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TICKET ARCHIVE -> recording in Flash with PlainTalk microphone on PowerMac G4

lotusgreen - May 5, 2006 - 6:56 pm

hi--

i just plugged in my sort of triangular-shaped microphone into my g4 running 10.3.7. how do i turn it on to start recording?

thank you

lily

earthsaver - May 5, 2006 - 9:49 pm

I don't know what "triangular-shaped microphone" you're talking about, however if it's compatible with your computer, you can go to the Sound pane of System Preferences and choose Line In for sound input. (There's no turning the mic on or off.)

- Ben

lotusgreen - May 6, 2006 - 12:04 am

thanks so much for responding, ben, but now that i've done that, i think it's still not working.

like on this page:

http://odeo.com/sendmeamessage/Saar

it's not recording. what am i not getting?

btw--this is the mic i have:

http://mcscom.com/surplus/skupics/s000243.jpg

earthsaver - May 6, 2006 - 6:47 am

Standard Apple PlainTalk microphone should be no problem. I tested the page you linked and was able to record audio, so its definitely compatible with Flash on Macs.

Did you receive the message in the recording box about allowing Odeo to connect to your computer's camera and microphone?, to which you would have clicked Allow. Are you using the current version of Flash Player? (Last version from Macromedia was 8; current beta from Adobe is 8.5.)
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20831
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11622

lotusgreen - May 6, 2006 - 2:59 pm

thanks, earthsaver

well, have installed 8.5 (the 8 was a paid version, and i couldn't find an 8 player out there)

the only difference i experience is this: when i try recording to odeo, it still records nothing, but at the end i van hear that "mic turning off" sound

lily

earthsaver - May 6, 2006 - 3:08 pm

What Web browser are you using? Have you tried using a different one?

earthsaver - May 6, 2006 - 3:11 pm

Really nothing else comes to mind, so I'm going to reopen your question in hopes another tech has more experience with this.

lotusgreen - May 6, 2006 - 3:37 pm

thanks again, both for that and for your browser idea

i've now also tried it on explorer (have been using firefox) but also couldn't get it to work with explorer except for the on and off mic sounds...!

DeltaMac - May 6, 2006 - 6:39 pm

Unlikely that old Plaintalk microphone has any use, other than with the Macs that were sold when that mic was sold (about 8 years ago). Few Macs have Mic-level inputs (which is very low voltage), and the Plaintalk mic will not work through line-level inputs. It does actually pick up sound, but the output voltage is too low for the Mac line-level input. so you hear nothing, and nothing can record. You could try an iMic, which provides a mic-level input, connecting into your USB port.

lotusgreen - May 6, 2006 - 10:03 pm

ahhhhhhh..... oh that's too bad.

well, thank you, deltamac. i had thought this had come with the used g4, but wasn't sure. an in-line amp maybe? ;^)

and there's no built-in sound import method? that doesn't need a mic?

off to look for a cheap imic ;^)

thanks again

DeltaMac - May 7, 2006 - 5:56 am

Your Sound pref pane/Input tab - allows you to select your input, whatever you may have. The iMic would show up as an alternate input (also an output - neat little device!)
All you need is an app that provides recording of audio.
Audio HiJack can do this, I think.
Do a search in versiontracker.com