There’s no shame in saying that you prefer to listen to your music on vinyl. Though it may sound like the kind of sentence that would spew forth from the mouth of a pretentious art student who, despite their end-of-year project centering around the perils of capitalism, will more than likely wind up working in Topshop within the next 3 years, I think we can all agree among ourselves that it is a statement of fact.
There’s just something nice about listening to music on vinyl, whether it’s that sweet crackle you hear when you drop the needle, or the fact that playing music on a record player requires more of your attention than effortlessly loading up a playlist on Spotify. Saying that you prefer vinyls over MP3s no longer leads those you’re in conversation with to conjure up images of you wandering around Shoreditch wearing thick-rimmed glasses and a cape, and that’s a good thing.
The TOC Standing Record Player boasts an inventive and downright gorgeous walnut design that brings the record player into the 21st century, whilst still retaining the charm that has seen the medium experience a sales boom in recent years. Whereas record players have historically been bulky contraptions that take up a significant amount of room in your living space, the TOC can fit neatly alongside your other home entertainment appliances, with it sure to become an interesting talking piece when you place it next to your TV.
The TOC boasts 7, 10 and 12-inch vinyl support, with a series of buttons along its sides allowing users to select between them. It also has a button which controls the speed of your records, with the stylus that is used to play the vinyls being neatly tucked inside its egg-shaped shell.
The player has stereo audio output along with two USB inputs that allows a smartphone, PC or flash drive that will allow users to capture music on the device as it is playing, as the TOC can successfully convert music from analog, its default audio format, to digital. There’s also a 12V power input for an external transformer.
The TOC was designed by industrial designer Roy Harpaz, who states that it was “created with two main aspects in mind: easy use with a clean and simple design.” Unfortunately, Harpaz hasn’t yet gone into production with the TOC, and hasn’t made any announcements regarding when/if it’ll eventually go on sale. Given how much we want to get our hands on one, though, you’d have to imagine that this thing’ll be on store shelves in the future.
