slide_advantage_redoux Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Does anyone here have any experience or an informed opinion regarding the ION USB turntable? This link shows it retails for less than $100. I am a little leery of it at that low of a price. But if it is good quality, there is one available locally for $40, in a never opened box. http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ION-TTC-LIST?SRC=D0501PG0HAMS0000&utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=feed& Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Don't know the ION, but my Grace USB tt was also suspiciously inexpensive, yet my ears have yet to complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Personally, I wouldn't use one of these on my records if it was given to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid. I don't even like playing my records on my entry-level Denon turntable because the cartridge is iffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjet Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Does anyone here have any experience or an informed opinion regarding the ION USB turntable? This link shows it retails for less than $100. I am a little leery of it at that low of a price. But if it is good quality, there is one available locally for $40, in a never opened box. http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ION-TTC-LIST?SRC=D0501PG0HAMS0000&utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=feed& I've got an ION USB turntable and I'm very happy with it. I'm sure there are better ( and more expensive ) options which will produce better audio results but the ION is very easy to use. Personally, I use CD Spin Doctor software ( included with Roxio Toast ) rather than the bundled Audacity, which I find a bit clunky. You really can't go wrong at that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 You really can't go wrong at that price. Of course you can "go wrong". You're talking about running this player's needle across your LPs. If it's a crap cartridge/needle, it might play fine the first time, but the next time you go to play that LP, it might be ruined. The ION TT does not have a very good cart. Haven't you ever ruined an LP by playing it with a cheap needle? Back in the day, I used to loan LPs to friends. After I got back a couple that looked white-ish and realized it was ruined, I stopped loaning them to that friend until he got a new cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted December 8, 2010 Report Share Posted December 8, 2010 I know that others have said something like this, but digitize my vinyl with a Philips CD recorder that's a component of my sound system. I don't have to worry about cheap turntables/cartridges, etc. As a matter of fact, my CD recorder is my primary CD player, too - it sounds so much better than my old CD player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted December 13, 2010 Report Share Posted December 13, 2010 I digitize my vinyl with Mac laptop using the internal audio board, not the best one out there, but it works for my needs. Not sure that a 100 buck combo would be better then a decent playback analog rig (TT, tonearm, cartridge, phono preamp) and the cheap mac audio board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slide_advantage_redoux Posted December 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 I'm glad I waited. My wife gave me one of these cool little gadgets. Hello downloads! http://www.alesis.com/phonolink Okay Sangrey, on the next out-of-towner we get with BVS, I will have those Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley LPs on Ipod! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 If the purpose of acquiring a USB turntable i to copy vinyl onto CDs or DVDs, Kevin B's argument is moot. One, even two spins on a inexpensive USB tt is not going to ruin the original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjet Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 If the purpose of acquiring a USB turntable i to copy vinyl onto CDs or DVDs, Kevin B's argument is moot. One, even two spins on a inexpensive USB tt is not going to ruin the original. Agree. Typically, it's playing the vinyl once to digitise it and then it goes into cold storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 (edited) I digitize my vinyl with Mac laptop using the internal audio board, not the best one out there, but it works for my needs. Not sure that a 100 buck combo would be better then a decent playback analog rig (TT, tonearm, cartridge, phono preamp) and the cheap mac audio board. I use Soundblaster card from the LP12 and it works a treat. Graham Collier's 'Deep Dark Blue Centre' CD reissue came from this. The only initial problem I found was an EMC issue - occasional periodic pulse burst of noise onto the recording from what turned out to be the wireless hub. Turning it off sorted that out. Edited December 26, 2010 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 26, 2010 Report Share Posted December 26, 2010 Okay Sangrey, on the next out-of-towner we get with BVS, I will have those Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley LPs on Ipod! Throw some Pigmeat Markam into the mix just for good measure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slide_advantage_redoux Posted December 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Wasn't there a race comic named Butter Bean? I could swear I saw some clips once. But I can't find any evidence, even on Youtube! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 Wasn't there a race comic named Butter Bean? I could swear I saw some clips once. But I can't find any evidence, even on Youtube! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterbeans_and_Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted December 27, 2010 Report Share Posted December 27, 2010 You are probably talking about Butterbeans (Jodie Edwards) and Susie (Susie Edwards), a very popular husband and wife comedy team that worked on the TOBA theater circuit in the '20s. I included one of their recordings ("I Wanna Hot Dog For My Roll") on a Columbia 2-LP/CD set called Stars of the Apollo, but several dedicated albums are available here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyJazz Posted December 28, 2010 Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 You really can't go wrong at that price. Of course you can "go wrong". You're talking about running this player's needle across your LPs. If it's a crap cartridge/needle, it might play fine the first time, but the next time you go to play that LP, it might be ruined. The ION TT does not have a very good cart. Haven't you ever ruined an LP by playing it with a cheap needle? Back in the day, I used to loan LPs to friends. After I got back a couple that looked white-ish and realized it was ruined, I stopped loaning them to that friend until he got a new cart. Do like I do. NEVER, ever, loan out your LPs. I have LPs that I bought in the early '60s that still do not have as much as a fingerprint on the playing surface, much less a scratch, etc. When, in the past, a friend or an acquaintance wanted an LP from me, I made them a cassette, now of course, I can make CD-Rs from LPs. So I'm more generous with my time and equipment, but lend out an LP? Never. Also, if you ever have to sell a few, which I had to do a few years ago, top dollar is paid for clean LPs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slide_advantage_redoux Posted December 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Amen to not lending LPs out. I made that mistake once too often. Even with the most trusted friend, shit happens. I entrusted my entire collection to a buddy when I moved to Europe years ago, knowing I'd be back in a year or so. Of course, LPs came up missing. I didn't have a physical inventory list of what I had, but I always could tell when something was missing! Collector's 6th sense I guess. And sure enough, the missing LPs were among the rarest and hardest to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Nothing but bad experiences lending out lps. The worst being when I lent a pristine copy of Unity to a buddy who promptly headed to Canada to avoid the draft and took my record with him. When her arrived back ten years later and got in touch I brought up the subject early. He gave me the record back beat to shit. Eventually I found another copy and of course scored the Larry Young Mosaic when that came available. Moral of story - as MartyJazz said - I make a copy when a friend asks for something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six string Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 If you already have a turntable then I would not recomend the Ion to digitize your lps. You would be better off using your current equipment plus a few extra things like software and a a/d converter for a computer or a stand alone cdr burner to do the job. If you don't have a turntable and you're not real picky about sound quality then it will probably do an adequate job. I've heard that the tone arm creates some noise in the playing/recording process but that could be due to improper set up or isolation of the Ion relative to the other equipment. You wouldn't want the tt near a speaker and you want to reduce/eliminate vibrations from the turntable, otherwise you will end up with noise added to the signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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