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Home / Hot Stuff / Audio / The OB-4 is a ‘magic radio’ from Teenage Engineering that can alter the airwaves

The OB-4 is a ‘magic radio’ from Teenage Engineering that can alter the airwaves

It's a kind of magic

Teenage Engineering has launched a new speaker that looks about as bread-and-butter as they come. It’s a matte black box with some useful inputs including Bluetooth, a built-in FM radio and a smattering of buttons and dials. It has two 4in bass drivers, a pair of neodymium tweeters, and a snazzy handle so you can carry it around. Much like the denizens of Cybertron, however, this little gadget is more than meets the eye. You see, the OB-4 (£599) has a hidden superpower. It’s actually a ‘magic radio’ that memorises everything you listen to on a two hour looping tape, allowing users to rewind, time-stretch, and loop radio playback with a flick of their fingertip. It’s an ability that has Teenage Engineering referring to the OB-4 an a ‘media-instrument,’ and the company has pledged to keep adding more experimental features to the device that’ll be accessible when in ‘disk mode.’ Right now, disk mode offers three functions – ambient, karma, and metronome – which, among other things, can be used to generate ambient drone tracks by piecing together snippets of radio broadcasts or record high def stereo tracks at 1 beat per minute, up to 800. If that’s what it’s capable of at launch, imagine what it’ll be able to do in a few months’ time.

Profile image of Chris Kerr Chris Kerr Contributor, Stuff.tv

About

I’m a freelance games and technology journalist currently mashing my keyboard in the name of fine institutions like Stuff, where you'll usually find me waxing lyrical about the latest mobile morsels. I've also been known to cook up some decidedly delicious reviews from time to time, and was once dubbed 'the games industry's answer to Nigella Lawson' by someone probably somewhere.

Areas of expertise

Video games, computing, smartphones, home entertainment, lamps