Table of contents for March 2020 in Stuff UK

I’ve become obsessed with Fighter Pilot: The Real Top Gun on ITV4. The show follows the misfortunes of the RAF’s 207 Squadron as it attempts to get to grips with the new £9bn F-35 Lightning jets. Except, instead of being scrambled to intercept baddies, the pilots spend most of their time on the Tarmac trying to log in to the plane. It’s a stark reminder that, while the Internet of Things is very much a thing in 2020, so is the Internet of S*** (worth a Twitter follow), and not everything ‘online’ is good. In this issue of Stuff you won’t find any fighter jets requiring a firmware update – just the perfect platforms and essential tech for starting your smart home odyssey. And if you’re still hankering for something…

£1999 / samsung.com Describing something as ‘the most interesting wardrobe we’ve ever seen’ doesn’t sound like much. But when Samsung’s AirDresser wants to do our laundry for us… • Killing in the name of As much as we enjoy strolling out of the house smelling of flowery detergent, Samsung’s latest smart home invention is designed to reduce trips to the washing machine. The AirDresser is a wardrobe that uses jets of air to loosen and remove ingrained dust from your favourite garms, while a jet of steam kills bacteria and heat dries everything slowly. • A delicate subject Samsung isn’t saying throw out your washing machine, but fewer washes means less stress on fabrics, prolonging the life of your clothes. Suits, coats, wool, down, leather, denim, babywear, bedding and toys…

£N/A (concept) / audi.co.uk What’s going on here? The CES exhibition can be a bit embarrassing for the big car brands. It’s the trade-show equivalent of your dad trying to lecture you on the current drill music scene. Mercedes-Benz, for example, released a concept car based on Avatar that featured 33 ‘bionic flaps’. Because, you know, we all need bionic flaps in our lives. And so Audi has fallen for the same totally awks trap? Not quite, because this little AI:ME concept not only looks like an autonomous electric vehicle we’d happily spend money on – it also boasts some neat tech inside. Tech that can transport us to the mysterious world of Pandora? No, that’s in the Merc… probably. The Audi will check your vital stats and state of…

ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS XB1, PC The original Ori and the Blind Forest was gorgeous, lovely and heartbreaking – and this sequel is set to continue that emotional approach. Expect more side-scrolling action in a dreamy world, this time with new attacks and massive bosses plus plenty more in the mix. Be ready to weep. BLEEDING EDGE XB1, PC Hellblade maker Ninja Theory is on some raucous energy with Bleeding Edge, a 4v4 team-based melee brawler with a wildly diverse cast (including a granny) packing a wide array of abilities. It looks like the Overwatch version of an arcade beat-’em-up. GEARS TACTICS XB1, PC Gears 5 gave the franchise fresh life, and now Tactics is coming to take things in an entirely different direction. Rather than run-and-gun,…

Remember Vine? Without its six-second video loops the world might never have been introduced to the haunting Duck Army, Limmy’s Frosty Jack’s series, or this shocking revelation about what really powers Tesla’s Model S. When are you going to come clean, Elon? Vine shut down in 2017, but its co-creator has spent the past couple of years working on Byte, hoping it’ll challenge TikTok as the go-to place for short, quirky videos. It’s just a pity the name sounds like a TV show about tech aimed at pensioners. Rebyting is like retweeting, so you can amplify the clips you like most, and it keeps the old tap-to-record mechanic. That makes creating your masterpiece simple, which was always Vine’s greatest strength.…

SUBSCRIBE TO STUFF MAGAZINE AND RECEIVE YOUR FIRST 3 ISSUES FOR JUST £5! YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL THEN CONTINUE AT A RATE OF £19.99 EVERY 6 MONTHS, SAVING 38%*. SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Receive your first 3 issues for £5 Continue to save 38%* off the cover price Have each issue delivered directly to your door Never miss an issue of the world’s greatest gadget mag SUBSCRIBE TODAY! ONLINE shop.kelsey.co.uk/STU021 CALL US 01959 543747 Please quote STU021 Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm (calls charged at your standard network rate) Offer ends 31 March 2020 DIGITAL Pay just £37.99 for a 13-issue digital subscription: shop.kelsey.co.uk/stuff Terms and conditions: Offer available for UK direct debit customers only. You will pay £5 for your first 3 issues then continue to pay £19.99 every 6 months. For overseas…

