The Audio-Technica Sound Burger is $25 off, making it cost $174 as an early Spring Sale deal. Note: This discount only applies to the black color.
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Audio-Technica Sound Burger retails for $199 and comes in yellow, black, or white.
- The Sound Burger has unparalleled portability, a long battery life, and provides a novel listening experience.
- It doesn’t have a counterweight, and also doesn’t have an auto-return feature.
Technology is all about embracing the now. So, even though I am one of those people who can be stuck in their ways (such as listening to vinyl records with the appropriate analog setup), I’m glad this time I branched out to see what’s possible.
I recently got my hands on the Audio-Technica Sound Burger<!–> Bluetooth turntable. While it originally came out in 1983, the company recently revived it and added modern-day tech like Bluetooth to make it the portable record player they envisioned way back then.
Also: The best Bluetooth turntables you can buy
While I certainly don’t think it’s a replacement for a more standard vinyl setup, I enjoyed listening to my records in different places in the house rather than being tied to the basement. The Sound Burger, in short, provides a novel experience of something that has remained largely the same for decades.
In the 1980s, this portable player (initially known as Master Disc) was powered by batteries and came with a set of foldable headphones, so you could listen to your vinyl wherever you wanted. Now, the Sound Burger uses USB charging – which provides a battery life of up to 12 hours – and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, letting you connect it to a portable Bluetooth speaker, a soundbar, Bluetooth headphones, and more.
The Sound Burger also comes with a wired cable in case you want to listen to vinyl the analog way, although I assume you’re buying this device for its portability rather than to use as a wired record player.
Some other notable specs: it has a belt drive, a Die-cast aluminum alloy platter, a frequency band of 2.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz, and a replaceable ATN3600L stylus.
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The Sound Burger is easy to set up. I had vinyl playing on the device through a Bluetooth speaker in minutes. My regular vinyl setup is in the basement, so the Sound Burger satiated my craving (pun intended) to listen to vinyl in the living room. I even took it out to my deck one night, and it was fun to vibe out to an original Fleetwood Mac record outside with a fire going.
The Sound Burger is very sensitive – walking around or by it can make the record skip a bit. This is because the record player lacks a counterweight, which could potentially damage your records if the tracking force is too high. It also doesn’t have auto-return, which isn’t necessarily a huge issue for me; it’s more of a nice-to-have feature.
Also: The best speakers for vinyl
I could see the Sound Burger being fun to bring along on a camping trip. Since you’re already listening to music around a bonfire, why not make that music vinyl instead of the same old Spotify playlist? I would also recommend the Sound Burger to those who live in a small space and don’t have room for an expansive vinyl setup.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The Sound Burger’s–>
