The onboard input isn't too bad - it uses a stereo minijack, but to
lower noise (which is usually a problem in laptops as everything's
jammed together inside) I'd recommend even a cheap USB input device.

If you're looking at spending up to $500 or so, something like the
UA-25 or UA-5 from Edirol would be good, otherwise there are also
lower-end input devices that take a stereo signal (via two RCA plugs)
and digitise it and send it into the Mac via USB.

As the digitisation is done outside of the noisy electrical environment
of the PowerBook, you will generally get a cleaner sound.

Cheers,
Kai

On 2005-03-11 07:20:12 +1100, breyfogle said:

I recently bought a Mac Powerbook with enough computing power to seriously
consider transcribing my LP collection to digital (most likely Red Book
CD's). Never having done any type of audio mastering before I would
appreciate the opinions of some of you more knowledgable that I about a few
specifics:

First, Macs do come with a line level stereo input. Presumably this works
OK but how does it compare with any of the low to mid level external A2D
harware that is available ? If external harware is the way to go, what are
the recommendations?

Second, how do the various digital editting software for Mac OS X compare
(again suitable for home use, not pro) ?

Thanks