Apples and audio

[Yemsky]

I bought my wife a Compaq X1000 notebook at Christmas time and she "paid me back" on my B'Day last Sunday with a Powerbook G4. It's my first Apple and I have to say that not everything comes easy.... I want my right mouse click back, Steve Jobs !!!
Anyway, here are a few questions from an Apple idiot for those who know their mac machines:

1. Since I've moved to the States I have a simple setup without a mixer and nice HiFi Amp. I used to plug a preAmp and AD converter from Radio Shack between my Technics 1210 and my Windows PC and to record from wax. The sound was never great but it does the job if you just want to burn a CD for the car. I assume that this setup will work fine between my 1210 turntable and the G4 notebook as well . If there is any other piece of hardware I should use in between, please let me know.

2 . The Powerbook G4 comes with Mac OS X and iLife'04. Does this provide what I need to record from an analog source or do I need additional software? (Like, on a PC your Windows recorder only records 60 seconds of Audio and you need something like Clean! to record beyond that.)

3. If I need additional software, is Roxio's Toast 6 Titanium the product of choice?

4. Is Roxio's Toast with Jam worth the extra one hundred bucks ? I am currently not so much interested in features like "7 hours of CD-quality music or more than 30 hours of Dolby Digital music on one DVD" but the option to create and burn "mixes with DJ-style cross-fades" appealing. Is it useful to create a mix if you have different audio sources or does it fall short of expectations?

Thanks for your help.

[amino]

Welcome to easy life.

First, buy a new mouse for example Logitech MX500 and you have all the buttons you need and a scroll.    

1. There are pretty cheap USB-connected soundcards available, which might be a good idea. There is also audio line in with Minijack connection in your Mac, so you can also use RCA-to-Minijack between your amp and Mac to get the sound in.

2. In iLife you have software called Garage Band, with that you can record any sound from line in as much as you have disc space.

3. From Garage Band you just export the sound to iTunes in AIFF-format. So basicly it exports the sounds in CD quality. In iTunes you can convert the file to MP3 or ACC format with bitrate of your need.

You can also burn CDs right out from iTunes. Just put empty CD in and when it ask where you want to open it choose open iTunes. Or you can just click Burn Disc button in the upper right corner of iTunes and it will ask you to insert the empty CD. After that choose the songs you want from your playlist and click Burn Disc button (it's the nuclear mark) again and it will guide you through it.

If I could decide, I would drop the CDs only for the mixtape swaps and buy iPod with car connection kit.

4. Nope. You can also make fadeouts/ins with iTunes or mix everything ready in Garage Band. It's easy as hell