There was a moment when Turntable.fm was seemingly ready to usher in an era of social music, with virtual DJs leading the way. Unfortunately, that moment has passed; in light of a shrinking audience and high operating costs, Turntable.fm has announced that it will shut down its DJ service on December 2nd. The company will instead focus on Turntable Live, its social platform for streaming real-world concerts. It’s a sad day for musical tastemakers, although the company is going out of its way to support fans. Users can export their playlists and tracks to services like Spotify, and the company is promising both a commemorative t-shirt as well as a “last day” party on the 2nd. If you have fond memories of spinning tunes for friends across the country, we’d suggest making room in your calendar.
Some of us are born with the natural ability to be able to whip up a dish in the kitchen that is fit for a king, never mind that the amount of ingredients available to us are but just meager pickings. Well, others are not all that good in the kitchen, and will need the help of some tools to make sure that every dish turns out just about right. A kitchen timer is essential then, if you are going to keep track of plenty of things, so why not play it differently with the $13.99 Turntable Kitchen Timer?
This is one DJ-themed analog timer that is a snap to use. To set the amount of time you want it to count down to, just spin the white arrow on the record to the desired time. It is a whole lot more easy compared to scratching a track and trying to get everyone else on the dance floor to feel your vibe, that is for sure. This is a 60-minute timer, and there are no batteries required to power this puppy. It is about as old school as it can get, and yet gets the job done to make sure that you know when is the right time to remove the turkey from the oven. [ Turntable Kitchen Timer helps you crank up some mean tasting dishes copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
When did you make the jump from analog to digital when it comes to the music scene? Have you more or less digitized your entire music collection, or do you still have a soft spot for analog music? For those of you who love listening to your vinyl records, then you might want to check out this turntable from the folks over at Linn. Linn recently turned 40 years of age, and as part of its 40th birthday celebration, it decided to work alongside a fellow highland brand aptly known as Highland Park in order to roll out something that is out of the ordinary.
Both Linn as well as Highland Park have come together to recreate Linn’s flagship Sondek LP12 turntable, although they decided to settle on a wooden plinth that has been crafted from some of the distiller’s solid oak scotch whisky casks. Needless to say, there will only be 40 of these units available in the open market, and because of its high exclusivity, just 40 of such turntables will be produced. At such limited quantities, each of these unique turntables will cost you a whopping £25,000, which should be worth far more than your vinyl record collection – at least for the majority of us out there. Not only that, when you are tuning in to your favorite music and want to chill out with a drink, then you will be pleased to hear that there is also a 40-year-old bottle of Highland Park that is worth £900 making its way to stand beside the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable as a bundle.
Audio-Technica has announced a new LP to digital turntable system. The turntable is the AT-LP60 and it’s designed to help you get your old-school vinyl record collection into digital form. Turntable connects to Mac or Windows computers using a USB cable. The AT-LP60 ships with the turntable, phono cartridge, software, USB cable, and built-in phono […]
In a world that is changing so rapidly, we tend to think of a gadget as “old” after a year or so when something better comes along. It’s a rare occurrence when you see someone still using an HTC DROID Incredible (my first-ever smartphone) or a laptop from the Windows XP days, but it got me thinking about how many people out there still use old technology on a daily basis. While you could technically count a microwave (for which my parents still have the same one after 20 years), my focus is aimed at consumer electronics, like phones, laptops, TVs, speakers, etc.
Upgrade cycles vary greatly depending on what the product is. Smartphones arguably have the quickest upgrade cycle, with new phones coming out all the time, and while phone contracts keep users on a two-year cycle, it’s becoming more and more popular to upgrade a smartphone every year or even every few months, thanks to off-contract phone plans. Honestly, it’s to the point where people scratch their heads when they see someone still using an iPhone 3GS — a piece of gadgetry that’s only four years old.
Larger items usually have a longer ownership life, though, and things like laptops, televisions, and game consoles can easily last a few years without seeming out of date or “old.” Heck, the Xbox 360 will be turning eight years old in November and it’s still chugging along nicely, with millions of gamers still using it on a daily basis.
