HFTaylor12

Q: Connecting External Microphone iBook G4

Hi. I have an external microphone I'd like to use with my iBook G4, but the iBook doesn't recognize the microphone at all. I think this may be because I plugged the microphone into the audio out port. My iBook doesn't have an audio in port. Do I need an adapter? How can I get the microphone to work with the iBook?

iBook, Mac OS X (10.4.4), G4, 1.5 GB Memory

Posted on Oct 29, 2015 3:04 PM

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Q: Connecting External Microphone iBook G4

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  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Oct 31, 2015 1:31 AM in response to HFTaylor12
    Level 6 (9,869 points)
    Oct 31, 2015 1:31 AM in response to HFTaylor12

    You could use a USB adapter with an appropriate port for the microphone (the device at https://griffintechnology.com/us/device/laptops/imic would be one example).

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Oct 31, 2015 3:14 PM in response to HFTaylor12
    Level 6 (14,244 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 31, 2015 3:14 PM in response to HFTaylor12

    The original external Apple iSight camera, a FireWire400 device, has a built-in microphone

    that should work adequately without an additional adapter; the griffin iMic used to be a fair

    way of connecting external audio devices to FireWire or maybe USB ports in old PPC macs.

     

    There does not appear to be an audio line-in port capability in the native hardware nor in

    the system software in the iBook G4 (due to lack of a designated port for low i/o audio)

    so a hardware work around is required. To be on the lookout for original iSight is advised

    but the Griffin iMic (it's stillmade?) was/is a good product for audio applications.

     

    General specs from original Apple are sometimes harder to find online. This one works;

    some have changed URLs or missing databases.

    https://www.apple.com/sg/ibook/specs.html

     

    Good luck in any event!