ION USB Turntable

Hi all,

I just ordered the ION USB turntable. My husband and I would like to digitize all our vinyl, especially all the 7" singles we have. Costco online had this thing for $99 including shipping. Anyone buy one of these and have comments?

I don't have the USB turntable, but have the previous model portable unit and it's been fun!

Anyone have any leads on where to get a decent and affordable record clamp? I have a decent turn table - but would love to get the clamp for some of the vinyl that hasn't held up well.

Just wanted to follow up and say that I received my turntable and it's terrific. We've only recorded one single so far, but the Audacity free software that comes with it is pretty decent. What I love best is that you can record a whole side of an LP and break up the tracks later in the software. While the turntable only plays 33 1/3 and 45s, you can record a 78 at the other speeds and speed it up later. We're using it with an old iBook, but it will work with PC, too.

i'd be interested in your opinion on the quality of the sound of the songs you've taken off vinyl, motomama. I've found myself spoiled to the depth and scratch-free sounds of digital. so, after you've listened to them for a while, let me know what you thing?

thanks, and have fun with your new toy!

DAK has a program called the Click, Pop & Hiss Assassin which is specifically designed for burning from LPs and tapes.

I've never gotten to the point of burning anything, but being that I have well over 1,000 LPs, I found the concept intriguing.

I'll let you know Tim - we've only recorded one 7" EP so far, but my husband has experimented with the software that comes with it (Audacity) and said that there are options for getting rid of excess "noise."

With three little kids running around, it's hard to relax while spinning a record, so we don't play our vinyl collection as much as we used to. This way, I can digitize all my weird noise stuff and make the children listen to it in the car!

I've seen reviews that complained that the Audacity software was pretty tricky to use (or at least "fiddly"); motomama, have you found that to be the case?

Oh, and is the cartridge/stylus replaceable by a better one, or is it proprietary?

#8 - Audacity is free and available for download at the Sourceforge website

It's one of the best free audio editors I've seen.

#8: "I've seen reviews that complained that the Audacity software was pretty tricky to use (or at least "fiddly")"

I've been using Audacity for my poetry readings (I post these on my blog) as well as for making hypnosis induction "tapes". The controls and flexibility are great, the only problem is that it really sucks for making the .wav files into .mp3 files. Fortunately, Window's "sound recorder" does a great job on that, so no problems.

When recording on the ION, do the files become .wav, thus needing Audacity or Windows' proprietary Sound Recorder to convert to .mp3? Is that what you're saying?

My Audacity came with a free patch that allows you to convert .wav to .mp3. Perhaps it was the package deal with buying the turntable.

#8 Linkmeister

I have to admit that I haven't had much time to work with this thing. My husband did one record so far and thought it was pretty easy after a bit of fiddling, but not much fiddling. Right out of the box you can record without doing anything, especially if you like your pops, hisses, and crackles. (New breakfast cereal?)

Grins. Hey, that's part of that "warmth" the audiofiles say the CD technology doesn't include, right?

My problem is that I have about 300 albums. Of those, I suspect I'd want to burn about 200. That's a lot of time to invest, so the simpler the better.

300? I have something along the line of 1,200 LPs, which is why I've not even begun to think of transferring them to digital!

I guess I'm going to wait for "MusicThing" to come along so that I can catalog them ... then begin to spend the months of real-time (although I guess you could "burn" at 78 and then slow down to 33.3 in Audacity) recording!

Yes, daunting. Even the thought of winnowing/culling the ones I wouldn't bother to burn makes my head hurt.

I wonder if label catalog numbers hold up over time, similarly to ISBNs.

Just for the (ahem) record: I own the DAK system and it is very useful for digitizing your vynil.
There is a lot more room to manipulate the tracks than with your standard USB turntable. And DAKs DePopper works very well.

Ludi: Did you use the DAK advertised turntable? If so, how good was it? What is the input into your computer? (i.e. RCA plugs, USB 1, USB 2?)

Sorry for the delay.

No I've got a Numark. I only bought their little pre-amp thing and the software. I'm sure there is a way to connect straight into the receiver of your component system, but this was easy and only cost $70. The website has good instructional videos and after just a short time I can knock out a single LP in about ten minutes more than the length of it. That includes inputting titles and filing in Windows Media.
Connections are RCA type.

