Tag Archives: jukebox

LG unveils Retrofuturistic Jukebox at CES 2024 with tube amplifiers and a transparent OLED display

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When LG isn’t making televisions that fold into briefcases, they’re working on other oddball projects like this rather eclectic jukebox that simultaneously relies on vintage vacuum tube amps for retro-style warm audio, and a transparent OLED display on the front that lets you view the album art and control playback, but also see the magical hardware behind. The DukeBox, as LG calls it, will make its grand debut at CES this year, along with other new devices that LG has been teasing in the past.

Designer: LG

The DukeBox is a unique proof of concept for a high-end speaker that rivals the likes of Devialet and B&O when it comes to building an experience around listening to music. It’s vaguely reminiscent of the Lyric Speaker from back in 2017, but instead puts a transparent screen in FRONT of the speaker’s hardware, with the ability to adjust the transparency depending on your mood. The speaker’s highlight remains the tube amplifiers encased within it, although it also boasts a large front-facing speaker at the bottom and a set of 360° tweeters on top that fill your room with booming sound. The display on the front can also be used in a variety of ways, ranging from displaying semi-transparent album art and playback information, to something a little more seasonal like a roaring fireplace. There’s no word on the DukeBox’s pricing, although if LG plans on selling it, expect this retrofuturistic audiophile’s dream to cost a pretty penny.

Image Credits: LG

The post LG unveils Retrofuturistic Jukebox at CES 2024 with tube amplifiers and a transparent OLED display first appeared on Yanko Design.

Spotify Jukebox boasting a curved display brings house parties to your desk

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Spotify has a user base of more than 406 million active users with 180 million subscribers in 184 markets. There’s a reason for the popularity of the music streaming service that other platforms have not achieved yet. The on-point algorithm for suggested music and playlists, user interface and most of all the Spotify Connect feature. The ability to play music and switch from one device to the other seamlessly (without a convoluted Bluetooth connection) is one thing I personally love about Spotify thanks to the Connect function.

While Spotify rules the roost in the audio streaming service market, there’s a compelling reason for the Stockholm-based giant to foray into its own tangible product. A jukebox or a compact audio player is a custom fit for the Spotify interface. Match that with the sublime audio quality – preferably with spatial audio software – and there’s going to be a further increase in the subscriber base in the coming years.

Designer: Design met Pit

This cool jukebox concept dubbed the Spotify Jukebox (or as I like to call it – the Juketify) carries the familiar theme of the audio streaming service’s branding. The light green and black color to be precise. To pep-up things, there is optional light green and off-white color theme as well. The gadget has a modern infusion of the curved display element and the classic radio vibe in the form of the knobs and buttons on top.

The user interface on the Spotify Jukebox is focused on the artist’s album art and the playlist songs. The lyrics appear on the major portion of the screen, so you can sing the song along to satiate your karaoke cravings every now and then. The play/pause, shuffle and battery level indicators allow the user to quickly toggle the options or glance over at the estimated playback time.

The large screen and the round volume button are the irresistible bits of this concept gadget. And yes, of course, it comes with the Connect feature to play from any connected device in a jiffy without any fuzz. I would definitely want to keep it on my work desk, and get that satisfying feeling of working as it plays Lo-Fi playlists with those nostalgic album arts putting me in the zone!

The post Spotify Jukebox boasting a curved display brings house parties to your desk first appeared on Yanko Design.

This vintage Mercedes-Benz engine compartment holds a DIY jukebox for retro lovers!

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Vintage things have their own charm – no doubt collectors fancy them having at any cost, especially if you are a fat-pocketed individual. It is a rarity to please an audiophile, car enthusiast, and vintage collector at the same instance, and this custom jukebox manages to do exactly that.

