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Home / Hot Stuff / Teenage Engineering’s PO-80 lets you cut your own records

Teenage Engineering’s PO-80 lets you cut your own records

It’s the vinyl countdown

In the neverending battle to be the alpha hipster in your local artisan vape café, it’s no longer enough to have the most painstakingly groomed ‘tache, smoke the most unusual pipe, or have the most esoteric collection of Laser Discs. No, the arrival of Teenage Engineering’s PO-80 means you’re going to have to start producing your own vinyl too. 

Despite its Fisher Price vibes, this little USB-powered gadget allows you to cut 5in records with up to four minutes of music on each side (or three minutes at 45rpm) – all you need to do is connect an audio source to the 3.5mm input, whether that’s an instrument like one of TE’s pocket-sized synths, or an iPad or laptop containing a more fully formed track. There’s even a web-based mastering machine that gets your tunes ready for their analogue debut.

Obviously you won’t impress any audiophiles with the lo-fi sound quality of your monophonic cuts, especially if you play them through the built-in speaker, but the kit also comes with an adaptor that allows you to play pre-recorded 7in vinyl on it, so you can stick on something obscure by Hairy Terror and pretend it’s one of your own. You can also use the 3.5mm socket to plug in an external speaker for a bit more oomph. 

The DIY approach doesn’t just apply to making the records. You have to build the PO-80 yourself, so make sure you’ve got a screwdriver handy. It comes with five blank records but once you’ve used those up you can order packs of 10 from Teenage Engineering’s website for £20. A new cutting head will set you back just £15. 

The PO-80 is available to buy for £149, although it’s currently sold out, so you’ll have to record some new tunes while you wait for more stock. Planet of the Vapes won’t know what hit it.

Profile image of Tom Wiggins Tom Wiggins Contributor

About

Stuff's second Tom has been writing for the magazine and website since 2006, when smartphones were only for massive nerds and you could say “Alexa” out loud without a robot answering. Over the years he’s written about everything from MP3s to NFTs, played FIFA with Trent Alexander-Arnold, and amassed a really quite impressive collection of USB sticks.

Areas of expertise

A bit of everything but definitely not cameras.