used on airliners. A typical pair

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EMIRATES-AIRLINES-In-Flight-Ice-Headphones-Memorabilia-Collector-New-in-Package/273799430245?_trkparms=aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20160908105057&meid=0cc856dcb81949c68359daf76f2a1b03&pid=100675&rk=2&rkt=15&mehot=lo&sd=173867234156&itm=273799430245&pmt=0&noa=1&pg=2481888&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci:e19193a5-d2d2-11e9-aa2e-74dbd18072d8|parentrq:14e9030716d0a9cce027cfdfffb8433e|iid:1

    Airline headphones.jpg

    Since the 3.5mm stereo jack became a standard there are numerous adaptors available to use your own headphones

    https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/produc.../quietcomfort-headphones-airline-adapter.html

    There also seem to be a number of more recent, different connections for noise cancelling headphones

    normal (for airliners)

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-JAL...892973?hash=item2ac530242d:g:HpEAAOSw1fdbtN8y

    and weird

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-ANA...290084?hash=item287a0bdea4:g:qoQAAOSwDcJclLcB

    As the saying goes "The great things about standards is there are so many to choose from"
     
  14. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    In accordance with Yoshiyuki Kamon that the stereo 3.5mm mini jack was invented for the first walkman the prototype has a custom made adapter for the off the self headphones that were used , it seems to be a 6.3mm female jack to two mono 3.5mm jacks configuration.

    -------------------------------------------------------------- tpsl24_002bigb.gif



    Whats interesting is that the two mono 3.5mm jacks seem to have different body to each other in accordance to their respective female inputs that they are different too.

    jacks.gif


    Below are my JAL airline headphones they look very MDR-3L2 , lightweight and all , the construction quality is very high .
    There is not a model type written anywhere as far as I can tell , not in the body of jack either only a "Made In Japan" inscription.
    I can't tell what was the manufacturing time frame , probably around 1980 .

    DSC00136bC.jpg


     
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  15. stereomecha99

    stereomecha99 Active Member

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    Hi all, an official Sony video about the creation of the TPS-L2 seems to partially confirm what you mentioned, that the model featured in the 1989 photo was indeed the initial prototype of the first Walkman and that it was a playback-only prototype fashioned from a portable dictator, the TCM-100 ('Pressman') which was also a dictator that looked identical to the BM-12 as far as I can tell.

    I honestly don't know all the differences between the BM-12 and prototype (though I suspect I could quite easily figure them out just from comparing the two :p), they look identical bar a missing arrow on the prototype and the lack of the big record button on the top of it. Working with so little you weren't far off! They address the model used for the prototype as the PRESSMAN TCM-100 in this video, I was not aware of -man being a suffix for any Sony devices prior to the Walkman though (I was under the impression 'Walkman' was initially just the Japanese market name that they weren't actually too fond of, ironically enough).

    WALKMEN.png
     
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  16. Machaneus

    Machaneus Well-Known Member

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    Thanks @stereomecha99 .:)
    Actually no one knows exactly Toshio Asai's tweaking with the BM-12 internals to make the prototype but there are some details at the Walkman Designers thread where Toshio Asai is mentioned , as far as the external differences are concerned we have to work with just two pictures!
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2019
  17. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    Yes. I would guess the internal changes were the biggest. After all Toshio had to fit a stereo amp in there.

    Regarding the Walkman name it is an oft repeated story that Walkman wasn't liked by the Sony directors, and different names were used in different countries. Only this week I discovered that The British Electric Foundation's (the producers behind Heaven 17 and Tina Turners 80s tracks) debut album was released on cassette only and called "Music For Stowaways' which was the original UK name for the Walkman.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_Stowaways

    Just thinking about it I wonder if Sony found they couldn't trademark such a common word.
     
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  18. Patex

    Patex Member

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    i-img1200x900-1567862964dxaelw386299.jpg
    These are very hard to find headphones...
     
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  19. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Those are cool, can you adapt the connection to single jack?
     
  20. Patex

    Patex Member

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