Reel to Reel audio tapes to Mac

You just need to use the appropriate adapters to plug the output of the reel-to-reel player to the audio input port of the G5 (the mini-stereo jack that has the symbol with two triangles). Most likely, this would be a red/white RCA to mini-stereo jack adapter cable, available at any Radio Shack.

Once the sound is coming in, you need software to record it in real-time. One free program is

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ <- Audacity

There are other non-free apps, such as

<a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://www.freeverse.com/apps/app/?id=5012 <- Sound Studio

and

<a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/ < - WireTap Studio

Note: There is no built-in feature in Mac OS X that lets you hear the incoming sound using the computer's speakers. So when you connect the sound input and you don't hear anything, there is probably nothing wrong. You need to run a sound recording program and set it to play-through the audio input to the speakers. If you just want to initially hear it without running a big sound recording program, you can run this simple little app that just does the play-through function and nothing else.

<a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11333 <- LineIn

You should be able to "listen in" while recording using any software that you use to record. You just need to set it to play-through the sound to the speakers. You can control the sound levels using any reasonably good recording software. You can also adjust the overall input volume in System Preferences Sound pane Input tab.

I got pretty good results in the past using free or low cost software. If you want professional results, you probably need to buy specialized hardware in addition to high-end software. I'm not an expert in that area. I actually use an old Mac OS 9 machine and an excellent free recording program called Coaster for this purpose. When recording, you should leave the Mac alone. So it's helpful to have separate Mac that can be dedicated to recording analog and converting to digital, and not tie up your main Mac.