Ins & outs

RECORD MAKER Ever wanted to cut your own vinyl at home? Phonocut is a new machine that enables you to do precisely that. It uses 10-inch discs and does its stuff in three simple steps: just put the vinyl on the platter, connect up an audio input and hit Start. Job done.

SPREADBEAT Taking the tedium out of rows and columns, Dylan Tallchief has ha performed the clever trick of creating an ‘Excel drum machine’. Patterns can be created by dropping Xs in cells, and the resulting grooves outputted via MIDI. Sounds like fun ‘work’ to us.

FIX IT IN THE LIVE MIX Sick of not getting the audio mix you want at a gig? Peex rX, currently being used on Elton John’s farewell tour, could be the solution. This lets you create your own headphone mix using an app, so you get the sound you want, wherever sitting or (still) standing.

TAPE STOP

The cassette revival could be e under threat – not because of a lack of demand, but a worldwide shortage of of gamma ferric oxide, used in the production of magnetic tape. Retro format fashionistas will be relieved to learn that more supplies are on the way soon.

NOT TAKEN OFF

So, we’ve finally hit November 2019, the year of Blade Runner, but while Vangelis’ soundtrack still sounds as fresh as a daisy – in fact, it might actually never have been more in vogue – we’re still waiting for those flying cars. Maybe in 2049?

THE PRICE OF PRO-GRESS

Apple’s AirPods Pro earphones es certainly look impressive, and d we’re sure that they sound pretty ettyty good too, but can we really bring ourselves to pay $249 for something so tiny that we’ll probably lose it within a week? Probably not.