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The distinctive turntable keeps all of its retro appearance while including contemporary conveniences like Bluetooth and USB-C.
Audio-Technica is reissuing the AT-727, a legendary portable record player also known as the Sound Burger, in celebration of the company’s 60th anniversary. This time, it costs $199 and includes a few hardware upgrades for the current era of music listening.
The Sound Burger, formerly known as Mister Disc, was Audio-answer Technica’s to the Sony Walkman for vinyl records. It is a battery-operated turntable into which you can plug headphones that is light enough to carry about and move from room to room.
The limited-edition Sound Burger from 2022 is almost exactly like the original model; it has the same thin clamshell housing just the center of the record, displaying the grooves and tone arm. It can play both 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records, features a changeable ATN3600L cartridge stylus, and has a 3.5mm output for direct analog listening. With this anniversary version, the main changes are that it now uses USB-C for power and has Bluetooth functionality, which makes it a little bit simpler to operate in today’s technological environment.
It’s still difficult to find portable turntables with Bluetooth capabilities. As long as the gadget was placed on a flat, stable surface, I was able to transport it to the park, connect it to my UE Wonderboom Bluetooth speaker, and play many records for a few hours. (Unfortunately, you cannot just carry it around and wander about listening to records.) The Sound Burger’s 12-hour battery life, as advertised by Audio-Technica, was sufficient for me to use it sporadically all weekend long without needing to recharge.
It’s still difficult to find portable turntables with Bluetooth capabilities. As long as the gadget was placed on a flat, stable surface, I was able to transport it to the park, connect it to my UE Wonderboom Bluetooth speaker, and play many records for a few hours. (Unfortunately, you cannot just carry it around and wander about listening to records.) The Sound Burger’s 12-hour battery life, as advertised by Audio-Technica, was sufficient for me to use it sporadically all weekend long without needing to recharge.You might be hesitant to bring your favorite records to an outdoor listening party because, like with the Sound Burger’s ’80s equivalent, the design exposes the entire record to the elements.
The recently re-released Sound Burger is a fantastic tribute to the development of portable sound in all its quirky glory. It also provides promise for the adoption of smaller turntable designs like this, especially in light of the constant growth in vinyl record sales over the previous 10 years. Unfortunately, Audio-Technica has no plans to add Sound Burgers to its roster permanently; there are only 7,000 of them available (and only in red). However, it serves as a reminder that technological innovations from decades past can still provide something unique for the modern music listening experience.
