h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi
just wondering if anyone knew a bit about this. I have an old microphone which originally came with a pc. it has a standard 1 pin audio jack (like headphones do). I have an ibook and was just wondering if it would be ok to connect this to the headphone port on my ibook, which would thus make it an input port instead of output. The only thing I'm worried about is that my ibook instructions specifically say the headphone port is output only. (I've tried this trick on an ordinary tape player and it works a treat, just a bit worried that's all.)
My only other option would be to get a griffin imic, which I think allows you to connect standard audio devices to your mac via usb, from what I gather it works like a kind of junction box.

anyone got any recommendations?

Plugging a microphone into a headphone socket will *not* work.

I believe you can buy the USB bit of the Griffin kit separately, and use it with your own microphone. If your iBook has no dedicated microphone input that's probably the only way to do it.

Traveller in Time on the headphone
"So you want to use your microphone as a speaker ?

Some old (dynamic) microphones can do that trick, modern ones do not.

If the documentation says it is an output only connector then it probably is. The USB audio input devices are actually a complete sound card in a connector, nothing like a junction box but stuffed with high density electronics (of low quality but that is another story). "

In fact, it seems the Griffin product is no longer supplied with a microphone, so you *have* to use your own.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-Technology-iMic-Audio-Interface/dp/B00006BALQ

Oh well, just as well I've got one then. though i did find the imic spec a bit confusing. it implies that it supports these 1pin headphone style connectors, but it wasn't very clear. think I might end up going to a dealer to look at one to make sure. pity, cos you can get them cheaper off the apple website.

No, traveller in time i don't want to use my microphone as a speaker!

The only reason I figured I need to get one is because I cannot work out how I else I can record a acoustic (or for that matter electric) guitar on to my mac clearly enough (my built in mic is rubbish).

I was going to use garageband to record.

You keep referring to "1 pin" connectors. Those are what in the trade are known as "banana plugs"... You are referring to two or three "pin" connectors, although the term is misleading because the "pins" take the forms of rings of metal wrapped round a central former.

Most microphones use a mono or stereo 3.5mm jack plug; headphones use a stereo 3.5mm jack plug. From the photo on Amazon these are the sort of connector that go directly into the iMic.

If you're recording an electric guitar there's a good chance you can get a 0.25" to 3.5mm adapter that will let you plug the guitar cord directly into the iMic and let you record directly.

well, maybe it is a 3.5mm jack plug, I dunno, all I know is it is identical to the standard ones you get for headphones that go with portable cd players etc.

what would be the point in plugging my electric guitar directly into the mac (via imic) unless it was amped up, apart from to isolate background noise? after all, how would you achieve the same sound as when you plug into the amp?

excuse me for appearing so dumb, it just seems a little illogical. plus, I'm probably not thinking properly anyway. I've basically spent the whole day trying to rectify some problems I'm having with my mac and norton antivirus...don't ask...

Garageband has an "amp simulator" so the Mac takes the place of the amp - see http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/garageband/gb2-2.html

But, if you have something like the iMic, you could plug the amp (or any sound source) into that. I have an iMic, I used it to digitize some old reel-to-reel recordings, it works surprisingly well.

As d'Elaphant says, the trick is to record as pure a guitar sound as possible, and then add amplifier distortion *afterwards* - that way if you don't like the result you can take the original sound file and add a different distortion. It's easy to add distortion to a "clean" sample, but if you use an amplifier and a microphone it's nearly impossible to remove distortion if you want a different sound. Fundamentally, you're just giving yourself more options.

thanks very much for your help guys.