But your Xbox 360 surely can’t be the oldest consumer electronics device that you use every day. Maybe you have an old turntable that you still use to play all of your vinyl records on? Perhaps you still use the same landline phone from the 90s?
For me, the oldest piece of technology that I still use on a daily basis is probably an RCA speaker system that I bought with my own cold-hard cash when I was in junior high about 10 years ago. It obviously served as the main portal for playing all my CDs and turning the volume up to 11 because I was a rebel and all. However, it now serves as the speaker system to my home theater, and it still works great to this day.
Then again, speakers are something that practically last forever, and some would say that they’re like fine wine: the longer they’re around, the better they sound. I actually used to have a set of old speakers from when my dad was a DJ back in the 70s, and used them as computer speakers for a while, but they were too big and clunky (as with any older speaker set), so I had to eventually be realistic and get a Logitech 2.1 system.
Take a look at the devices that you use every day (or mostly every day) and see what the oldest one is. I’m sure there will be a lot of answers that will surpass my 10 years with my speaker system, but we look forward to seeing what devices you keep around, either for its simplicity, or the fact that you just can’t seem to part with it.
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
The problem with capturing panoramic stills with your phone is that you need to keep a steady motion when panning around, but we all know that only a robot can perform such feat perfectly. That’s why this little BubblePod caught our attention. The device is essentially a mini clockwork turntable so no battery is required — just wind it up, slip an iOS, Android or BB10 device into the silicone grip, fire up the BubblePix app and hit the BubblePod’s release button for a steady 40-second rewind.
The sample panoramic shots (or “bubbles”) we saw have almost no visible stitching, and the app can simultaneously record an audio clip to capture the atmosphere as well. Better yet, in addition to its rubberized base, the BubblePod is also built with a universal tripod mount plus a wine bottle insert mount!
This Kickstarter project will offer a unit if you pledge a minimum of £15 (about $23) for the limited early bird offer or £20 (about $31) later on, plus £5 (about $8) to ship outside the UK. Do check out the demo video after the break, and feel free to grab yourself a BubblePod before funding ends on July 9th.
Musicians and things that can be smoked go together like people and vices. Overly realistic and thus useless analogy FTW! But if those things do have a space in your life, check out the Decktray. Made by artist Terry Griffiths, these functional artworks are ashtrays that look like turntables.
Aside from the Decktrays, Griffiths also made a companion container that looks like a mixer. In our modern age, you’d be forgiven if you think that Griffiths made the Decktrays and the mixers using a 3D scanner and printer. But Griffiths is proud to say that he makes each piece by hand. Plot twist: his hands are 3D printers. Just kidding.
Call your friend who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a dog who knows a guy who can use a Web browser to order the Decktray from Griffith’s Etsy shop Sku Style. Or just get a doctor’s prescription that says you need one. The Deluxe Package sells for about $240 (USD) and includes two Decktrays and a mixer. You can also buy a single Decktray for about $120 and the mixer container for around $48. UK clubbers can also go to Griffith’s personal store.
I’m probably dating myself, but I still have a massive collection of old vinyl records gathering dust in bins in my closet. I actually no longer have a turntable, so other than the few records I purchased as CDs or in digital formats, I haven’t listened to them in a dog’s age. So when Crosley was nice enough to let me take their Spinnerette Turntable for a spin, I was happy to oblige.
I love the retro design of the Spinnerette, which has a carrying handle and a flip-down turntable surface for playing your old 33s, 45s and 78s. To the right of the turntable is a monophonic speaker, along with volume and tone controls, while underneath the turntable are connectors for USB, headphones, and even auxiliary audio in. Since it’s built from plastic, you’re not going to want to throw it around, but records themselves are delicate things too.
The Spinnerette isn’t just any old turntable. It can both play records and convert them to digital files. Just connect the turntable to your PC or Mac via the included USB cable, install the software, and you can copy records to digital audio files – assuming you have the patience to listen to your entire record collection as you rip them into your computer.
