Hi Chris Rhodes,

If your audio plug is broken and you can’t fix it, try using a Bluetooth speaker. Hope this helps:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/set-up-a-bluetooth-audio-device-mh26833/mac

I came across your article while looking for information about USB Sound Cards.

I have a (long standing) problem with my rather old iMac (mid 2011: 21.5 inch screen) whereby I managed to break off the headphone plug – leaving around 50% remaining in the phone output socket. It appears that a repair for this isn’t simple as the socket itself is soldered onto the Mother Board (as explained by a local computer repair firm) and Apple now consider this computer too old to accept for repairs (it seems tantalising to me that a fine drill and tap could be used to create a thread inside the broken plug to allow it to be pulled out; or something like Araldite used with wire to extricate it).

It was suggested that I could circumvent the need for a repair by using a USB sound card… I sort of understand that such a device would somehow bypass the existing sound card in my mac by allowing direct access to the digital sound information, which could then be supplied (in analogue form) to headphones attached to the sound card’s phone socket.

Would the broken 3.5 mm plug in the computer’s phone output socket interfere with the ability of the sound card to provide sound? And would (as I assume would be the case) the speakers of the computer still be inoperative (being muted by the existence of the broken plug in the sound output port).

I would appreciate any help you could give me with this problem.

With many thanks

Chris