The GarageBand Microphone Cable is a lot cheaper than an XLR converter box.

If you’re a podcaster who wants good voice audio in your podcasts (and who doesn’t?), you need to use an XLR microphone. Macs don’t have XLR connectors, but you can use Griffin’s GarageBand Microphone Cable, which features an XLR jack for your mic and a stereo minijack so you can plug into a Mac’s standard audio line-in port.

The GarageBand Cable has a sturdy cast-metal XLR connector, not a cheap stamped-metal connector. After connecting the cable between the mic and the Mac, we adjusted the Mac’s Sound preferences to use the audio-in port for input. The GarageBand Cable brought in the XLR mic’s full, rich sound. Connected to a field mixer on a video shoot, the GarageBand Cable piped the audio directly into GarageBand on our MacBook Pro, eliminating the need to dub in the interviews later. Sweet.

The bottom line. Would you rather spend $15 on Griffin’s GarageBand Microphone Cable or $200 for an XLR converter box? We thought so.

COMPANY: Griffin Technology

CONTACT: www.griffintechnology.com

PRICE: $14.99

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.3 or later, audio-in jack

Very affordable. Works well with Griffin iTalk for recording with an iPod.

Only 10 feet long. Somewhat light-gauge cable.