How to record with en external mic instead of built-in in iSight

Question

Hi,
I just want to record simple videos with the webb cam iSight. I want the audio to sound better and use an external mic during the recording.
After testing I see that iMove uses only the built-in mic, there is no difference if I connect the external mic to the computer with USB or 3,5mm blug mic.
How can change that iMovie would use the external mic instead of built-in?
The audio sounds really bad I want to sound better with the mic. For sure now in iMovie 11 there's an equalizer which makes a difference but I still can't make the sound more "close", it sounds more like eco.
Any audio tips?

Answer 1

irinla wrote:
... How can change that iMovie would use the external mic instead of built-in?
Your built-in iSight is only a camera. It has no mic of its own, so you started with your Mac's built-in mic.
iMovie lets you select among connected mics in the "Voiceover" pane as shown here:
When you click on the "Voiceover" choices bar, you will be able to select among all mics available to your system. (The only reason that this picture shows "iSight" as the "Record from:" mic is that I captured the image while using an external iSight, which does have its own built-in mic.)
The audio sounds really bad I want to sound better with the mic. For sure now in iMovie 11 there's an equalizer which makes a difference but I still can't make the sound more "close", it sounds more like eco.
Any audio tips?
(1) Like you, I use the Logitech USB Desktop mic for my voiceovers. It offers sound good enough for me at a price I can afford.
(2) Note that other apps that allow you to select various audio sources each have their own way of doing so. For instance, FaceTime changes mics with a FaceTime > Video menu command as shown here:
You can also record A/V in Snow Leopard's QuickTime Player, which lets you select mics in its "Preferences..." as shown here:
(3) The Help menu of any Mac app that lets you select among various sources may give info on how that particular app lets you select which microphone you use.
EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz Mac OS X (10.6.6); MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.6)
LED Cinema Display; G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11); iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9); External iSight; iPod4touch4.2.1