I've got a program called "Just Audio" that came with this compaq puter. It allows me to either record directly via the monitor's builtin speaker or I can put the songs on a tape recorder and run them in there through the mic input on the sound card and turn 'em into wav files and then using a free AnalogX download I'm able to convert the .wav's into smaller sized mp3's. I don't think you need to have a 1/4" jack in the back. You could get a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter at radio shack to bring it down to size if needed. Hi-fi quality has never been one of my concerns and editing is non-existent as you may well be able to tell if you click here;~)