Developed as an art project by artist/educator Jesse England, Universal Record is a device that allows any audio source to be played on a turntable. Using a Bluetooth audio receiver coupled with an acoustic transducer that vibrates a vinyl disc, the unit functions through vibration.
Even better, when you hit the start button the turntable, Universal Record simulates record crackle, thus merging the worlds of analog and digital in an interesting way.
England posted the following about why he embarked on the project:
Universal Record is a device which allows any audio to be played through a contemporary turntable. It contains a Bluetooth audio receiver connected to an acoustic transducer, which vibrates the vinyl disc which the needle sits upon. Its function is similar to aux-cable cassette adapters.
With this project, I ask: In the record listening experience, how important is the still environment and kinetic spectacle? With modern tangible media supplanted by cross-platform, network-based storage and playback, is contemporary record and turntable ownership a novelty, or an effort towards meditative stability?