Now that PCs are getting increasingly cheaper and more powerful,
it would be a much better investment to buy the powerful software
tools offered by Sonic Foundary as suggested by 'The Pro' in an
earlier post.

For starters, get the CD Architect 5.0. This is the perfect tool
for Red Book CD mastering complete with PQ code editing. Next,
add Sound Forge 6.0, the Professional Digital Audio Editor and
apply the Compressor, Volume maximizer and Normalizing tools.
To remove pops and clicks, machine noise, rumble and tape hiss,
you can add Noise Reduction 2.0. These tools complement each other
and offer serious editing and mastering power.

For your CD burner, the reigning champ is the Yamaha Ultimate
CD burner. It can print text on the unused portion of the CD
using the laser to etch letters.

PCs in the past suffered from noisy low quality sound cards.
This is not true any more. Check out the RME Hammerfal DSP
cards. This will give you professional analog to digital
converters.

The PC is the future. With so many software tools out there,
you are better off going this route. It is cost effective,
more versatile, and offers hours of fun while you explore
and experiment with the myriad of options.

Tapas.