Re: Macs and microphones

Bradley J. Ramsey (bramsey@its.bldrdoc.gov)
Thu, 12 Jan 1995 11:52:04 -0500

>On Wed, 11 Jan 1995 l.hewson@unsw.edu.au wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Uri,
>>
>> After much frustration, I found that one problem can be the various model
>> microphones supplied with different model Macs. Yes, you will need to
>> connect a mic to the input at the back of the CI, but check that the length
>> of the minijack plug is correct. I use a small Quadra 605 and found that
>> none of the existing Mac mics worked with this model, until I discovered
>> one with an extra long jack pin (5 mm longer than standard) and suddenly I
>> could talk. Strangely, this mic does not work with all the other Macs
>> around here.
>
>Apple strikes again. That change in microphone jack "standards" has
>wasted considerable time at a lot of sites. I'd love to hear
>the reasoning behind it.

In support of voice recognition on the AV macs, Apple has moved to the Plaintalk microphone. The main difference is the fact that these microphones contain a preamplifier in the microphone itself, giving superior audio quality. The longer pin provides a third connection to power the preamp. Since the new macs are expecting a greater audio level which is supplied by these new microphones, the lower levels from un-amplified microphones will not work.

One major oversight on apple's part is that the larger monitors which provide microphone connectivity on the base do not support the third pin. So, if you are using a recent model mac (including any powermac) and a monitor which extends the adb, microphone, and speaker jacks to the base, you must plug the microphone directly into the back of the mac, NOT the base of the monitor.

_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Brad Ramsey bramsey@its.bldrdoc.gov
_/ _/ _/ Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
_/ _/ _/ Boulder, Colorado
_/ _/ _/_/ Voice (303) 497-3165 FAX (303) 497-3680