“For a long time, the machine itself acted as a gatekeeper”: Teenage Engineering’s new APC-2 wants to make record cutting more accessible than ever

For all the advances in music technology, cutting a vinyl record remains one of the industry’s most exclusive crafts, relying on decades-old machines and a shrinking number of specialists. Teenage Engineering thinks it’s time that changed.

Its answer is the APC-2, a professional record-cutting lathe developed with analogue experts SUPERSENSE. Designed to make vinyl cutting more accessible without compromising on sound quality or craftsmanship, the 104kg, made-to-order machine cuts original playback discs in real time, without the need for a traditional pressing plant.

The APC-2 pairs a stereo feedback cutting head with a direct-drive motor, built-in amplifier and vacuum pump, alongside Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity for remote control and DAW integration.

The goal, says Teenage Engineering, is to “modernise record cutting” by making the process more accessible to artists, studios and small-scale manufacturers.

According to TE, much of today’s vinyl industry still relies on restored vintage lathes such as the Neumann VMS70 and VMS80, while the number of engineers capable of maintaining them continues to dwindle. Building a modern equivalent isn’t simply a matter of copying old designs either, with the cutting head remaining one of the most difficult components to reproduce.

Which is why the company has teamed up with Swiss inventor Flo Kaufmann, whose DIALBA cutting heads are known to rival (or even exceed) the performance of the originals, to create their own professional cutter.

The result is an all-in-one cutting machine that combines the cutting hardware with a vacuum suction system, custom playback tonearm, built-in amplification, power supply and Wi-Fi configuration.

But Teenage Engineering believes the APC-2’s biggest selling point isn’t technical.

“Traditionally, cutting a record meant entering a closed system that required access, approval, a record label, and resources,” the company says. “For a long time, the machine itself acted as a gatekeeper. We hope the APC–2 can begin to remove that barrier. In that sense, the APC–2 modernises record cutting and changes who gets to do it, and how.”

The team behind SUPERSENSE believes that could open the door to an entirely different way of making records.

“It might sound ambitious, but the dream is clear: that this machine will lead to millions of records that would never have existed through traditional pressing plants. We’re not trying to compete with large-scale production. We’re opening up something different.”

Instead of replacing conventional pressing plants, the vision is for the APC-2 to be used for small-batch releases, records cut on demand and even live performances turned into physical records moments after they’ve happened.

“This is about accessibility: small editions, records on demand, different shapes and sizes, made anywhere… It’s about creating a new environment for making records. Not factories, but beautiful spaces where sound can be captured and turned into a physical object in the same moment.”

“I don’t yet know exactly how it scales globally, but that’s the direction. It’s about changing the relationship people have with records. At the same time, we want to introduce the machine slowly, learn from it, and understand how people actually want to use it. What do they make? What do they need? How can we move beyond the limits of the old system?”

Learn more at Teenage Engineering.