USB Turntable Breathes Life Into Vinyl

By The Manolith Team on July 27th, 2009

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Remember that moldering old vinyl record collection that you left languishing in your parent’s basement when you left town? It was piled high with classic bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Alice Copper and Pink Floyd (with a little ABBA thrown in for good measure) and you abandoned it like yesterday’s trash.

After all, cassette tapes were all the rage and next thing you knew we were inundated with those shiny things called CDs. Vinyl just didn’t work in a moving car, so sorry…see ya later! Old vinyl in basements across the continent quickly became garage sale fodder, or was permanently relocated to the local landfill.

However, some of it survived. Packrats and analog lovers held onto their vinyl hoards until it eventually became cool again. But even if you had a working turntable, how were you ever going to get the music from that old technology onto your computer or iPod?

The Ion Audio USB Turntable may be the way into the Promised Land – your old vinyl remade into the digital stuff of legend: the MP3 file. As far as looks go, the USB turntable is a decidedly modern-take on the turntable, no faux-wood paneling here folks!

Using the USB turntable is easy:

1. Locate your vinyl (probably somewhere between the furnace and the litter box)
2. Blow off the dust (and marvel at the artwork on the LP cover – wow, them’s big CD covers!)
3. Place the vinyl on the turntable and record direct to your computer.

Far out, yeah?

But before you run out to a garage sale to grab some cheap music for your burgeoning iPod library, there’s still work to be done. You may need to remove the ‘needle noise’ or add artist, song and album tags – and the included software should allow you to do this easily. There’s also a gain knob that lets you adjust the signal strength to optimum recording levels.

While the USB turntable has been getting good reviews on sound quality and ease of use, it’s still not cheap. At around $150, it’s a pricey way to get some new MP3’s from the old records you have kicking around. If you have an analog-snob in your social circle, it might be better to convince them to let you borrow it for a week or two rather than shell out the cash yourself.