Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)INTRODUCTION:
Okay, so it's not perfect. $600+ would probably get you a turntable/recorder that is superior to this, but it won't be 5 times better.
CONS:
To continue in this negative vein before writing about the positive, it would appear that like most inexpensive turntables, the speed/pitch might not be absolutely perfect and there is no way to adjust it. That said, from looking at the timings given on the vinyl I have already recorded, I am guessing my particular unit is spinning LPs at approximately 34rpm, while 7" singles appear to rotating around 46rpm. That might be a big deal for audiofiles, and if so, spend $600+ to get perfection. Otherwise, I doubt anyone would notice such a minor variation. It certainly is vastly better than those TEAC or Crosley self-contained CD recorders, where not only is the speed up around 37rpm (for 33.3rpm LPs), but is also close to 50rpm (for 45rpm records). For those units, the pitch can be noticed by anyone and those products should be avoided.
Another quibble is the lack of useful documentation you receive in the box. It is limited to a "Quick Start" manual, which is all of 4 pages. There are no details with regards to how to use this unit... it is mostly trial and error, but user-friendly and intuitive.
PROS:
Now on to the pluses: For the money, you cannot do better. First off, it is a fully-functional turntable. Plug it into your stereo system's amplifier and off it goes. You now have a new stereo component! Please note, this unit already has a built-in pre-amp, so you cannot plug it into the jacks for "phono" as the double pre-amp scenario will cause distortion. That said, any other auxillary jacks will do, and for those amplifiers without phono jacks, this is actually a plus.
Recording to the SD or thumb-drive jacks is oh so very easy. Push record, which automatically puts the recorder in record and pause mode. Start spinning the vinyl and push play and the recording process begins. There is also a button to create new tracks as you are going along (as well as the pause and stop buttons). It is very easy.
The ION's tone arm is obviously inexpensive, but again, it works well enough... especially for a unit in this price range. It has a nice velvety lever to lower and raise the stylus too. Speeds provided are 33.3rpm and 45rpm. 78rpm and 16rpm would have been nice too, but especially in the case of the former, a different 78rpm-specific stylus would be required, which would have increased the very inexpensive price for this product. (Please note, those self-contained TEAC or Crosley CD-burning products will quite literally destroy your records with repeated plays as their tone-arms are way too heavy. Surface noise becomes prevelant after only a couple plays. In fact, do not even consider those as an alternative to the ION model.)
In general, the bass response is good enough and there is no need to equalize the results once in the computer or anywhere else for that matter. (The TEAC and Crosley recorder, other units I have owned, have wretched bass response, requiring considerable equalization to compensate.)
This ION unit also comes with a dust cover, which is a nice touch.
THUMB-DRIVE USE:
I first tried this unit with a 4MB thumb-drive, but found it could only record about 40 minutes of music onto that. Therefore, I recommend an 8MB drive to ensure you can record both sides of an entire long-playing record at a time. Or, if you want to record even more, try a 16MB drive (which is what I ended up getting for it). After recording, take the thumb-drive to your computer and download the newly created MP3s onto whatever CD burning program you may have (or for whatever other purpose you have in mind). This unit is also supposed to work with other various devices; however, I have not tried these yet, and therefore, cannot comment. I would assume however, the end result would be as successful.
SUMMARY:
Technically, this is a 4-star unit, for all of the negative reasons given above. I gave it 5-stars however due to how well it works and how good the sound is for the price. If you want a decent and servicable turntable/recorder for around $100, there is nothing better on the market. However, if you are an audiophile and can afford it, you may want to look into models that cost 5+ times as much.
In any event, I highly recommend this model to most people who want to add a decent turntable to their stereo system, while at the same time, to have the ability to archive their record collections, and at a good price.
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