Google Nest Hub Max £219 / store.google.com The Google Home platform won’t just boss your connected abode – it’ll be an incessant pedant/nagging know-it-all when it comes to trivia thanks to its unrivalled Google Assistant voice search capabilities. It can’t match Alexa for the sheer number of integrated devices, but is still compatible with a bewildering 10,000-plus gadgets – and if you happen to be an iOS user there’s a dedicated app for you too. The tech giant hasn’t had it easy when it comes to hardware, but bringing Nest branding to the fore for its current smart-home line-up feels reassuring, and no more so than on the Nest Hub Max. The smart display acts as a dutiful central control point without forcing you to reach for your mobile and…

NOW ADD THESE • IKEA SYMFONISK This lamp looks and sounds great. Created by Ikea and Sonos, it has a built-in Play:1 speaker that can fill a room and will work with your wider audio setup. Available in black or white, its design blends easily with most modern rooms, though the low wattage means it’s only good for bedtime reading or accent lighting. £150 / ikea.com • LIFX SWITCH This wall-mounted accessory understands that you can’t necessarily afford to replace all the lights of your house at once, so the four-way bank of switches can control both smart and dumb bulbs. A built-in control module let’s you use cloud-based features like scheduling and voice commands. $119 / lifx.com • NANOLEAF LEARNING SERIES Rather than having to tell your lights to…

• Pigment A giant of the genre, Pigment has plenty of pages to attack if you take out a sub – over 5000 for £55 a year – and a decent selection of freebies if you don’t. Art varies from dour landscapes to Disney stills (a sister Marvel app exists if you think you can do better than comic colourists). The colouring bit is solid, with suitably authentic tools, and endless zoom without any loss of line detail. £free (IAPs) / Android, iOS • April Coloring If the thought of having to select hues fills you with dread, try April’s ‘painting by numbers’ approach to digital colouring. Tap parts of the pic, scribble away, and before long you’ll have virtual coins lobbed in your general direction, later used to unlock…

iRIG When you want to unleash your axe but don’t want to deafen the neighbours, plug it into your phone with an iRig. Just make sure you buy the right model for your device. IK Multimedia also does some neat mics and MIDI keyboards. from £35 / ikmultimedia.com SENNHEISER MOMENTUM WIRELESS 3 Earbuds? AirPods? Maybe on the bus, but when you’re crafting your next hit you need cans on your lugs. These sound superb, and come with a 3.5mm cable so you can go wired and avoid any latency issues. £349 / sennheiser.com RUARK MR1 Mk2 You probably won’t be splashing out several grand on monitors; but if you get into mixing and mastering, you’ll need more than headphones. These are quite dinky but pack a punch, and give you…

Apple Watch Series 5 from £379 / stuff.tv/WatchS5 There’s no great secret to Apple’s continuing smartwatch domination: it’s all down to a seamless relationship between hardware and software, plus impressive health features that other makers still haven’t been able to match. But while the Series 5 isn’t as significant an upgrade as the previous model, it does have one key addition: an always-on display. Also new is a compass, while the watchOS 6 update adds a host of tricks that make the Watch even smarter than it was already. Stuff says This is a minor upgrade on S4, but an always-on display makes the best smartwatch even better Apple Watch Series 4 from £349 / stuff.tv/WatchS4 Series 5 is the new king, but the old model remains a great option.…

Sky Q from £20 + £22/month / stuff.tv/SkyQ Sky Q works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV – especially now 4K’s arrived. With Sky Movies’ huge range of films and Sky Sports in stunning Ultra HD, along with the new addition of Netflix, there’s something for everyone to treat their eyes with. And 2TB of storage means you can record 350 hours’ worth of entertainment, so you’re unlikely to be sweating over which show needs deleting. Factor in its multiroom skills, and Sky Q is undoubtedly the best TV experience you can get. Stuff says You’ll have to cough up for a subscription, but this is the best box for watching both live and recorded shows Amazon Fire TV Cube £110 / stuff.tv/FireTVCube The Fire TV interface…

