Every collector has one. The record left too close to the radiator, the promo that spent a summer in the boot of a car, the original pressing that now rises and falls on the platter like a ship in a swell. For years the advice was to live with it or replace it. Orb, the Japanese audio accessories maker, calls its Disc Flattener a signature product, and the DF-01iA+ is its current form. No relation to Alex Paterson’s ambient pioneers, although plenty of copies of Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld could use one.
The principle is straightforward. The record sits between two heaters lined with semiconductor film, which warm the vinyl evenly under uniform pressure, and over a few hours the disc relaxes back to flat. Temperature is regulated automatically, with three heat settings and separate modes for 7 inch and 10 or 12 inch discs. The plus in the name refers to an adapter set for flat-edge pressings without a groove guard, which takes in a good many modern heavyweight releases. Shellac 78s and flexi discs are off the menu.
The unit weighs around 11kg, stands nearly half a metre tall and draws up to 200W. Expect to pay about £1,550 in the UK or US$1,500 in the States, which is a serious sum of cash.
Whether that makes sense depends on what is in your crates. For a casual buyer it is an indulgence. For anyone sitting on warped white labels, deleted pressings or the one copy of a record that never got a repress, it looks less like extravagance and more like insurance.
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