Headset adapter: 3.5mm double headphone + microphone jack to single jack

First published on March 13, 2013

I’m used to laptops and other computers having two sound plugs: one for the microphone and one for the headphones / speakers. Unfortunately, when I got a Lenovo T430s laptop, it came with a unified 3.5mm jack for both audio in and out. When standard headphones are plugged in, audio out works but you have to rely on the internal laptop microphone.

I already had a couple of headsets that I liked and didn’t want to purchase new ones. However, an adapter to convert dual audio jacks to a single audio jack was surprisingly difficult to find in stores. The only place I could find that sold such a converter was online. It’s marketed as a “smartphone” adapter. At about $16 US including shipping it was well worth it. It works exactly as advertised, and the plugs are very sturdy. There also appears to be a Canadian online store for the same product.

This problem could have probably been avoided if I had a USB headset to start, but there are advantages to having a standard analog 3.5mm plug, such as being able to re-use the headset for other devices such as an MP3 player.

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This entry is filed under Computer Stuff and written by Peter Keung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.