I FELT ELECTRICITY WITH A CLASSY SWEDISH MODEL Gothenburg ain’t the place to be in February if you want a tan. It is, however, exactly where you should be to learn how Volvo plans to make 50% of its cars electric by 2025 – in a country where running out of range could leave you stranded in one of the world’s harshest landscapes. I got behind the wheel of the pure-leccy XC40, played with a new Android infotainment system, and discovered Volvo has developed a special spooky sound for its electrified cars. More on this soon. James Day, Editor-in-Chief I USED FACEBOOK AS A GLOBAL PUPPY TRACKER Admittedly this isn’t the techiest thing anyone has done this month, but who cares when it gives us an excuse to print a…

1 Beats and Loops £2.99 / Android, iOS Like a set of virtual guitar pedals, this app has you swing your foot above the screen to trigger beats and record loops. Just don’t forget you’re not using an actual pedal and stamp on your phone. 2 Miary £free (IAPs) / Android, iOS Almost the flip of Moodflow, this app combines mood-tracking and journalling but focuses on the latter. So as you jot down events, you add mood icons for each one that can later be tracked and perused. 3 Recordart 99p / Android Like vinyl’s artistry? Find it tricky to lug an actual record deck around? Then try this app, which sticks a spinning disc of joy – complete with art – on your home screen, updating as tracks change.…

NOW ADD THESE • AMAZON ECHO DOT This entry-level Echo is the easiest way of adding Alexa to your home. It’s great for newbies looking to get a taste of the automation action or to extend Alexa’s reach to another room. It has only middling sound quality, but there is an aux output if you want to connect a better speaker. £50 / amazon.co.uk • RING VIDEO DOORBELL 2 You never need to ask who’s at the door again. Even before someone presses this doorbell it’ll send HD video to your phone or Echo Show, and you can even chat with them. It should be said, however, that Ring shares your data with third parties including Facebook and the police. £179 / ring.com • iROBOT ROOMBA i7+ After the robot…

HOME ADVANTAGE Security tech tips from Help Locks Smart locks Fitting a smart lock should make your house harder to break into and give you greater control over access. On the deadbolt side, make sure the lock cylinder meets TS 007 3-star or SS312 Sold Secure Diamond Standard. And on the digital side, opt for at least 128-bit encryption. Video doorbells Smart doorbells can often capture better images than CCTV, because they’re at just the right height for faces rather than being fixed high up and pointing at tops of heads. Check T&Cs closely to work out when your preferred brand will start charging a subscription for cloud storage. Connected cams Pick a camera with cloud storage and 128-bit encryption. Ensure video resolution is 720p minimum, 1080p preferable, or even…

GREEN GAME-CHANGERS The post-petro plodder Veja Condor For a future free from petro-chemical plastics, the Condor is aimed at everyday runs rather than record attempts. It mixes 53% bio-based and recycled materials with virgin plastic and rubber. The uppers are 100% recycled bottles; the outsole is made from wild rubber and rice husk. €130 / veja-store.com The smart skier Salomon Concept Like the Adidas on the right, Salomon’s ‘eco concept’ road-runner is made from one type of plastic, making it much easier to recycle. But at the end of its time pounding pavements, this one will be reincarnated as a ski boot. The first shoes are due on sale this year, the first ski boots two years later. £tbc / salomon.com The recyclable runner Adidas Futurecraft Loop 2 Made from…

£1049 / stuff.tv/EM5MkIII ▪ Things have really moved on since the OM-D E-M5 Mark II launched in 2015. With Sony and Canon pushing things forward, Olympus was starting to look like Disco Stu at grime night… but the new Mark III packs a lot of tech into a tiny body and serves up images as good as the best of them. ▪ This Micro Four-Thirds camera will slip easily into a small bag – it feels light and portable even with a lens on. The only downside: Olympus has used un-premium polycarbonate for the body. ▪ Thanks to a host of well-placed manual controls, it’s dead easy to handle. On top there’s a nice big mode selector with a locking button and two customisable dials for shutter speed, aperture, exposure…

£330 / stuff.tv/BosePortable ▪ We pair a lot The Bose Music app lets you pair the PHS with other Bose smart speakers. So if you happen to need the loo halfway through an episode of Pointless and don’t want to miss an answer, you can take the TV’s audio with you. ▪ Big for your mutes The speaker sports buttons for on/off/standby and Bluetooth pairing, plus play/pause/volume controls, a voice assistant button and a mute option for the impressively responsive microphone array. ▪ Gadgets throw new innovations at us all the time, but few things get us as excited as a built-in handle. And it’s the fabric-wrapped grip that really gets to the crux of what Bose’s Portable Home Speaker is bringing to the crowded Bluetooth audio market: a wireless…

