#HTE

Teenage Engineering’s Minimalist OB-4 Magic Radio Features Some Nifty Tricks

The OB-4 Magic Radio from Teenage Engineering is essentially a powerful Bluetooth speaker with several bonus features.

It can be used via Bluetooth or line-in, can receive radio stations, and can also be switched to a “disk” mode with three “channels:”

“Ambient” creates a soundscape plucked from the air by digitally mixing incoming broadcast frequencies.

“Metronome” plays just what you think, and you can set it from 1 beat per minute to, well, 800.

“Karma” is a series of 30 channels that each play a repetitive chanting noise.

The handle can be flipped forward to serve as a stand.

There’s also an unusual feature whereby you can remix live music by manipulating the knobs. By the written description on the website I could not understand what they meant, and only grasped it (and the “disk” mode) by watching the demonstration below:

The additional antenna is pretty clever, no?

The matte black OB-4 retails for $599, while the gloss red model goes for $649.