• Registered: 2020-06-07
  • Posts: 22

Topic: Is an RME interface for this setup?

Hi,

I need to solve a small audio issue for a client. They are using a small livestreaming studio with a multicam setup and a video switcher (ATEM by BlackMagic Designs), which feeds the video program to MS Teams on a Windows 10 PC. The audio, however, is handled with a bluetooth headset with which the presenter listens and speaks to the interlocutor. So MS Teams has the ATEM as the video device (the "webcam") and the bluetooth headset as the audio devices ("speaker" and "microphone").

Each camera feed is recorded individually to an SSD in order to allow a more professional edit later on. But because this can only be done from the video switcher, the audio isn't there. Windows 10 can only route MS Teams audio to one device at a time: it's either the bluetooth headset or the video switcher. Obviously the audio has to be heard by the presenter so I need to find a way to get the audio to be routed to the switcher as well.

Using a wired headset would solve the problem because then I could simply use a splitter and get the audio to go from the headphones output of the PC to both the headset and the switcher, but this is not an option as the presenter needs to move around freely and needs a wireless headset. The headset dock doesn't have an audio output and can only send the audio via bluteooth to the headset. Using OBS is not convenient as we want to provide an easy-to-use, user friendly system to people who know nothing about audio or video.

Sorry for the long intro but I'm hoping to anticipate the questions by explaining the setup and the solution I'm considering.

The simplest solution I could think of is to use TotalMix FX and its loopback ability to send the computer audio to both the bluetooth headset and the video switcher. Does this work at all? Does this work with any RME interface or only some models (I've heard the loopback feature in TotalMix FS is only available for some models)?

2 Reply by waedi (edited by waedi 2021-08-13 16:01:01)

  • waedi
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • From: Swiss Zürich
  • Registered: 2020-12-08
  • Posts: 4,179

Re: Is an RME interface for this setup?

Every RME interface comes with Totalmix and Loopback.
The Loopback is the best solution for such liveshows.
But the problem is bluetooth.
The bluetooth headset is itself already an external audio interface.
Can you configure your computer to work with two different audiointerfaces at the same time ?
And OBS is still working too in this setup ?

After all you will change the script of the show and the moderator will use a standard cabled headset.

Before going further I would try to get OBS running with that bluetooth headset.
Without any video, only the audio to the headphone.

M1-Sequoia, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue

3 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2021-08-13 16:13:02)

  • ramses
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  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,866

Re: Is an RME interface for this setup?

> Can you configure your computer to work with two different audiointerfaces at the same time ?

Sure, why not, but one application can only load one audio driver at a time.

General problem with normal computer headsets is, that they need a special - much lower - voltage (if I remember right under 10V) that is being delivered by consumer audio cards, but not by recording interfaces with 48V phantom power for condenser mics. There are headsets for 48V phantom power, but these are very expensive.

So you need to think about how to set it up in a way that it makes most sense.
But as I said, one application can only load one audio driver at a time, this is the challenge.

Or you need to look for solutions like ASIO4ALL, but this is nothing for a professional / best practises setup.
It adds an additional layer over an otherwise very efficient working ASIO driver.

You also need to consider, that accesses to network during recording can lead to audio drops esp. when using WiFi.
More interrupts to process and maybe also more work for firewall, antivirus etc ...
Higher Interrupt load .. higher DPC latencies ...
And microsoft teams opens usually a lot of network communication flows .. maybe not so ideal when processing audio.

And finally it depends on your computer, how good the drivers are, whether DPC latencies are low, etc ... you need to experiment.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13