Microphone Question: 1/4" to 1/8" adapter stops the mic from working?

[Kitt2003]

Hey guys,

I have a microphone (which has always worked) with a 1/4" mono (1 black ring) jack that I want to use on my older computer (around 2000). I bought a 1/8" converter (which has 2 rings) to get it to fit nice and snug in my computer. Problem is, after using the converter, the microphone does not pick up any sound at all. It's plugged in completely and everything is fit together nicely, but no sound at all is picked up. I thought there might be a problem with the hardware itself, but the same setup works in the computer i'm typing from right now (2005).

could there be some incompatibility or anything with the converter or... i have no idea really. i'm stumped.

btw, there is no special sound software or hardware on that computer... just the onboard sound which works fine with a regular 1/8" mic (no adapter) and the standard windows drivers.

any ideas?

thank you in advance.

 

[Kitt2003]

eek... no one?

 

[amenthes]

You most likely need a mono to mono adapter. Plugging a mono plug into a stero jack may not work properly, as the contacts are in different places.

It sounds like the problem may lie on the stereo plug side of things (the 1/8" plug on the adapter) if it works on one computer and not another. The contacts in the microphone input jack could be in slightly different places between the two computers.

You should be able to find a mono 1/4" to 1/8" adapter at Radio Shack for $5 or so.