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Ion Audio Tailgater

Ray Aguilera — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:33:00 -0500

iPods are great, and we’re rarely without one. But sometimes a pair of earbuds just isn’t enough--especially when you want some tunes for a backyard BBQ or basement dance party, or perhaps your favorite Lemonheads record just doesn’t sound right unless you crank it up. Either way, Ion Audio’s Tailgater can help you rock with friends, indoors or out.

Weighing in at 20 pounds, the Tailgater is best described as “luggable” rather than portable. It’s about the size of a small guitar amp--12.5 by 9.5 by 14 inches--and, in fact, features XLR and 1/4-inch stereo inputs for hooking up a guitar or the included microphone. The internal battery will keep the party going for about 8 hours. Standard RCA inputs also let you connect any source, provided you have the right patch cable. There’s even a line out, so that you can connect multiple Tailgaters for even bigger sound. A full recharge takes about 12 hours via the included AC adapter, and there’s a handy LED power gauge on the top panel, so you can keep track of how much juice is left.

Take your karaoke revue on the road.

Soundwise, we were pretty happy with the Tailgater. It’s plenty loud for use outdoors, and the inputs all feature individual gain knobs so that you can tweak the levels until they’re perfect. The master volume knob lets you project sound near or far, and the Tailgater’s sound is consistent at both high and low volume levels. Our only beef with the sound quality is that Tailgater favors the midrange. Both the highs and lows were a bit washed out, but given the Tailgater’s likely uses, we weren’t expecting audiophile-quality sound anyway.

The Tailgater can also optionally charge a compatible iPod (any newer iPod that supports USB charging) connected via the 30-pin dock connector. There’s a switch next to the dock to turn the charging feature on or off. Unfortunately, the Tailgater is not certified to work with the iPhone. Plugging in our 3G triggers the familiar “this device is not made to work with iPhone” message, which you can dismiss. It will work for playback, but charging isn’t supported.

The build quality of the Tailgater is impressively solid. Though it’s not as road-ready as the pro amps that clearly influenced its design, you’ll have no problem throwing it in your trunk and taking it out for a day at the park. We also appreciated the rubber feet on the bottom that kept the case from scratching our wood floors. Our only concern about durability stems from the master volume, which felt flimsier than the other knobs, although we didn’t experience any problems with it during our test period.

Converting Analog Audio to Digital Audio

Scott Rose — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:43:00 -0600

LP 2 CD, one of the many audio conversion products offered by Ion Audio, lets you convert your vinyl records directly onto a CD or onto your Mac.

I’ve finally imported my entire CD collection into iTunes, but what about my old cassette tapes and LPs? I can’t just repurchase them from the iTunes Store, because my cassettes are filled with my own authored music and my LPs are out-of-print.

Upon receiving your question, we let out a big sigh and looked over at a dusty stack of cassette tapes that we’ve also been meaning to convert--for the last 10 years! Fortunately, this conversion is a relatively painless process thanks to a company called Ion Audio, which makes a variety of products for turning your analog audio into digital format. Their product line includes the following:

LP 2 Flash ($199.99, www.ionaudio.com) is a turntable that rips your LPs directly to a USB flash drive, an SD media card, or your Mac. LP Dock ($249) is a turntable that rips LPs directly to your Mac, an iPod (fifth generation or classic), or an iPod nano (second or third generation). LP 2 CD ($399) is a turntable that rips LPs directly to CDs or to your Mac. We reviewed a turntable from Numark in this issue called the TTi ($449, www.numark.com) on p86 that also digitizes music LPs.

Tape 2 PC ($149.99, www.ionaudio.com) is a cassette deck that rips your tapes to your Mac in MP3 format. It also doubles as a real dual-dubbing cassette deck that you can plug into any stereo system.

Who Likes To Rock The Party?

Lonnie Lazar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:05:39 -0500

The world’s a stage with this rechargeable iPod speaker.

For a traveling musician, event coordinator, or just someone who likes to party on the go, Ion Audio’s Block Rocker packs a punch in a portable, rechargeable package. This well-made audio system includes a ton of input and output options into a good-looking, great sounding package that leaves no excuse for failing to get your party started.

Start with ease of transport—the collapsible handle and rugged polymer wheels make it easy to take the Block Rocker almost anywhere, plus two roadie-style side handles give the 35lb box portability that most can manage. The built-in rechargeable battery is good for up to 12 hours in one go.

Attractively built with white side panels and brushed aluminum trim, the true beauty of the Block Rocker lies in its flexibility. If you’re just looking for an external iPod speaker that packs a punch, set your iPod into the built-in dock with adjustable support wedge (a handy alternative to the removable dock adapters many portable iPod players employ), and crank it up. The 25-watt two-way speaker can blast clear, rich sound that, if anything, we found a little heavy on the bass (more on that in a moment).

If you’re looking for a more interactive experience, this is where the Block Rocker shines. With a balanced XLR microphone input, 1/4-inch line-level input for an instrument or additional microphone, and stereo RCA inputs for external audio gear, the Block Rocker becomes an instant karaoke machine or backup band for the solo singer or musician. Each input channel features an independent gain control, and the unit has a Master gain control as well. The aluminum pots seem well seated in their channels, and all of the jacks and controls are well built. The unit also features a 1/4-inch stereo out jack to connect an external amplifier, PA system, or recording device and a standard 35.5mm pole mount.

One thing missing from the Block Rocker is a built-in EQ. While many users may simply rely on the speaker’s full, rich bass response to play prerecorded music from an iPod or CD player—certainly a positive feature and no drawback as far as it goes—instruments and microphones used with the Block Rocker would benefit from onboard EQs or pre-amps, especially given the Block Rocker’s beefy default sound profile.