A mix-minus is a return audio feed that contains your full program mix minus one source, usually the person receiving it. Remote guests hear the show but not their own voice coming back, which stops echo and feedback loops. In Wirecast, you control this with the Rendezvous Audio Mixer and with audio tracks routed to playback devices.
Why do remote guests hear echo?
If a guest’s own audio is sent back to them, it arrives with a short delay. Their microphone can pick it up from their speakers and send it into the show again. The result is echo, or a feedback loop that keeps building. A mix-minus breaks the loop by leaving the guest’s own audio out of what they hear.
How to set up a mix-minus for Rendezvous guests
- Select Window > Rendezvous Dashboard and click Start Session, then add your guests.
- Select Window > Rendezvous Audio Mixer to open the Advanced Rendezvous Audio Mixer. You can also choose Advanced from the audio source menu in the Rendezvous Dashboard.
- In the Output from [document] menu, select the document source to send to the session.
- Check Include In Mix for each source guests should hear, such as your host microphone. Uncheck any source that should not go back to them.
- Use the sliders to set each level, and watch the channel meters.
Learn more about remote guests on the Rendezvous feature page.
How to send a mix-minus to a playback device
For a caller on another system or a remote announcer, build a separate track without that person and send it to their device. This uses multi-track audio, a Wirecast Pro feature.
- In each shot’s Audio Properties tab, click Map and assign every source except the remote person to one track.
- Open the audio mixer and click Add new audio output.
- In the Audio Playback menu, select the device that feeds the remote person.
- In the Audio Track Selection menu, select your mix-minus track.
Tips
- Ask guests to wear headphones so their microphone can’t pick up the return audio.
- Turn on the Microphone option in Advanced preferences to show a warning when Wirecast detects feedback.
- Rendezvous Music Mode turns off echo cancellation and noise reduction. Use it only for music, not speech.
- Use the Headphone Mute buttons to check a mix without changing what viewers hear.