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I was trying my best (with my limited knowledge of audio equipment) but couldn't seem to find an answer for my specific goals!

Here are the points I want to achieve:

  1. I want both my voice and my digital piano audio (ideally in stereo) as my computer sound input.
  2. Using a single pair of headphones, I want my digital piano and windows computer system as my output.
  3. I do not want to hear my own voice through my headphones.

I basically want to be able to livestream my piano on a call (such as discord or zoom) where I can listen to my own piano playing and speak, but also hear the other people in the call. I just don't want to hear my own voice when I do that.

What I've tried: I connected my digital piano to my 2 channel audio interface (Behringer 202hd) and connected the audio interface to my laptop. I then connected my headphones to the audio interface and turned on direct monitoring. This allowed me to hear my keyboard sound and my windows system output at the same time, as well as inputting my keyboard sounds in stereo. This worked great.

The problem is that I also want a microphone input for my voice. The issue is that if I plug in a microphone in one of the channels in my audio interface, and then decide to sacrifice some quality and plug my keyboard as mono input into the second channel, when I enable direct monitoring I would hear my own voice as well as my keyboard sound. I want to hear only my keyboard sounds and my computer system output. Would there be a way to achieve this? Thanks!

Edit: I'm absolutely happy to buy more audio equipment since I know I cannot record stereo piano with voice. I just don't know what to buy in order to direct monitor my piano but not my voice.

Edit edit: The one solution that I am thinking of is to purchase something like the Focusrite 4i4 3rd gen, an audio interface that has 4+ inputs. Then route the specific channels that I want, to my monitoring headphones using software. As a student this is perhaps the most effective solution for me in terms of saving space, however this will set me back quite some money and I am wondering if there is a better solution than this?

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  • If your piano has another headphone output, you could connect your headphones to it. May 9, 2021 at 21:33
  • Are you willing to buy new/more hardware? You can't have 3 separate inputs (stereo keyboard + voice) with a 2 input interface.
    – Edward
    May 9, 2021 at 21:47
  • Yes, but then I would not be able to hear the sounds from my windows laptop. I want to record but also possibly livestream (such as discord or zoom) my piano along with my voice whilst being able to hear someone else in a call. I just don't want to hear my voice when I use direct monitoring from my audio interface.
    – Gazino
    May 9, 2021 at 21:47
  • Yup Edward. I'm absolutely happy to buy more hardware, I know I can't achieve it with a 2 input interface. Just not sure what to buy at all in order to achieve what I want!
    – Gazino
    May 9, 2021 at 21:48
  • You don't want to hear your own voice - but do you want others to be able to hear it, over Discord etc? That will make a huge difference in the complexity of your routing.
    – Tetsujin
    May 10, 2021 at 7:28

2 Answers 2

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Many mixers have AUX channels in order to set up effects or separate monitoring. You can use an external mixer where you route the main output to your soundcard. You'll use your microphone as one input (panned to an appropriate position) and your keyboard as another input (typically stereo). You'll route the output of the soundcard to another input of the mixer with the fader set to zero but the AUX channel turned up. Then you set the monitoring section (with the headphone amp) for monitoring the AUX mix rather than the main mix.

If that is not possible and the headphone always follows the main mix, you'll need to swap the roles of AUX and main mix listed above and instead route the AUX output (hopefully possible in stereo) to the soundcard. That's the less natural way of doing it.

Alternatively, you can hook up an external headphone amp to your mixer's AUX outputs.

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  • I want to confirm whether I understand: 1. So in this case the soundcard would be my 2 input audio interface, and it would be connected to my pc - I also turn off direct monitoring. 2. I would connect my main line outs of a mixer to the 2 inputs in my audio interface. 3. I would get the headphones out of the audio interface, and connect it into the mixer as an input so I get the computer system sounds into mixer. I also connect inputs of my mic and keyboard into the mixer. 4. I connect my headphones to the AUX send, and crank up the right dials. Is this correct? Also is AUX, Fx send the same?
    – Gazino
    May 11, 2021 at 0:28
  • Sorry for asking too many questions, would it also be possible if you could provide an example of a mixing console with these features? I'm starting to visualize the solution all thanks to your answer, thank you so much!
    – Gazino
    May 11, 2021 at 0:33
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Feed the audio from all the sources into a mixer. Use the mixer's routing capabilities to send your chosen selection of them to the streaming input and (maybe a different selection) to your headphones.
Behringer, among others, offes a range of cheap mixers that will do this.

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  • I had no idea that you could route specific channels into the computer input and route other specific channels into my headphones directly. Would it be possible if you could take an example and elaborate on how the routing works for that model? Thanks!
    – Gazino
    May 9, 2021 at 22:35

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