A useful new toy (Ion Audio iTTUSB 10)

Member Name: eiley123

Product:	Ion Audio iTTUSB 10
Date:	07/12/07 (520 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good price and value, easy to set up and use, has special features

Disadvantages: A bit bulky

As Christmas is approaching Hubby's Christmas List has appeared as usual. Most women I know say they never know what to buy their Hubbies but I never have that problem. He loves music, reading, gadgets and technology and this year had just one main present in mind. Top of the list was a USB turntable so that he can condense his much loved music collection onto discs and our computer. A few years ago he wanted, and received, a Pioneer CD writer. This was one that was linked to his Stereo, however now, that he is much more computer literate, he wanted a piece of equipment that would enable him to utilise the computer for recording from vinyl.

Enter the Ion USB turntable.

Of course it is only the beginning of December but such Christmas presents need to be inspected, tested and tried 'just in case'. So here is what he has found up to now.

The USB turntable is easy to set up.
The first thing of course is to carefully unpack the turntable and then read the booklets that arrived with it. You do not need to read them in their entirety unless you want to, but you need to read the basic instructions. For example the belt which drives the turntable was not fitted correctly. Having read the instructions Hubby removed the turntable as directed and fitted the belt in no time at all. Well I think that was a slight exaggeration on my part as there was a fair amount of huffing, puffing and swearing before it was fully sorted. However if you follow the instructions you can't go far wrong.

The clear lid has a protective, loose covering which we have not removed yet to, in order to avoid unecessary wear and tear before the big day.

Once the Ion turntable is connected to your PC the software provided needs to be installed onto your computer. This bit was easy. One thing you have to bear in mind though is that you will have to download Itunes as this is a necessary component. The turntable's software has simple on screen instructions which explain what you need to do and these are fairly foolproof.

Recording your LP (Vinyl to you youngsters) starts just like playing music on an old record player. There is a stylus that you place on the vinyl to start recording. As soon as this is done you simply click on your PC to start recording. The problems that hubby has encountered so far have been hearing the sound as he records and hearing the sound on the PC when the music has been recorded. Also after finally sussing this the sound on the PC seemed to have disappeared after he had finished recording. This seems to be sorted out now and was to do with the soundcard. If you follow the booklet fully you should be able to prevent this easily. Adjustments need to be made in the control panel depending on whether you are using Vista, XP or just plain old windows.

Obviously as a Christmas present Hubby has not used this turntable extensively yet. However he is pleased with it and the results. One reason he wanted this turntable was because his vast record collection includes the good, the bad and the ugly as far as condition goes. The software provided with this turntable supplies the means to restore the sound quality to nearly new condition.

On a negative the Ion USB turntable is a little bulky. It measures around 16 inches by 16 inches and is about 5 inches deep. It does take up a fair bit of space on the computer desk.

Also on the downside it may have lmited appeal to some. However Hubby has over a thousand old LP's, plus other vinyl, so I imagine it will keep him out of mischieve for some time. He also enjoys making his own compilation discs for playing on his MP3 and his mini Hi Fi, at home and at work. Any budding DJ's should find this a useful piece of kit.

A positive is that you can record the old 78's on this turntable even though they record at the 331/3 speed. The software converts the speed to the correct one for playing.

I purchased this turntable from Maplins on-line where it was priced at £79.99. However there was a voucher on the web site for £3 discount and delivery was free. So overall the price tag of £76.99 was very competitive. This turntable is supplied with an assortment of leads which enable you to play on reel to reels and the like.

This review will no doubt need updating when the Ion turntable has been used more. However at the moment Hubby is really pleased with his new toy. I wanted to review it now as it may be just the thing for your overgrown child of a husband also.

Thanks for reading
Seasons Greetings
Copyright Eiley 2007

Summary: Just what he wanted

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