How to use an XLR for Dual-PC Twitch Streaming

[owenkingetc]

Hello everybody,

I run a very basic DUAL-PC setup for my Twitch streams, of which I want to upgrade my audio.

Gaming PC
Elgato HD60
Streaming PC

Above is the very basic route all my audio follows. All the audio from my gaming pc goes through my Elgato HD60 and to my streaming pc, ultimately being picked up by the stream.

I would like to upgrade my microphone from my headset microphone (HyperX Cloud II), to an XLR for the stream, whilst still keeping my gaming headset for game/discord chat!

I guess my question is, what mixers/audio interfaces do I need to accomplish this, and how to I connect these things?!

Thank you!

 

[mortemas]

Sounds like you would need a usb mic preamp. On the low end, there’s the Behringer UM2 at $29. It’s a brand that many in the pro audio world scoff at, but the price makes their products extremely accessible and those who buy them love them. Focusrite is a premium brand and their Scarlett Solo is pretty much the same type of device as the former, but with a $99 price tag. I think I might be able to test drive one tomorrow and I’ll let you know what it sounds like.

So, you’d plug your mic into the xlr3 input and plug the device into your computer via usb. You might have to install a windows driver (check manual). Then, you need to select your headset as the default communication device and the usb-pre as the default recording device, I believe. Honesty, I’m not familiar with streaming software, but if you explore your audio device settings in windows you’ll see the audio input and output options I’m talking about (you’ve probably been there before already). I’m researching and writing all this on my tiny iPhone screen, but I can look at it more tomorrow morning on my laptop to get a better picture of your setup.

 

[owenkingetc]

Sounds like you would need a usb mic preamp. On the low end, there’s the Behringer UM2 at $29. It’s a brand that many in the pro audio world scoff at, but the price makes their products extremely accessible and those who buy them love them. Focusrite is a premium brand and their Scarlett Solo is pretty much the same type of device as the former, but with a $99 price tag. I think I might be able to test drive one tomorrow and I’ll let you know what it sounds like.

So, you’d plug your mic into the xlr3 input and plug the device into your computer via usb. You might have to install a windows driver (check manual). Then, you need to select your headset as the default communication device and the usb-pre as the default recording device, I believe. Honesty, I’m not familiar with streaming software, but if you explore your audio device settings in windows you’ll see the audio input and output options I’m talking about (you’ve probably been there before already). I’m researching and writing all this on my tiny iPhone screen, but I can look at it more tomorrow morning on my laptop to get a better picture of your setup.

Thanks for your help! I'm still unsure on how to configure it all, and all that nonsense hahaha!

 

[mortemas]

Yeah, so I plugged the Scarlett Solo into my laptop with Win10 and it was automatically recognized. No drivers to install. It was automatically selected by windows as the new Input and Output device. That's what you'll need to sort out on your system. I made a couple of test recordings using windows voice recorder and it sounded great. First thing I noticed after plugging the mic in was that it clips really easily (I was using a Sennheiser MKH40 condenser mic). A pop filter would fix that problem if you're using a sensitive mic like that. I then plugged in an SM58 and turned up the gain because it is a dynamic mic. It has a built in wind screen on it so there was no popping. Overall the unit is very clean sounding. I don't have a Behringer to compare it to. Gotta get back to work. Catch you later.