John Darko
If a vinyl record’s first nemesis is dust – against which we use a record cleaning machine – then its second must be warping. Sometimes those warped records are used, but sometimes they are new. And if returning a warped record is a logistical pain, Pro-Ject wants to pull on your coat about its latest product: the Flatten It; a device that, according to the Austrian manufacturer, will gently and slowly return a warped record to its former pancake-like glory.
The Flatten It runs its “precise temperature control” inside a solid metal case that’s made in Europe.
From the press release: “Flatten it gently and safely restores records to their original shape using precision-heated aluminium plates with accurate temperature control. This ensures even heating across the record’s surface, helping to reverse warping without risk of damage. It maintains stable and consistent performance with a low-temperature hysteresis of just 2°C.”
Hysteresis? “The phenomenon in which the value of a physical property lags behind changes in the effect causing it”. In the case of Pro-Ject’s Flatten It, it’s the unit’s temperature lag.
Price? €799 or US$999.
However, neither the EU nor the UK press release says how long the vinyl flattening process takes. I guess that’s for reviewers to find out. Sign me up.
Further information: Pro-Ject
