I'm In Love" is one of my favorite Wilson Pickett songs, and yes, vinyl is untouchable.
I use Cakewalk Pyro 5 for editing. My version is 10 years old, and I love it. Here's why:
Up until now I've used my Sony turntable, but it too has the old RCA plugs. It would only work on our desktop computer and was a bit of a hassle to set up, so I didn't use it as much as I wanted to. Then I spotted the Ion Quick Flash in Barnes and Noble and snapped it up. I was attracted by the USB connection, the flash storage option and the fact that it transfers your conversions directly to iTunes. Nice features, but there are some issues.
First of all, files stored on the flash drive play back loud and distorted; at least on my computer. I could fix it in Cakewalk, but it really cut back on sound quality. Too bad, because I had planned to plug in a 8GB thumb drive and convert a ton of records for later editing.
The direct transfer to iTunes works as advertised, but you can't edit the files, so they go in warts and all.
So I use Cakewalk to convert the vinyl to digital. I can eliminate pops and clicks, adjust the volume, etc, and burn the tweaked files to CD and/or load them into iTunes . Easy-peasy, George and Weezy. The files are saved as WAVs which can be converted into MP3s, whereas the turntable saves in MP3 only.
In short, I recommmend the Ion turntable only in conjunction with a good audio editing program. There are plenty out there.
Now, back to Sparks. Anybody want "Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat"?