ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Audio-Technica Sound Burger is $199 and is available in yellow, black, or purple.
- The Sound Burger has unparalleled portability, an extended battery life, and gives a novel listening expertise.
- It would not have a counterweight, and likewise would not have an auto-return function.
Expertise is all about embracing the now. So, despite the fact that I’m a type of individuals who may be caught of their methods (similar to listening to vinyl data with the suitable analog setup), I am glad this time I branched out to see what’s potential.
I lately received my palms on the Audio-Technica Sound Burger Bluetooth turntable. Whereas it initially got here out in 1983, the corporate lately revived it and added modern-day tech like Bluetooth to make it the transportable file participant they envisioned method again then.
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Whereas I actually do not suppose it is a substitute for a extra normal vinyl setup, I loved listening to my data elsewhere in the home quite than being tied to the basement. The Sound Burger, briefly, gives a novel expertise of one thing that has remained largely the identical for many years.
Within the Nineteen Eighties, this transportable participant (initially often called Grasp Disc) was powered by batteries and got here with a set of foldable headphones, so you would take heed to your vinyl wherever you wished. Now, the Sound Burger makes use of USB charging — which gives a battery lifetime of as much as 12 hours — and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, letting you join it to a transportable Bluetooth speaker, a soundbar, Bluetooth headphones, and extra.
The Sound Burger additionally comes with a wired cable in case you wish to take heed to vinyl the analog method, though I assume you are shopping for this system for its portability quite than to make use of as a wired file participant.
Another notable specs: it has a belt drive, a Die-cast aluminum alloy platter, a frequency band of two.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz, and a replaceable ATN3600L stylus.
The Sound Burger is straightforward to arrange. I had vinyl enjoying on the system via a Bluetooth speaker in minutes. My common vinyl setup is within the basement, so the Sound Burger satiated my craving (pun supposed) to take heed to vinyl in the lounge. I even took it out to my deck one night time, and it was enjoyable to vibe out to an unique Fleetwood Mac file exterior with a hearth going.
The Sound Burger could be very delicate — strolling round or by it might probably make the file skip a bit. It is because the file participant lacks a counterweight, which might doubtlessly injury your data if the monitoring pressure is simply too excessive. It additionally would not have auto-return, which is not essentially an enormous difficulty for me; it is extra of a nice-to-have function.
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I might see the Sound Burger being enjoyable to deliver alongside on a tenting journey. Because you’re already listening to music round a bonfire, why not make that music vinyl as a substitute of the identical outdated Spotify playlist? I might additionally advocate the Sound Burger to those that stay in a small area and do not have room for an expansive vinyl setup.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Sound Burger’s portability is unparalleled, and that is my favourite Bluetooth turntable as a result of it embodies what Bluetooth was meant for — portability. In case you plan to take heed to vinyl by way of Bluetooth, that is how one can do it.
In fact, audiophiles or vinyl diehards would possibly argue that this transportable participant is a waste since portability is not the purpose of vinyl. However hear me out: if we are able to use know-how to take vinyl to the outside or on trip whereas tucked away in a cabin, why not take it for a spin?
