StarTech.com Headset Adapter, Microphone and Headphone Splitter - 3.5mm Male Aux to 3.5mm Female Audio & Mic Combo Jack Y Cable for Laptop / PC (MUYHSMFF) Black

I got the new 2013 iMac to replace my monster of a Windows rig that I built 6 years ago. Figured I'd try out a Mac. I knew it would force a lot of upgrades and replacements of peripherals, but I did not know that the new iMacs use the "smart plug" 3.5mm audio jack that combines the audio output (headphones) and input (mic) into one, single jack. This made my Windows style headset useless, but more than that it made my audio system setup inoperable. I have my computer connected to my 5.1 surround sound stereo system, both for output listening to iTunes and other audio as well as input from other devices connected to the stereo for recording. I needed a solution that would undo Apple's "bright idea" of combining all audio functions into one plug. I can understand such decisions when space is a premium such as laptops, notebooks, cell phones, and tablets... but a 27" desktop iMac computer??? Really? Anyway, this little gadget does the trick! It splits out the audio output from the audio input beautifully and once again gives us 2 different jacks serving different functions to plug in our various audio devices. This is NOT an audio output splitter or y-adapter. You would not plug in 2 headphone into this. Instead, it once again gives us a plug for a microphone and a second plug for a headphone. I was a little worried that this StarTech adapter would not allow stereo sound, but it does. Very nice! It's a great product! Just FYI, I've done this with my system. After plugging the StarTech jack in, I plugged an 3.5mm stereo audio y-adapter into the headphone jack to split the audio output so that I could plug my stereo system and my headphones into the iMac and hear sound from both. It works great! There is a little picture of a microphone on one of the StarTech jacks, and a little picture of headphones on the other jack. It's a little hard to see since it's all the same color, black, but that's fine. I then plugged in the microphone jack from my headset into the StarTech microphone jack. Once you have all the connections plugged in you may need to re-boot or re-start your computer so that the "smart plug" notices that there is now a microphone attached and allows sound to be inputed into the iMac and the mic to work. Also, just in case you are new to the iMac like me, it seems the the iMac's built in mic continues to function even if headphones are plugged into the headphone jack.

Works great for splitting out inputs on headset to combined port on PC

Exactly as described. Y splitter cable that I was able to use with my PS5 controller without issue.

I just received this today for use on a MacBook Air (why they only give you one audio port on a laptop puzzles me). First time I tested it, it didn't work- but then I figured something out. It's more of a Macbook issue than an adapter issue. I plugged the adapter into my MacBook with the headphone plug already plugged into it, which worked fine. Then I plugged in the microphone to the microphone jack and... nothing, it didn't work. I went into the sound settings and there was no option to configure anything to fix the issue, the only sound input that showed up was the built in mic. I unplugged the adapter from the Macbook. The second time around, I made sure both the headphone & external mic cords were first plugged into the adapter and then plugged the adapter back into the Macbook. This time the Macbook recognized the external audio input, I selected it and it worked fine. Years ago a mic plug was a mic plug. Now they're all "smart" plugs that try and sense what you've got connected and configure themselves automatically based on what they think you need to do. As a result, you've got to make note of the order of how you plug them in. The multi conductor nature of the male plug does make it kind of delicate & susceptible to breaking off, so I make sure to be careful when plugging and unplugging it. At $10 the price is a bit high IMO. Overall not a bad adapter.

