Situation

In November of 2009 I discovered that my HP Mini 1001 doesn't like standard 3.5 mm (1/8") microphone jacks. Instead, the Mini series requires a TRRS jack of the same size (4 wires instead of the expected three).

Although I could rant and rave about how annoying this was to 'discover,' I'll just post my notes and dirty-hack solution.

Notes

The HP Mini 1001 has, in short, really poor speakers quality. I'm gradually getting over that, as it is a netbook and all.

Unfortunately, the Mini also has a 4-connector 3.5 mm audio jack. It's unfortunate because this is not very well-documented. It's easy to see the Mini has a combined headphone + microphone connector, but there wasn't any mention of the connector being the less-common TRRS variety (not the standard TRS type found on ... well, just about anything else). I have gathered that the TRRS jack is also found on DVD players, iPhones, and BlackBerry phones, and some other gadgets. You can read HP's short and well-hidden notice about it here, and check out the Wikipedia entry on the TRS jack standard.

Really, I'm only disappointed that this wasn't announced someplace more conspicuous. In the user manual would have been convenient, but the Mini has pretty sparse ephemera.

PROBLEM

In short, the Mini's audio jack works well with:

• standard headphones on a 3-wire, TRS 3.5 mm jack (same as US 1/8" size)
• combined headphones + microphone on a 4-wire, TRRS 3.5 mm jack (same as US 1/8" size)

But the Mini does not play nice with:

• standard microphone on a 3-wire, TRS 3.5 mm jack (same as US 1/8" size)

Naturally, I want to use the last of those. No, I'm not the first to see this problem.

Solution

I decided I need a TRRS to TRS splitter. Trolling Google, forums, and the HP site got me nowhere, so I reluctantly decided to make my own. Dick Smith Electronics (general consumer electronics store) had the four necessary components for about $13 AUD ($10 USD).

• DVD TRRS jack splitter - separates 3.5 mm TRRS to 3 RCA jacks
• 3.5 mm female jack component
• RCA jack component
• a bit of speaker wire

Although the Mini is never going to accept stereo microphone input on its wiring, it was easy to create a TRRS to 3.5 mm mic converter by cabling together the 3.5 mm jack to the RCA jack, then trying the various TRRS jack splitter outputs.

If you need help setting it up, check the pictures. I will spare you the 'instruction manual', as this is a straight-forward A->A, B->B sort of project.

The TRRS splitter puts the mic input onto the red RCA output (in my case). I just connect the RCA->TRS wire, and audio jack problem solved.

Concerns

If I'm smart, I'll solder this little hack together and make it a permanent cable. I may add a diode-block, too, just in case. Right now I have no soldering iron, though, so this is a low priority.

The Mini 1001 includes an audio filter to prevent feedback. Since I'm recording sustained sound (instrumental music), I have to turn off the filter during recording, or it filters out much of the sound. It appears in the Control Panel as "Andrea Noise Cancellation".

Close

I am glad the fix doesn't take too obscure parts, or much time to bug check. I just hope the notes will keep you from trolling for as long as I did.