Question / Help Audio Dual PC

[DiosityTTV]

Hey, I am using 2 pc's and I want to hear both of the audios from the 2 pcs in the same set of headphones. At the moment I'm using VBAN on voicemeeter but it has massive latency issues and I would much prefer a zero-latency alternative like hardware. I know a good way of doing this is to buy a mixer but I want it to be stereo and I dont want to have to spend more than £35 ish and I want it to look reasonably good. As all the ones I have seen are either like £150 or mono and like £20. If anybody knows of any stereo audio, good looking, under £40 mixers please help me as this has been bugging me for ages

 

[DEDRICK]

You will need a minimum of 6 Channels to get all the inputs you would need for both your PC and a stream PC.

Channel 1 XLR input for your Mic,
Channels 3/4 Line/TRS for your Game PC (Front Speaker Out 3.5mm to dual 1/4" TS 3/4)
Channels 5/6 Line/TRS or USB for your Stream PC. (depending on the mixer for USB input) (Front Speaker Out 3.5mm to dual 1/4" TS 5/6)
Master Stereo out goes to your Stream PC LINE IN (Dual 1/4" TS to 3.5mm to Stream PC Line In)
Headphones go in the Phones port.

If you also want to use your Mic on the game PC, you will need a mixer that has FX/AUX send so you can isolate the Channel 1 input onto it's own output channel (AUX) and send it to your Game PC LINE IN. (The linked mixer does not support this, it's only an example.)

You will not be getting this for £35 you can reference this page for some examples.

It's never just a mixer, the cables alone will probably cost you more than £35, then you may need hum busters/noise isolators for ground loops on the PC connections because they aren't balanced

https://www.sweetwater.com/c264--6-channel_Analog_Mixers

Yamaha MG06

 

[DiosityTTV]

Would this be fine for what I need:
https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Behringer-XENYX-802-Mixer/2A9

As it's a bit more in my price range, also what cables would I need for this I have never actually made anything like this before

 

[DEDRICK]

Yeah that is perfect, it even has FX/AUX send

You will need:

• 3x(three) 3.5mm Male TRS to Dual 1/4" Male TS https://www.amazon.ca/Hosa-CMP159-Stereo-Breakout-10-Feet/dp/B005HGM1D6
  • 2 of these connect the game PC and stream PC from their green Front Speaker Out ports(3.5mm), to channels 3/4 and 5/6 (TS)
  • The third cable is for routing the Main Out/Master Out back to the Stream PC LINE IN (Not mic in, Line In, it's blue, not pink)
• 1x XLR cable which I assume you already have for your microphone, unless you don't have an XLR mic yet. You cannot/shouldn't use gaming headsets with a mixer.
• 1x 3.5mm Male TRS to 1/4" Male TRS https://www.amazon.ca/CableCreation-Stereo-6-35mm-Theater-Amplifiers/dp/B01JY2DD9Y/ref=sr_1_11?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1550456868&sr=1-11&keywords=3.5mm+to+1/4
  • For FX Send to Game PC Line In, this is so you can use your XLR mic on the gaming PC.
  • The FX knobs on each channel control what gets "sent" over FX Send. You turn all the FX knobs down except Channel 1, isolating your Mic and sending it.

Because all of these connections are unbalanced, you will almost guaranteed get humming and noise/EMI, you may need noise isolators for the 3.5mm terminations.

Avoid using the Mic in ports, they are different in how they handle volume/gain in Windows.
A mixer is a Line Level device, when you plug a line level device into a mic level port you run the risk of amplifying it again, which causes noise/distortion/clipping.

You can tell which devices are Line and Mic by their icons, and also their volume control

Line level has 0.0dB @ 100%, no gain added

Mic level has 0.0dB at 54%

You CAN use the Mic in, but you need to understand the picture above, never set the level above 54% or you will add gain to the mixer.
Same goes for the Game PC and the FX Send connection, the mic has already been amplified to line level, using a MIc in and going beyond 54% will cause you to clip