How to Use an XLR Microphone on a MacBook Pro - Connect External Mic to Mac

6 Foot - Male XLR to 3.5mm Cable: http://amzn.to/2w6sPA5
10 Foot - Male XLR to 3.5mm Cable: http://amzn.to/2uZOw4K
StarTech TRRS Cable: http://amzn.to/2rn9jvN
StarTech TRRS Adapter: http://amzn.to/2f8t21K

Connecting an external microphone to a MacBook isn’t exactly a straight-forward task but it can be even more confusing when you want to use an XLR mic. MacBooks don’t have XLR ports but you can successfully use XLR microphones on the MacBook with a few adapters. There are two different XLR to 3.5mm adapter cables. One of them works but the other one doesn’t. The main difference is the 3.5mm plugs. One is a stereo plug and the other one is a mono plug. The mono cable only has 2 metal sections on it. But first, in addition to the XLR cables, you’ll need the StarTech TRRS adapter that allows microphone input into your MacBook. Your microphone won’t work without it. This small cable has two female ports and a 3.5mm plug on the other end. The important thing to notice is that the plug has 4 metal sections on it. If yours only has three then it’s the wrong kind of adapter.

Take the mono XLR adapter and plug it into the TRRS adapter port that has a microphone icon on it. The mono cable is the only cable that will work. The stereo adapter cable produces no audio so we can toss that aside. You will also need to connect a set of headphones to the other port because I couldn’t get audio into the Mac without it. Now connect the TRRS plug into the MacBook. Make sure the mic is connected too and here’s what the setup looks like. For this test I’m using Adobe Audition to record my audio. To show you that this works. You will be able to see the waveform registering the tapping sound in the project window.

It seems everything needs adapters to work these days and connecting a mic a MacBook is no different. So if you want to use an XLR microphone with your MacBook, you’ll need the mono 3.5mm to XLR cable and also the TRRS headphone adapter.

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