For vinyl record lovers, there are few things worse than dropping the needle on a great used record store find (or even new!) only to watch its warped plastic bobble around and around on your turntable. A warped record, if it’s extreme enough, can warble the sound and even cause skips, turning your sweet score into a dinner plate. Well, turntable-makers Pro-Ject Audio thinks it might have the solution with its Flatten It “Vinyl Record Flattening Machine” that it just announced, and if it works as advertised, it could be a godsend for record collectors.
The €799 (U.S.$999), waffle iron-looking device uses low heat and pressure to “gently and safely flatten your vinyl,” the Pro-Ject website says. Using “premium heated aluminium plates for even heat distribution,” the Flatten It uses precise temperature control keeps things in between 56 and 58°C (132.8-136.4°F). Just for context, a record is pressed at a temperature of 160°C (345°F).
To use the Flatten it, all you have to do first give your warped piece of wax a thorough cleaning before putting it in the machine, running it through the two-hour heating cycle, and letting it cool before taking it out. All that sounds easy-peasy compared to the various other ways record collectors have done this over the years, including just putting a record between a pair of heavy books for a couple of weeks, or sandwiching one between a couple panes of glass and baking it in the oven.
Pro-Ject says that the Flatten it will improve playback quality and is compatible with all sizes and thickness of vinyl, although its user guide says that “ultra-thin “Dynaflex” records will require a different flattening time” and that time experimentation will be required. It also says to not use the machine with shellac records, a.k.a. 78s.
The Pro-Ject Flatten It isn’t the first record flattener to arrive on the market. The Record Pi is a similar device that can be had for $250, and there are others that can run upwards of $2,000. The Flatten It not only comes from a company that makes some of the best turntables around, but it’s $999 puts the handy vinyl accessory in a reasonable range for vinyl collectors who likely have several records that could use some warp rehab.
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As far as availability goes, there’s no official word on when or if it will make its way to the States, but we’ll update this post when we hear back from Pro-Ject. In the meantime, more details are available on the company’s website.
