Hi Chris, Thanks for sending such a detailed response. This has turned out to be much more complicated than I had anticipated. :)
At the moment I'm leaning toward option A, as I'm new to this, and it seems the simplest solution. Cheers, Donna > On Jan 25, 2016, at 3:56 PM, 'Chris Blouch' via MacVisionaries > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Macs for quite some time, have had a headphone output jack and a "Line Input" > jack. There are generally three levels of sound signals. First are the very > weak ones like microphones, then line level like the output from a nice CD > player or tape deck and then high powered speaker/headphone levels. For > microphones you usually need something called a preamp to boost the level up > to be used for a line input. Likewise most home stereos and such expect line > inputs and boost those up to high power to drive speakers or headphones. Now > a lot of folks who do voice recording like the sound of a powered condenser > mic because it gives a nice bassy sound when you're close to the mic > (proximity effect). On a sound mixer there is usually something called > "Phantom Power" which is 48 volts running up the same wires which connect to > the mic. On PC sound cards they made up another standard and used 5 volts to > power the condenser mics. To Apple's credit, mic preamps are delicate fiddly > expensive things to get right without adding a lot of noise, a job best left > to the folks who make mixers and the like. So if you have a real mic you > would need at least a pre-amp to boost the signal to line level, which is > what your Mac expects. If you have one of those PC 5 volt mics you'll need > some contraption to make it work because the Mac isn't supplying power > through the mic jack. So you don't really have a no-cost "just plug it in" > solution because Apple went the high road and picked an existing reasonable > input level that works with lots of devices and avoided adding a lot of noise > or cost in building in a pre-amp. So the paths from here are: > > 1. Find some winky box that will convert a PC 5volt mic to a line level > output. > > 2. Something else, which could be a whole lot of options. Here are a few: > A. Get a nice USB mic and be done > B. Get a nice mic and a pre-amp or mixer and connect that to the Mac's line > input > C. Get a nice mic and a USB pre-amp/converter and connect that to the Mac's > USB port > > For me, I went with C so that I could connect any mic I choose to my Mac, or > other sources like output from a mixing console or the audio feed from a > video camera. I've also done option B with a Mackie mixer where I wanted to > mix both spoken audio and voiceover from the mac (and Jaws on a VM on the > same Mac) and record all that. A separate physical set of controls is always > nice to adjust audio on the fly without interrupting (or announcing) anything > you're doing on the Mac. > > Hope this helps. > > CB > > On 1/24/16 4:30 PM, Donna Goodin wrote: >> No, it connects through the headphone jack. Does it have to be USB? >> Donna >>> On Jan 24, 2016, at 3:27 PM, John Panarese <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> What kind is it? Is it USB? >>> >>> >>> Take Care >>> >>> John D. Panarese >>> Director >>> Mac for the Blind >>> Tel, (631) 724-4479 >>> Email, [email protected] >>> Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com >>> >>> APPLE CERTIFIED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL and Trainer >>> >>> AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE >>> >>> MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT >>> >>> >>> >>>> On Jan 24, 2016, at 4:25 PM, Donna Goodin <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> OK, I just tried restarting the Mac, still no joy. >>>> Donna >>>> >>>> -- >>>> The following information is important for all members of the Mac >>>> Visionaries list. >>>> >>>> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or >>>> if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the >>>> owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >>>> >>>> Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara >>>> Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] >>>> >>>> The archives for this list can be searched at: >>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to [email protected]. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> -- >>> The following information is important for all members of the Mac >>> Visionaries list. >>> >>> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if >>> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners >>> or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >>> >>> Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara >>> Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] >>> >>> The archives for this list can be searched at: >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara > Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. 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