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Tapes onto iBook - is there a way?

OldCorpse

OldCorpse

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I'm learning French, and I like to listen to French language CDs on my iBook through headphones. I also have some old language tapes, and I was wondering if there's some way to get those tapes onto my iBook? Or some way to record those tapes onto a CD using my iBook? I know there's no audio-in on the iBook, but is there maybe some piece of hardware that doesnt' cost an arm and a leg which I can plug into the usb or firewire and get to work that way? Any suggestions appreciated! TIA.
 
ITASOR

ITASOR

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Mar 20, 2005
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You want a Griffin iMic. Can be had used around $20. It plugs into your USB port and gives you audio in!
 
OldCorpse

OldCorpse

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ITASOR said:
You want a Griffin iMic. Can be had used around $20. It plugs into your USB port and gives you audio in!
Click to expand...

Duh..! I heard about the Griffin iMic, but I just somehow assumed it was strictly for microphones... glad you posted it, so I checked it out... seems just the ticket :) ! Thank you! Why doesn't Apple provide an audio-in on the iBook? Seems it wouldn't cost more than a couple of bucks seeing as the whole Griffin thingie which is much bigger and more complex is $40 retail... I realize they need to feature strip the iBooks to have the PB compare favorably, but this seems just petty :( Here's to hoping the new mactel iBooks have audio-in...
 
kretzy

kretzy

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Sep 11, 2004
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Audio-in is a pretty rare feature to have on a laptop, so it does sort of make sense to have it as a part of the pro line, seeing as the people who use PBs are most likely to use such a feature. Why would Apple want to increase the cost of building iBooks when I'm sure audio-in isn't exactly a top priority to most people....remember, it's all about $$$ ;)
 
OldCorpse

OldCorpse

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max_altitude said:
Audio-in is a pretty rare feature to have on a laptop, so it does sort of make sense to have it as a part of the pro line, seeing as the people who use PBs are most likely to use such a feature. Why would Apple want to increase the cost of building iBooks when I'm sure audio-in isn't exactly a top priority to most people....remember, it's all about $$$ ;)
Click to expand...

I don't know about "rare"... my extremely basic Dell Inspiron 1100 bought 3 years ago has audio-in, and it was a bottom configuration for $799... and I'm not sure you're right about lack of need... the iBook is pitched at students... what happens when a student wants to record a lecture? Can't very well turn the iBook around hoping that the inbuilt mike will record everything... what is he typing on at that point? External mike access would be nice. Seems to me there are plenty of situations where you may want to have audio-in. In any case, seems to me a pretty standard feature if even the most basic Dell laps have it. BWDIK, YMMV.
 
kretzy

kretzy

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OldCorpse said:
I don't know about "rare"... my extremely basic Dell Inspiron 1100 bought 3 years ago has audio-in, and it was a bottom configuration for $799... and I'm not sure you're right about lack of need... the iBook is pitched at students... what happens when a student wants to record a lecture? Can't very well turn the iBook around hoping that the inbuilt mike will record everything... what is he typing on at that point? External mike access would be nice. Seems to me there are plenty of situations where you may want to have audio-in. In any case, seems to me a pretty standard feature if even the most basic Dell laps have it. BWDIK, YMMV.
Click to expand...

I didn't realise Dell had them on their laptops. :eek:

I've just personally not seen it on many computers or ever really had use for it.
 
frankblundt

frankblundt

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Sep 19, 2005
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the audio in / mic jacks on computers (laptop or otherwise) are usually pretty crap in any case - the iMic will do a much better job, and because it has a pre-amp built in it can take audio from either an amp (line-out source) or direct (like a mic). i found it gives you a much better level of signal too - plugging straight into the mic jack on my B&W the source was either too low (at maximum) or too strong (at minimum).
 
OldCorpse

OldCorpse

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frankblundt said:
the audio in / mic jacks on computers (laptop or otherwise) are usually pretty crap in any case - the iMic will do a much better job, and because it has a pre-amp built in it can take audio from either an amp (line-out source) or direct (like a mic). i found it gives you a much better level of signal too - plugging straight into the mic jack on my B&W the source was either too low (at maximum) or too strong (at minimum).
Click to expand...

How's the quality of the audio-in on the PB's? I imagnie the iMic is still superior, but maybe not?
 
frankblundt

frankblundt

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i'm no audophile but from what i've read part of it has to do with issues around a lack of shielding that introduces background interference noise from the fans, power supply etc (in fact the criticisms of the iMic for some were that the usb cord is too short to get the analog signal far enough away from interference before encoding)
- that said, most of the stuff i've read about audio recording on macs suggested that the iMic was better than using the mic jack, but that it was still a big step below having a dedicated soundcard input or something like the MBox (but then it's a hell of a lot cheaper).

I did a reasonable amount of research on it, because i wanted to rip my vinyl collection and the mic jack just wasn't giving me the signal i wanted (as mentioned above), and ended up with the iMic as the best compromise between price and quality.
and i'm converting them all to mp3s so the finer details of the recordings that i might have picked up with a fancier system would probably be lost anyway (had i been able to afford it).
 
OldCorpse

OldCorpse

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frankblundt said:
i'm no audophile but from what i've read part of it has to do with issues around a lack of shielding that introduces background interference noise from the fans, power supply etc (in fact the criticisms of the iMic for some were that the usb cord is too short to get the analog signal far enough away from interference before encoding)
- that said, most of the stuff i've read about audio recording on macs suggested that the iMic was better than using the mic jack, but that it was still a big step below having a dedicated soundcard input or something like the MBox (but then it's a hell of a lot cheaper).

I did a reasonable amount of research on it, because i wanted to rip my vinyl collection and the mic jack just wasn't giving me the signal i wanted (as mentioned above), and ended up with the iMic as the best compromise between price and quality.
and i'm converting them all to mp3s so the finer details of the recordings that i might have picked up with a fancier system would probably be lost anyway (had i been able to afford it).
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's extremely helpful. I ordered the iMic and I'm hopeful it'll work. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of an audiophile and can't stand noisy and/or lossy recordings (so no mp3's for me :( )... one reason why I've held off on an iPod (waiting for a 100GB one so I can have a reasonable # of CDs in Apple Lossless :) ).
 
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