How to Check if the mic is working.
Check Microphone

How to check if the microphone is working

A common problem in the lab occurs when the microphone doesn't work or no sound comes out of the headphones;

Check iMic, microphone and headphone:

When troubleshooting listening or recording problems, always start with the easiest solution:

Is the iMic (silver USB puck ) plugged in?

The microphone must be plugged into the silver USB puck (Griffin iMic) accompanying with all computers. The black switch should be set away from the microphone plug. The unit must be connected to the computer’s USB port.

Are the headphones or microphone plugged in?

The headphone & microphone must be plugged into the iMic;

Is the Volume down or muted?

Check Sound configuration in System Preferences:

Check the above-mentioned things quickly before moving onto more elaborate measures To troubleshoot problems with sound or volume, either in recording or listening, go to System Preferences > Sound to find out what the problem is.

There you can see if the Mute box is checked, and if the gain, or mic input level, is set too low.
Make sure the input and the output is set to iMic USB system.

1)	Launch System Preferences from the dock or Apple menu.
2)	Click Sound under Hardware to open Sound Window;
3)	In the Sound Setup Window, click Output tab, then under device section select iMic USB audio system (if the headphone is connected with USB iMic converter) Check if the Mute box is checked, and if the output volume level is set too low. Keep the “Mute” button unchecked and drag the scrub on the output volume bar to adjust the volume level;
4)	Still in the Sound Setup Window, Choose Input tab. Under device section, select iMic USB audio system; Speak into the microphone to make sure that the computer is receiving sound signals (Blue wave should grow in the “input level” bar); Check if the Mute box is checked, and if the gain, or he “input volume” too low.
5)	If you still have an input volume problem, please check the iMic. There is a small, black switch between the two input jacks. Move the switch towards the headphone side and record a sample to check sound quality. It will probably still be a bit staticky.

With Sound Studio

1)	Launch Sound Studio from the dock or applications menu.
2)	Launch the input levels window if it does not launch automatically. From the task bar, select Window/Show Input levels.
3)	On the task bar click Audio / Sound Input/Output Setup, this will launch the Sound Input/Output Setup window.
4)	In the Sound Input/Output Setup window under device select iMic USB audio system and under source select iMic USB audio system. Under output select Built-in Audio.
5)	Check to see if the output produced by the speakers/headphones is good.

Edited on Jan 19 2007 02:51PM by Nikolai Barnwell