Connected external microphone isn't showing listed on sound Input on MacBook Air

wouldnt that be "4 rings not 3"?

that would be mono and stereo... the 3rd is for the mic when you have a headset combining headphones and mic in just one cable and plug.

Still I have just read something about a specific 4 pole cable (hence 3 rings in the plug) called TRRS... (tip, ring, ring, sleeve)... and that'd supposedly is the solution... but my headsets had that TRRS plug and MacBook just won't recognize the mic as an input...

It seems to me that you are using the wrong 3.5mm audio plug.

You need one with 3 rings, not just 2.

If your mic has a plug like this (2 rings):

you need an adapter like this:

SentientDust wrote:

wouldnt that be "4 rings not 3"?

Maybe, I guess it depends on how you count them. I meant the 2 black little rings or the 3 white ones on the other image, but if you count the metal parts it would be 3 vs 4.

I am not really sure if that solves the problem... I do have several "modern" mics and also combination of traditional wired headsets (headphones + mic: Bowers & Wilkins, Bang and Olufsen) that have the 3 rings in the plug and still GarageBand doesn't recognize the mic (input) just the headphones as output (beyond GarageBand, the mic doesn't show in the MacBook settings as a sound input)... I have just started like a month ago in the "Podcast" and "music" world, and also most of my bluetooth mics won't do for me because there's a lot of delays and afterwards I am forced to adjust everything cause the voice seems out of sync with the music tracks... that's why I have gotten back to my wired "old" or traditional headsets... The only other mics I own are Shure with XLR and I've just read about a Shure Digital interface... I hate that it has gotten so complicated just because "things have gotten simpler"... what an oxymoron. Anyway, is there an out for this situation?

Thank you for posting this very clear picture.

I was not aware of the terminology, but yes my point was that one needs a TRRS plug in order to be used as a mic. Unfortunately, I don't know why it is not working for you. Whenever I have tried this, with a mic having TRRS, it has worked on any of my macs. Also, in cases where the mic had only TRS, it still worked using the adapter that I showed in a previous post.

Whatever the reason, if it does not show in System Settings->Sound, it cannot show in GarageBand.

No problem Luis… Do u mind telling me which device and what MacOS u are currently using? Im on a MacBook Pro M1 2021 and I did migrate to Sonoma MacOS when it became available a couple months ago… Also it would be useful if u tell us the microphone brand or if it is bundled in a headset (headphones+mic). Thanks again…

At this point, I was about to throw the towel and get me a good USB standalone mic (Shure, or the likes)