Microphones are used in everyday life in conjunction with computers, music centers and karaoke systems. They only work well if they are properly connected to the device.
Instructions
Step 1
Use only electret microphones with computers, and dynamic microphones with tape recorders and karaoke systems. The exception is some Toshiba notebooks, which are designed to work with dynamic microphones.
Step 2
The microphone plug can be Jack type with a diameter of 6, 3 or 3.5 mm, or DIN type - with three or five pins. If the socket on the device does not match the configuration of the plug, use an adapter. It can be ready-made or homemade. The Jack type plug has two contacts, one of which is located closer to the place of the cord outlet and is common, and the other is located at a distance from the cord and is signaling. For a DIN type plug, the middle contact is common, and the signal contact can be the rightmost or the leftmost one, depending on the year of manufacture of the device to which it is connected. Determine this empirically when connecting.
Step 3
The sound card has several connectors. You can only connect a microphone to the one that is intended for this. The fact is that the headphone and speaker plugs have three contacts, and the microphone plug has two, one of which is wide. If you mistakenly connect a microphone to the headphone or speaker output, one of the amplifier channels will be short-circuited. The amplifier may be damaged.
Step 4
To determine which of the connectors on your sound card is designed for connecting a microphone, pay attention to their colors. The microphone jack is marked in red or pink. If the jacks are not color-coded, find the one you need by the stylized image of the microphone or by the inscription MIC.
Step 5
If the electret microphone does not work, pay attention to the polarity of the microphone capsule connection. Its negative terminal, which is connected to the metal case, must be connected to the common wire of the computer. If the sound does not appear after that, start the software mixer (it is called differently in different operating systems), activate the microphone input in it and adjust its sensitivity so that no acoustic feedback occurs.
