I am an audio enthusiast and am upset my $3k Macbook Pro Retina does not have a microphone port. I didn't realize this until after I made the purchase. What a bad compromise to make it thinner. Is there a simple solution to the microphone port issue?

Get a USB mic - they're all over the place. Blue makes some good ones - from inexpensive to really expensive.

Clinton

There are many USB solutions out there to get audio into your Mac. From simple things like the Griffin iMic, to dedicated mic preamps like the Focusrite iTrack Solo Mic Preamp, to mixers with USB connections from companies like Alesisand Behringer.

If you're an audio enthusiast, you'd have no use for a built-in microphone port, even if there was one. All that would mean is that you'd be using the built-in ADC, which would be of mediocre quality, at best. Anyone who seriously records sound on a computer uses an external digitizer.

And communicates the results to the computer via USB3 or maybe even Thunderbolt....

Linc Davis wrote:

If you're an audio enthusiast, you'd have no use for a built-in microphone port, even if there was one. All that would mean is that you'd be using the built-in ADC, which would be of mediocre quality, at best. Anyone who seriously records sound on a computer uses an external digitizer.

Absolutely. A true "audio enthusiast" is well aware of how much electromagnetic noise there is the inside of a computer case, and would never want to use the built-in audio ports on the case, particularly because those little 1/8" ports use unbalanced connectors. That's just a recipe for noisy audio (to those who are discerning).

Audio enthusiasts would rather use an external audio interface that isolates the analog audio well outside the noisy computer case for a much cleaner analog/digital conversion.

Network 23 wrote:

Linc Davis wrote:

If you're an audio enthusiast, you'd have no use for a built-in microphone port, even if there was one. All that would mean is that you'd be using the built-in ADC, which would be of mediocre quality, at best. Anyone who seriously records sound on a computer uses an external digitizer.

Absolutely. A true "audio enthusiast" is well aware of how much electromagnetic noise there is the inside of a computer case, and would never want to use the built-in audio ports on the case, particularly because those little 1/8" ports use unbalanced connectors. That's just a recipe for noisy audio (to those who are discerning).

Audio enthusiasts would rather use an external audio interface that isolates the analog audio well outside the noisy computer case for a much cleaner analog/digital conversion.

And 'proper' microphones use balanced XLR connectors not 1/8" tinsel.

Hello,

I also use the audio in and I didn't get a lot of noise. It true the quality is much better with an audio interface sometimes you have to get an idea down And then you can redo later using an audio interface.

I was looking for a solution to same problem as yours and bumped into this thread.

I totally agree with you. I think these experts are missing the point that a $3000 notebook is missing a simple audio input port. No need to hammer on whether one is "truely audio enthusiast" or not. Sure, exprtise comes at all different levels. There are so many situations you want to do a quick take of a speech or song or teleconference without picking up a lot of background noise. You just want to connect a mic and go. Not tag along another USB gadget that requires another power plug etc. This is yet another flop just like the missing CD/DVD drive. What a bummer! I am not happy camper of the new Macbook either.

A little research prior to making your purchase would have gone a long way toward avoiding your discontent. Who lays out $3,000 without knowing what they are buying?

The CD/DVD drive isn't missing. It was never in the rMBP in the first place.

Of course there's the option to return it as soon as you discover this. You have 14 days to return it for a refund.

I don't admit that it is a bad idea, because I have no use for it whatsoever.

What I think are good ideas are the retina display, the processor, the ram, the graphics card, the SSD, the weight, and the ultra thin profile. To get that ultra thin profile some things had to be prioritized by the designers. I have no use for a microphone or I would buy one, just like I bought a CD/DVD drive, and a USB hub for other peripherals.

In the world of design it is known as "trade-offs."

Appleboja wrote:

I trusted Apple to make the best product

No you didn't, you trusted Apple to make the machine that you wanted, complete with the facilities you wanted. So sure were you that you were right you didn't check what they actually make.

Guess what, they don't make your Mac.

Take it back and get something else.

Hello,

on the issue of no input port get a $150.00 USB 3 Focusrite Audio Interface such as the Scarlett 2i2. It has Opamps not tubes but it's small and compact and sounds a whole lot better than what the audio-in used to sound like. Plus, you can plug in a mic or quarter inch cable which means you don't need an xlr to quarter inch a sony sony like you would have to do with the older model.

If you got a Retna you got the best deal because the other model has the audio in but it doesn't have the flash hard drive on the chip with no moving parts. It's much faster if you need to process large amouts of data such as using an audio DAW. The downside is replacing the drive.

The thunderbolt ports are great because you can convert your other drive to an external if it's large enough to do you any good. I converted one from an internal I replaced in a very old Macbook Pro. It's a USB 3. if you need to use a firewire and it's a 400 then that might be a problem.

If you need to use a express card go with Sonett Technologies but get the pro.

Congradulations to everyone who got the Retina.

Best,

Alan Warrick

Hello,

on original ideas it's a good idea to take along a notebook and while wriing your hook or lyricial idea go ahead and write a discription of what your are hearing. I've found that ideas you forget come back but if you use a discription it builds your skill of putting your ideas in tangible form.