The bundled software is actually the open-source Audacity, which is available for both PC and Mac and can record audio via the turntable’s USB connector. I first tested the software on my Mac (running OSX 10.8.3). You’ll definitely want to read the software installation guide provided on the installation DVD, as there are a number of steps to setting up Audacity to record the best quality sound from the turntable. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to get audio that wasn’t distorted and clipped, and I also had to hunt around for something called LAME in order to get MP3s to output from Audacity. Having no success getting undistorted audio on the Mac, I switched to my Windows 7 PC and had much better luck there. It took only a couple of minutes to get up and running on my PC without the clipped audio I experienced on the Mac.
Once you get the Audacity software set up, you hit the record button, put the needle on the turntable, and let the record play all the way through. When finished with one side of your record, you can use Audacity’s “Silence Finder” to automatically detect the beginning and end of tracks. This process is a bit fiddly, and doesn’t work on 100% of recordings, but on most records with definitive breaks between tracks it does the trick. That said, you can manually tag tracks as well. Once the tracks are divvied up, you can bulk-save them as individual MP3, WAV or OGG files.
Overall audio quality of digitized recordings is indistinguishable from the original records – at least to my untrained ear. Here’s an example recording I grabbed from an old Rolling Stones’ recording of Not Fade Away:
Not too shabby, I say. Audacity also provides the ability to normalize volume levels, and clean up pops and scratches if you so choose – though I kind of like the charm of the old scratchy LPs. Speaking of which, part of the fun of the Spinnerette is the fact that it’s a complete, portable turntable, amplifier and speaker, so you can listen to your old records they way they were meant to be heard – on a small, monophonic speaker. I’m not a turntable snob, but there’s definitely something very special about listening to vinyl records this way, versus digital files. I’m not saying it’s something I’d do every day, but it’s a welcome treat. Of course, I’ll have digital versions of my records once I’m done ripping them anyhow.
Overall, I’ve had fun with the Spinnerette. At its core, it does what Crosley says it will – play vinyl records and convert them to digital files. I have to say that while I’ve enjoyed dusting off my old records and listening to them on the Spinnerette, the process of ripping records to digital files is time-consuming and requires a bit of trial and error. And for Mac users, it appears to be flat-out broken. It would be much better if Crosley would develop their own simplified software just for performing the task instead of trying to use Audacity, since the target audience for turntables is probably a bit older and less tech savvy anyhow. Bottom line – if you’ve got numerous records to rip, it could take quite some time and effort to get them converted. On the plus side, you’ll only have to do it one time, and then your vinyl memories will be forever preserved in digital form.
You can get the Spinnerette turntable over at Crosley Radio for $149.95(USD), in either blue or red.
Disclosure: Crosley Radio provided the turntable for review in this article. However, all reviews are the unbiased views of our editorial staff.
If there is one thing special about the folks over at Hammacher, it would be the way they describe some of the bevy of devices that they have in their warehouses. Hammacher tends to make use of superlative adjectives, and for today, we have one which is accompanied by a whopper of a price tag. I am referring to the $28,000 World’s Only Counterbalanced Turntable, yes sir, we are looking at 28 grand of goodness here just to play back your music in a traditional manner as you appreciate the vinyl records of yore (and new ones, too).
Touted to be the only fully suspended turntable in the world which relies on the wonders of dual counter-rotating platters so that it eliminates the troublesome sonic aberrations that are generated by common consumer models, this particular model has also picked up the gong for the Best Sound High Fidelity award from the renowned Munich High End, which is the largest high-end audio show in the world.
During playback, a vinyl record will rest atop the top-most, clockwise-spinning platter, while the bottom will rotate counter-clockwise in order to cancel torsional forces which would otherwise result in fluctuations in rotational speed and distort music. An inverted twin-bearing design of the platter assembly will further reduce torque-induced drag, whilst double hydraulic insulation offers additional dampening. Time to break open your collection of vinyls, not to mention your bank account!
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When did you make the jump from analog to digital when it comes to the music scene? Have you more or less digitized your entire music collection, or do you still have a soft spot for analog music? For those of you who love listening to your vinyl records, then you might want to check out this turntable from the folks over at Linn. Linn recently turned 40 years of age, and as part of its 40th birthday celebration, it decided to work alongside a fellow highland brand aptly known as Highland Park in order to roll out something that is out of the ordinary.
