Most people will have seen this connector before. It’s used for headphones to connect in to most smartphones, and also allows a combination headphone and microphone set to be used.
If you use Bluetooth headphones, then you won’t have a problem and can stop reading here, but if you use wired headphones, read on!
Unless you own a combination headphone/microphone headset with a single TRRS connector cable, this connector can cause a problem for videoconferencing when you want to plug an accessory microphone into the socket, because once the microphone is plugged in to the socket, there’s nowhere to plug your headphones!
Best Solution
Use any microphone device which, once connected, leaves the TRRS connector free to connect your headphones.
That can either mean a microphone which uses an alternative connector, such as Lightning in the Shure MV-88 or Rode Videomic ME-L, or you could use any of the USB microphones.
You can also use a TRRS-connected microphone which has an integrated headphone-output port like the Rode Videomic-ME
Alternative Solutions
You can consider buying bluetooth headphones, which eliminates the problem of attaching two devices to one port.
Otherwise, you’ll need to use a splitter cable.
This Cable should work for most recent Apple, Samsung and other devices and costs £4.78. It splits the connector into two, one for the microphone and one for the headphones. You have to be careful to plug each of them into the correct connector, as they won’t work if you put them in the wrong way round.
Geek-Speak: this connector follows a specification called “CTIA”, and most devices now use this. However it is possible that older devices need a different splitter, using the “OMTP” specification, and you may need some tech-assistance to find one. This video has a good explanation.
