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Is it possible to achieve Real-Time Mic Monitoring with this setup?

OceanBijuu

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Hello everyone,

I currently have my DT 900 - ProX headphones hooked up to a Topping DX3Pro+ DAC / AMP combo. I do not want to give up the DAC / AMP connection for the real time mic monitoring. Is there a way I could make this work? I have tried plugging in a 3.5mm / digital output conversion cable as well as a 3.5mm / coax conversion cable to connect the Wave 3 to the DAC / AMP that my headphones are connected to, but it does not appear to register the connection. Are there any other options I have to link my Elgato Wave 3 microphone to both my Topping DX3 PRO+ and my DT 900 ProX in order to achieve real time monitoring? I'd really like the real time monitoring as the latency is unbearable without it. It's bad enough to the point that I cannot even use it at all as I am just hearing myself on a short delay. Thanks for your time.
 
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OceanBijuu

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I’m on Windows. I’m also open to just purchasing a different microphone that would be compatible. For example, I noticed the Shure MV7 might be able to hook up directly to the Topping and allow me to monitor my mic without latency. I’m not entirely sure though, and I’m open to recommendations.
 

staticV3

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Have you tried opening the Sound Control Panel, then Recording, then right-click the Elgato -> Properties, finally enabling "Listen to this device"?

Is the latency acceptable?
 
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may I ask what it is you’re wanting to do? You want to hear yourself live via monitors with no
Latency? I’m asking because there may be work arounds.

Are you recording?
 
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OceanBijuu

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Have you tried opening the Sound Control Panel, then Recording, then right-click the Elgato -> Properties, finally enabling "Listen to this device"?

Is the latency acceptable?
Sadly, this latency is too much for me. I start fumbling my words or losing my train of thought and would rather just have the mic monitoring turned off.
 
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OceanBijuu

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may I ask what it is you’re wanting to do? You want to hear yourself live via monitors with no
Latency? I’m asking because there may be work arounds.

Are you recording?
That is exactly what I’m looking to do. I have tried all of the workarounds I can find such as 3rd party software and the “listen to device” option, but even 50ms of delay with third party software isn’t comfortable for me. It seems like it’s either real time monitoring or not at all for my use case.

And yes, I’m recording / gaming where it’s really helpful to monitor my volume where I’m not yelling too loudly and disturbing people IRL.

It seems like the best option might be to just order a different microphone that would operate with my setup. Any recommendations are welcome.
 

staticV3

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It seems like the best option might be to just order a different microphone that would operate with my setup. Any recommendations are welcome.
Two options:

-Keep the Wave:3 and DX3Pro+ and plug the analog outputs from both into an analog mixer, then into your headphones.

-Replace everything with a traditional audio interface and XLR microphone, then turn on Monitoring on the interface.
 
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That is exactly what I’m looking to do. I have tried all of the workarounds I can find such as 3rd party software and the “listen to device” option, but even 50ms of delay with third party software isn’t comfortable for me. It seems like it’s either real time monitoring or not at all for my use case.

And yes, I’m recording / gaming where it’s really helpful to monitor my volume where I’m not yelling too loudly and disturbing people IRL.

It seems like the best option might be to just order a different microphone that would operate with my setup. Any recommendations are welcome.
I’m not an expert but I believe with an external or internal sound card you can do a mic in and also headphones out for real time monitoring.

Also I believe it’s better / best to use headphones when recording vocals. The only time I can see myself wanting my voice to be over monitor speakers is so other people can hear me.

I’ve never laid down vocals before, but 100% of the time I see people doing it they have headphones on
 
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OceanBijuu

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Two options:

-Keep the Wave:3 and DX3Pro+ and plug the analog outputs from both into an analog mixer, them into your headphones.

-Replace everything with a traditional audio interface and XLR microphone, then turn on Monitoring on the interface.
Thanks for the feedback.

-I contacted Elgato support, and they let me know there isn’t a way to utilize both the USB and analog control. Without the USB, they do not offer the real time monitoring.

-Yeah I was thinking I just need to order a new mic that can plug into my Topping DX3 Pro along with my headset plugging into the same interface. Any recommendations? I was looking at the Shure MV7.
 

staticV3

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-Yeah I was thinking I just need to order a new mic that can plug into my Topping DX3 Pro along with my headset plugging into the same interface. Any recommendations? I was looking at the Shure MV7.
No microphone exists that can be plugged into the Topping DX3 Pro. That's why I said replace the Topping with a convential audio interface.
 

DVDdoug

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From what I found, the Elgato Wave 3 has a headphone jack for "direct monitoring". If that's true that will solve your latency issue. (If you are listening to a backing-track you should be able to play that through the microphone, and the playback latency can be compensated-for when mixing.)
 
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OceanBijuu

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From what I found, the Elgato Wave 3 has a headphone jack for "direct monitoring". If that's true that will solve your latency issue. (If you are listening to a backing-track you should be able to play that through the microphone, and the playback latency can be compensated-for when mixing.)
Are you saying I should plug my headset into the microphone? I could be misunderstanding, but if so, The issue is that, if I plug my headset into the headphone jack, I can no longer use the Topping DX3 Pro.
 
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OceanBijuu

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No microphone exists that can be plugged into the Topping DX3 Pro. That's why I said replace the Topping with a convential audio interface.
Oh, I’m sorry for misunderstanding initially. This is my first higher end audio setup, so I’m pretty new at this, but I see what you’re saying now.

Would it be possible to buy a traditional audio interface to go in addition to my topping so that I could keep using the dx3 pro+ with my headphones and then have a piece of equipment I plug my microphone into which enables latency free mic monitoring? I’m guessing not because I’d likely also need to plug my headphones into this traditional audio interface.

Lastly, any recommendations on which traditional audio interface I would look into? 99% of my activity is gaming and possibly streaming.
 

LTig

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Be sure "direct monitoring' is mentioned in the specs of whatever interface you shop for. Not all of them will do it.
Or go into a pro musician shop where people can advise what would work and where they take it back if it does not work. If you use a Notebook bring it into the shop together with your mic and headphone so you can try before you buy.

I once bought a nice Roland USB sound interface which unfortunately had short interrupts in its output every few minutes when playing music, on an old Notebook with WIndows 7. I brought it back together with the Notebook and a young nerd took it for a few days to find the proper settings. He did not find a solution, so he took the Roland back and returned the money, and did not charge anything for his work. This is customer support.
 
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OceanBijuu

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Thank you everyone for the input. I am going to utilize a multimeter and test both of them. Initial testing without a multimeter is causing me to lean towards the DX3. It seems to be much higher quality sound (to my preference), but I will update this thread if that changes with the multimeter.
 
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