Here are links to DAK and another that you might want to compare:

http://www.dak.com/reviews/2020story.cfm?Ref=OV&PM=LPtCD&Srh=usb_turntab...

http://www.acoustica.com/spinitagain/

These little turntable to CD things seem to me to be pretty backwards. You enjoy listening on equipment you've gathered and customized over the years, and then entrust the sound to a $100 multipurpose gadget? I suppose it depends on your system, but I would use an add-on to the system itself. Unfortunately, good ones of these run around $700 I'm told, but if I need some things on CD I'm lucky enough to have a friend who can transfer it for me, as I'm a technophobe myself. In other words, I have a record set-up that has no computer in the room, nor do I want one there.
You may call me old-fashioned, but playing records through the computer is to me like reading books off a screen or listening to them -- I would certainly miss the total experience of the thing itself and regard the thing as something else only useful in emergencies (such as going blind or losing my hearing or sense of touch).

I would never presume to judge your preferences. I also would hope I didn't voice my opinion without a full understanding of the issue.
The simple fact is that a turntable is not practical in a car or for portable music devices. It is also sometimes not practical for a party (skipping, etc., and I don't want others handling my precious vynil.)
Further, the nature of vynil is that constant playing wears it out.
In short, there are many good reasons for doing this if one stops to think rather than just reacting based on one's prejudices.

my 2 cents... it's a lot easier to say "hey kids, listen to this" and make them a playlist for the iPod permently lodged in an ear (I don't remember that attachment when he burst from the womb, but it's there now) than get them to sit and spin the LP... maybe when they're older they'll appreciate the old school...

I searched around and just bought a Sony RCD-W500C CD player/recorder. Slightly under $350 when you add taxes. I just swapped out a cassette recorder, and seemed ready to go, but it won't record on data also blank discs. After some searching I found some audio only blanks, so expect to try it soon to transfer some 78s. I'll report back after some tries, but it looks pretty straightforward, and I can use my own turntable, arm, and especially cartridge and styli.

This will supposedly also copy CDs, but to do any editing I think iTunes is going to be easier to use.

By the way, I primarily listen to these in the car, so the kids get to hear them then, and let them listen to their own choices at home.

Really?

I received my Ion this week (the nice turntable I received for H.S. graduation way back in '79 finally croaked last week). I hadn't planned to do a lot of digitizing, as with a pretty big record collection, I wouldn't know where to start. Besides, I couldn't bear to turn loose of the vinyl even if I did digitize, so what's the point?

Anyway, since I needed a new turntable, and since I'm not an audiophile snob, I decided to try out the Ion. I did a test run on Mercury Records' Original Gold Soul, first lp, this afternoon, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I've only used the idiot-proof version of the software so far (I'll try out the Audacity program later on). My only complaint: when you fill in the blanks on the song titles, make sure you avoid typos and make sure you have the correct track. If there is a way to edit titles once they get to iTunes, I haven't figured it out. And I'm anal enough to want the info to be correct (Louis Jourdan?! What the hell was I thinking?!).

Well, you may be prone to typos, but at least you have taste.

Ha! That's kind of you.

The reason I chose that particular album, not that anyone cares, is that I made a tape of it years ago, and in my memory, I had discarded or given away the album (the lps didn't even have sleeves, I had picked 'em up at a thrift store or something). Imagine my surprise when I found the "lost" album while searching for something to digitize.

Now I can put Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "She Put the Whammee On Me" on my mp3 player!

The iTunes library is very editable. Click a song (or a multiple number of songs using Shift-Click {using Windows; I don't know the Mac command sequence}). Then click on the "Get Info" item on the drop down menu you see. That brings up nearly every piece of data there is about the song, including artist, title, composer, genre, and other stuff. You can correct almost anything that way.

...or you can make up your own song titles, add yourself as one of the album's artist, change Moby's genre so he shows up on The Wife's country playlist... the possibilities are endless!

i just wandered into this group but thought you might get a kick out of the fact i'm replacing all my CDs with records -- just don't call it a downgrade or i'll spam you

Interesting. How are you managing that with recent albums available only in the CD format?

Oh, and if you need anyplace to dump off those pesky CDs....

#31
nice try! i'm keeping the cds too. Most vinyl i get online. Most albums are still pressed, just in limited numbers. thank god for ebay is all i'll say.

I've recently been required to drive my f-in-law's cadillac instead of our Hyundai. Its an older car. Only has a tape player and a radio. So, I've been digging through old cassettes that chiefly consist of vinyl I taped. They sound awesome. Maybe its the caddy's stereo?

Was reading up on turntables with an eye toward moving from vinyl to cd and was reading this group's threads.

Since some of the postings are old enough that, by now, you all must have found out what worked and what "dint!"
would you share what your present opinions are of the products and methods mentioned here?

Interesting that, at present there is a movement back to vynil.

Having taken no action, I am cool.