7 Ways Your Audio Interface Could Be Holding Back Your Live Stream

Live streaming is one of the fastest-growing categories of content creation, thanks to platforms like Twitch that make it easy to go live while you game, play music, do crafts, or just hang out and chat with your fans. But if you want to stand out from the crowd and attract subscribers, production value matters. To put on a high-quality stream, you’ll need a convenient way to manage multiple elements like your camera feed, microphone, computer audio and video, custom overlays, and alert sounds.

Most streamers start by buying one of the many affordable audio interfaces on the market, but soon find themselves needing more advanced features. Others patch together a streaming rig using advanced audio interfaces, video capture cards, programmable controllers, and sometimes even a second computer just for streaming. But neither of these approaches are ideal—you’ll either end up feeling stymied by the limits of a bare-bones audio interface or frustrated by the complications of a multi-part streaming rig. 

Before buying any new gear, consider these seven ways your audio interface could be holding you back. You just might find a simpler solution that solves all of your problems at once.

1. Limited Connectivity

Most of the affordable audio interfaces on the market offer just enough inputs and outputs (I/O) for connecting a microphone or two, a set of speakers, and a pair of headphones. That’s fine for basic recording, but what if you need to capture video from a camera or game console, record two-way audio from a gaming headset, or connect your phone?

Limited I/O can be a major bottleneck for streaming setups, forcing you to add additional components like a capture card for external video sources, a mixer for adding more microphones, or a USB hub for connecting other peripherals. The more devices you add, the more complicated your setup becomes and the more potential failure points you introduce.

2. Poor Sound Quality

Although audio interfaces have come a long way in terms of sound quality, they’re not usually optimized for streaming. For example, the broadcast-style dynamic mics popular among streamers require much more gain than condenser mics, which can result in added noise when you push your preamp to its limits. Many people remedy this with an inline signal booster, but this can add hundreds of dollars to your budget and clutter your setup.

If you use a gaming headset instead of an XLR microphone, you’re probably either plugging it into your computer’s sound card (where many manufacturers cut corners on sound quality), connecting via USB (which relies on cheap, built-in audio converters), or using adapters to connect to your audio interface. The best solution is to use an interface specifically designed for gaming headsets with a TRRS connection for two-way audio.

3. Lack of Built-In Effects

When you’re broadcasting live, you need your audio to sound perfect in the moment, because you can’t go back and fix it later. That means using effects like compression, EQ, and noise gating to control your sound in real time. But unless you have an expensive interface with built-in DSP, or digital signal processing, you’ll have to get your effects from software.

The most common way to add audio effects is to use a DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation, but this software is made for musicians rather than live streamers. DAWs are packed with features streamers don’t need, creating an unnecessary learning curve. The better solution is to use software made for streamers, with studio-quality effects that are easy to tweak on the fly.

4. Limited Control

From switching video sources to triggering audio samples and controlling streaming software, running a smooth and entertaining live stream requires juggling many different functions. But most audio interfaces only offer basic controls like headphone volume, mic gain, and mute, and are completely disconnected from other devices and software.

This lack of control forces streamers to add yet another device to their setup: usually a peripheral with programmable buttons. This can make it easier to run your stream, but—yet again—it adds another expense to your budget and more clutter to your setup.

5. Latency Issues

Latency, or the delay between input and output signals in a digital environment, is the bane of streamers everywhere. When your mic is out of sync with your camera or your game audio doesn’t match up with the video, it creates a dissonant experience that isn’t enjoyable to watch (and even less fun to troubleshoot). 

While most modern audio interfaces exhibit minimal latency when set up correctly, that only applies to the audio side. Video is often completely disconnected, requiring hours of tinkering to get everything in sync together. But when you have one device handling both audio and video, you can be sure that everything will be perfectly in sync.

6. Driver Support and Compatibility

Another pitfall of the audio-interface-plus-capture-card setup is the complicated nature of drivers (the background code that allows each device to talk to your computer). When you’re dealing with multiple devices that each require their own drivers, things can get rather messy. Updating one driver to keep up with your operating system might cause problems with another, and if you rely on older devices that are no longer supported, you’re just asking for trouble.

Needless to say, having fewer drivers is always better. When your gear is easy to set up and there are no conflicts, you can focus on streaming instead of fussing with drivers until they decide to cooperate. In short: the fewer devices you need to use, the less technical problems you’ll encounter.

7. Setup and Portability

The more complex your streaming rig becomes, the more of a hassle it is to set up, reconfigure, and break down when the need arises. A small audio interface on its own is fairly easy to set up and transport, but when you add peripherals like capture cards, controllers, and USB hubs, you’ll begin to dread reconfiguring or transporting your rig.

That’s one more reason why an all-in-one solution makes the most sense: when your entire streaming rig can be unplugged from your laptop, stowed in a backpack, and set up in minutes, you’ll be able to stream while traveling, pack up and move with minimal downtime, and make changes without tearing your entire setup apart.

Our Solution: Mackie MainStream

We designed the Mackie MainStream to bring together all of the features that streamers need in one device: high-quality audio and video capture, connectivity for all your devices, handy programmable buttons, and an elegant interface to control it all on the fly.

Combining an XLR microphone preamp, TRRS input for gaming headsets, speaker and headphone outputs, HDMI input and passthrough, and multiple USB-C ports for peripherals, MainStream allows you to hook up all your gear to one central hub. The front-panel controls make it easy to mix and mute various audio sources, blend your mic signal into your headphones, trigger samples, and control software with six color-coded programmable keys.

MainStream provides tons of flexibility on its own, but the optional Matrix software will take your streaming setup to a new level. Matrix allows you to add up to six virtual inputs such as Discord or Spotify (alongside MainStream’s hardware inputs) and independently route each one to your streaming mix and/or headphones. You can also use EQ and vocal effects that are easy to apply and tweak, plus trigger up to 24 audio samples.

Whether you want to stream games with your friends, set up multiple cameras for a crafting stream, or chat live with your fans over Discord, MainStream gives you all the tools you need in one place.

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