sound gadgets like medieval sampler reimagine audiophile classics

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modern sound gadgets put a design twist on audiophile classics

Some modern sound gadgets reimagine audiophile classics, from speakers and earphones to cassette and vinyl record players and musical instruments. They’re portable, wireless, and rechargeable, which are some of the design and tech features that can appeal to the present and classic collectors and listeners. Modern elements come through, like a series of medieval sounds and folleys installed in an electronic instrument, sampler, and composer.

Cassette players are redesigned so they can have rechargeable batteries instead of the swappable ones. In this way, users don’t need to keep changing them for power. There’s a turntable with a minimal design and a blasted glass platter, slightly frosted to mimic the vinyl disc’s look. Some Bluetooth-ready speakers are equipped with solar-cell technology, so that users can rely on sunlight to recharge them. Earbuds these days have advanced technologies too, which include an active noise cancellation feature to dilute the exterior noises.

Teenage Engineering EP-1320 Medieval | image courtesy of Teenage Engineering

turntable with blasted glass platter and medieval sampler

Sound gadgets used for listening to tracks and records come with features that are not present before. Take Teenage Engineering’s electronic instrument, sampler, and composer as an example. Named EP-1320, the portable music maker produces medieval sounds, including the hurdy-gurdy, citole, bowed harp, and gittern, as well as battle toms, coconut horse hooves, farm animals, witches, rowdy peasants, an actual dragon, and more. The instrument can fit in a bag, the same advantage as the modern FiiO CP13. Users can always bring their tape player wherever they go, but with this cassette player, they don’t need swappable batteries to keep it running.

It comes with a built-in rechargeable battery, so fans of audiophile classics can just plug the port when their playing time runs out. The design also retains the tactile play, pause, stop, fast-forward, and rewind buttons, which revives the style of the audiophile classics. In terms of turntables, they’re more streamlined and can be minimal, like the Pro-Ject T1. For this vinyl record player, there’s a zero-resonance, blasted-glass platter in place on an anti-resonant sub-platter design. Its single-piece tonearm is forged from aluminum, and the sound gadget has vibration-absorbing feet to minimize jumps, as well as a dust cover with adjustable hinges for protection.

EP-1320 can produce sounds like hurdy-gurdy, citole, and gittern | image courtesy of Teenage Engineering

Solar-powered speaker and capsule-shaped earbuds

For modern speaker designs, these sound gadgets no longer have the massive horns or a utilitarian look of the audiophile classics. They’re self-charging now, like Urbanista’s Malibu Bluetooth speaker. This device is portable, and the user can hold it in their hand. It also has a rechargeable battery like the FiiO CP13 cassette player, but a feature the brand prides itself on is the use of solar cell technology. Because of this, the self-charging wireless speaker may never run out of battery, potentially ever, given that it can harness solar power from the surface of the device.

Even the earphones transform over time, and some of them, like Nothing’s CMF Buds, double as fashion statements. In fact, these dust- and waterproof wireless earbuds have a capsule-shaped exterior, so when users put them on, they look like accessories rather than sound gadgets. Fans of audiophile classics may appreciate the active noise cancellation of the listening devices, which can allow them to drown out the exterior sounds, unlike older earphone designs. It’s clear that sound gadgets will keep evolving, and it’s safe to say there are designers who still and will keep the retro features and style for collectors and fans of audiophile classics.

FiiO CP13 Cassette Player | image courtesy of FiiO