- Pro-Project has released a new vinyl surfaces prior to the Record Store Day 2025
- ‘Flat it’ uses temperature -controlled plates to maintain consistency
- These are any vinyl enthusiasts dream but you need deep pockets …
The day when vinyl collectors and music fans are in line outside record stores for new, limited releases are near, and I am one of the brave warriors preparing for battle. That’s right, it’s almost time for the Record Store Day 2025, which lands on April 12, and although the tension by adding new additions to your vinyl collection is a top-level feeling is a basket in the pleasure of box-rumming to rare pre-beloved presses.
Getting your hands on the big LP you’ve been looking for may feel like you’ve hit the jackpot, but Warped Vinyl is at some point inevitable in your collection career. Go into Project and it’s pretty impressive new solution to restore warped vinyl records to their original form so you no longer have to worry about the needle on your tire that doesn’t track through these concentric circles as well as it might.
‘FLATE IT’ (because it’s its name) is the latest piece of vinyl care technology from Pro-Ject, a ‘high quality, durable cabinet’ designed to give back your warped vinyl records the TLC they need and revive their sonic ability from killing, back to FAB. And yes, it’s as expensive as it sounds (£ 749 to be exactly, which is about $ 966 or AU $ 1,529 as a rough guide), but compared to similar products it is a middle price point (ORB DF-01IA+ DISC-Flattener Retails for about twice that). There is no doubt that serious vinyl record collectors will fork for something that promises to keep their vinyl flat using a hysteresis temperature of only 2 degrees Celsius.
Already a trusted hi-fi specialist and producer of some of the best turntables we have had the pleasure of testing, Project is not afraid to take its already very respected status as a sound company and turn up the dial-and-I like it! Although it looks like a massive compact CD player.
No longer stuck in a (time) Varp
So how does it work? Instead of adhering to ordinary vinyl-watering home hacks that could easily go wrong (we would not recommend leaving LPS in a cooling oven), Pro-Project’s ‘Flatten IT’ offers a solution suitable for all vinyl sizes and thicknesses for both relaxed and serious vinyl collectors.
Using only two settings (heating and cooling), temperature controlled plates are used to sandwich the vinyl post together, while a lower setting of only 2 ° C maintains the consistency of the flattening process. Although there are plenty of alternative vinyl recovery products out there you have to admit this is literally Pretty cool, landing just in time for record store day 2025.
Record Store Day doesn’t just have to be about snagging the most exclusive presses, but can be the perfect opportunity to scout albums that don’t kick about much these days. That’s the perfect option, especially when everyone else gets their undivided attention to the upcoming 7 ”Taylor Swift Single …
