Hello everyone,
I am currently on Windows 11 using a Komplete Audio 1 routed through VB-Matrix to get my XLR microphone in a VST vocal chain through Cantabile, and take its virtual output to use as an input in communication devices (mainly Discord, but also Telegram and Whatsapp calls sometimes).
This currently works well but there are a few quirks with it, namely, the latency introduced by all these virtual jumps is quite a bit.
For this among other reasons, I see myself wanting to upgrade my current audio interface - I want some features like TRS connection on monitors out instead of RCA, more versatile monitoring mix, better preamps, better bit or sample rate, and whatnot.
When looking at upgrade options, I’ve stumbled upon some interfaces with loopback options - this fascinated me, not just because of the loopback itself, but due to the fact these appear to be able to work just like virtual cables.
It is my current understanding that, without VB-Matrix, an interface with loopback could be set like this in Cantabile/Windows inputs:
- in the Audio engine in Cantabile the interface ASIO driver is selected
- input 1 or 2 (the XLR mic) is set as the start of the vocal chain in Cantabile and plugged in the Stereo IN of the first VST and then through the whole chain
- the output port is then selected as the devices’ loopback in Cantabile - this is the thing I’m unsure if it can or cannot be done
- then, in Windows sound mixer, the loopback channel of the device is set as the main INPUT for communication (or alternatively it is selected in each communication app as the input device)
Would this thing be possible with all loopback devices? Of course this would render the loopback itself useless - is this only possible on interfaces that let me customize the loopback mix, in which I would just turn down to 0 everything (no computer audio gets through there), and just let Cantabile populate it with my processed mic chain?
Of course I would need to use the main outs 1/2 to my monitors (and occasionally the phones with unprocessed real time monitoring of my microphone, that is if the interface I’m looking for allows for custom, different mics between outs and phones), so it would not be an option to just mute the 1/2 outs if the loopback is hardcoded there. Not sure if this makes sense, even after some extensive research I don’t 100% know what I’m going to work with and having to take guesses!
I’ve found some information online that tells me what I want to do needs an 8 channel interface because I will actually need 4 outputs (mute 1/2 outs so it won’t reproduce in the loopback, use 3/4 outputs as “real” monitors out), but I’m not even sure if this is really needed. As for inputs, 2 should be plenty enough for my setup (XLR mic always plugged in and ideally routed as described above, and occasionally guitar/bass playing or recording through VST). I’m wildly uncertain if this is true or not, though.
So then, I’ve seen some tempting options from Audient (Evo 4 or iD4 mk2 for 4 channels, Evo 8 or iD14 mk2 for 8 channels). There’s also other options if I manage to inflate my budget a bit.
I’ve found one reddit thread mentioning this kind of setup could work with an Arturia Minifuse 1 - which is not ideal for me as I’d need at least two separate inputs. Arturia Minifuse 2 would then work, but its raw performance seems below par compared to Audient devices, sporting a similar price when comparing them to the 4 channels options).
Sorry for any confusion or unclear explainations of the chain I would like to setup, or bad understanding of loopback.. this is all quite new to me, although being in the music scene for quite a while, I’ve always worked with old pieces of tech.
Thanks in advance for any clarifications to anyone!