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Comments on How can I plug in both a microphone and speaker to a laptop with a single 3.5 mm jack?

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How can I plug in both a microphone and speaker to a laptop with a single 3.5 mm jack?

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My dad has a Lenovo Y700 laptop with only one 3.5 mm jack (green arrow in pic). He uses this laptop for video calls.

He must use the single jack for speakers, because it is impossible to hear people clearly with the laptop's own, shoddy speakers. That means for a microphone, he must use the laptop's builtin mic, which produces terrible audio quality for the other person.

He has Zalman ZM-MIC1, but how can he plug in both this mic, and the speaker?

I am hoping to avoid buying additional microphones, because we already have 5 spare standalone microphones and wish to save money.

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3 comment threads

x-post https://superuser.com/q/1666724/383391 (1 comment)
No can do. (1 comment)
Today i'm going shopping... (3 comments)
Today i'm going shopping...
elgonzo‭ wrote over 3 years ago · edited over 3 years ago

I don't know for sure, but somewhere in the OS settings (or perhaps somewhere in some Lenovo utility program) there could perhaps be an option to configure the 3.5 mm jack as either headset, line-in, microphone, line-out, headphone, whatever port. If there is no such setting to be found, try a 3.5 mm microphone+headphone to headset adapter (converting two individual 3.5 mm jacks to a single 3.5 mm headset plug).

elgonzo‭ wrote over 3 years ago · edited over 3 years ago

If you don't like spending the four or five bucks these things cost, there is also the option of measuring the length of the contacts on a 3.5 mm headset plug (if you have a headset with such a plug), and trying to tape off the areas of the microphone plug that would overlap the headphone contacts on the headset plug. If none of the suggestions work, there is always the option of last resort of borrowing a hammer from the friendly neighbor and. solve. the. problem. once. and. for. all.

Skipping 1 deleted comment.

elgonzo‭ wrote over 3 years ago · edited over 3 years ago

(A side note: I don't want to ask how/why you would think there are two 3.5 mm jacks -- but no, on the photo you drew the big fat green arrows on it is very clearly visible that there is only a single 3.5 mm jack...)