[Macpartners] headset use on a G4 powerbook

[Douglas Alan]

Kerem B Limon <k_limon at MIT.EDU> wrote:

> But, then just before sending this, I Google'd for "Apple microphone",
> yielding this informative Shure page:

> http://www.shure.com/support/technotes/app-soundcard.html#Macintosh

> which confirms my recent suspicion about the "seemingly-unpowered" and
> "hidden power feed" parts. Apparently, there is a built-in preamp in
> these beige PlainTalk style Apple microphones, via power supplied
> through the custom connector (even though the ports will accept
> regular mono/stereo plugs, too).

Yes, it is not terribly uncommon for powered microphones to be powered
via the input jack using a technique that is called "microphone phantom
powering":

   http://www.sounddevices.com/tech/phantom.htm

But it's not typically done this way, at least with consumer gear.  And
of course, the input jack has to support this, which most don't.  From
the website that you refer to, it appears that *some* models of
Macintosh support phantom powering, but only with special Apple-made
microphones (the voltage level provided on the jack is lower than what
is typically used for phantom powering).  The manual for my G4, though,
mentions nothing about phantom powering, specifically states that the
computer requires a self-powered microphone, and it didn't come with a
special Apple microphone, so I suspect that my G4 works well only with
self-powered line-level microphones.

> <rant>There's another reason I'll stick with my PC, then, thanks very
> much. ;)</rant>

Well, that's kind of silly since a five-input mixer with microphone
preamp costs $35:

   http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHUB502

A logitech USB headset costs $35:

   http://www.macconnection.com/ProductDetail?Sku=468941

And a logitech USB microphone costs $20:

   http://www.macconnection.com/ProductDetail?Sku=463688

|>oug