Rating: ★★★★
PROS:
- Very well built, nice design
- Inexpensive
- Has line in and headphone connectivity
- 3 speed playback (33/45/78)
CONS:
- Built in speakers lack clarity
- Can’t be powered by batteries
RRP £99.99, best price at time of writing £65.99 on Amazon
So here’s one that’s a little more of a personal interest – maybe not so high tech by today’s standards – but still a very interesting product! These days vinyls are very much a blast from the past – but surprisingly they seem to be gaining quite a cult following, particularly from students and young adults. Nowadays you can get hold of portable turntables that include built in speakers and other capabilities, and I was handed one to try!
There’s no doubt about it – this really looks the part. The turntable looks sturdy in its nicely built case with a well finished denim lining. Build quality is very decent, with exception to a small amount of movement in the actual turntable controls.
To the right of the turntable case you have a set of inputs and outputs together with a volume control. You can plug in the turntable to an external amplifier with an RCA cable or plug it straight into any set of speakers with the 3.5mm output. The turntable also comes with a 3.5mm line in for connecting an MP3 player.
Under the lid, together with the turntable itself, you’ll find a 3 speed control as well as an auto-stop setting to prevent the turntable spinning once playback has completed.
Playing a vinyl through the portable turntable is as easy as you’d expect. Simply place the record on the turntable, set the appropriate playback speed, align the needle accordingly, and turn the turntable on with the volume control to the right of the player.
The onboard speakers for the turntable are a little quiet and weak in my view. The output is perfectly audible, but to get the best from any record I think you need to have the turntable hooked up to an external amplifier. Thankfully, this is very easy to do with an RCA cable. Playback to an external output is much more impressive and allows for a deeper listening experience.
I feel that die-hard vinyl fans might be somewhat disappointed by the weaker built in speakers. However, if you’ve got a good quality external speaker handy then this is a very convenient way of being able to play vinyls (without having to drag a huge 1970’s style sound system around!).
I was really impressed with how light the turntable is – it’s incredibly easy to take with you out and about and with the sturdy carry handle it won’t suffer from regular travels.
It did slightly disappoint me that the turntable can’t be battery operated. The turntable comes with a suitable DC power adapter to power from the mains, but given the low amount of energy that the turntable needs to operate it would have been nice to have seen a battery powered model.
Overall, this is a very impressive attempt at a portable turntable. It’s not perfect – I’d love to have heard slightly better audio quality and the addition of a battery pack would have made it more portable – but it’s certainly enough to keep your vinyls playable at university or if you spend a long time away from home. This could be a great gift for anyone with a personal vinyl collection.