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

He sees just 2 3.5mm audio jacks — see my green arrows. Correct? No, clearly not. Since both holes are different sizes, at most one of them can be 3.5 mm. It's hard to tell absolute sizes in you...

posted 2y ago by Olin Lathrop‭  ·  edited 2y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

Answer
#2: Post edited by user avatar Olin Lathrop‭ · 2021-07-31T13:56:17Z (over 2 years ago)
  • <blockquote>He sees just 2 3.5mm audio jacks — see my green arrows. Correct?</blockquote>
  • No, clearly not. Since both holes are different sizes, at most one of them can be 3.5 mm.
  • It's hard to tell absolute sizes in your picture, but if any of the two holes is 3.5 mm, it would be the left one. The right hole looks too small.
  • If you have a microphone with a plug that fits into a hole that is marked as audio input, give it a try. It is quite unlikely that anything would get electrically damaged in that case. Make sure not to plug a microphone into an audio output port. That could damage the microphone.
  • If this doesn't work, consult the user manual for your laptop. Surely that tells you what kind of microphone, if any, the unit can accept. Then go out and get that kind of microphone. These things are cheap and available nowadays. It shouldn't cost more than a few cups of coffee.
  • <blockquote>He sees just 2 3.5mm audio jacks — see my green arrows. Correct?</blockquote>
  • No, clearly not. Since both holes are different sizes, at most one of them can be 3.5 mm.
  • It's hard to tell absolute sizes in your picture, but if any of the two holes is 3.5 mm, it would be the left one. The right hole looks too small.
  • If you have a microphone with a plug that fits into a hole that is marked as audio input, give it a try. It is quite unlikely that anything would get electrically damaged in that case. Make sure not to plug a microphone into an audio output port. That could damage the microphone.
  • If this doesn't work, consult the user manual for your laptop. Surely that tells you what kind of microphone, if any, the unit can accept. Then go out and get that kind of microphone. These things are cheap and available nowadays. It shouldn't cost more than a few cups of coffee.
  • <hr>
  • <blockquote>But he already plugged his external speakers into it!</blockquote>
  • Then it's clearly an audio <b>output</b>, not an input. Microphones need to be plugged into inputs. The signals are coming from the microphone and going <i>into</i> the computer.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Olin Lathrop‭ · 2021-07-30T12:25:19Z (over 2 years ago)
<blockquote>He sees just 2 3.5mm audio jacks — see my green arrows. Correct?</blockquote>

No, clearly not.  Since both holes are different sizes, at most one of them can be 3.5 mm.

It's hard to tell absolute sizes in your picture, but if any of the two holes is 3.5 mm, it would be the left one.  The right hole looks too small.

If you have a microphone with a plug that fits into a hole that is marked as audio input, give it a try.  It is quite unlikely that anything would get electrically damaged in that case.  Make sure not to plug a microphone into an audio output port.  That could damage the microphone.

If this doesn't work, consult the user manual for your laptop.  Surely that tells you what kind of microphone, if any, the unit can accept.  Then go out and get that kind of microphone.  These things are cheap and available nowadays.  It shouldn't cost more than a few cups of coffee.