Customer Reviews

Ion Audio TTUSB 10 Vinyl Recording USB Turntable with Audacity Software, Dust Cover and Analog Stereo Input

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Now I know why I saved all those old 33 1/3 rpm records. Short of a NASA-quality machine, the Ion USB and associated Audacity software is the answer to the dreams of vinyl-savers. I went for the slightly higher-priced Ion rather than the Numark and was glad I did -- the heavy duty dust cover and tone arm lever are well worth it.

The software is awesome, especially to a dummy like me. Though it took me and my computer-wise grandson a few hours to figure it out and get a track recorded, a little fiddling with it will produce your own ritual procedure that will allow you to record tracks and export them as WAV or MP3 files to the desktop, from whence they can easily be dubbed to a CD. The instruction manual, I'm sure, is easily understood by those more in tune with the phrasing, but I found that about three commands do all I need or want. The click and pop removal feature is incredible, and will remove all but the most prominent clicks.

This is a high quality unit with excellent software. I recommend it strongly to any wanting to transfer old records of any speed to CD.

Having read the conflicting reviews on this product, I have to agree with the happy campers who've found this to be a good product.

I haven't set up a new turntable in about 10 years, but I had no trouble setting up the Ion. (But then I had no missing parts to contend with.) Balancing the tone arm was probably the hardest part of the setup -- and that took all of 3 minutes. I found the cartridge totally satisfactory for my needs. The turntable works great with my stereo equipment.

I use a Windows XP laptop together with the Audacity software that's bundled with the turntable. Although the software documentation could be better, I've been able to use it to get many of my favorite songs from vinyl to MP3 format. I'm glad I can now dust off my collection of LPs and 45s and enjoy them anywhere.

Definitely worth the money!

I have absolutely no complaints about my purchase. Easy to use and easy to set up. One tip: don't use the Noise filter; it just cuts out the highs.
Thanks, Kevin Daly

Due to other perceived priorities it took me a few days before I assembled this, but it is worth it. My first project was to recover a 50-year old well worn performance of Shostakovitch's #10 by Mitropoulos. It really works, especially the Audacity clean-up application. Just follow the instructions. And herewith are my only carps. The Quick Start Owner's Manual is too brief. One discovers more instructions under the pull-down menus in the application, especially what all the different buttons and "graphs" do. The other minor problem is that the hole in the felt platter pad is too small for the spindle. Simply enlarge with a suitably graduated round pointed tool such as a punch.

I was extremely excited to get an "authentic" vinyl sound onto my computer via this tunrtable.

Unfortunately, the platter was warped enough to rub annoyingly (making a nice plastic-on-plastic scraping sound) and cause a nasty fluctuation in the sound of the record.

So, after reporting the problem to ION, I decided to just take matters into my own hands and return it to Sharper Image. They kindly and quickly replaced it with a brand new one.

Excited once again, I put it all together. But only to find that the platter was warped worse than the first one.

People have been making (and listening to) turntables for close to a hundred years. Why can't ION make one that works properly now?

The idea of the thing is WAY cooler than the actual product. Disappointment overwhelms me.

My wife got me the ION Turntable for x-mas. I am having a blast with it. The set-up was very simple, especially if you remember your days when you dealt exclusively with turntables instead of CDs and MP3s.

The Vinly Converter software is simple to use too. Three steps and you have a recording on your computer. VERY basic.

The Audacity software, on the other hand, is Greek to me. Audacity enables you to remove unwanted noises in your albums and do other editing functions. It's made for folks who have more experience in mixing music. I have no experience in such things and have not been able to do a thing with it. Of course, you get virtually no instruction with it. That's the only reason I give the product four stars instead of five. It's really not an issue though, because you don't have to use the Audacity program at all to record your albums.

Moreover, am not an audiophile anyway. I just wanted to take my old albums and put them on the computer. Mission accomplished.

My albums were in pretty good shape to begin with, so I did not have much in the way of pops or hisses that needed to be edited out. I have since played some of my homemade CDs on my home stereo and in the car and they sound fantastic to these ears.

I can't imagine a product that would be easier to use for this purpose than the Ion. Buy one!

Here's some suggestions for making the recording easier. Note, we are not audiofiles, but just a couple with about 200 LPs we want to save and listen to through our MP3 players.

We felt the directions for setting up the turntable was easy to understand, but the software setup, including additional software for cleaning, labeling and converting the tracks, took us at least 5 hours to understand and develop a usable process.

Dowloading software: Audacity was easy to download, but the MP3 patch was hard to find on the internet. You may need to use Google to search for the website, if you want it (we used our Creative Media converter software instead).

