External Sound Imput

Do all Imacs have soft ware in the system preff for an external sound imput. I have 3 Imac and only my silver Imac 20 has a system pref option for either internal or external mic. I can plug a mic into the 3.5 plug and it works great. My white Imac 20 and my white intel 17 don't seem to have the external mic option in the system preffs but have the 3.5 plug in the back. I would love to be able to use a mic to record and I don't want to buy a USB mic because I already have enough mics.
Kman

They should all be able to record from external mics. To the best of my knowledge, Apple has not made any substantive changes in the mic plug for quite a few years now.

Make sure you are plugging into the input, not the output plug.

I have a mic plugged into the 3.5 input port on my 17 inch intel Imac.
When I go to my System pref and click on sound and then click on input I only get one choice and that is for Internal Microphone. I have 10.5.8 loaded on this machine. Why don't I get the option to use an external mic?

Double check your documentation. I have looked at the specs for several iMacs in MacTracker. It looks to mi like that port might be a Line In port rather than a Mic port. The look the same but the Line In port is expecting a higher voltage than most mics output. Its useful for connecting things like tape decks etc. but not mics.

I made this mistake with one of my desktop Macs. Tried plugging in several mics. None of them worked till I checked the type of port. If that is what is happening here you have two options essentially:
1. A mic preamp or something similar to boost the mics output up to something the port will be able to us, or
2. Purchase something like the Griffin Technology: iMic - USB Audio Interface. It should work with those types of mics. I can test it tomorrow if you like .

Thanks, That would be great if you could test it. Sounds like you know your stuff. I have been getting the run around from others not in the know.
I am wondering about the software setting for a USB Imic. In my sys pref there is only the internal mic setting and the line in setting through the Utilities>Audio Midi setting. Is there a setting for a USB Imic?
Kman

kmansinger said:

thee software setting for a USB Imic. In my sys pref there is only the internal mic setting and the line in setting through the Utilities>Audio Midi setting. Is there a setting for a USB Imic?
Kman

Click to expand...

Hi!

The system preferences will only show options for "available" hardware inputs and outputs. So until a USB mic is plugged in, the settings will not appear.

kmansinger said:

Thanks, That would be great if you could test it. Sounds like you know your stuff. I have been getting the run around from others not in the know.
I am wondering about the software setting for a USB Imic. In my sys pref there is only the internal mic setting and the line in setting through the Utilities>Audio Midi setting. Is there a setting for a USB Imic?
Kman

Click to expand...

Sorry it took so long but I have been AFK for a while. I did get a chance to test the oMic and it worked with the mic I had. The recording quality could have been better but I think that is a function of the mic. I've gotten better recordings from a different mic. If you use the iMic make sure the mic is plugged into the in side and that the mic/line switch is set to mic. The device shows up in sound preferences as both an input and output device. Make sure you are adjusting the input volume if necessary.

In order to get better phone quality it might be better to use a USB mic. I did that but eventually ended up adding a cheap mixing board because I had better control over the input levels on the mic than with the sound pane alone.