[kent m]

I have a powerbook g4 667, the back of which looks like this:



there is an audio input port on the back of it (6), but when I plug a mic into it there is no sound input registering in the Sound Prefs Pane.

I have an iMic that I plug into the USB port that works just fine for sound input, but I'd like to figure out how the built-in port functions. Can anyone give me any advice or pointers? Thanks in advance,
k

[macintologist]

It is line in. So mics won't work. It will only work if you're recording from a cd player, minidisc or something else like that. I don't know exactly why but that's the reason.

[Spheric Harlot]

You need line-level input, which is much higher than microphone-levels.

Line level are things like tape-decks, CD or MD players, and mixer outputs, as well as hifi-stereo recording outputs.

Unpowered microphones produce electrical signals solely by virtue of a small membrane moving a coil around a magnet when vibrated by noise. As you can imagine, those signals are very, very small and thus need some kind of pre-amplification.

You can, however, get battery-powered mics (with built-in pre-amp) that will work directly.

-s*