Designed by British performance art troupe Mutoid Waste Company way back in the 1980s, this piece of DIY is well worth its weight in gold. Music lovers who settle for nothing less than 45 rpm records playing on their vinyl record player or a turntable are surely going to drool all over this creation. Christened the Mercedes-Benz 220 Jukebox, I bet you would not have seen anything like this before. Owning it is a far cry now as it’s already been auctioned for a fat sum of $2,500. But the jukebox fitted inside the front end of a vintage Mercedes-Benz 220 SE is not something you get to see every day. It doubles as a jaw-dropping installation in the living room and when it’s time to listen to some music, one opens the hood and plays the favorite record player for pure bliss.

The niche contraption of the jukebox sits in the engine compartment right under the chopped hood that’s cut in half. All that’s needed is a 220V power source and I hope the current owner has those things sorted and maybe enjoying secluded sessions of music discography sitting right by the side of a fireplace somewhere in a wintery wonderland. Although, back to reality – this one, for now, should encourage motivated DIY’ers to come up with something similar – not necessarily inside the hood of a rare vintage car though!

Designer: Mutoid Waste Company

World’s first mechanical music box to play any song using your smartphone!

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Music boxes bring the tunes of nostalgia back and how! Back in the day they were considered a thoughtful gift and played one song over and over. The intricate details of the music box made it a collectible for years, it came in so many playful themes like horses on a carousel or a piano and I always loved watching the strings pop up and down when it played songs. While music boxes have gathered dust and music streaming apps have taken over, we don’t have to choose between the past and the present – Muro Box, the first app-controlled music box, brings the best of both back to you!

Not only does Muro Box play any song you like, but you can also make your own songs. Think of it as a cross between a speaker and a music box that can be synced to your playlists to give you a unique experience that will bring back memories (and make new ones!). It is the world’s first mechanical music box that can be controlled via your smartphone. All you have to do is upload your playlists to the Muro Box app and the music box will turn it up. Compose your own tunes or get guided lessons by musicians on the app. Apart from helping you compose music and store your playlists in an unlimited free cloud service, Muro Box also serves as an alarm clock and who wouldn’t like to be woken up by the soothing string chimes instead of your blaring smartphone?

It can play as fast as 4 beats per second for the same note, which is consecutive eight notes at BPM 120. The basic unit of notes in Muro Box is an eighth note (quaver). Muro Box allows 7 notes to be plucked at the same time as the maximum. According to the Music Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), the scale of Muro Box is between C3 to A5 (C4-A6 in American standard), so it includes about 2.5 octaves and currently features a 20-note version using a diatonic scale which will be upgraded to a 40-note version with more semitones for professional musicians.

“We invented the world’s first app-controlled cylinder for Muro Box to make your dream come true: one music box that plays all of your favorite songs. Our patented design breaks the limitation of a traditional music box but still preserves the resonance and sound generated from a mechanical movement,” says the design team. You can also access 30,000+ music box melodies shared by the 22500+ music box fans around the world, on your Muro Box! The compact form and the warm wooden aesthetic is a timeless look for this nostalgia-inducing music player and I can continue staring at those dancing strings all day. I do wonder how Cardi B’s songs will sound on this.

Designer: Chen-Hsiang Feng & Shiao-Chen Tsai of Muro Box

Click Here to Buy Now: $330 $535 (38% off). Hurry, only 90/500 left! Raised over $251,137!

Continous music

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muro box

An inclusive speaker design that lets the blind see through music

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Sometimes we can take the gift of sight for granted – we are fortunate to be reading this right now but we forget that vision is used beyond just reading too. Think about it, to listen to music we use an app to select a genre or skip a song, to cook we use a recipe book or Google it quickly which shows that we are dependent on our sight even to make the most of our other sensory experiences! Stephen Ow and Kah Kiat wanted this feeling to be accessible to all so they created ‘Note’ – a book that is a mixtape for the visually impaired or the blind. I love the name Note, it strikes the right ‘chord’ with the music and book lovers!

