We’re only one week into 2016 and it’s already shaping up to be a pretty damn exciting year for turntable lovers. Just yesterday at CES 2016 in Las Vegas there was the big news that Panasonic is bringing back the beloved Technics 1200. And now, in case that wasn’t enough for you, Sony has announced the impending arrival of its new PS-HX500 turntable. The deal with this baby is that not only does it deliver high-quality audio in and of itself, it allows you to convert the analog signals of your records into hi-res digital files, offering audiophile-quality digital sound that captures the classic warmth and depth of vinyl.
So you may be wondering how this mystical feat is accomplished. Well, apparently, the signals can made into your choice of two different formats. You can save them as either 24-bit WAV files or else you can make use of some proprietary Sony technology to turn them into DSD files. The turntable comes with a free “hi-res audio recorder” app in order to facilitate the process. It’s too soon to tell what the price for this puppy will turn out to be, but an educated guess is that price won’t exactly be bargain-basement. In any case, we should find out soon, it’s said that the PS-HX500 should show up sometime this spring.