@simonpdl  well for starters, it would help to specify the exact XPS model you have.  You just said "the XPS", but there have been many XPS systems offered over the years.  But if you have a fairly recent XPS laptop, typically they have multi-purpose headset jacks, not jacks that are dedicated to acting as speaker/headphone outputs, and when you plug something into the jack, you should see a popup dialog asking you what you connected so that the system knows how to configure that multi-purpose jack.  Have you tried plugging the microphone in without the adapter and just selecting "Microphone" when you (hopefully) see the popup dialog?

Hi,

Apologies for the vagueness of the XPS description. Please find attached the screengrab of the

device info.

The mic is in fact recognised without the adaptor as 'mic in' but i can't get any response from the microphone atall.

Not sure what to do!

Unfortunately images uploaded here are initially only visible to the person who uploaded them and to Dell community moderators until they get "approved", so in general it's best to just provide information via text whenever a screenshot isn't necessary.  But since the mic is recognized and you selected Mic In as the device you plugged in, try going to Control Panel > Sound (make sure the "View by" setting in the upper-right corner of Control Panel is NOT Category View in order to see the Sound option), and then click the Recording tab.  If you speak into the microphone, do you see the volume meter animation play?  If so, it means the mic is working, in which case you'd have to be clearer about what you mean by you not "getting any response" from the microphone.  What application are you working with?  Have you confirmed that the application is set to use the mic you've plugged in as its audio input device?

Hi,

Thanks for your patience with this.

When i plug the mic in a box pops up 'what device did you plug in'

And listed is

Line in

Mic In (highlighted in blue)

Headphones

Headset (with microphone)

Speaker Out

Skullcandy Headphone

Dell Speaker Out

Skullcandy Headset

I then go into sounds, manage audio devices and into recording.

The following are listed -

Microphone (digital video recorder) ready

Line In (digital video recorder) ready

Microphone (realtek audio) default device

Stereo Mix (realtek audio)

I've gone through all the above setting as default and the volume meter animation doesnt move.

I've tried the mic with my smartphone and it works. So i'm not sure what the issue is!!

@simonpdl  the "Microphone (Realtek Audio)" item would be the right choice for a mic plugged into a headphone jack when you'd selected "Mic In" at the prompt.  The Stereo Mix option would capture audio being played on your system, and I'm not sure what the Digital Video Recorder device is, but I'm guessing that's either a hardware device plugged into your system or perhaps a virtual device created by some sort of software application.  Anyhow, I'm not sure what to suggest at this point given that you've successfully tested the mic on another device.  The microphone connector design as far as I know is completely standard in terms of the 3.5mm connector jack and which pins are used for mic and electrical ground on that connector, so I'm not sure what's going on there.  I know that for headsets (stereo headphones plus a mic) there are two different standards for how the connector is set up in that the mic and ground pins are swapped between those two standards, but I don't think that's true of mic only devices.  Sorry I can't be of any further help here!

One more thing is that Windows 10 detects it as "Jack Mic (Realtek Audio)" whereas the built-in mic is "Microphone Array (Realtek Audio). Are there drivers I can install so that it detects it as what it is "RODE smartLav+"?

Hi:

I'm having the exact same problem on a Dell Latitude E5450 and this SmartLav+ microphone I just bought. It works perfectly with my phone but when I plug it into the Dell (which is why I bought it to use it here) and choose "Mic In" on the popup, it does not work when I speak it on it. At one point I got it to work when I chose "Headphone with mic" on the popup but then I don't hear anything back since the audio out is being sent to the headphone (which doesn't exist in this case) instead of the laptop computer. I know it worked that time because I saw the bars moving when I was speaking. The bars do not move when I chose "Mic In" option. I know the 3.5 mm jack is supposed to be multi-purpose but maybe it's only supposed to work with certain devices and not with the RODE smartLav+. Any advice is really appreciated.

Thank you,

-Bernie

Did anyone ever get this solved? I am having the same problem with a Latitude 5400.

On a Latitude 5491, I wasn't able to use the headphone/headset/mic jack with external microphones until I got a SoLID Lavalier mic which included a TRRS to TRS 3.5 mm plug adapter. The SoLID mic plug is TRRS and it won't work directly with this jack, but using the provided adapter this mic works perfectly.  

Did you ever figure this out? I am having similar problem with R0DE SmartLav+ on Latitude E7470. Mic won't work if I choose "mic in" when prompted, but if I select "headset (with microphone)", I can get mic input, but I also get all sorts of strange audio problems (such as volume adjusting by itself, background noise).

Strangely, when I first start using the SmartLav+, I always selected "mic in" and it worked fine for a few weeks, but then it stopped working.

Does anyone know if the 3.5mm headset jack on the Latitude is a TRRS jack, or do we need to use an adapter with the SmartLav mic?

Thanks,

Dave