Written by Elaine Youngs | 03 March 2003
Posted in Hardware

Review
Installation & Documentation
Ease of use
Value for money
Price approx.	$150 NZ
Operating System	OS X
Available from	Griffin Technology Realmacsoftware

I am one of those 40 something "Switchers" that has just joined the ranks of enthusiastic Mac users in NZ with my new 800 MHz PowerPC G4. I was dying to get involved with some of the "intuitive interface" use that I had heard and read so much about in doing the research before purchasing my iMac. I had some old vinyl records and a growing stack of audio tapes from a correspondence course and was looking for an inexpensive entry level try at transferring it into digital sound on my hard drive.

I called my local MacIntosh reseller in Wellington and told them what I wanted to do and they recommended purchasing an iMic USB Audio interface by Griffin Technology ($115 NZD). They were happy to send one to me via courier and I was nearly ready to go. I needed a cable to get the music from the stereo RCA output to the iMic and found what I needed at the local electronics store. It was then a quick search online for some shareware that was inexpensive to meet my needs. I found Audio X 2.1.0 ($15 USD).

Setting up the hardware

The iMic
The iMic comes out of the wrapper with an easy to understand bi-fold card with set up instructions on one side and trouble shooting tips on the other. Keep this handy as you may need to refer to the switch position instructions a few times as you are getting familiar with the set up.

They recommend you connect the iMic to a USB port on the body of the iMac rather than using a peripheral port.
Follow the simple 5 step set up on the card. It gives clear directions with visual pictures directing you to the Sound control panel so you can use the iMic for audio input.

Naming the file you are about to record in AudioX

The switch on the iMic itself lets you move between two different positions. If you are line-in recording from some audio device, push the switch towards the microphone icon. If you are recording from a microphone attached to the iMic , push the switch towards the speaker icon. This confused me at first but the bi-fold card is easy to keep near at hand until the positions seem second nature.

The Cable
Electronics newbie that I am, I took the iMic with me to the electronics store to assure I could get the right connecting cord. Telling them I wanted to move stereo sounds to my hard drive seemed to pose no problem for the sales person and they directed me to the correct cable with two RCA male prongs for attachment to the back of my stereo receiver and a single male connector for the iMic.

The Stereo or audio device
Make sure your audio device has audio output jacks at the back of the machine. Higher end stereo systems have these and some of the newest low end mini systems (under $200 NZ) are produced now with RCA jacks for the speakers and these are also easy to utilise with this set-up. The most difficult part of the exercise may be to find a stereo with a turntable still intact if you want to rip your vinyl. I located an audiophile friend who came to the rescue.

Setting up the Software

By default, iTunes converts your .mov music file to an MP3 file

Audio X downloads from Realmacsoftware.com. System Requirements are Mac OS X 10.2 with Quicktime 6.0.2.

You can download Audio X for a free trial but it limits the length of your recording. An online Kagi purchase with my Visa and they sent a serial number to activate the full version of the software and this went without a hitch. Audio X installs itself on the hard drive and comes complete with a PDF file giving directions for saving your recordings to iTunes.

Making a recording

Get your selection ready to play on your stereo and open Audio X. Click on "Record" and a drop down window will appear so you can name your recording. Click Start recording as you begin play of your audio selection. Record as much or as little as you like and then click the Stop button. Audio X will save the recording in the Audio X window as a Quicktime movie file.

Audio X saves your sound file in its own folder that you can then locate in Finder or you may export the .mov file to other software that you may have for editing. I dropped my .mov files straight into the main window of iTunes using the drag and drop facility. I met with temporary pause here as my default settings in iTunes would convert the movie file into MP3 format which was fine for the audio tapes I copied but I was hoping for a less compressed format for the songs ripped off vinyl.

You can adjust iTunes to convert imported music into the audio format of your choosing

iTunes came to the rescue with a click of the preference settings in iTunes and then a click to the import button you can import your .mov files as .wav or .aiff format as well.

Once you have your recordings in iTunes in the file format of your choice it is simple to create a playlist in iTunes and burn to audio or MP3 CD.

 

Once you discover just how easy this is you will be finding other creative uses for the software and your iMac. My eight year old is happy to do his reading homework if I give him a lapel mic and let him read, laugh and listen to his stories afterwards. So, at the end of the day I may still be dreaming of Roxio's Toast with Jam to fully edit the music on the hard drive, but in the meantime...I'm still having fun and all for under $150 NZD.