The Original "Microsonics" Audio Format, 1979

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by MLutthans, Aug 1, 2013.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Marysville, WA, Salina, KS, Los Angeles, CA
    This thing went over like a lead balloon!

    In 1979, the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA championship. That fall, the Sonics' parent company, First Northwest Industries of America, Inc., pushed trading cards and a "World Champs" book that used little (2-inch?) records within the book (or on the trading cards). A "microphonograph" would couple with the little record, adding sound to the book.

    I recently came across both my old book and old player, and lo and behold, they still work all these years later!


    Somebody recently sold some of the playing cards on Ebay:
    $(KGrHqEOKjEE140JI26zBNlhe!8F7w~~_3.JPG
    You can make out the transparent record, attached to the "text" side at right, above.

    Here's a cellphone video I uploaded to YouTube a few minutes ago:


    My apologies to Vidiot for not posting this in tall-o-vision!

    Matt
     
    MLutthans, Aug 1, 2013
    #1
    sallymae_hogsby, JohnO, vinyl13 and 6 others like this.
  2. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Marysville, WA, Salina, KS, Los Angeles, CA
    Morning bump for the 1.3 people who may find this intriguing. :)
     
    MLutthans, Aug 1, 2013
    #2
    vinyl13 likes this.
  3. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    Crazy !
     
    vanhooserd, Aug 1, 2013
    #3
  4. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    That's pretty cool. I love old and weird recording formats. I may still have a promotional "floppy" record from Burger King lying around somewhere I should dig up. If I remember correctly, it was part of one of those fast food lottery/contests/whatever - you listened to it and it would tell you if you were the winner or not.

    Anyone have an Elcaset? How about DCC?
     
    jbmcb, Aug 1, 2013
    #4
  5. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I covered this story for Video Review, and called it "the worst product intro at CES." Dumb, dumb, dumb idea: floppy disk audio.

    DCC and Elcassette actually worked.
     
    Vidiot, Aug 1, 2013
    #5
  6. Larry Geller

    Larry Geller Surround sound lunatic

    Location:
    Bayside, NY
    This is the same system Topps used for their talking baseball cards from 1989. I still have the complete set & the player.
     
    Larry Geller, Aug 1, 2013
    #6
    vinyl13, MLutthans and Doug Sclar like this.
  7. theron d

    theron d Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore MD
    "Microsonics".....I can see uber-hipster bands adopting this format in the nearby future....:)
     
    theron d, Aug 1, 2013
    #7
  8. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stroud,Gloucestershire, England
    Russians used XRay film plates to press Beatles 45s becos they were banned in the USSR
    Did this apply in Seattle ?
    PS love Seattle.
     
    ROLO46, Aug 1, 2013
    #8
  9. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Pardon me--I thought this was the Microsonics audio format shown in the 1970s, which really was a floppy disk audio format. Think CD+computer disk.

    I dunno about a 2" record format, but there were plenty of weird ones over the years.
     
    Vidiot, Aug 4, 2013
    #9
  10. Obtuse1

    Obtuse1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    This one?
     
    Obtuse1, Aug 4, 2013
    #10
    vinyl13 likes this.
  11. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Location:
    Marysville, WA, Salina, KS, Los Angeles, CA
    Another Microsonics player video on Youtube:
     
    MLutthans, Nov 22, 2017
    #11
  12. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    There were 3½-inch records in the 1930s:

     
    vwestlife, Nov 22, 2017
    #12
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine