It appears that there are several variations of the ION USB turntable.
I have recently tried the model shown in the last of these pictures (iTTUSB05).
Unlike some other models, it has no volume control at all. The build quality seems quite reasonable, and the platter is heavier than I expected (although still relatively light).
In my brief tests, it worked very well, and the owner of this device has successfully transferred over a hundred records onto his computer with no problems.
It also appears that the model shown in the top picture often has problems with excessive wow, and poor tracking.
The model shown in the middle (iTTUSB10) also has a built in phono pre-amp.
I confirm the excessive wow of the top model (certainly on the one that I bought). The top model also has a built-in pre-amp (the device is switchable between line level and phono level). I found the electronics to be good and it does have a volume control (albeit inconveniently placed) - but I abandoned the device as I could not put up with the wow (fundamentally the platter is too light).
There are are other “clones” of this device - the range of Numark USB turntables - Numark and ION are basically the same company. The Numark devices appear to be heavier duty and accordingly more costly.
<<<it worked very well, and the owner of this device has successfully transferred over a hundred records onto his computer with no problems.>>>
Oh, this so reminds me of a problem on the Final Cut video forums. We’ve had stability problems with FireWire hard drives for years. Invariably, someone will post with the hundreds of hours and Major Motion Pictures they were able to do with their drives with no troubles at all. The Very Next Post is from somebody with the exact same setup who can’t get ten minutes of video through it without the computer soiling its shorts.
The problem with unstable systems is that they occasionally do produce apparent stability.
