The iMic can help you digitize your crates of vinyl records.

What’s your excuse for not digitizing your vinyl copy of Dark Side of the Moon? Wait, let us guess - you haven’t figured out how to connect your turntable to your Mac, huh? The red and white jacks from the turntable don’t match any ports on your Mac. What you need is an iMic. The iMic is handy for connecting a turntable, tape player, or any other audio device to your computer.

The iMic is about the size of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and it attaches with an 18-inch USB cable. It has a pair of 1/8-inch jacks for audio-in and -out, and it also comes with an adapter for RCA (the red and white connectors that extend from your device). It’s easy to connect an old-school device like a turntable. Plug the iMic into a USB port, plug the adapter into the iMic’s In port, select Line on the iMic, and then connect the turntable. You’ll need to select the iMic in your System Preferences, under Sound. That’s it. We only wish the iMic’s USB cable was a touch longer, since our Mac is stashed under a desk.

You can use GarageBand to record audio, or you can use the bundled Final Vinyl software, which features basic tools for editing sound files. It lacks trimming tools, but the workaround is to select the audio you want in the file, and then select Save Audio Region.

The bottom line. The iMic helps you digitize vinyl records and mix tapes so you can finally stash those items in storage.

COMPANY: Griffin Technology

CONTACT: www.griffintechnology.com

PRICE: $39.99

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS X (Final Vinyl requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later), USB

Provides a way to connect record players or other audio devices for converting audio to digital format.

Short USB cable. Final Vinyl software has limited features.