In the picture on the right, you will see the setup that I used to do Episode 031 of 3 Questions and a Song with Utah from Noble Hops. If you watch the video, you will hear a lot of white noise. This was caused by the nature of using a cell phone through my mixer. You should not get similar noise running your equipment through your mixer. For those of you that remember the beginning of the Pennsylvania Rock Show way back in September of 2004, you’ll remember that we were live streaming bands playing their original music from my living room. This is the same basic setup that I am going to suggest to you, with the except of adding in the video aspect.

This is for educational purposes and I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your equipment. I suggest always starting with your levels completely off and work them slowly up until you have the volume levels that you want without damaging your equipment.

(SEE ALSO: Live Streaming Video Suggestions  | Bringing your Audio and Video together to Live Broadcast)

Audio Setup 1: This will be what I would suggest for performing live music on Facebook Live, Youtube Live, Twitch, etc.

Getting your audio ready to be streamed:

• I use my ATR-2100’s XLR capability and run it through my mixer. You plug your instruments/mics into your mixer (DO NOT set up your PA, you do not need it and it will cause extra noise/echo/reverb/etc in the room)
• If you have an USB mixer you can plug it into your laptop using USB to get your sound to the computer.
• If your mixer doesn’t have USB Output, you can run the sound out of the tape out ports of your mixer into the headphone jack with an RCA to 1/8″ splitter cable for about $7 on Amazon. (or jack adapter for the phones that do not have built in headphone jacks) or you can get an USB Audio Capture card for about $20 on Amazon, which is how I do it these days.
• * NOTE if you are using your cellphone to go live, You will plug your instruments/mics into your mixer (DO NOT set up your PA, you do not need it and it will cause extra noise/echo/reverb/etc in the room). You can run the sound out of the tape out ports of your mixer into the headphone jack with an RCA to 1/8″ splitter cable for about $7 on Amazon. You can use your Cellphone camera for the video.
• There are also various videos on youtube about using iRig or iRig2 to get audio to your cellphone or computer.

Audio Setup 2: My one-on-one Interview setup without a mixer – this is good for podcasters doing Skype interviews.

• I use my ATR-2100 microphone through usb on my laptop, Skype with a NDI Plugin for OBS, and the Open Broadcast Studio Software (OBS) to broadcast the live audio/video to Facebook, Twitch, & Youtube.

Audio Setup 3: Using an iRig to put the sound into your computer or Cellphone. Full disclosure, I have never done this.

• Use an iRig to take audio from your mixer to your cell phone for FB Live
• Send Audio from a Mixer to Your iPhone X
• Best Way to Connect a Phone (iPhone, Android) to a Mixer.
• HOW TO LIVE STREAM YOUR DJ SETS