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I have set up the following rig at my Buddhist temple - the goal is that 2 microphones supply audio to the Zoom app through a single laptop, as well as minor sound reinforcement in the room itself.
I've attached a basic schematic of what I devised (sorry for the PDF, I can't get my snipping tool to work correctly on my laptop): 1) AKG P240 to pick up room sounds (bells, etc) and questions from students -> AudioBox ch 1 2) Wireless lavalier mic on the teacher, receiver -> AudioBox ch 2 3) Speakers in the laptop headphone jack so we can hear questions/comments from people participating through Zoom ("headphone jack" set as audio output from laptop) 4) External speaker in the main out of AudioBox for sound reinforcement in the room (AudioBox MIX knob set for direct monitoring) 5) AudioBox 48v ON for AKG P240 6) AudioBox inputs set to mic, not line Let's assume all Zoom audio settings are exactly as they need to be (Original Sound for Musicians ON, etc), we did sufficient troubleshooting on that with our prior mic setup. Let's also assume that despite appearances, we're not getting feedback from the speakers feeding into the mics. Also, the "TV Cart" on the far side of the image is irrelevant here as it isn't connected to audio at all. So far, I have only tested this setup with the AKG P240, I haven't been able to test it with the lavalier yet. The problem is that while audio from the mic is coming through Zoom and sounds clear (even bells rung 10-12 feet from the AKG), the signal strength is pretty low, and I had to bump up the mic input level on the AudioBox higher than I would expect. Even with the teacher sitting about 1 foot from the AKG mic, it was still too soft for some of the folks participating through Zoom. And I wasn't getting any noticeable output from the external speaker. I even added my Studio V3 mic preamp to the chain between the AKG P240 and the AudioBox (with appropriate changes to AudioBox settings), and I still had to use the +20db gain button on the preamp, AND the input and output knobs on the preamp were set pretty high. It doesn't seem like I should have to push the mic that much just to get a reasonable level for the folks listening in on Zoom. I'm fully aware there may be something wrong with my setup, too, we're really trying to solve the issue of having my teacher's clipon mic go both to Zoom AND to an amplifying speaker in the room. Any input is greatly appreciated.
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Hi and welcome to this forum
 Maybe you want too much from too little. The iTwo's signal routing is pretty much fixed with two mic/line/inst inputs to the computer, one stereo return from the computer, and a single mix knob to mix the stereo return and both inputs to the main and headphone outputs. You can use the mix knob to add input from both mic/line/inst inputs to the iTwo outputs but you can't balance them. So with a loud lavalier and a quiet room mic you'll get lavalier mainly. You may be able to create a more suitable mix from your computer (and turn the mix knob fully clockwise). Not sure how you've set up your apps to get output to the iTwo and to the built-in audio interface though. One possible issue I see with your wiring diagram is the XLR-XLR cable between the mic receiver and the iTwo. That way you feed the phantom power you need for the P240 to the mic receiver too, which it may not like. And it may even reduce the phantom power going to the P240. So depending on the receiver model you want a TRS jack on the iTwo side (and maybe on both sides) of that cable. Still, the room mic will always be the quiet one, simply because of distance. Don't worry about high preamp settings (unless it creates a lot of noise). And maybe don't mix the mics to the room speaker(s). Zoom has room noise/feedback cancelling filters you may be fighting there. |
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Hi SwitchBack, thanks for the speedy reply
SwitchBack wroteYou can use the mix knob to add input from both mic/line/inst inputs to the iTwo outputs but you can't balance them. So with a loud lavalier and a quiet room mic you'll get lavalier mainly. That's actually desired. For the people in the physical room, we would rather hear more lavalier out of the speaker wired to the AudioBox main, having it function as an amplifier of sorts. SwitchBack wroteYou may be able to create a more suitable mix from your computer (and turn the mix knob fully clockwise). Not sure how you've set up your apps to get output to the iTwo and to the built-in audio interface though. The primary purpose of the interface is to get signal from the two mics into the laptop and into the Zoom app for everyone joining remotely via Zoom...and second to feed the teacher's lavalier back to the speaker connected to the AudioBox output as described above. Also, in the Zoom app we've set the output device to the Realtek Headphones jack, so that people who unmute on Zoom to ask a question can be heard clearly in the room. I'm trying to keep that in-room audio separate from the in-room amplification of the teacher's voice. SwitchBack wroteOne possible issue I see with your wiring diagram is the XLR-XLR cable between the mic receiver and the iTwo. That way you feed the phantom power you need for the P240 to the mic receiver too, which it may not like. And it may even reduce the phantom power going to the P240. So depending on the receiver model you want a TRS jack on the iTwo side (and maybe on both sides) of that cable. Yeah, I considered that. That, and the potential softness of the signal in general, are two thumbs up for using a preamp between the mic and the AudioBox - more signal coming in to Zoom, and the preamp can handle phantom power so we can keep 48v off. I just have to get my teacher to sign off on buying one for the temple so we're not using mine  SwitchBack wroteStill, the room mic will always be the quiet one, simply because of distance. Don't worry about high preamp settings (unless it creates a lot of noise). And maybe don't mix the mics to the room speaker(s). Zoom has room noise/feedback cancelling filters you may be fighting there. That sets my mind at ease, thanks. The noise isn't too bad, honestly - before my teacher got on a crusade to have one mic feed both Zoom and the room for her talks, we were using a Yeti USB mic for everything, and so we always had some ambient noise. Coming from a recording/mixing mindset I'm programmed to try to leave lots of headroom and I was shocked how high I had the gains on everything! Maybe that's the way it needs to be, short of spending $1000s on a more sophisticated system (which a Zen monastery near here did, unfortunately they set the bar a bit higher than our budget allows) The Zoom filters you speak of are something we manually turn OFF, because we have lots of meditation bells and whatnot that are completely blocked by Zoom's automatic filters - even a good sized meditation bell struck 6 inches from the mic is nearly completely muted with those filters on! Crazy how powerful they are. I appreciate the wisdom and will ponder more thoroughly when I'm back in the zendo wrestling with equipment |
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