FIRST ADD THESE… ONE GOPRO MEDIA MOD One of the key differences between the Hero8 and Hero7 is that the latest GoPro is modular, so you can boost its already stellar action-cam capabilities. Pick up the Media Mod for improved audio capture; and if you’re buying your cam for vlogging, the Display Mod can even flip the screen so you can watch yourself gurning as you shoot. £80 / gopro.com TWO AUKEY POWER BANK The Hero8 Black can be hooked up to power while it’s shooting, which is a useful feature for non-stop action sessions where one battery won’t cut it. Aukey’s giant 20,000mAh power bank is a perfect on-the-go charger, using the same USB-C cable as the Hero8. It packs over 10 times the charge of a standard GoPro…

TIPS & TRICKS Swipe-typing makes writing messages much smoother: just run your finger over the keyboard letters. Haptic Touch means pressing longer instead of harder to enable shortcuts like taking a selfie. • Dark mode works with many third-party apps, so browsing Insta at night is now easier on the eyes. Apple iPhone 11 from £729 / stuff.tv/iPhone11 You’re getting a really neat package with the iPhone 11 – and crucially, it’s not silly-expensive. The new Bionic A13 chip packs some serious power, the cameras are near-faultless for a smartphone and the battery will last all day. The lack of an OLED display could be an issue for some, but if you can bring yourself to get over that, it’s time to say hello to the new everyman iPhone… and…

Moov Now £46 / stuff.tv/MoovNow Slow and steady wins the race, and the Moov Now has gone on to prove that with a marathon-like pace helping it climb to – and then stay at – the top of this list. We’ve long considered this tracker a bargain, but further reductions have helped it enter the realm of ‘downright steal’. OK, so it doesn’t have a screen or smartphone skills, but with guided voice coaching, a six-month battery and solid waterproofing, it has everything you’d ever want in your perfect fitness tracker. Stuff says A bargain-tastic fitness band that does more than just track your steps Fitbit Inspire HR £90 / stuff.tv/InspireHR Fitbit’s latest is a great little tracker. As well as step-counting, it’s surprisingly capable for proper run-tracking if you…

Apple iPad Pro from £769 / stuff.tv/iPadPro The iPad Pro isn’t cheap, but it’s a mobile powerhouse like no other, with a diverse and rich app ecosystem, tons of power, a gorgeous screen, and the kind of focus on creativity and productivity that just doesn’t exist on other tablets. If you just want to faff on Facebook or Netflix it’s massive overkill, so we’d recommend going for the iPad Air instead; but even if you don’t actually need the new iPad Pro, you’re going to want one if you have it in your mitts for five minutes. Stuff says Once again Apple blasts ahead of the pack, with a stylish, powerful tablet full of creative potential Microsoft Surface Go from £349 / stuff.tv/SurfaceGo Having this slinky Windows tab up your…

We know Apple is building an EV, but what’s this? The beta version of iOS 13.4 has been released, and one of the features they’ve been testing for eventual consumer release is the ability to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to open and lock your car. That could mean doing away with your key-fob or physical key altogether. Which is just as well, because we’ve already lost them. But a dead phone battery means being locked out and stranded? Nope. It’ll even work if you’re out of juice, because NFC chips harness the power of whatever device is reading them – in this case the car. You can adjust the settings for this feature in your Apple Wallet once you’ve paired your phone to unlock, lock and start your…

AI DUNGEON £free / Android, iOS We’ve seen algorithmically generated endless runners, but what about an endless text adventure? That’s AI Dungeon, more or less – and it comes across like a group of drunk coders and writers live-creating a sequel to Zork as you play. It’s baffling and brilliant. With an AI trained by reading the internet, it’s never short of responses to your inputs; but it flirts with incoherence, frequently upending the entire story on a whim. That can be frustrating, but as an insight into the future of generative storytelling, AI Dungeon is dreamlike and fascinating.…

