Cool Mac Gear• iPod Video • iPod nano • iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Garageband |
Many USB-equipped Macs over the past few years have shipped without an analog microphone input jack. The eMac and the latest TiBook have reversed that trend, but there are a lot of Macs out there with USB audio support only, and many users, like me for instance, have a collection of analog microphones and headsets that they’re in no hurry to replace. Griffin’s iMic adapter to the rescue. iMic universal audio adapter is a device that not only lets you use both line level and regular, non-amplified, PC-style mics, of which there is a vast selection available, with USB Macs (also works with PCs), but also supports sound out through the USB port, allowing you to connect speakers and headphones with standard 1/8”/3.5 millimeter plugs. 
The iMic allows the connection of virtually any non-PlainTalk analog computer microphone or sound input device to the iBook, G4 Cube, Titanium PowerBook G4 or any other Mac with USB ports. The iMic is a disk shaped module about 2” in diameter, with two female ports and a switch. The ports are for sound-in and sound-out, and the switch selects between line level and mic level depending upon which type of mic you are using. Just plug the iMic’s USB cord connector into the Mac’s USB port, and a supported device into its port. I’ve used the iMic with a Lombard 333 MHz PowerBook; my WallStreet PowerBook with its MacAlly US the PC Card adapter, a G4 Cube, my Pismo PowerBook, and my UMAX S-900 tower, which has a MacAlly the USB PCI card adapter installed, under OS 9.0.4 through 9.2.2 plus OS X. Mics used have included a mic level, PC type headset, and a mini boom mic, also mic level. Apple PlainTalk mics are not supported. The iMic doesn’t require driver software. It’s just a matter of opening the OS 9.x sound control panel and selecting one of the USB Sound-In options: External Mic USB and Line In USB. It doesn’t matter which. The Pismo and Lombard of course have PlainTalk compatible analog sound in ports, but with iMic, you can use regular mic level mics. Griffin claims the iMic produces better sound-in results than Apple’s built-in audio. There are a variety of reasons why USB audio is preferable to the built-in audio on existing Macs. The inside of your computer is electrically very noisy. High frequency noise from many sources can degrade a computer’s audio input and output quality. USB audio provides a far cleaner and more effective way of getting sound in and out of the computer. The audio A/D and D/A circuitry is external from the computer away from noise that degrades audio performance. All signals are carried to and from your computer digitally through the USB connection. The net effect is audio quality that is far superior to what people have become accustomed to from their computers. The Griffin iMic builds upon this advantage using the best USB audio codec available. The iMic uses the identical codec used in the professional USB audio solutions that cost 5-10x as much. In fact most users and reviewers agree that the iMic provides superior audio input and output quality to these professional adapters. Further, software available only for the iMic allows you to customize your audio input and output far beyond what can be done with any of these high end products. We also tested the iMic’s sound out capability with a set of satellite stereo speakers. The Mac OS 9.1 sound control panel also allows you to select USB sound out. The Lombard supported the speakers nicely under both OS 9.1 and OS X. I’ve used the iMic with both IBM ViaVoice and MacSpeech iListen dictation software. I even tried running ViaVoice X using a PC-style (non PlainTalk) analog headset plugged into the Griffin iMic USB adapter, and lo and behold, it worked. ViaVoice Setup Assistant even declared its sound input “Very Good.” However, the sound playback isn’t supported (the Andrea USB mic that ships with ViaVoice X has a separate cable that runs between the Mac’s sound-out port and the mic’s USB converter box for sound playback through the earphones). Key Features: Supports: Mac System requirements: OS X Compatibility The iMic is compatible with OS X, but will appear slightly differently depending on which version you have. 
OS 10.0.4 
OS 10.1 For more information about the iMic and OS X, visit: Mic, USB audio interface ($ 34.95) You’ll find it here.
Page: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
|
Cool Mac Gear• iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Keyboard Skins • Garageband
| ||||||
|
| ||||||||
