Phonocut is a home vinyl recorder for cutting your own records at the push of a button
A cut above

Cassettes, a.k.a. the worst audio medium in history (sorry, hipsters), had one redeeming feature: the mix tape. It was insanely easy to make your own compilations, before drag-and-drop and streaming obliterated such concerns. Now, Phonocut (from €1499; blanks from €55 for ten) brings something similar to vinyl fetishists. A dream of record lovers for decades, Phonocut frees record production from high-tech pressing plants with their demands for runs of many hundreds of units. Instead, you plonk a 10in blank (inspired by the original shellac record format) on to Phonocut. Connect an audio source via stereo minijack, press a button, and the device starts cutting sound waves into grooves – in real-time. A few minutes later, you’ll have a beautiful black disc housing your favourite tracks – or a super-rare white label of you singing in the shower.
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