On time brand new

This is a terrible product. It is a shameful act to manufacture things like this. Not only does the microphone not work on several devices I tested, but also after I tested it on an external USB card which somehow worked with this adapter, I discovered that it caused so much degradation on signal quality that it was simply ridiculous. First of all, a comment on the several devices with which this thing failed to work. I assure you that these devices are the right type devices that take a standard 3.5mm 4 pin ( yes 4 pin, which combines both the stereo and the microphone, otherwise it would not be this adapter's fault). These are precisely the type this cable/adapter is designed for, yet it completely fails to work. On the external USB soundcard that this adapter managed to work somehow, the signal quality degradation was very severe and provable. I used another adapter which is for the same connection (but longer) and tested both with A/B switching using Audacity. The difference was dramatic. This adapter causes a loss at least 80% of signal, and introduces noise orders of magnitude higher than the original device's noise floor. Frankly, it still beats me how a short cable/adapter could cause so much signal degradation and noise. Previously, I had never suspected things like this. I had always thought that when it comes to a cable/adapter, it either works or not. It may have a difference in build quality (to affect durability), but if it works, then it just works. I was wrong. I learned something new from this product. The quality of the cable/adapter now means something much more than durability to me now. Shame on you, whoever that made this product. I don't think you even understand what basic engineering is. You probably made a sample that seemed to work on a random device at hand and decided to make some money by placing a product on market. You don't have an understanding of proper wiring, and probably don't even have a basic concept of what interface compatibility or connectivity compatibility is other than the size of a plug. Big mistake on my part to buy these. The wasted money is not a big deal given the low price. But the wasted time and opportunity was much more dearly. Unfortunately I didn't have a choice. I already have an adapter that works exactly for the same purpose, but it is too long. So I needed a short one. Strangely enough, I just couldn't find any, after having searched everywhere I know how to. When I finally found this, I hesitated due to the large percentage of negative reviews, but went ahead anyway because this was the only one I could find. But what a waste of money and time, especially the time. And I felt compelled to spend a bit more time to write this review to warn others.

Thanks

Without bragging too much, I've just recently bought a new Dell laptop. i7 processor, Solid State Drive, lightweight body. BUT: where my previous laptop had double 3.5mm sockets for my headset/Skype phone, the Dell only has one. Having been sold a totally useless splitter by a music shop overseas (which was only designed to allow two people to listen to one output, not the other way round) I was getting a bit desperate but then remembered my usual mantra - 'Try Amazon'. Trust me, there aren't many single 3.5mm (or USB that I could find) headsets around these day (certainly not for a 'reasonable' price) and I could see myself doomed to using my old laptop for teleconferences, webinars etc. And there are even less splitter adapters. Well I did try Amazon, and for £4.63 got this wonderful product that works like a dream. It even has the headphone and mike plugs marked like they were on my old laptop - fair enough, it took me a while to actually find that out: trial-and-error had worked up to then. Truly lovely. ALSO, and I'm going to add this to all the reviews I'm hoping to do for the other 13 things I bought at the same time, I have to really commend Amazon on their Collect + pick up system. Having been overseas working on one job and just passing through London to another one, I had a problem getting the order delivered to home (especially as I have absolutely no faith in the Royal Mail to do the job, no matter how much you pay them) and so tried the Collect + system. Luckily, my local BP garage has both this and the Locker system. Unfortunately, the latter only allows three days before pick-up whereas Collect + gives you ten. This suited my ordering window - especially as the delivery was still mainly being done by the said unreliable Royal Mail. Apart from some plaintive reminders that I hadn't picked up the orders, it worked brilliantly. Top marks to Amazon once again - and up yours to the British Government.

Works well

Ich Skype gerne mit Hilfe eines Head-Sets mit meinen Freunden im Ausland und mein alter Samsung Laptop hatte 2 Buchsen für Kopfhörer und Mikrofon. Mein neuer Lenovo hat nur noch 1 Buchse. Daher benötigte ich einen Adapter um weiterhin mit meinem Headset zu skypen. Dieser Adapter arbeitet einwandfrei, die Eingänge / Ausgänge sind gut beschriftet und man kann beim Anschließen eigentlich keinen Fehler machen. Ich bin zufrieden, mein Head-Set funktioniert mit diesem Adapter wieder einwandfrei. Ich würde genau diese Adapter wieder kaufen. Ich habe in den gängigen Elektromärkten nach so einem Adapter gesucht, aber nichts unter 25€ gefunden, daher den 5. Stern für das sehr gute Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis.

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