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Teenage Engineering breaks out radio, instrument and speaker mashup

Teenage Engineering breaks out radio, instrument and speaker mashup
The OB-4 combines an FM radio, Bluetooth speaker and experimental sound lab
The OB-4 combines an FM radio, Bluetooth speaker and experimental sound lab
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The OB-4 combines an FM radio, Bluetooth speaker and experimental sound lab
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The OB-4 combines an FM radio, Bluetooth speaker and experimental sound lab
The beautifully simple interface up top includes digital motion-controlled volume knob and "tape reel"
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The beautifully simple interface up top includes digital motion-controlled volume knob and "tape reel"
The "magic radio" includes a feature that records everything listened to for the last 2 hours, allowing the user to skip back and replay content
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The "magic radio" includes a feature that records everything listened to for the last 2 hours, allowing the user to skip back and replay content
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Sweden's Teenage Engineering already has a bit of a rep for out-of-the-box-thinking, but is perhaps best known for its digital instruments. Now the firm has added a radio into the mix for the Ortho Book 4.

The OB-4 portable audio entertainment hub rocks 38-W per channel output from the two 4-inch bass drivers and two neodymium tweeters with a frequency range of 52 Hz to 25 kHz and 92-dB SPL.

Users can tune into an FM radio, with a small matrix display above the dials to the left of the simple user interface that shows station info, and a smart spiral antenna integrated into the handle reported to ensure good reception. The handle can also double as a kickstand of sorts.

The device features a nifty looping feature that continuously records everything listened to for the last 2 hours, and makes it available for replay or repeated loop – allowing you to rewind to the beginning of a live radio track to hear it being introduced or to play your favorite music again and again.

The beautifully simple interface up top includes digital motion-controlled volume knob and "tape reel"
The beautifully simple interface up top includes digital motion-controlled volume knob and "tape reel"

The final ingredient in Teenage Engineering's OB-4 recipe is a media instrument, which currently offers drone sounds compiled from snippets of radio broadcasts, something called the karma, which is described as a 30-in-1 musical mantra box and designed to help with yoga and relaxation, and a metronome feature. Other sonic experiments from the company's public research space will be added over time.

The device currently features "Bluetooth classic" with AAC codec support for streaming music from a compatible source such as a smartphone, but Bluetooth 5 LE will be added in the coming months, and a 3.5-mm line-in jack for feeding in audio from an external source via cable connection. And the LiPo battery is reckoned good for up to 8 hours of continuous use as full blast, or up to 72 hours at lower volumes.

The 232.5 x 284 x 57.5-mm (9.1 x 11.1 x 2.26-in), 1.7-kg (3.74-lb) "magic radio" is fashioned from fiber glass, polycarbonate and aluminum, and is on sale now. Prices start at US$599. The video below has more.

OB–4 the magic radio

Product page: OB-4

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