IMic clipping, PowerBook G4

I'm trying to move some old analog tapes into GarageBand. I heard subtle distortion using the built in A/D -- line out from tape to PowerBook G4 audio in, decided to try an iMic I had lying around to see if it was better. This thing is driving the audio way past clipping even with the input level all the way down. The switch on the iMic is set to "line"
Shouldn't this work? Is there a setting somewhere I'm missing?
And while were at it, is there a better approach for high quality A/D than either of these options, the iMic or the PowerBook built in stuff?
-- Jon
PowerBook G4   Mac OS X (10.3.9)   GarageBand 2.02

The iMic is a pretty atrocious quality device. If you want to know how bad, email me at [email protected] and I'll send a 1MB pdf file I've generated.
My needs were fairly simple - transfer of Tascam 4-track cassette recordings, but the iMic wasn't up to it, so I moved across to an Edirol UA3. This was three years ago and it works fine.

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