Phonocut Your Own Vinyl
Image Credit: Phonocut
With the recent rise in the popularity of vinyl and the rapid advancement of technology this just had to happen!
The Phonocut is an analog vinyl lathe, the first consumer device capable of cutting custom vinyl records right there in your home – on demand.
The device (lathe) cuts 10-inch vinyl records at 33 1/3RPM. Each side can hold about 10 to 15 minutes of audio. It is also a connected device with a companion app that helps with formatting and song arrangement to better fit your music onto the two sides. The Phonocut was designed for simplicity and ease of use by anybody. All you have to do is plug in an audio cable to its 1/8″ stereo mini jack and press record. The machine does everything else – it optimises the audio for cutting, including groove width and depth.
The platter is spun using a high-torque direct-drive motor and the diamond stylus cutter is said to be able to cut about 100 records before it needs replacement.
The machine cuts the vinyl in real time. As the music plays, the diamond stylus etches the sound wave straight into the surface of the vinyl. You could cut any audio you want on the vinyl from a custom playlist to that demo record that wins you that sought after recording contract with the ‘big’ boys. After a half hour of cutting, you’re all done and ready to listen to it on your vinyl playback system.
In the past cutting even a small number of vinyl records was rather expensive as the process is the same whether for 1 or 1000 records.
There are no technical specifications yet like frequency response, distortion, dynamic range etc. Nor do we know what the cut vinyl surface noise will be like or how much the vinyl blanks cost (rumored at approx. $10.00). I look forward to the first full technical review.
For the next day or so Phonocut can be found on Kickstarter at the special preorder price of €999, approx $1199.00. Apparently the company doesn’t plan to ship the first units until December 2020. That may be a ways off but a lot sooner than that phone call asking you to come into the studio to cut your first demo.
Gimmick or not? Only time and its release will tell, but maybe it will raise the awareness of vinyl to yet even greater heights.
See here for details on direct to disc recording and the infamous Sheffield Lab Mastering House.
