What is it?
A vinyl turntable with added high-resolution recording.
Hardcore music fanatics will tell you vinyl has never really gone away despite the uptake in digital downloads.
A quick straw poll among family and friends, however, deduces that for a long time record players were kept for mainly sentimental reasons, kitsch decoration purposes although largely consigned – now with some regret – to car boots, jumble sales or gathering dust in the loft.
The convenience of portable iPods that can hold your entire music collection seduced most of us during the early noughties but in recent years vinyl has enjoyed a glorious resurgence and rocketing sales.
Gone is the cringe factor of vinyl as the domain of the chin-stroking poser brigade. Sony are helping bring a generation of millennial music lovers into the light – as well as rekindling the love of baby boomers and Gen X alike – by combining the old and new with the PS-HX500.
Good Points?
The simple black design satisfies the modern technology geek in me but still maintains a familiar retro feel that stays true to its roots. The device feels sturdy and won't move or scratch a vinyl even if the platform is accidentally knocked.
The PS-HX500 is also the only turntable to offer the ability to rip your collection in double-DSD format and transfer it to your phone or other digital player.
Bad points?
At nearly double the price of its rivals, it's not going to appeal to everyone.
Best for ...
Those not willing to compromise on the quality of recordings transferred to portable music players.
Avoid if ...
The extent of your needs is to play the odd record and have it look pretty.
Score: 8/10.
Sony PS-HX500, £299.99 (sony.co.uk)
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