Stockholm, Sweden (September 29, 2022)—Teenage Engineering has unveiled the PO-80 Record Factory, a portable lo-fi vinyl cutter.
PO-80 is a collaboration between Teenage Engineering, which has been “developing the alternative future of consumer electronics” since it was founded in 2007, designer Yuri Suzuki, and Japanese educational toymaker company Gakken. It comes as a DIY kit with simple assembly instructions and includes a cutting arm with a stylus that engraves up to four minutes of sound onto the 5-inch vinyl discs, a tonearm for playback, as well as paper sleeves and center label stickers. A carry bag is also available (sold separately), as is a record pack and cutter head.
Any audio device may be plugged in to the 3.5mm audio input jack. “Cut your own record in an instant. with a characteristic ultra lo-fi sound,” the company says in a statement. “Your recordings, and any 7” vinyl played on the Record Factory, will playback with warm, analog sound quality.”
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Reportedly, Teenage Engineering met Japanese designer and sound artist Yuri Suzuki 10 years ago while he was freelancing at the company’s studio in Stockholm. “From the beginning, they shared a passion for playful music gadgets,” according to the statement. After Suzuki created the popular EZ Record Maker with Gakken, Teenage Engineering joined forces with him and created a new version, with the Pocket Operator (Teenage Engineering’s tiny music devices) mentality and an updated design.
Suzuki’s work can be seen in several museum permanent collections around the world, including MOMA in New York, and has had exhibitions at the Tate London, Mudam Luxembourg, MOMA and the Museum of Modern Art Tokyo. In 2016, he received the Designer of the Future Award from Design Miami.
