A long, long time ago, in an era before MP3s, CD-ROMs, and RIAA lawsuits, vinyl was the medium of choice for music lovers around the world. If you are old enough to remember those days you are also probably the proud-owner of a few vinyl records that you wish you could convert to a modern digital format for your iPod or other digital device. Well, your wish has been granted with the iTTUSB turntable from Ion. Using an USB connection and some open-source software this gadget will convert and record your vinyl treasures into MP3s that you can use on modern music devices. In this photo gallery we take a first look at the Ion iTTUSB turntable.
A rough trip from overseas.
Ion tells you what you are going to get when you open the box.
Note, I ran the software and converted to MP3 using Windows Vista without any trouble.
But if you are not a reader, you can get the gist from this schematic diagram.
Enough with the outside – time to open the box.
One of the small pieces this note is warning about is the stylus – it won’t be much good without that.
Product liability can lead to some odd warnings.
Ion really doesn’t want you to forget the stylus. I wonder if these extra precautions are from actual customer feedback.
The turntable itself was packed securely so the dented box does not seem to be a problem.
The belt is under the turntable bed. you have to pull the belt over the motor spindle as you drop the bed onto the turntable housing.
Here is the assembled turntable. The iTTUSB is lightweight plastic and seems delicate. It reminds me of the expensive turntables from way-back-when.
Here are the first six vinyl albums I want to convert to MP3 files. I miss the album cover art. Anyway, for those who may not recognize these fairly noteworthy albums, here are the names and artists:
Later I’ll be writing a blog about how the iTTUSB turntable performs as I convert some vinyl into MP3 files. Hint – I like it enough to buy one for myself.
Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the information technology industry, software, hardware, gaming, finance, accounting, and technology geekdom for more than 30 years.
