Lovers of music have come a long way in terms of media in which to play their favorite songs. From the era of gramophone and LPs, to cassettes, to CDs, we have now progressed to completely digital music played mainly via MP3 files and of course the ubiquitous iPod.
A few years ago, no one would have ever imagined it. A Sony walkman was the ultimate in cool. Now every teenager, every ‘with-it’ person wants or owns an iPod and hankers after the iPod I-touch, if they have not already begged, borrowed or stolen it. And who can blame them; after all it is such an amazing gizmo.
Now iPod lovers, indeed all music lovers, have even more to look forward to from Vita Audio. They have announced their own iPod compatible all-in-one music system: The R4, which will start shipping in the UK in June.
The R4 looks like a grown-up iPod, with the same clean, minimalistic look and circular speakers. It also tries for a certain retro cool atmosphere with the walnut finish model which harks back to the days of the wooden radio. Or you could go for the future is here look, with the ‘’Dream White high gloss lacquer’’ finish. Compared to the traditional hi-fi however, the R4 looks positively compact and makes for a great space saver.
The range of media the R4 plays is quite varied, its ‘’ Slot loading CD player plays CD-Audio, MP3 and WMA music disks’’, It has a ‘’ USB port for playback of MP3 and WMA music files’’ and its ‘’ Integrated iPod Dock’’ supports a variety of iPods in the market today. The unique ‘’rotodial’’ feature, functions as a remote control, for both the R4 and the docked iPod. All this music is played for you through ‘’3D enhanced stereo sound’’ The makers claim that the “ R4 produces a scale and quality of sound that you simply will not expect from such an attractive and compact design”.
I do not doubt that all, and would love to try the R4 out myself. I would have vowed to throw out all my ancient cassettes and all my prized LPs. I would have switched completely to digital music by buying a compatible iPod, by only getting MP3 songs and buying the more expensive CDs, instead of the near extinct but cheaper cassette. I would have but for one small, tiny, insignificant little problem: The R4 will cost from between 500-600 pounds when it hits the stores in June. This works out to more than a 1000 dollars apiece and more than Rs 40,000 in the Indian currency.
I think I’ll prize my cassettes for a little while longer.

**(All quotes have been taken from the website of the makers of the R4)