Jukebox jewellery SHANLING Q1 There’s a whiff of iPod Nano about the Shanling Q1, but Apple’s music player never looked this cool. Eschewing minimalist tech, the Q1 instead draws inspiration from the 1950s with a playful design that’s all smooth edges, chrome-like accents, physical buttons and gorgeous colours. But what of the audio? Well, it’ll happily play hi-res files, which are loaded via microSD, and there’s Bluetooth support so the Q1 can pair with wireless headphones or become a transmitter for an ancient PC. Digital USB output should please audiophiles, and the 21-hour battery life is almost enough to get you through half a Pink Floyd guitar solo. $89 / en.shanling.com Knob’s full house AZIO FOKAL This mechanical keyboard, with Gateron switches to make you feel like Hunter S Thompson,…

DJI Osmo Action £329 / dji.com What’s the story? Drone maker DJI wants to dethrone GoPro with its familiar design, comparable video specs and a handy front display. It also has RockSteady, DJI’s answer to GoPro’s HyperSmooth tech, which claims to provide the smoothest footage on the block. Is it any good? DJI’s action cam succeeds in a couple of key areas. The stabilisation is great and the face-optimised metering makes it an ideal choice for vloggers wishing to capture 4K footage at 60fps with HDR, or equally cracking slo-mo and timelapse videos. It does have some idiosyncrasies, but the mix of buttons, voice controls and dual displays makes navigating menus an easy series of taps and swipes on a cam that can handle extreme environments. This is a smart…

Apple HomePod £279 / apple.com It’s a mistake to think the HomePod is Apple’s answer to the Amazon Echo. Yes, Siri can answer your questions and control your gadgets. But with the emphasis on audio quality, it’s more like a Sonos-slayer. Clear and evocative, it’s sound is outstanding. This is thanks to seven tweeters and a hefty woofer. The A8 chip also teases out subtleties from every song, from breathy vocals to thudding bass – and this speaker’s so loud when you try to crank the volume, Siri asks if you’re sure you want to do that. The monster mesh This is all wrapped up in a curvy, mesh-coated design that screams Apple minimalism. And the HomePod’s assault on Sonos doesn’t stop there, going for its ‘king of multiroom audio’…

NOW ADD THESE • SAMSUNG SMARTTHINGS HUB This smart hub has some serious automation skills. You can get any of 5000 compatible devices to work together, and this can be based on the time of day, someone’s location or the status of a device (like a window opening). Plus it’s wireless, so you can put it anywhere and not spoil your feng shui. £79 / samsung.com • BELKIN WEMO SWITCH Make dumb devices smart with this plug. Connected to your Wi-Fi and fitted to a mains outlet, it will remotely control any appliance you plug into it. You can even set a schedule so your lamp comes on at set times. It works with Belkin’s other Wemo modules plus Alexa, Google Home and IFTTT. £39 / belkin.com • NETGEAR ORBI…

Tyres are just chunks of rubber, aren’t they? Far from it, as they provide the main contact between a vehicle and the road. Not only do good tyres improve stopping power and grip to prevent accidents; they can also decrease road noise inside the cabin, improve fuel efficiency and reduce harmful emissions. What’s the science behind it? All tyre manufacturers are different, but Toyo has been developing technology that allows it to look at a tyre at molecular level, using its state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation facilities and X-ray observation tech to get to the bottom of how a tyre behaves in the real world. Woah, that sounds extreme. Has it been worth it? It sure has, because the 3D imagery provided by this nano-level research has allowed Toyo to create a…

THE BASICS ▪ Keep it simple If you’ve never written a song before, don’t think you’ll become Brian Wilson overnight. Start slowly and play around, figuring out how to make interesting snippets that sound good. Ignore condescending musos who insist you should avoid automation and loops – make use of whatever tools you have to hand, and gradually build your skills. ▪ Slow it down Tempo is an important part of any song. Although you might want to craft insanely fast rock or head-thumping dance tracks, don’t forget it’s slower tracks that often brim with atmosphere. So set your tempo to less than 100 at least some of the time. Also, remember that you can temporarily slow everything down to record tricky bits. ▪ Move some air Although you can…