Converting the LP to a digital format using Audacity was easy. The instructions for creating the tracking were difficult to understand. The automatic tracking never worked for us. The instructions for manual tracking were too vague and took a lot of trial and error. Note, you must do all the editing before you create the tracks. It also helps to label the tracts like this: 01, 02, 03 to ensure that they are saved in the same order as the orginal LP.

Cleaning up, and adjusting the sound, using another software (e.g., Soundsoap). In order to use this software, you must convert the file into wave format (even if you eventually want to save in MP3 format). We opted later to convert the cleaned up wave files to MP3 in order to save all the ID information on the tracks, which cannot be done effectively in Audacity. Note, your standard converter file (e.g. Creative Media)in addition to allowing you to label the tracks appropriately also might allow you to reconvert back to wave if you find out that you need to clean the file even more.

If you are careful, you will be very happy with the results.

I dearly wanted to put my beloved record albums (vinyl) on an IPOD so I could easily and frequently listen to my favorite, old songs. The ION iTTUSB 10 turntable has turned that dream into a reality. I am NOT computer saavy. I have basic skills and no more. But this is so easy to use. Two programs came with it: EZ Vinyl Converter and Audacity. I have not yet tried Audacity becasuse EZ Vinyl Converter has so far met all my needs. I downloaded ITunes for free and went to work. I have spent many happy hours copying my records to my computer and then to the IPOD. It is slow going, but such a joy to hear this music, read the old album covers, and enjoy the memories. Hook up was breeze, using the USB cable direct to the computer. I carefully followed the set-up instructions that came with the turntable and within an hour was up and running. It has an power-on switch, and a big button marked start/stop. You can play it at 33 or 45 rpm's, and also at 78 if you use Audacity. Supposedly you can also use the turntable as a passthrough for recording from a cassette player, which I will try later on. DO pay more and purchase this model with the dust cover and big, clear buttons. Delivery was very fast and no extra charge. I highly recommend this product.

I'd been looking for a way to convert my LP's to CD's. I was excited when I saw an ad for this turntable. Sounded much easier than trying to hook my stereo up to my computer. I was also pleased that it could record from cassette tapes also. It was easy to set up. Just make sure to follow the directions carefully to set up the tone arm properly.
I am just using the EZ Vinyl Converter program. Even though some of the records have a few noises it is not enough to bother me. I followed the directions to make sure the sound would play through my computer and it works just fine.
The actual recording process is extremely easy and the results are very good. I have also recorded some of my cassette tapes. I had to purchase a cord to connect the tape player to the turntable but it was easy to find and only cost about $6. The turntable also has RCA plugs so if you have a stereo that does not have a turntable you can plug this into your stereo.
The unit is lightweight but does not feel flimsy. I am very happy to find such a easy system and you do not have to be a computer expert to use it.

This turntable can be okay depending on how discerning your tastes are. For me, this turntable was a failure from the moment I opened the box.
The idea is more attractive than the product itself, and I think that's what I fell for initially. Having said that, I've already returned this product after only having it for a day.
First off, the head cartridge (where the stylus and needle are) was crooked! This glaring manufacturer error is absolutely inexcusable. I read the other reviews of this product and one individual stated that he had the same problem. I suspect that most of these models have this problem, but a number of people don't recognize it because it doesn't really affect the playback. But it WILL eventually. You cannot expect a needle that is being unevenly balanced to hold up for very long. Additionally, it will ruin your records because you'll have to use more weight to make the needle play your records from start to finish. Which is all beside the point anyway...THE NEEDLE SHOULD BE PERPENDICULAR TO THE SURFACE PLATTER! It's an insult to sell it any other way! I urge everyone who has this turntable to inspect this if they haven't noticed already!
Secondly, the sound quality once the music is converted to mp3 format is TERRIBLE. The software is easy to use, you can edit out pops and clicks and buzzes (which I like, by the way. Records are meant to be heard with those old scratchy sounds!), but what they fail to tell you is that you have no control over the output volume. Which basically means that once you get the music into your ipod, which is the only reason I bought this thing, you can barely hear the music because the output volume is so low. Keep in mind that I had the output volume as high as it could go while I was recording.
In summation, if you're only using this as a stereo to play your records through your computer than this might work just fine for you. But if your main concern is to convert your vinyl to mp3, and then burn it to CD, or listen to it in some mp3 playing device, I strongly recommend that you do not waste your time with this product.
I think part of my disappointment is based on my own ignorance. I should have researched more. Thankfully I purchased a lifetime warranty! I suggest that any of you thinking about buying this do the same!