Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Ion IT34 Duo Deck Ultra-Portable USB Turntable with Cassette Deck

Ion IT34 Duo Deck Ultra-Portable USB Turntable with Cassette Deck
  • Compact, portable design fits easily into a bag or back pack
  • Plays and converts vinyl records and cassette tapes
  • Built-in speaker allows you to listen to your records or cassettes anywhere
  • Convert records and tapes into MP3s using the included EZ Vinyl/Tape Converter software
  • Headphone output for private listening or connection to external speakers

Great turntable, also like the fact that it has a cassette player in it. Chances are if you have records, you probably also have cassette tapes, either pre recorded or ones that you recorded yourself. I like the slim design although it would have been nice if ion included some kind of drawstring bag or carry strap being that it runs on batteries as well as AC/USB. Now the cons. When I first played a tape it was slow and lots of wow and flutter. Then the next time I used it the noise dissapeared and has not returned since. I guess maybe it just had to be warmed up or something. The other issue is the stylus. It tends to skate a cross certain records at times. I discovered the problem. The needle that comes with it is a lower quality stylus than the replacement ones. So the best thing to do is order replacement stylus # 793-D7M. It replaces original needle on this table and various other models of ion even of crosley. Tip material is diamond, and the tip radius is 7 MI, and it tracks 3 to 5 grams. Might sound like a lot, but there are much less skating issues , and the sound is much clearer. Yes I would recommend this product to a friend.

Buy Ion IT34 Duo Deck Ultra-Portable USB Turntable with Cassette Deck Now

No problems. Not bad for the price.

You will have to put out more money

to get better quality. I would recommend it.

Read Best Reviews of Ion IT34 Duo Deck Ultra-Portable USB Turntable with Cassette Deck Here

I was really looking forward to this item, because I have a lot of older audio tapes that I haven't been able to listen to for years. But this unit was a severe disappointment, because it didn't even work. No matter which power configuration I used -and I was quite taken with the fact that there were several ways to power the device -nothing happened. I was able to get my computer to talk to it, but nothing would play or move. The turntable wouldn't turn, and the only button that worked with the tape deck was the eject button. I think the motor was simply dead. I may re-order and try again, but right now I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Ion products. I may just get a standard stereo tape deck instead and connect that to my computer.

The unit itself seemed nice in terms of construction and compactness, although many of its features are a little difficult to find right away (not labeled, not mentioned in the instructions, etc.) and none of them would actually work for me. Be warned that the instructions are next to useless (and only cover software problems, with no mention of how to deal with mechanical problems) and the software itself is grade z and forces you to immediately import your recordings into iTunes. (Get Audacity instead, if you can). For these reasons, I doubt I'll take a second chance with this product.

Want Ion IT34 Duo Deck Ultra-Portable USB Turntable with Cassette Deck Discount?

I thought about staying away from all ION turntables after my ION Quick Play LP turntable gave up on me, but when my ION Tape Express also died on me, I realized that I was really wrong! So, I got the ION Duo Deck as a replacement, and it works like a charm! It's basically a USB turntable with a built-in cassette deck. I also love the Duo Deck's built-in speakers, which allows me to use the Duo Deck as a standalone player, but the disadvantage is the requirement of four AA batteries. Instead of using the packaged EZ Vinyl and Tape Converter software, I used Audacity to digitize my family's old vinyl LP's and cassette tapes. I digitize the audio in 16-bit, 44.1 kHz for easy importing to iTunes. Of course, the vinyl LP's and cassette tapes plays at a slightly higher speed, but I managed to restore the albums to their original speed using Audacity's change speed filter. The digitized audio may sound a little off, but you can't go wrong with Audacity's high-pass filter. I use the click removal and repair filters to remove the pops and clicks from the digitized vinyl LP's. When I use the noise removal filter, I use these settings for my family's old vinyl LP's:

Noise Reduction: 12 dB

Sensitivity: 4 dB

Frequency Smoothing: 300 Hz

Attack/Decay Time: 0.25 seconds

As for cassette tapes, I use these noise removal settings:

Noise Reduction: 25 dB

Sensitivity: 5 dB

Frequency Smoothing: 2 kHz

Attack/Decay Time: 0.25 seconds

After normalizing the digitized recording, I split the albums into separate tracks, and then I save the tracks in 16-bit AIFF, so I can burn the digitized albums on CD's using iTunes. I also use iTunes to convert my digitized albums to 256 kbps AAC (iTunes Plus) for listening to on my iPod. I'd strongly recommend this USB turntable to those who are willing to digitize their collection of old vinyl LP's and cassette tapes. It's the best of both worlds!

Save 50% Off

Maybe the level of volume is not so high, but my son, who is a music lover, really likes this product.

It has shiped at time, and arrived in excellent conditions. Very nice!

No comments:

Post a Comment