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Unreliable ...and unfixable
The Ion LP 2 CD converter is a fairly straightforward machine, which means there is no reason why it shouldn't work consistently and reliably. Unfortunately, mine started failing immediately after I purchased it in April 2009. I got an "Error: System reset" message after trying to burn my first CD. I called Tech Support and they walked me through the reset process. Then, I began to get "Error: Track less than 3 seconds" messages. The machine was now inserting short tracks, which meant the burning process would not work. So, I switched off the automatic track inserter. I then started getting "Burn failure" messages. Once again I called Tech Support. (By now, they knew me by name.) After a week or two of fiddling around (by which point, the Ion was rejecting 90% of my blanks, but formatting them so I couldn't use them for anything else), I sent the Ion back. The company paid for the shipping, of course, and promised I would have the repaired machine back in 7 or 8 weeks.
It's been 3 months since I sent it back, and I'm still waiting. According to customer service, they'll get around to looking at my Ion "soon." But given the backup in orders, and the huge quantity of machines that have been sent back for repair (it seems quite a few of them have similar problems), I don't expect to see it before September. And when (if) it does return, I would not be the slightest bit surprised if I got an "Error: You've Wasted Your Money" message straight off the bat.
Update: I hate being right all the time. My Ion was returned after exactly four months with this note attached: "Tested extensively. Ran for 3+ hours. Not be able to recreate customer's complaint." I was able to recreate my complaint in less than a minute. I put the Ion back together, recorded an album and the very first CD I tried to burn yielded the same "System Error CD Write Failure" message I had been getting before. I called Tech Support. After verifying that I was using the right kind of CD (audio -R)they had me reset the machine. The second CD also produced the same error message. In short, the machine still doesn't work. (And why should it? Nobody be able to fix it.) Customer service says they'll have some new stock around October. My next prediction: The new machine will perform as badly as the old one.
Further update: Well, I was right. Again. The same broken turntable was returned to me in October. The repair people did not even test it to see if the CD burner worked. According to customer service, I will have to send the machine back again, but nobody seems to know when the new stock will arrive. I feel like I'm trapped in some weird existentialist play--Waiting for the Ion...
THE SAGA CONTINUES: After 7 months a new Ion was finally shipped to me. I assembled it and to my delight, it worked!! For a week I blissfully converted my LPs without a hitch. (Or nearly. Like the last Ion, the automatic tracking did not work on classical LPs. But, hey, I could live with that!) Then, after successfully burning about 15 CDs I got the "CD write failure" message. It was like a bad dream. Undaunted, I dashed out and bought a different brand of CD-Rs. (SONY Music. I splurged.) But these wouldn't burn either. Just to make absolutely certain it wasn't SONY's (or Memorex's) fault, I stuck one of the new SONYs in my computer and cut a CD. No problem. I called Tech Support. They advised that I reformat. (Turn off the Ion. Press record and erase simultaneously and then turn on the Ion--Wait until the message bar indicates that the machine has been reformatted.) The reformatting didn't help. I dashed out and bought yet another batch of blanks (Memorex CD-R Music). Then I turned off the machine and let it sit. Before using it, I reformatted the Ion, then I turned it off and reset the defaults twice. (Turn off machine. Press Record and Play, then turn the machine on, and hold for ten seconds. Turn off. Then turn on again). Now it's working! Apparently, these machines don't like it when you switch brands. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
July 2009 · Musical Instruments · verified purchase