I've been playing a lot of City of Heroes on my Macbook Pro and I'd like to use Teamspeak to be able to chat with my coworkers who also play. I originally began playing on my Bootcamp partition (Windows XP) and I could use my Logitech headset plugged in to the headphone and line in ports. The game audio came though perfectly and Teamspeak was happy with the microphone.
I downloaded the Mac client of CoH last week and naturally I wanted to use Teamspeak (or Teamspeex) to communicate with my friends. Using the same laptop booted in to OS X, the same line in port does not recognize my microphone.
Now, I've done my research on the intertoobs and everyone says "OH NOES, IT'S AN UNPOWERED LINE IN PORT, NO MICROPHONE FOR YOU!" but I have a hard time believing that's the case when the exact same port works with a microphone on Windows XP.
The question is: Why does the line in jack work with a microphone on Windows XP and not on OS X when the hardware is *exactly* the same?
The Facts:
- Early 2006 rev. A Macbook Pro (2.0 GHz Core Duo)
- Logitech headset w/ mic, 1/8" plug
- OS X 10.5.6 / Teamspeex 1.0beta2 (r336)
- Bootcamped Windows XP SP 3 / Teamspeak 2.0.32.60
Posts
Yes, I did set the sound settings in OS X and in Teamspeex to use line in.
You mean I went out and spent $40 on a USB headset when the one I got from CompUSA for 99 cents that used the 3.5mm jacks would have worked fine?
Ah well.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Secondary follow-up question: Is there a way to make a 1/8" plug mic work on OS X using the line in port?
Now if you have a powered mic, that's another story. Then the mic is outputting line-level and doesn't need to be amplified.
PSN:RevDrGalactus/NN:RevDrGalactus/Steam
i use it in tf2 all the time and I come out really clear
Not necessarily. I'm quite shocked the OP got his mic working in bootcamp, cause no matter what I try, the mic I bought (which plugs into the line-in port) does not get picked up at all, either in OS X or Windows.
I was gonna make a thread for this myself, but I may as well ask here since it's related: does anyone know where you can order a 3.5mm to USB converter, so I can use the mic I bought? I can't find anywhere in Canada to buy one.
Going from analog to digital, what you're describing is basically a USB soundcard. No worries, though, as they're actually rather cheap.
PSN:RevDrGalactus/NN:RevDrGalactus/Steam
edit: bah - wrong stuff.
I'm pretty sure those don't exist. You would need an external USB sound card for that.
They exist and there is a soundcard built in - I just can't seem to find one for sale in Canada either. example
So, would something like this work? I've got a MBP, and am hoping to be able to plug in my nice headphones into the audio-out, and plug my mic into a USB slot since it doesn't get picked-up with just the line-in.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Yeah, checked that. Not a silly question, but that was one of the first things I did.
This is what's so frustrating about the whole deal. If it truly is an un-powered line-in port, it shouldn't work on either partition. Since it did work on the Windows partition, I'm lead to believe that OS X has some shitty (lazy) coding when it comes to audio.
Does anyone have any experience with a USB sound card that isn't the Griffin iMic? I don't need to spend $70 on a sound card just for mic-in for one game that I'm not even going to play for that long. A quick search for "USB audio adapter" brings up a pretty cheap adapter.
Alternatively, you could just pick the Music Fairy up for your MBP (we sell it at wholesale cost of just $9.95). it acts as a USB soundcard and will enable your standard headset to work over USB. We get these to integrate our system with the PS3, but will work just fine for a Mac Book as well.
BTW, the Griffin iMic has a custom C-Media chip which samples at a MUCH higher rate and sounds an order of magnitude better than the Music Fairy -- you get what you pay for there for sure.
Now, if all I'd be using the usb soundcard (Music Fairy or other alternative) for was to plug my mic into it, and still just plug my headphones into my line-in jack like usual, would the higher sampling rates matter much? Like, would you certainly notice a quality difference between the Music Fairy and the iMic for instance? My headphones sound fine plugged into my computer, so unless there would be a noticable voice quality difference for the mic, I'd be inclined to go the cheaper route.
Hello Storm Shadow,
Have you really tried these options you mention? And if so... How you do it, what are your settings?
AND I MEAN WINDOWS XP IN BOOTCAMP
All these sugestions i read everywhere on the net. Nobody can say for certain if something works out of experience. Maybe try this or that and so on.
Has anyone tried the imic? And can say YES! THIS WORKS AND THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.
Has anyone tried an USB headset? And can say YES! THIS WORKS AND THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.
Becouse:
I bought the imic but can not get it to work.
I used an other preamp thing with a jackplug and it doesn't work either.
I used an casette deck as an preamp and it doesn't work.
I tried all these different kinds of devices, cable setting and sound settings and can't get my headset to work.
I didn't try a USB headset. I first want to know if it works.
I have an Creative fatality headset with jackplugs which works fine in OSX.
I use an IMAC, 2.66 processor, ATI 2600 pro, 2 gig RAM, with the newest update's.
I don't want to use the internal mic which works BTW. But i have to talk to loud.
In which or what way can i use a headset for teamspeak in TF2 for example.
I want to know what works and not what maybe works.
(Don't be to critical on my english. I am from the Netherlands)
Kind regards
Ockie-86
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, i tried all of the settings. When i plug in the imic in the USB-port. I set the soundrecording setting on imic settings. But i tried the Realtek settings also.
I tried many, many kinds of different combinations in these settings.
What are you settings in XP??
Ockie
1) Plug your headset into the iMic, and make sure the minijacks are in the correct sockets. Set the iMic to Mic unless you know you need it at line level. Plug the iMic into a USB jack.
2) Wait for Windows to recognise the iMic exists and for the "Found new hardware" icon in the system tray to disappear, if necessary.
3) Open the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel.
4) For "Sound Recording", select "Griffin iMic audio system" (or similar). Obviously, if you want audio to come out through the headset as well, do the same for "Sound playback".
5) UNTICK "Use only default devices", if it is currently ticked.
6) Click OK.
This should convince Windows to let the iMic be used as a microphone.
You'll probably only see them with XLR inputs though, so you'd need converters. But those aren't hard to get either.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I got so sick and tired of it all. I bought myself a USB Headset. It works fine.
But i still don't understand why that Imic USB soundcart thing didn't work. I think it's broken.
Well...... I don't bother anymore.
Thanks everyone for the time trying to help me out.
So... just buy a USB headset.
I bought a Creativ Fatality USB headset.
Installed the drivers.
Checked the Realtek settings. They were automatic on the "creativ settings", so i was ready to go.
But i guess any USB headset will work. To bad i couldn't read that anywhere on the internet.
Ockie