Note is basically a smart speaker but in the shape of a book. Why shaped like a book? Because it is one of the first things that the visually impaired/blind demographic would be likely to pick up for education or entertainment thanks to Braille’s global use. Hence, Note combines the inherent behavior (gestures one makes when reading a book) with the language they know to give them the ability to listen to music without having the need to “see” the screen of an app. You may wonder why not use a voice-controlled smart speaker? The designers wanted to make a device with a personal touch rather than relying on the gift of speech that the user may or may not have, so to make this accessible to every kind of blind person, Note was given its unique form and function.

The book inspired jukebox is created on the pillars of inclusive design that optimizes the users’ existing skillset and especially focusing on “touch” which is crucial for the visually impaired. Books are easier to operate than speakers because they don’t require any set-up. The user can flip a page for a new genre or flip back to play another song. A cool feature is how the volume control works – it is adjusted on how wide the book is opened. The pages are double-hinged which allows for a small electrical box to be placed in the device for sensors and switches inspired by how we open musical greeting cards. Each page has the details in Braille so the user can enjoy their music independently and that itself is a moment they must treasure given that almost every other activity involves assistance.

It is truly the little things that give joy in life, like seeing music and reading through speakers!

Designers: Stephen Ow and Kah Kiat

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This Handmade Jukebox Uses a Card Scanner to Select Tracks

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Designer Chris Patty may have won Christmas. This year, his family decided all the gifts they gave each other had to be handmade. He decided to make his dad a fancy jukebox with some classic tunes inside.

This isn’t a jukebox like you’d see in a ’50s diner mind you, it’s more like a wooden cigar box with a computer inside. What makes it truly unique is the way that you select tunes to play on it. He connected a card reader to the Raspberry Pi, and programmed it to choose the song based on magnetic stripe information recorded on each card.

The system limits the listener to the specific songs that Chris has created cards for, but from the looks of it, there are lots of songs to enjoy. Patty has promised a tutorial for people wanting to build their own jukeboxes is coming, and is also working on a Kickstarter for a version you can buy for yourself. You can sign up for more information on the project here.

[via The Verge via Mashable]

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TARDIS Jukebox Made from Recycled Shipping and Pizza Boxes

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It all started when David Prouty’s daughter challenged him to make something out of recycled boxes for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary. Not one to pass on a challenge, David set out to create something unique. Something awesome. A TARDIS jukebox.
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This is a 1/3 scale TARDIS that literally rocks. It has disco lights, sound activated LED’s, a smoke machine and an internal Bluetooth speaker. It is powered by a wireless remote and he can even connect his iPod or iPhone to it and he has an instant jukebox.

It was made out of old U-Haul, FedEx, and pizza boxes. Hell, the old Doctor Who series could have used David’s construction skills. This guy knows how to make something on a budget and make it look amazing.

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It sure looks great for something made of pizza boxes. Great work, David.

[via Geekosystem via Nerd Approved]

Social Jukebox Music Player: Russian Song Roulette

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There are lots of different ways of sharing your music. This idea, created by Andrew Pairman of the Digital Interaction Design at the University of Dundee, is definitely unique. Each user has a wooden token that contains an RFID chip, on which you’ll find a personalized playlist. The Social Jukebox does the rest.

social jukebox music player

Users place their tokens to play tracks randomly from their lists. There isn’t a skip function, forcing everyone to listen to all of the music being played. That could be both good and bad, I suppose. Good for discovery, bad when you don’t like the current tune. Andrew says that this was like when people listened to music on a jukebox decades ago.

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The device is controlled by an Arduino board and a servo motor. The RFID tags are linked to a Spotify playlist.

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The idea sounds interesting, but I’d like to see a device that would work through Bluetooth and connect with everyone’s smartphone to play music that’s on there through a centralized amp and speaker system.

[via designboom]


Dads and Grads Gift Guide 2012: The iPod Jukebox

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The iPod Jukebox is available at Hammacher Schlemmer for $1,200. It is that time of year again time for students all over to start graduating from High School and College. It is also getting close...