Who said vinyl was dead huh? Boutique Swedish music tech company Teenage Engineering have announced a new DIY Vinyl Cutting machine that allows you to press your own music direct to 5’ inch vinyl records. READ THAT AGAIN. That’s right, the PO-80 Vinyl Factory promises to “engrave and playback 7″ discs with ultra-analog lo-fi sound” using a ridiculously simple method of connecting any audio device to a mini-jack input. Musicians, producers and beat makers worldwide can rejoice that pressing your own tracks to vinyl is now a reality.
Designed in conjunction with Japanese artist and designer Yuri Suzuki, the PO-80 comes with all the parts to assemble the unit yourself and includes some blank disks. The unit also allows you to listen to your records through the built-in speaker or you can connect it to any speaker via the 3.5mm audio plug. There’s even the option to add more ‘lo-fi’ vibes to your sound via the mastering tool on Teenage Engineering’s website which applies a ‘lo-fi’ EQ curve over your music. Of course, Pocket Operator users get a look in here, letting you instantly cut any composition to your very own record.
Lo-fi music has over the years manifested itself through sub-genres like Lo-fi Hip-hop and Lo-Fi House which have become enormously popular if Spotify playlists are anything to go by. They all feature grainy dusty crackling characteristics of vinyl records, often emulated by eqing and effects used in DAW’s and samplers. Teenage Engineering is really taking ‘Lo-Fi’ sound and aesthetic all the way here, allowing artists to finish compositions and cut them straight to vinyl. My mind takes me straight to DJs looking to add ‘dub plates’ of their own tracks in their DJ sets as well as musicians and producers that love that authentic lo-fi vinyl sound.
It remains to be seen the actual quality of the sound, and it’s fair to note that that ‘lo-fi’ sound may not appeal to all, nonetheless, this looks to be a very interesting product indeed.
More info here:
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