Yes I know I am dating myself. I also know that unless you are north of 40, you will not even what I am talking about, that is ok. For those of us who would like the option of listening to our favorite songs on LP or on our MP3 players, ION’s LP 2 CD music converter provides the missing link to do just this, first digitising old albums before making a CD of them that we can then enjoy at leisure on our in-car CD player or home hi-fi.
The LP2CD is a the latest in analog-to-digital conversion products. The LP2CD combines a vinyl record turntable with a CD-Burner in a single device. To make recording to CD easy, the LP2CD includes an onboard 700MB flash drive that allows you to review your recording before doing a final burn to CD. In addition, the LP2CD also has audio inputs that allow recording from external sources, such as cassette deck, and also has provisions for more editing options on a PC/MAC via its built-in USB port. For another look at the LP2CD after reading the rest of this review, also check out my Photo Gallery. pcadvisor reviwed this product as follows:
Pros
* Solid construction.
* Intermediate Flash drive recording allows recording check before burning to CD.
* Built-in phono preamp – can connect to any standard RCA audio inputs on a receiver or amplifier.
* USB port and PC audio editing option.
* Built-in Headphone jack.
Cons
* No real-time recording from vinyl direct to CD. Record to flash drive first – then burn to CD
* Small internal flash memory capacity.
* Quick start guide and Software manuals hard to read – small print.
* Some assembly required.
* No digital optical/coaxial audio output.
ION LP 2 CD Turntable Features:
* All-in-one: built-in CD recorder copies music from vinyl
* Copy entire albums or make your own custom mix CDs
* Works stand-alone or connected to your computer
* Includes EZ Vinyl Converter 2 software (PC) and EZ Audio Converter (Mac) for hassle-free computer recording
* Included sound editing software helps you remove noise, clicks, and pops from worn recordings
ION LP 2 CD Turntable Specifications:
* Belt-drive turntable with premium tonearm and cartridge
* 33-1/3, 45, and 78 RPM
* Built-in audio CD-burner records from turntable
* Records on blank Audio CD-Rs
* USB audio interface (44.1kHz, 16-bit), Mac and PC compatible
Includes:
* LP 2 CD turntable
* Dustcover
* Cartridge with stylus
* RCA audio cable
* AC adapter
* Quick start guide
System Requirements:
* USB port
* CD drive
* PC: Windows XP or Vista
* Mac: OS X 10.4 or later
Guide Review – ION Audio LP2CD – USB Turntable and CD Recorder Combination
The LP2CD provides an efficient, practical, way to transfer your old vinyl LPs to either CD, using the unit’s built-in CD recorder, or to iTunes, using its USB interface and provided software with a PC or MAC.
Setting up the LP2CD to make CDs is easy. You place your LP on the turntable and while you play it, the contents are transferred to the LP2CD’s 700MB flash drive. As you play your LP the flash drive not only records the LP, but detects, marks, numbers, and separates the tracks automatically. I found that LP2CD rarely missed a track break, and actually performed the task better than my current Pioneer PDR-609 CD Recorder.
After recording onto the flash drive, you can check it and delete any unwanted tracks, or change or add track breaks before burning the recording to CD. To burn the recording to CD, all you have to is place a black CD into the CD tray that pops out the front of unit and press “Burn CD”. The LP2CD then initializes the CD, burns your content, and then finalizes the CD all in one automatic process. The burning process for a typcial 45 minute LP recording takes about 5 minutes.
In addition to transferring your LPs to CD, the LP2CD also has standard audio line outputs that allow you record from an external source, such as an audio cassette deck, a CD player, or other device.
Another trick you can perform with the LP2CD is to transfer an LP or external audio source to the internal flash drive for burning to CD AND transfer your source to your PC via the USB port for adding to your iTunes library at the same time.
I must say the ION Audio LP2CD is one of most fun devices I have used and definitely recommend it to vinyl record fans as an efficient way to do both Vinyl-to-CD and Vinyl-to-iTunes transfer.
Of course, you can use the LP2CD to just play vinyl records or CDs, without using the burning and transfer functions.
