Two Computers One Headset

Hardware Other Hardware
1

Okay so here is the situation. I run one machine as my main machine and a second a bot box, it runs Sorpbot for my BEAM stream. I am wanting to run an interactive soundboard but the issue I face is that it can cause errors with some games. I can run it off the bot box but then I cannot hear the sounds when they are triggered as the sound would come through the machine running the board (I obviously do not have stream sound on).

I understand using a mixer to mix the sound but that is a lot of trouble and effort for a single, simple sound feed. I am using an O2 AMP/DAC for my gaming system sound. Is there a simple way to integrate the two sound outputs, or a simple sound mixer that is reasonably priced and compact?

2

I have this one, it works pretty well, especially for the price ;)

Cheers

3

Some computers come with audio passthrough. Check to see if your computer does though often it works with the mic in on the back of your system. Will only work with analog out so if you're using a digital/wireless headset, it won't work but it's an option on the cheap

1 Like
4

Thanks for the replies, my concern with the NX400 is it appears to be a mono device and I want to use this for gaming.

5

Oh dang I didn't even notice, I might have a different one then because mine is stereo as far as I know... I'd need to dig that up again then because I haven't been using it for a while. Sorry about that :( Maybe Amazon suggests some nice alternatives that are stereo ;)

6

http://www.showmecables.com/product/3-5mm-Stereo-Jack-to-Dual-3-5mm-Stereo-Plug-6-IN.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=937&gclid=CjwKEAiAr4vBBRCG36e415-_l1wSJAAatjJZ_DCyZ7CsgXwCRZqEVC596UA7ULZaQTtsfWNTzCc6EBoC2qHw_wcB

That should work, no?

7

This is what I do.

I have a KVM and I run the audio output from my game rig to the audio input on my workstation. I hear both systems. It works great. You just have to set the audio setting to enable monitoring or pass thru (or whatever it's called). I do run analog audio.

8

Noooo no no no no no, please never do that. There is no resistance on that wire so the two inputs will also try to output sound to eachother, if you get what I mean. This cord is just copper, copper doesn't care about your intentions. These cables work if you have 1 output going to 2 inputs, but never use this when you have 2 inputs and 1 output. Also, a splitter cable should only be used at line level (3.5mm jacks etc), if you use multiple speakers you lower the impedance and might overload your outputs.

Now if you want to DIY this, you are going to need a passive summing circuit. Rane has a very good article on this here. I ended up designing my own PCB for my DIY bluetooth speaker, which only cost me a bit of time and not too much for your components. I could probably build a few mixers like @UncleGamer wants for less than the price of one of those MX400's I linked earlier. Hope that cleared something up :)

Cheers

9

Ahh yes. Well to prevent any of that, using 2 diodes (one for either channel) on each of the inputs would fix any of those problems, wouldnt it? Would be super simple to wire up, as well.

10

Yep, a strong enough diode on each line, then a few resistors to mix the volume down nicely would certainly work. I think you'd spend just a few bucks to get it working in a pretty ghetto package. If I were to make this myself, I would design a PCB, get enough components, 3D print a housing so I could build a few, test and screw around, maybe even give them to others on the forums :)

Cheers

edit: forgot to say cheers, I know, fuck me right

1 Like
11

Let me give you guys my specifics and see what we come up with. I have a solid machine I use for Gaming the Streaming. Dual monitor to watch the OBS info and game on the second. The service I use, BEAM, allows for the use of interactive sound boards.

I have used these in the past but there are issues with some games and sometimes with OBS. I recently set up a simple bot machine to run my channels bot system. Using an old Sapphire Edge with 8 gigs of RAM and a 60 gig SSD. Would like to put the soundboard on the bot machine was well. This offloads the channels extras from the streaming PC.

However for me to use the soundboard I need to sound to work through the sound of my gaming PC into the stream. This gets even further complicated as I use a USB AMP DAC for sound right now. My mic is a Yeti.

My motherboard, ASRock Z97 Extreme 4, actually has a decent onboard sound solution with AMP so if needed I can move to that and not use the DAC. So porting the Edge sound into the Line in or Mic in on the sound board is a doable option. Is this the best low cost option?