#2-in-1-turntable

#2-in-1-turntable

The ring-like portable speaker has a lanyard that lets users hook it onto a backpack or simply carry it around the wrist. Another option is to wear it around the neck, turning the device into a personal stereo system that surrounds the user with sound while remaining lightweight and portable.

The Mix speaker features a built-in carrying handle and a place for a strap, allowing for easy transport. The top-hat mounts enable use with traditional PA pole stands, enhancing versatility for events.

The MPC Sample features a four-by-four grid of 16 RGB backlit pads that respond to pressure, allowing for dynamic sound manipulation. A full-color display and three knobs provide hands-on control over effects and sound.

It's similar to a vinyl record, but the tracks are in a USB drive. It has no moving parts inside, so it's totally digital in how it stores sound. But it has a physical shape users can hold, flip over, look at, and collect, so in a way, the designer is asking: what if digital music had a physical body?

The Bromley 450 carries over its larger sibling's 360-degree audio trickery. Like equivalents from other companies, Marshall's "True Stereophonic 360-degree sound" fools your brain into perceiving more directionality than its form factor allows. Lighting effects ("inspired by '70s stage shows") also carry over from the larger model.

Music has become the backdrop to almost everything, cooking, working, reading, but the hardware that plays it often looks like a leftover from a tech store, plastic boxes that clash with furniture. There is a tension between wanting good sound in every room and not wanting your living space to feel like a gadget shelf. A speaker that behaves like hi-fi but looks like it belongs on a sideboard can quietly solve that.

What's wild about this jump in stamina is that it's disproportionate to the battery's capacity. The Kilburn II ships with a 5,200 mAh cell, while the new model is only about 5% bigger: 5,500 mAh. Clearly, some big efficiencies have been gained.

The original KEF Muo launched back in 2015 and felt like a turning point in portable hi-fi. Serious, designer Bluetooth speakers from a respected hi-fi brand were rare back then-with only a few brands like Bang & Olufsen and Loewe interested in combining pretty and portable. These early designs were still given the side-eye by most traditional audio.

Listening to music has mostly collapsed into phones and streaming apps, buried between notifications and multitasking. Some people still crave a single-purpose device that treats listening as the main event, not background noise. The MP-1 is an independent concept study that asks what a modern Walkman could look like if it borrowed Teenage Engineering's design language, without being affiliated with the company or trying to become an official product at all.

The Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is too weird to exist. It takes the excellent 4K projector and karaoke microphones from Anker's Nebula X1 and stuffs them inside a powerful five-speaker Google TV party on wheels. It's so absurd that it feels like a gadget fever dream - and I'm here for it. At the heart of this system is the same liquid-cooled, triple-laser, auto-image-correction-everything projector I reviewed last summer.

Chances are this does exactly what you need. It will play your old CDs, your new CDs, your homemade mixtapes, the whole nine yards. You can even listen wirelessly thanks to onboard Bluetooth. It's got a decent battery life that can last you up to six hours, and it uses a USB-C to recharge. We usually have one of those on hand.

It takes the classic tape deck design and turns it into a smart speaker with two tiny 1.5-inch circular OLED displays. They're in that place where the spinning reels used to be, since this isn't exactly a cassette player. On the left, you get the playback controls and on the right side, you get a digital waveform or equalizer. Both screens are touch-sensitive, letting you interact directly with the device without constantly reaching for your phone.

There's something oddly comforting about watching the vinyl resurgence happen in real time. We've collectively decided that convenience isn't everything, that sometimes the ritual matters as much as the result. But while turntables have been getting their moment in the spotlight, another piece of audio history has been quietly staging its own comeback: the dedicated digital audio player. Enter the DAP-1, a concept device from Frankfurt-based 3D artist

When I sit at my desk to work, I play music in the background to avoid getting distracted. For an immersive listening experience that encourages productivity, I typically throw on a pair of headphones, with my current rotation consisting of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, Sony Ult Wear, and Sennheiser HD 660S2. Also: Spotify vs. Apple Music: I've tried both streaming services, and prefer this one