£108 / stuff.tv/TicPods2Pro ▪ Hear I go again The buds ship with a charging case that’s 42% smaller than the old one. Looking at the chunky cases that accompany buds from the likes of Sony and Amazon, this is a win for Mobvoi – and so is USB-C charging. ▪ Runnin’ with the devil An IPX4 rating for sweat and dust means these earphones are good for a workout… as long as they stay in your ears, that is. Mobvoi promises roughly four hours of juice between charges, which held up during our testing. Can AI play with madness? No, but it can’t half be infuriating… Matt Tate You’ll struggle to find another pair of true wireless earbuds that offer this many control options. Mobvoi has thrown everything at the…

GOPRO GoPro’s free app is the gateway to uploading footage to your GoPro Plus cloud storage. It also has a remote viewfinder, letting you control the camera from your phone or tablet. £free YOUTUBE STUDIO If you’re getting a GoPro to boost your YouTube cred, this app is a must. Upload custom thumbnails, edit tags and descriptions, and set content live. £free LIGHTROOM The GoPro app may be capable, but its photo editor is limited. Seeing as the Hero8 Black can take ace stills, Lightroom is the obvious choice for editing and syncing with Adobe’s cloud services. £free…

Sony WH-1000XM3 £243 / stuff.tv/SonyWHXM3 Sony’s WH-1000 series was already a top performer, and the WH-1000XM3s make for an even more compelling package. With Bluetooth wireless and great noise-cancellation, they’re the ultimate public transport stress killer… well, aside from a chauffeur or a lottery win that lets you retire. The leather pads make them incredibly easy to wear, not unlike sitting in one of those ultra-comfy leather chairs, and most importantly of all the sound quality is fantastic. Stuff says Great wireless headphones with effective ANC and a sound that nails just about everything Bowers & Wilkins PX7 £349 / stuff.tv/PX7 B&W’s second ANC headphones place greater emphasis on comfort and are all the better for it, while the noise-killing is as effective as you’ll find anywhere. Oh, and they…

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar £2199 / stuff.tv/AmbeoSoundbar Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound, ample power and lots of inputs mean no other soundbar currently available can perform feats with the solidity and confidence of this Sennheiser. The sheer room-filling scale of this device’s sound is remarkable, and it’s hard to think of any content that wouldn’t benefit from being Ambeo’d. That’s why, as well as being the biggest and the most expensive, it’s the best you can buy. Stuff says The Ambeo Soundbar is a big unit but the sound it makes is bigger still Sonos Beam £399 / stuff.tv/SonosBeam Sonos’s great-value Alexa-equipped soundbar offers fine audio quality, comes with loads of features and is compact enough to fit into the average living-room AV setup without taking over. Stuff…

Sony PlayStation 4 Pro £326 / stuff.tv/PS4Pro As a gaming platform, PlayStation 4 is the best around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the new console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger machine. Sure, it can’t match the Xbox One X for sheer power or resolution, but it makes up for that with an impressive line-up of games – including Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn and Bloodborne – and virtual reality support. Stuff says The system for console gamers who have a 4K TV and want the best catalogue of games on offer Nintendo Switch £279 / stuff.tv/NintendoSwitch Nintendo’s console earned a promotion in our list after it impressed…

Jaguar I-Pace from £60,995 (with PiCG) / stuff.tv/ipace Not content with simply making an electric vehicle that can get you from A to B with minimal fuss (and fuel bills), Jaguar has created something desirable, fun to drive and impressively capable when the going gets tough. This car offers Amazon Alexa integration, smartphone connectivity and a 10in touchscreen on the upper deck. With the I-Pace, Jaguar can happily claim to be the first mainstream brand to really give Tesla something to worry about. Stuff says Fun, fast and practical, the I-Pace is the greatest thing to happen to electric cars in a long time Nissan Leaf from £26,345 / stuff.tv/NissanLeaf Nissan has really got it right with the latest Leaf – an accomplished family car that packs some serious range…

Oh great – a cassette player. Has Stuff suddenly gone full hipster? Don’t worry – we’re not about to start petitioning record labels to release albums on the worst medium imaginable. But the Tascam Portastudio, first launched in 1979 as the TEAC 144, was special. Rather than recording your band’s garage sessions with a standard cassette deck, resulting in a distorted horror-show, a four-track gave you the chance to make something that people would one day have eBay bidding wars over. Well, maybe if you were Depeche Mode or something. And if you weren’t Depeche Mode…? That was kind of the point. In the 1980s, a Portastudio was cutting-edge consumer kit that radically democratised the process of recording music. Prior to that, you needed access to a studio to commit…