iMac headphone's external mic not work

Question

I have 5 iMac in my office. We use skype for conversation. I have used almost 5 different brand's headphone but headphone's external mic not work at all.

I have checked sound settings. In the sound settings under "Input" section, when I select "Line in" for my headphone the mic does not work. But when I select "internal microphone" it works.

The same headphones are working perfectly on windows system.

Does iMac require any special headphones?

Did you check the sound settings and input source selection in Preferences? — nohillside, Apr 17 '13 at 06:03
Yes I have checked sound settings, In sound settings under "Input" section, when I select "Line in" for my headphone mic not work. But when I select "internal microphone" it works — Irfan DANISH, Apr 17 '13 at 06:06
How is the headset connected to your Mac, via audio cables or via USB? — nohillside, Apr 17 '13 at 06:13
Yes i have checked it in skype too, "Line in" mic not work only built-in Microphone works — Irfan DANISH, Apr 17 '13 at 06:41
Wait, so you see it in Skype set up but it will not work. So that tells us your system does recognizes the Input source. — Ruskes, Apr 17 '13 at 07:03
Please use the @(my name) otherwise I do not get notification on your comments. — Ruskes, Apr 17 '13 at 07:06
@Buscar웃, ye my headphone is shown in skype settings as well as system settings but it doesn't work and as i told you have tried multiple headphones none of them work for me and all of them are perfectly working on windows system. As its office environment i have to speak loud to use iMac's internal mic which is not good for me :( — Irfan DANISH, Apr 17 '13 at 07:10
Welcome....I assume it is not MUTED ? Use Skype test call to verify. — Ruskes, Apr 17 '13 at 07:13
@Buscar웃, yes i use skype test call. Moreover in iMac settings and skype settings there are indicator that shows voice input, both of them don't show any activity when i select my headphone's mic — Irfan DANISH, Apr 17 '13 at 07:15

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 17 '13 at 08:27

2

iMac line-in for Microphone is not powered!

Means you can not use a standard microphone.

It has to be one with power-source build in to the microphone.

In your case there are 3 choices.

Buy a line-in microphone with preamp.

Get a USB type Microphone (headset)

Cost reducing alternative: If you have a Bluetooth headset for your phone (which you should if you making phone calls in the car), you can use it it 2.

answered Apr 17 '13 at 08:27

Ruskes

48,129

You don't have to use the line-in, you can use the TRRS headphone port instead. – speakr Feb 20 '14 at 16:11

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45

Apple's iMacs use a 4-pin TRRS headphone port which combine analog audio output and input and need a connector like this:

enter image description here

Just take an adapter like this, plug in your headphones and mic, and it should work. I just verified this with my 2010 iMac. Another report stating the same can be found here.

Unfortunately, Apple decided to not provide any documentation about that.

The same answer for a related question can be found here.

iMac headphone's external mic not work

2 Answers2