Virtual Hardware audio mixers

Tech Talk Software
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At home on a budget, or because suddenly the world ground to a halt, you may find yourself needing to mix live audio on less than ideal hardware.
At a push many people can get away with using Stereo Mix Output in Windows and disabling system sounds.
Except that Microsoft have other ideas and seem to think we don’t need Stereo Mix anymore, so it cannot be enabled on all sound cards.

VB Audio software comes in several options, from the most basic virtual cables which allow you to rewire your software to where you need it, to full-on virtual mixing desks with the features you expect from a pro sound setup.

Ideal for people who want to stream games or make podcasts, and with the android apps you can stream to devices or control the mix as you walk around.

This software is full-featured Donationware. Pay what you what.
https://www.vb-audio.com

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DTNS had a recent special on streaming from home. Was very interesting and covered various levels of hardware and software.

Pocket Casts link as that is what I use.

EDIT: replaced link with one from public feed rather Patreon feed.

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Excellent rundown of useful software and opinions.
Worth noting that yes as noted in the podcast, Voicemeter is a bit confusing for a newbie, but if you are used to mixing desks it will be straight forward.
For those only needing the simplest version without the fancy GUI, the minimal driver is
https://www.vb-audio.com/Cable/index.htm

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They’re both ex-TWiT, aren’t they?

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Yep, and all the way back to Tech TV I think

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They’ve all had connections with TWiT one way or another.

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I think that’s one of the things I like about the TWiT network - it has so many connections to other tech networks and journalists that it’s like it brings together all the best voices.

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I should have wrote the first post more like this I think

Problem;
You need old “Stereo Mix” recording device, but your sound driver does not support it.
You want to capture sound from software that does not support it.
You want to route several audio inputs to be streamed or recorded.
You want audio from 1 PC to play or record on another over a network.

There are basic solutions for virtual audio devices which just add extra in and out devices to the listed system devices, such as https://www.vb-audio.com/Cable/

However you may want the use of an interface like a mixing desk, with the features of a mixing desk.
For many this will be just to control a mic and a separate hardware and/or software audio source, in which case Voicemeeter Virtual Audio Mixer will be ideal
https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/index.htm

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As it supports ASIO you can have many inputs and outputs

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If you want more channels and full mixing desk features such as recording and mastering, you should look at the next 2 options “Banana”
https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/banana.htm

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and “Potato” (No I don’t know why either)
https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/potato.htm
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If you need to connect computers over the network, they all feature VBAN
https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/vban.htm

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There are several support apps for mobiles so you can also make use of the touch screen joy in your pocket or more useful with a tablet.

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