Audio-Technica’s Retro “Sound Burger” Turntable Returns

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Audio-Technica is launching a collection of limited-edition turntables, headphones, and cartridges. But most notably, this collection includes the “Sound Burger,” a famous portable turntable originally produced in the early 1980s.

The Sound Burger (also called Mister Disc in some markets) is basically a Walkman for vinyl records. It’s impressively lightweight and portable, and it uses a unique spring mechanism to hold records in place. Of course, Sound Burger needs to sit on a flat surface to play records, so it isn’t something you can take on your morning commute.

Audio-Technica added some modern technology to the new Sound Burger, including a rechargeable battery, a USB-C port, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 3.5mm jack (which replaces the traditional RCA outputs). Note that the Sound Burger can play full-sized LPs or singles at 33-1/3 and 45 RPM.

Along with the resurrected Sound Burger, Audio-Technica’s 60th anniversary collection includes a new transparent turntable (AT-LP2022), a $9,000 gold phono cartridge, and two pairs of woodgrain headphones (ATH-W2022, ATH-WB2022). All of these products, aside from the Sound Burger, are shockingly expensive.

You can purchase the Audio-Technica Sound Burger today for $199. That’s a pretty great price, as original Sound Burger turntables (which are forty years old and may not work properly) now run for several hundred dollars on eBay.