Yamaha’s MusicCast Vinyl 500 is a WiFi-equipped turntable that can stream your records

With vinyl well and truly revived, it was only a matter of time before someone made a turntable for those who love the old-school thrill of physical music but have a very modern hatred of all cables. Yamaha’s MusicCast Vinyl 500 ticks both boxes. Easily one of the most interesting devices unveiled at IFA 2018. It’s a record player with WiFi, meaning it can stream your vinyl collection wirelessly to Yamaha’s MusicCast 20 speakers, or one or two of the bigger MusicCast 50s. No receiver is required, and if you chuck in a subwoofer you’ve got yourself a 2.1 setup. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s absolutely rammed with additional connectivity: Bluetooth and AirPlay are both supported, and if you want to listen to something that isn’t an old Beatles LP, you can stream from services like Spotify, Tidal, Deezer and more. Alexa’s along for the ride too, because of course she is. The MusicCast Vinyl 500 will cost just shy of $700 when it launches in the US in September, so expect to pay a fair whack when it arrives on these shores.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns