With so many creators out there needing to record mics as well as sources inside the computer, loopback can get complex. We try out one interface that aims to make it easy.
While the independent creator boom has driven a whole new generation of products aimed at making high quality content with ease, there are still some technical aspects of the process that can get creators scratching their heads. Perhaps one of the trickiest tasks that streamers and podcasters can find themselves doing is recording virtual computer sources like web browsers or Skype calls. When the content calls for hardware sources such as mics or smartphones to be recorded as well, creators can find themselves in territory that up until a few years ago would have been handled by the studio engineer rather than by the talent themself.
Without Loopback
A simple nuts-and-bolts approach to capturing everything can be to use two audio interfaces. If a virtual source such as Skype can be fired out of a built-in headphone port or standalone device (the first interface), this can then be plugged into a second audio interface at which other sources such as mics are connected. The creator monitors at this second interface and uses it to record to their DAW. While this can work, it is clunky, and is susceptible to compromised audio quality owing to factors such as noise or interference when unbalanced connections are pressed into service.
What Does Loopback Actually Do?
Perhaps as a nod to the practice of plugging a hardware output back into an adjacent input, loopback is an interface utility allowing software sources inside the computer to be routed between each other to be re-recorded without the clutter and hassle of the two-interface approach. In making virtual inputs and outputs available within one interface, the perennial problem of applications that can only send and receive audio to and from one audio interface is overcome.
What Can Go Wrong With Loopback?
Using a dedicated app or loopback enabled interface can provide an elegant solution to the problems mentioned, not least by avoiding an unnecessary trip through the converters and back, but there are disadvantages. While understanding the routing involved can be easy enough for the engineer, creators who are less technically inclined can run into problems usually associated with hearing things twice, or not at all. In the former scenario, electronic feedback loops can be instant, and sometimes unforgiving.
PreSonus Revelator io44 And Universal Control
Following on from a number of similar products aimed at creators, PreSonus’ Revelator io44 is a small 4 in- 4 out desktop audio interface with particularly well-appointed loopback capability. As well as the hardware I/O, the unit also offers two virtual stereo outputs and two corresponding stereo inputs for easy virtual routing between applications. Via PreSonus Universal Control, users have access to a very friendly mixer app that lets users control the monitoring and recording of hardware and virtual sources.
In a typical scenario where a creator wants to record an application’s audio and their own mic to a DAW, the process is pretty pain-free when using Universal Control:
Click on a Stream Mix tab (A or B), and click its headphone icon to hear it in your headphones. This is the mix to be recorded.
By default, the source software such as Skype or game hits the Playback channel, while mics and other sources hit their own channels.
Configure the DAW track input to receive the Stream Mix you’re using. Mute the track and hit record. Muting prevents the DAW hitting the Playback channel in the mixer app, thus avoiding a feedback loop.
The DAW output can be routed to a Virtual A or B channel for reviewing the take if needed, although this isn’t a requirement. Watch in the video how we use the Revelator io44 with Universal Control in a typical loopback scenario.
What Does Easy Loopback Look Like?
By simplifying the mechanics of bringing together, listening to, and recording virtual and hardware sources, the Revelator io44 is perhaps the most comprehensive attempt yet to make the previously arduous task of re-recording virtual audio alongside mics and other devices. While its MO will be easy to understand for the engineer, at present, no solution can realistically work without some level of understanding from non-technical users. This needn’t be a barrier though, as creators have never been more aware of the need to sound their best. Those who care about quality are as close as they’ve ever been to high quality recordings aided by gear that does the work of the studio engineer for them.