How to turn off external microphone, use internal microphone instead?

Question

Level 1

7 points

How to turn off external microphone, use internal microphone instead?

I am using GarageBand and trying to record a second layer of audio. For this, I need to use headphones to hear the first layer while I play the second.

When I plug my headphones in (Apple earbuds with microphone), my Mac starts using the external microphone (on the earbuds) for sound input. When I go to Sound Preferences, the only option is External Microphone (when the earbuds are plugged in). When I pull the earbuds out of the computer, the Sound Preferences switches back to Internal Microphone.

Question: How do I use the internal microphone when earbuds are plugged into the computer?

I looked through the forum and found several people with this question, but no solution.

Thanks

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Jan 24, 2015 7:45 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 12, 2017 5:05 PM in response to Zenxan

On (forgive me) a Windows forum I found a less worrying workaround: Plug into an output-only adapter. I happened to have one already plugged in for use as an output Y-jack (to computer and stereo speakers), and it avoided this quite nasty bug.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,561 points

Jan 25, 2015 2:53 AM in response to tavit

Use a different headset, that has no built-in microphone.

As soon as you plug-in the iPhone ear-plugs, the internal microphone port is disabled and replaced by the the one from the headset. This is not a GarageBand problem. The internal microphone vanishes from the system preferences and the Audio-Midi Setup.

The internal microphone is no longer listed in System preferences > Sound, and Audio Midi Setup will map the built-in microphone to the external microphone. As soon as you unplug the earbuds the internal microphone will be visible again to the system.

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Answer 3

tavit Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 25, 2015 3:38 PM in response to léonie

Thanks for the help. Too bad. I was hoping to be able to switch to internal mic as I don't have another pair of headphones.

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Answer 4

Zenxan

Level 1

5 points

Feb 15, 2016 11:35 AM in response to tavit

Hey, I guess this is kind of late, but for anyone else experiencing the same problem, the solution is to cover the third ring of your headphone jack - the one closet to the cable - with a small bit of tape. That is the ring that carries the microphone signal. If it is covered, then your computer won't pick up the mic signal from your headphones, but you'll still be able to hear sound through them. Hope that helps someone.

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