Teenage Engineering has broadened the potential of radio with the OB-4, encouraging users to have a more creative relationship with this traditional media.
It’s finally here. After a lot of teasing from Teenage Engineering, the Swedish company has released the OB-4: a radio, instrument and speaker all in one. It’s an intriguing and sometimes baffling concept that Teenage Engineering has labelled a ‘media instrument’.
It’s outside of the norm for Teenage Engineering (well, if there is such a thing for this company), who is best known for manufacturing groundbreaking musical tools such as the OP-1. The trademark design expertise and individuality of Teenage Engineering, however, is well and truly represented in the OB-4.
The central feature of the OB-4 is its manual rewind with an integrated motor, that allows the user to rewind back to any audio played in the previous two hours. The playback feature can be applied to any form of audio, including live radio, Bluetooth or a plugged-in instrument. This is where the OB-4 becomes an instrument itself, by giving the user creative control to time stretch, loop and edit the audio playback.
Other surprising features include a metronome and an ‘ambient player’, which actually creates ambient soundscapes from snippets of radio broadcasts. Plus, the OB-4 has a handle and average battery life of 40 hours, making it a useful portable speaker.
To find out more go to the Teenage Engineering website.
