How the Sound Burger curbed my vinyl craving with a game-changing audio characteristic

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Audio-Technica Sound Burger retails for $199 and is available in yellow, black, or white.
• The Sound Burger has unparalleled portability, a protracted battery life, and gives a novel listening expertise.
• It would not have a counterweight, and likewise would not have an auto-return characteristic.

extra shopping for selections

The Audio-Technica Sound Burger is $25 off, making it value $174. Be aware: This low cost solely applies to the black shade. 

Know-how is all about embracing the now. So, though I’m a kind of individuals who could be caught of their methods (akin to listening to vinyl data with the suitable analog setup), I am glad this time I branched out to see what’s attainable.

I not too long ago acquired my palms on the Audio-Technica Sound Burger Bluetooth turntable. Whereas it initially got here out in 1983, the corporate not too long ago revived it and added modern-day tech like Bluetooth to make it the transportable report participant they envisioned manner again then.

Additionally: The most effective Bluetooth turntables you should buy

Whereas I definitely do not suppose it is a substitute for a extra customary vinyl setup, I loved listening to my data elsewhere in the home moderately 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 Eighties, this transportable participant (initially referred to as Grasp Disc) was powered by batteries and got here with a set of foldable headphones, so you can hearken to your vinyl wherever you needed. 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 conveyable Bluetooth speaker, a soundbar, Bluetooth headphones, and extra.

The Sound Burger additionally comes with a wired cable in case you need to hearken to vinyl the analog manner, though I assume you are shopping for this system for its portability moderately than to make use of as a wired report 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 simple 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 hearken to vinyl in the lounge. I even took it out to my deck one evening, and it was enjoyable to vibe out to an unique Fleetwood Mac report outdoors with a fireplace going.

The Sound Burger could be very delicate — strolling round or by it may possibly make the report skip a bit. It is because the report participant lacks a counterweight, which might probably harm your data if the monitoring drive is just 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 characteristic.

Additionally: The most effective audio system for vinyl

I might see the Sound Burger being enjoyable to carry alongside on a tenting journey. Because you’re already listening to music round a bonfire, why not make that music vinyl as an alternative of the identical outdated Spotify playlist? I’d additionally suggest the Sound Burger to those that dwell in a small house 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 the event you plan to hearken to vinyl by way of Bluetooth, that is easy methods to do it.

In fact, audiophiles or vinyl diehards may argue that this transportable participant is a waste since portability is not the purpose of vinyl. However hear me out: if we will use expertise to take vinyl to the outside or on trip whereas tucked away in a cabin, why not take it for a spin?