I have a Mid 2011 MacBook Air that I want to connect an external microphone to. It looks somewhat like the first picture below, except that it has one ring on the audio jack instead of the usual three.
On your PowerMic II microphone, push on the button you want to program. You will notice that the corresponding button on the PowerMic II picture will turn green and the associated drop down menu to the right will be highlighted 3. From the drop down menu, select the function you want to assign to the selected button. Hi, just purchased a Olympus ME32 external microphone to record my lectures straight onto my Mac - I plugged it into the headphone socket and unfortunately it does not seem to work. The internal mic is still 'in control'. Are then any ideas about this - I found elsewhere that I need a Lindy USB 2.0 Audio Adapter??
So, I have purchased a splitter cable, like the second picture below, with three rings so that my MacBook would recognize the mic.
When I go into System Preferences > Sound > Output it says Headphones are inserted into Headphone Port, which is correct. Unplugging it turns it back into the default Built-in Internal Speakers. However, under audio input it still says it is using the Internal Microphone. Other sound programmes such as Adobe Audition also do not recognize the mic, but recognize the speakers plugged in. Why is this so?
Note: The cable and the microphone work perfectly on a PC, so there are no problems with the splitter cable and/or the microphone.
The splitter in your photo has a TRRS jack, which is often called '4-pole' or '4 position' because of its 4 metal sections separated by 3 bands.
TRRS enables both stereo output as well as microphone input. (Earbuds from iPhone 6 use this type of jack.)
Your MacBook Air (although I'm not familiar with yours in particular) probably has a TRRS port (rather than one port for microphone and a separate port for headphones). So you could plug iPhone earbuds (which have a mic) into that port.
The lavalier mic shown in your photo appears to have a TRRS jack and so would probably work with your MacBook Air without even using an adapter.
However, you said that you own a different one and that yours has only 'one ring'.
I would agree with your assumption that plugging a 1-pole mic jack into that adapter and plugging the adapter into your MacBook Air should work.
Many people online are reporting problems with this MacBook Air port, however.
See my unanswered question here: External mic not working anymore on Macbook Air
By clicking the links mentioned in my question and comments, you might stumble onto some hacks relating to:
Putting your computer to sleep after plugging your mic in
The order in which you plug your mic into your adapter and your adapter into your laptop
Whether and when to plug headphones into the adapter
and more
I have not yet found a reliable repeatable solution but wanted to share what I've come across so far, and I hope it helps you (and others).
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged audioheadphonesmicrophone .
New Mac users can quickly familiarize themselves with audio configuration options and settings. Unlike most standard Windows keyboards, Apple's elegant Bluetooth-enabled Magic Keyboard and integrated laptop keyboards offer immediate access to muting, lowering, and raising sound volume. A Mac's F10 key mutes volume, while F11 and F12 incrementally lower and raise volume, respectively.
SEE: New user education checklist (Tech Pro Research)
Mac users can place a shortcut icon for the volume control on the Mac's menu bar. To display volume on the Mac menu bar, open System Preferences, select Sound, and, from the Sound Effects tab, check the box for Show Volume In Menu Bar (Figure A). Subsequently clicking the menu bar's volume icon prompts a pop-up window to appear from which the slider button can be raised or lowered to adjust the Mac's output volume. A Mac's volume can also be adjusted using the slider bar found on the Sound Effects tab, where users can opt to mute volume by checking the corresponding box.
Figure A
How To Manual Add External Mic Macbook Pro
Anyone having trouble locating System Preferences on a Mac should scan the Dock for the bold gear icon. If the System Preferences icon is not present, click Finder, select Applications within the Favorites submenu, and double-click the System Preferences entry.
When multiple output devices are present, use the Sound Effects tab's drop-down box to specify which device should be used when the computer plays back sounds. Two additional options are present on the Sound Effects tab.
Play User Interface Sound Effects configures the Mac to play sound alerts when certain events occur.
Play Feedback When Volume Is Changed prompts the Mac to sound audible tones as the system volume is adjusted up or down.
The Sound pane has two tabs in addition to Sound Effects: Output and Input.
How To Manually Add External Mic Mac On Mac
The Output tab (Figure B) displays the sound output. Built-in speakers or headphones, if connected, will appear within this Output window. Macs automatically adjust and update the display to reflect connected devices. For example, my MacBook Air displays built-in Internal Speakers as the output unless I connect headphones, in which case the display updates to read Headphones. The Sound's Output tab notes the headphones are not built-in and updates the Type field to confirm the headphones are connected to the headphone port.
How To Manually Add External Mic Mac On Windows 10
Even seasoned professionals I've met forget a Mac's balance control is present on the Sound pane's Output tab. Adjusting the Balance slider bar adjusts sound correspondingly to either left or right channels according to the slider bar's position.
Figure B
The Input tab (Figure C) presents devices available for receiving sound inputs. Mac models have changed over the years, so the inputs on your Mac may vary. Newer models typically include a single headphone jack that can accommodate a microphone if the microphone is integrated with the headset, which is the case with Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones for Apple devices and RHA MA7501 headphones. When such headphones are plugged in to the Mac, the Input tab automatically updates to use the external microphone connected to what the Mac describes as the Microphone port, even though the Mac refers to the same port as the Headphone port on the Output tab, so that's a little confusing. Typically, though, the built-in Internal Microphone will prove the only option. But if you've connected a USB microphone, for example, you can confirm the device's proper operation by reviewing the Input tab. You may also need to access the specific audio application's Preferences to select the USB microphone, should your Mac default to using the computer's built-in microphone.
The Sound pane's Input tab presents a slider bar for setting the input volume. A corresponding input level meter is present, too, which displays audio input level in real time. Depending upon the mic you use, an option to Use Ambient Noise Reduction may prove available, too. Checking the box prompts the Mac to capture less background noise. Incidentally, the output volume slider bar is displayed at the bottom of the Input tab, which, while counterintuitive, often proves convenient.
Figure C
Last, users seeking to adjust a Mac's built-in equalizer for iTunes audio playback will quickly become frustrated seeking the equalizer controls within Sound System Preferences. The equalizer is specific to iTunes and must be accessed from within the application. Adjust iTunes's equalizer by clicking Window from the iTunes menu bar and selecting Equalizer when using iTunes version 12.5.
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