Sock hop meets rave with the retro-styled PTR8UR turntable from Pyle

By Adam Poltrack Published January 25, 2013

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The latest technology is often heralded for ushering in a new era, but sometimes it’s even cooler when it updates a bygone era. Vinyl records went out of fashion with the masses a long time ago, but there is still a nostalgic niche that loves having their favorite music administered via needle.

Pyle audio hopes to reconcile these two realities with its new PTR8UR turntable. The recently unveiled product is an update on old-school style, featuring a 50s-esque exterior with integrated three-inch speakers, LCD screen, SD Card slot and USB port.

If you’re a nostalgist who isn’t totally stuck in the last century, the PTR8UR also lets you digitize your vinyl, converting your tunes to a more modern, portable format.

Speaking of marginalized technologies, the PTR8UR also features an AM/FM radio and display dial for those who’ve yet to board the internet radio bandwagon. It also supports three different record speeds, including 33 1/3, 45, and 78 RPM, and includes a wireless remote.

Pyle Audio’s new/old turntable is available now for $115, a nice price point for a pretty snazzy device. We may kid about adhering to old times, but everyone needs a little dose of the past every now and then.

Contributor

Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…

Audio / Video

The Beats Pill is back, baby!

A pair of Beats Pill speakers.

In what's been one of the worst-kept secrets of the year -- mostly because subtly putting a product into the hands of some of the biggest stars on the planet is no way to keep a secret -- the Beats Pill has returned. Just a couple of years after Apple and Beats unceremoniously killed off the stylish Bluetooth speaker, a new one has arrived.

Available for preorder today in either black, red, or gold, the $150 speaker (and speakerphone, for that matter) rounds out a 2024 release cycle for beats that includes the Solo Buds and Solo 4 headphones, and comes nearly a year after the Beats Studio Pro.

Audio / Video

Ifi’s latest DAC is the first to add lossless Bluetooth audio

Ifi Audio Zen Blue 3 DAC (front).

Ifi Audio's new Zen Blue 3 wireless digital-to-analog converter (DAC) will officially be available to buy for $299 on July 9. When it is, it will be the first device of its kind to support a wide variety of Bluetooth codecs, including Qualcomm's aptX Lossless, the only codec that claims to deliver bit-perfect CD quality audio over a Bluetooth connection.

Admittedly, there are very few devices on the market that can receive aptX Lossless (and fewer that can transmit it), so it's a good thing that the Zen Blue 3 also works with the more widely supported aptX Adaptive, LDAC, and LDHC/HWA codecs (all of which are hi-res audio-capable), plus the three most common codecs: AAC, SBC, and aptX.

Audio / Video

The new Beats Pill might replace Sonos on my back porch

The 2024 Beats Pill and an aging Sonos Play:1.

If I were to build an outdoor stereo in 2024, I'd do it with a pair of portable Beats Pills instead of Sonos speakers. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

In 2017, after more than a decade in our home, my wife and I added a pool. With it came a covered deck, making what basically was a new outdoor room. Not uncommon at all in Florida, but new to us.