The iMic is an external USB/audio interface
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic

That is one cool device. Now I am sorry I desposed of all my vinyl.

Google is your friend: iMic

It surely has a place in the lineup of products.

$50 for this little bit of convience is not cheap. There are like $10 3.5mm to USB converters that I'm looking to get but want to know for sure if it's going to work. I don't see why it wouldn't, but just wanted to get some conformation. Here's an example of what I'm talking about, there are cheaper ones: http://www.schooloutfitters.com/cata...Feed_CAL-AX-14

This is the one I was looking at/referring to last night.. more compact and cheaper.. only downfall is it might be a little space-consuming if you have to/want to plug it into a usb hub with the ports close together

http://www.outletpc.com/c5214.html


Edit: Like I was saying last night, while I don't know for sure I can't see why something like this wouldn't work. If the 3.5mm output jack is in fact normalized which it seems to be, that's why a wire being plugged in overrides the ability to use the internal speakers. Therefore, if audio output is being directed to an external source (speakers) via a USB port, one should have the ability to switch between the internal/external speakers without unplugging the wire from the adapter, or unplugging the adapter from the comp. :D

http://iwin2win.stores.yahoo.net/usbstauadro.html

Even cheaper yet. $8. Froogle rocks. :D

I think you are right, I think it will work. I have used a generic USB headset with mic and headphones on a Mac. I had no problems and no drivers were needed. A generic USB to analog sound device should work the same way. And yes, once one source is on USB and one is on the built in headphone jack you will be able to switch back and forth.

I have an el-cheapo set of earphones (Plantronic) that came with one too.

Hooray. Reps please :D


Edit: Oh wait, there's no reps on this form.. :-\
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/end thread

Looks like it would work at minimal expense.

Yeah another option is a USB Hub with an audio pass through. I'm currently searching for a USB hub / card reader that also has an audio pass through but haven't found a device that's all 3 in 1 yet

How did it go?
 

Hi Tussinmonstr, Wondering if the cheap USB 'portable sound card' trick worked on your mac? I'm looking for the same thing and the advertisers here say it is not compatible with Mac OS.... but I can't see why. Thanks!

I bought a cheap USB Dongle on EBay for $5.00 and it worked as soon as I added it to my iMac. I can play simulated 5.1 sound from my stereo speakers and I can use the microphone in iChat. The thing I can't do is choose both the USB sound and the internal iMac speakers. It does give greater depth to the sound than when the speakers were plugged into the iMac directly and not in the USB dongle. This similar to what I bought.
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-to-Mic-S...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for this info, I was about to buy a similar USB to audio but need to keep the internal speakers running in addition to audio out. Maybe will have to splurge on the Griffin imic....

I don't know if the Imic would allow you to choose both. The Sound control panel shows the internal speakers as well as the USB but I couldn't choose both. Do you know a way of doing that?

Hey, you COULD route the headphone jack into the line-in; that would let you switch/select line-in or internal microphone and run the sound through QuickTime!

Apple probably removed the option of selecting sound source so that retardos don't confuse their little noggins about it. It still should provide an "advanced" option for a manual override of the hardware switch.

a couple of tips, I know it's a bit late!

I was researching the possibility of switching between headphones/internal while something is plugged in and am fairly satisfied now as is mentioned here that it's impossible, which is annoying.
Anyway:

an alternative to the imic which I settled on is this:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UCA202.aspx
It's made by a company specialising in professional audio (studio) equipment, and seems like a more audiophile solution at a very decent price.

Also, if you want the option of having audio coming from both internal speakers and a usb interface, try this:
http://cycling74.com/products/soundflower/

very powerful, if a little complex, software that can, as well as routing to both internal and external outputs, output specific programs to different outputs, so for example you could have itunes playing through external speakers while your browser played through the external speakers.


Just my two cents...

It's not a hardware switch!
 

I've been searching this problem for days. To recap: I keep my headphones plugged in all the time. Sometimes I want to hear through the internal speakers of my iMac so I have to unplug my headphones, which are inconveniently plugged in the back. Why can't I just switch the Output Device in the Sound Preferences Pane?

I started planning a simple switch box that would that would close the circuit when you unplug the headphones, thus enabling the internal speakers. This would work if it were a hardware issue. In fact, it still might, but a software solution is far more elegant.

And how do I know it's a software issue? I restarted my iMac with the headphones plugged in and heard the startup chime, that's how! When you first boot the iMac the external speakers work, then once all the software loads, sound comes from the headphones only. Go ahead, try it. I'll wait...

See!? I found a few references to a CHUDswitch terminal script that was written for a few Hackintosh machines, but the driver on those Hackintoshes isn't the same as on a real iMac. Long story short, I'm not shelling out cash to fix this problem now that I know a simple script might work. The quest is on!

I just wanted to let you all know it's not a hardware issue. It's all software.

The startup tone is hard wired too -- it always sounds.