Customer Reviews

ION Audio iCUE MP3 Computer Music Mixing Station with Software

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Pros: It is compact.You physically get to cue and play the music using the buttons on the mixer after using the mouse to add the music to your deck.
Cons: No head phone input. I followed a suggestion from a reviewer(below) and bought the 3.5mm splitter which allowed me to hear the music in the headphone, however when I pressed the PLE button to cue the music it also played it in the main speakers aswell. This is not good!!So I called Ion about it.CSR recommended a numark sound card that would cost $100. I don't think so. I serched online and bought a 5.1 USB sound card for like $20. At first, it wasn't working then after a day or two i figured it out (make sure to chage the configuration by clicking config in the upper right corner on the mixing deck on your pc). Now I am mixing with no problems. I agree with the person below. The sound card should have been included with the mixer. Who wants to buy a mixer then go and buy a sound card. Well at least I didn't spend $100 on the the sound card the CSR recommened.

this product does most of what i need it to do. my only complaints are that the jog wheels are a little sensitive and there is no headphone jack on the board itself. if you want to mix, you have to get a 3.5mm y splitter to split the audio output of your sound card.i think this should have been included as that is what you bought it for in the first place. the splitter does not cost much but its annoying to recieve something only to find out that you need something else to make it work properly! for $140, the unit feels kind of flimsy.
other than that, recording is easy and you cand adjust sound levels and pitch speed that you can save as a wma file with the adjustments you made.

This is one of the few items that actualy had a video demonistrating it's usage, that's what sold me. However, after purchasing it and testing it, the only issue i had was with the queing. I need to be able to preview and que up the next song (audibly), The ION allows you to que up the next song by MP3 title. So I returned it for a full refund.

LOOK, FOR A LITTLE BIT OVER $90 INCLUDING SHIPPING AND EVERYTHING ON AMAZON.COM THIS IS A GREAT DEAL!!!! I JUST HAD TROUBLE WITH THE SOFTWEAR KEY CALLED ION AND THEY HAVE REALLY GOOD TECH SUPPORT AND GOT THAT OUT OF THE AWAY PRETTY QUICK. IT WAS REALLY EASY TO SET UP AND START PLAYING. THE CONTROLS ARE EASY TO OPERATE AND MIX MUSIC IN TWO DAYS I WAS ABLE TO PLAY MY FRIENDS GRADUATION PARTY AND EVERYONE WAS ASKING ME HOW LONG I HAD BEEN A DJ. I HAVE NEVER DJ IN MY LIFE!!!!! I WAS NOT " DJ AM " BUT HELD MY OWN. I WAS ABLE TO USE MY HUGE ITUNES SONGS AND JUST DRAGGED AND MIXED. I REALLY LIKED THE BPM FEATURES AND TIME SIGNATURE CLOCKS YOU CAN RUN IT FWRD AND REVERSE. IT REALLY HELPS IF YOU KNOW ABOUT MUSIC AND TIMING TO MATCH UP SONGS. IT DOES EVERYTHING THE GUY SAID ON THE AMAZON QUICK INTRO VIDEO!!! VERY COOL T-T-T-T-T-O-O-O-O-O-O-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y!!!! LISTEN TO THE ION VIDEO ON AMAZON AND SEE WHAT YOU ARE GETTING!!!! HAVE FUN!!!!!

Pros: Automatic beatmatching, most everything can be controlled from controller, software is easy to use, and very straightfoward, amazing price for what you get.

Cons: often times things like the knobs on the crossfader and pitch control can feel like cheap plastic, the advantage of having the ability to use all of your mp3s is nice but I have a non dj sound card in my computer so compared to turntables the sound quality of this thing sucks big time. As is mentioned in other reviews the jog wheels are very sensitive and may hamper some but improve the accuracy of your scratching if you try scratching on a nicer interface like a Numark Total Control (a superior version of this, Ion is just a cheapie brand for Numark, like Gibson Guitars and Epiphone). Another annoying thing I have noticed that I am wondering if this is just me, but after attempting to scratch on a playing song I notice a few second delay that ruins my attempts at scratching on a playing song, I tried this on vinyl and didn't notice the problem

Overall: This is a great deal if it's $130 but if it's sold for the list price of $200 that's a pretty big rip off.
If you can afford a better interface, especially if you can afford vinyyl, buy it, buy it, BUY IT!! do not penny pinch! this is great for the $100-$200 but is still not a good interface and I plan on switching to vinyl as soon as I have the cash, this is a nice fun interface, it just has many flaws. PS if you are not a fan of amazon head over to [...] they have roughly the same prices just service I trust more, though my icue did come a few day late I blame that on the holiday shipping rush.

I bought this junk for Christmas and it's is just that. There is horrible feedback in the headphones when using the jog wheels. And for the love of God whatever you do...do not upgrade to the newer software offered by numark, as this makes the situation worse. For 140.00 you can add 50.00 more go to Bestbuy and pickup a real authentic numark computer dj system that works flawlessly. This is poorly and last minute design, made of cheap plastic which feels extremly flemsy and ...well cheap. The recording feature can't really be used because it records all of the feedback from the ion icue as well making any recording sound horrible... not to mention the ion icue that was shipped to me had a shortage in it. Customer service was horrible as well. If you are wanting to become a dj or learn as a beginnger and really don't want to spen a lot of money on equipment...this is NOT the way to go as you will end up spending money anyway. Don't waste your money on this pile of plastic junk.

The item does what it says. It will not make any original music, (wasn't positive if it would or not until we actually got it and used it because the product description didn't say whether it did or not), so for the amount paid and it's use it is a pretty good product. My son likes it, and if you are planning to DJ or mix tracks then you will probably be very happy with it. He only wishes he could do more-like make original tracks. It wasn't too much cost wise for what you expect to do with it I suppose. It seems to work great now that it is installed correctly. That is the only thing that needs improvement is how the item is installed. We had to try many different things on our own and eventually had to go to the website for the manufacturer and search for some information to install it because the instructions/serial number wouldn't work. It asked for the serial number but the installation would not accept the serial number provided, so once we got onto the website-we downloaded the install directly from the site and also found that a seperate number which was not even listed as a serial number was the one needed to input so that it would finally install properly. (following the instructions exactly didn't work-follow the online information instead) Needs a bit of improvement in that instruction/installation area. I don't think that it was user error, there was some difference in numbers is all. otherwise a good fun thing for my 14 year old son. Also, in the product description it didn't specify which computer system was needed or the specifications. So, fyi, it needs a pentium 4 processor, and it works with windows XP for sure(that is what we have) but it won't work on windows 7 as far as it says in the manual.

I was thrilled to open the ion box but after opening it and instaling the softwear ion sent me to virtual dj. That's were I you have to buy the softwear. I was disappointed because now I has to spend another 100 dollars. At this point I was pissed. Becareful what you buy.

The software will not install correctly. I have tried on 3 different computers with no luck. It will not accept the serial number when asked to enter it. I have emailed and have not heard back from newmark and when i called it was a 40 minute wait to talk with anyone. It is supposed to be a plug and play item but when you plug it into the computer, the computer does not recognize it. Buyers beware!!!!

First i rated the product at one star because i havent used it yet.Why? well when i was looking the product over it never mentioned that you had to buy the soundcard or the wires for it. it said virtual dj so i thought it would have a headphone jack... and i dont recall anything saying your computer had to have windows vista(trash) or xp im running windows 7.. i hope it gets better