What is Mix Minus?

Dave Jackson

Last Update 2 years ago

If you are recording you alone, you do not need to worry about this. (and read to the bottom)


Here is the scenario. You are recording an interview with someone on skype or zoom.


1. The interviewee's audio comes out of your headphone out of your computer and goes into your mixer.

2. You plug your microphone into channel 1 of your mixer and the above guest in channel 2


Problem: The guest needs to hear you. So you send the output of the mixer back to the guest (plugging it into the mic INPUT of your computer). The bad news is the mixer has you and your guest and now the guest will hear themself (with a bit of a delay). When you try to talk and you hear yourself on a delay, you sound drunk.


What you need to perform a "mix minus"

1. A mixer with some sort of Effects or Auxiliary send.


How to Set the Knobs

1. The interviewee's audio comes out of your headphone out of your computer and goes into your mixer.

2. You plug your microphone into channel 1 of your mixer and the above guest in channel 2

3. the volume knobs affect how much of you and your guest go into the main output on your mixer (this is "normal").

4. The effects/auxiliary knob on each channel is how much of THAT CHANNEL is going to the effects/auxiliary send. So turn the auxiliary/effects send on channel 1 up

5. Plug a cable from the auxiliary/effects OUT into your computer. Notice in step 4 we didn't turn up the effects/auxiliary of the guest. We do not want the sound of the guest to go back into the computer.

6. Make sure the effects/auxiliary main volume is up,

7. You are now sending the mix of you and your guest - without - "minus" - the guest


Here is a video from my friend Ray Ortega that might help

https://youtu.be/au47Ferbxfc


An Even Easier Solution

I typically don't recommend using mixers anymore. Devices like the Zoom Podtrak P4 do it for you (and a whole lot more)

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