StarTech.com Headset Adapter, Microphone and Headphone Splitter - 3.5mm Male Aux to 3.5mm Female Audio & Mic Combo Jack Y Cable for Laptop / PC (MUYHSMFF) Black

I got the new 2013 iMac to replace my monster of a Windows rig that I built 6 years ago. Figured I'd try out a Mac. I knew it would force a lot of upgrades and replacements of peripherals, but I did not know that the new iMacs use the "smart plug" 3.5mm audio jack that combines the audio output (headphones) and input (mic) into one, single jack. This made my Windows style headset useless, but more than that it made my audio system setup inoperable. I have my computer connected to my 5.1 surround sound stereo system, both for output listening to iTunes and other audio as well as input from other devices connected to the stereo for recording. I needed a solution that would undo Apple's "bright idea" of combining all audio functions into one plug. I can understand such decisions when space is a premium such as laptops, notebooks, cell phones, and tablets... but a 27" desktop iMac computer??? Really?Anyway, this little gadget does the trick! It splits out the audio output from the audio input beautifully and once again gives us 2 different jacks serving different functions to plug in our various audio devices. This is NOT an audio output splitter or y-adapter. You would not plug in 2 headphone into this. Instead, it once again gives us a plug for a microphone and a second plug for a headphone. I was a little worried that this StarTech adapter would not allow stereo sound, but it does. Very nice! It's a great product!Just FYI, I've done this with my system. After plugging the StarTech jack in, I plugged an 3.5mm stereo audio y-adapter into the headphone jack to split the audio output so that I could plug my stereo system and my headphones into the iMac and hear sound from both. It works great! There is a little picture of a microphone on one of the StarTech jacks, and a little picture of headphones on the other jack. It's a little hard to see since it's all the same color, black, but that's fine. I then plugged in the microphone jack from my headset into the StarTech microphone jack. Once you have all the connections plugged in you may need to re-boot or re-start your computer so that the "smart plug" notices that there is now a microphone attached and allows sound to be inputed into the iMac and the mic to work. Also, just in case you are new to the iMac like me, it seems the the iMac's built in mic continues to function even if headphones are plugged into the headphone jack.

I highly recommend this brand and this product. Fantastic quality for a great price. The seller was also extremely quick to ship and I got it way before I thought I would. I cannot say enough about this brand or seller. I highly recommend.

This StarTech headset adapter works perfectly for what it's meant to do. The adapter is meant to take a microphone and headphone signal and consolidate them into a single 3.5mm jack for use with smart-jacks found on smartphones, some laptops, and gaming systems. It will make your PC headset work with a smartphone or game system. It WILL NOT work as a headphone splitter.The adapter works perfectly. Simply plug the microphone and headphones in appropriately, then plug into a device. I've found there to be no noise or problems with it, even when bending the cord or twisting the jack. I say this because similar headset adapters have terrible problems with static noise when the cord moves around a lot. I can confirm that this will work with PCs, smartphones, and Wii U, but I believe it should also work with Xbox One and PS4 systems as they should work the same way.The only real "problem" is that you have to look closely to determine which port is for microphone, and which is for headset. That's not really much a problem, but if it is, you should just put colored tape around the two wires to distinguish between them.5/5, does what it's supposed to do, no problems, does it better than competitors, great price (got it for $6).

I just received this today for use on a MacBook Air (why they only give you one audio port on a laptop puzzles me). First time I tested it, it didn't work- but then I figured something out. It's more of a Macbook issue than an adapter issue.I plugged the adapter into my MacBook with the headphone plug already plugged into it, which worked fine. Then I plugged in the microphone to the microphone jack and... nothing, it didn't work. I went into the sound settings and there was no option to configure anything to fix the issue, the only sound input that showed up was the built in mic.I unplugged the adapter from the Macbook. The second time around, I made sure both the headphone & external mic cords were first plugged into the adapter and then plugged the adapter back into the Macbook. This time the Macbook recognized the external audio input, I selected it and it worked fine. Years ago a mic plug was a mic plug. Now they're all "smart" plugs that try and sense what you've got connected and configure themselves automatically based on what they think you need to do. As a result, you've got to make note of the order of how you plug them in.The multi conductor nature of the male plug does make it kind of delicate & susceptible to breaking off, so I make sure to be careful when plugging and unplugging it. At $10 the price is a bit high IMO. Overall not a bad adapter.