Why is my headset mic not working?

Question

Level 2

476 points

Why is my headset mic not working?

Hi there,
I am trying to use Skype on my Mac for days when I work from home - Skype on my work supplied PC is less reliable than on a Mac.

I've been using a Samsung 350 Bluetooth headset, but for some reason the mic keeps dropping. This could be a Mac issue or a headset issue - have checked outside of Skype in Sys Prefs and no sound is being picked up... will have to investigate further.

However, in the meantime I've tried using my Plantronics wired headset. The mic is just not working on the Mac. It works fine on a PC. My old G5 iMac had this issue and it turned out I have needed to get some ugly converter for the line in on the Mac to accept the audio in from the headset. Audio out works OK.

Am I missing something? It seems odd that you can't just plug in a standard wired headset...

Thanks

iMac G5, Intel iMac, Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 14, 2009 6:15 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Apr 14, 2009 6:55 AM in response to TWH3

Regarding the Plantronics, your iMac does not have a microphone-level audio input (no Mac model has had any sort if mic input in several years), so that's why some sort of adapter such as the Griffin iMic is necessary to use a standard microphone.

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Answer 2

TWH3 Author

Level 2

476 points

Apr 14, 2009 1:06 PM in response to varjak paw

Arh, that would explain it then.

What a pain

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Answer 3

Noby

Level 1

0 points

Apr 20, 2009 6:30 AM in response to TWH3

I'm avoiding buying anything else to use my iMac and had the same problem. I have PC headset with mic and headphones and also a Motorola bluetooth headset, neither worked how they should, no mic function:

I can use the pc headphones that I already had (just didn't input the mic jack part), and the iMac built-in mic together as I chat.

Just go to System Preferences and make the Sound settings for Output to built-in Headpones and Input to Internal Microphone -select "Use ambient noise reduction.

Its a get-around, but it works.

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