Built-in Speaker option disappears after plugging in 3.5mm TRRS external microphone

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Level 1

6 points

Built-in Speaker option disappears after plugging in 3.5mm TRRS external microphone

How can I use an external microphone and the internal speakers?

I'm attempting to use a Deity D3 Pro external 3.5mm TRRS microphone without external speaker/headphones.

When I plug the 3.5mm TRRS connector into the back of the iMac Pro, the microphone is recognized and listed in System Preferences -> Sound -> Input. Microphone works fine.

However, Mojave OS (10.14.6) takes removes "Internal Speakers" option and replaces it only with "Headphones" and I have no sound:

Certainly the built-in speakers are still inside the iMac and there should be some way to select and them?

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jul 28, 2020 12:59 PM

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Answer 1

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ddessert Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 31, 2020 6:24 PM in response to ddessert

After an hour or so of Apple Support, the answer came back that this is not supported.

Their expectation is that people will use the 3.5mm audio jack for either headphones only or microphone with headphone/speakers. If one wants to use microphone only and still get the internal speakers, they will have to buy a USB microphone or a TRRS-to-USB adapter.

I reiterated that there was no real reason for MacOS to purposefully disable the built-in speakers even if the user plugged in headphones to that connector.

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Answer 2

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Jul 31, 2020 8:18 AM in response to ddessert

Hi there ddessert,

It sounds like you're experiencing some issues using a third-party external microphone with your Mac. We will be happy to look into this with you.

When plugging into the 3.5mm jack into the Mac's audio port, the System Preferences will show the sound input as external. What you're seeing is normal behavior.

We suggest looking over this article and seeing if the steps help:

If you can’t hear sound from your Mac speakers

If they don't help, you may need to reach out to the manufacturer of that microphone to see if they can provide input, or a different method to connect to the Mac. There may also be software needed from their end to help this work as expected with that device.

Please let us know if this helps.

Cheers

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Answer 3

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Jul 31, 2020 10:10 AM in response to ddessert

Howdy ddessert,

Thank you for reaching back out and for trying that article. It's expected behavior for the internal speakers to revert to showing external or headphones when an external device is connected. This may be related to how the microphone interacts with the Mac. Have you contacted the manufacturer to see if they have any software updates or can provide guidance on making this work?

This article can provide guidance on how to reach out to them:

Contact a third-party vendor

Cheers!

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Answer 4

ddessert Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 31, 2020 9:16 AM in response to Joseph_S.

Thanks for the article link, but none of these apply:

Unplug any headphones or external speakers from your Mac

There are no external headphones or speakers plugged in. There is a microphone only device, but the Mac seems to think that there is an external speaker plugged in.

Make sure the cables from the display are connected to the ports on your Mac

I don’t think this applies to the iMac Pro. The computer is inside the display.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sound, then click Output. Make sure Display Audio is selected in the output device list

As shown in my screen shot above, the built-in Display Audio option is not present. It disappears as soon as I plug in the external microphone.

The basic problem is that when I plug in a 3.5mm TRRS into the audio jack on the display, the iMac OS takes away the ability to select the built-in speakers for audio output.

I’m sure that if I had plugged in an external headset with microphone, I could hear the audio in my headset. But I wasn’t to use the built-in speakers because there are a few of us on my end that want to hear the audio, such as in a family FaceTime meeting.

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Answer 5

ddessert Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 31, 2020 1:32 PM in response to jdo_apple

The Deity support group administrator blames it on the MacOS. There is no firmware in the Deity microphone.

The Deity products use a chip to sense pin voltages to understand how the connected device is using the TRRS lines and adapt as it connects.

In any case, I find it unhelpful that the MacOS takes away the option of using the internal built-in speakers even if I have connected headphones in the audio jack. What if another person sites down next to me and wants to hear the audio?

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Answer 6

ddessert Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 31, 2020 4:55 PM in response to jdo_apple

A little more playing around with the Mac's 3.5mm audio jack:

If I plug either a TRS or TRRS cable (that is not connected to anything on the other end) into the Mac's 3.5mm audio jack, the System Properties -> Sound -> Output panel removes the "built in" audio option and only shows the Headphones option, just as in the OP. The Input panel option remains with "Internal Microphone".

This tells me that just plugging in a connector is enough for the MacOS to disable the built-in speaker option. The Deity microphone doesn't have to be involved at all.

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Answer 7

Aug 1, 2020 5:04 AM in response to ddessert

Howdy ddessert,

Thanks for following back up with us. At this point, we recommend that you contact Apple Support for additional help with this.

Take care.

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Built-in Speaker option disappears after plugging in 3.5mm TRRS external microphone

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