How to Route a Soundboard to In-Person and Remote Players

A hardware mixer or audio interface with separate outputs is a good fit when the room has its own speakers and you want physical level controls. Connect the soundboard device to a mixer input, send one output to the room’s speaker system, and send a separate output or mix to the computer input selected by the meeting app. Before relying on a particular mixer, confirm that it can provide those independent routes; some devices send the same master mix to every output.

A software mixer can provide the same basic split with virtual inputs and outputs. Create or select a mix for the room and a separate mix for the call, then assign the soundboard to both. RØDE’s UNIFY documentation describes using submixes to send selected sources, such as a voice and sound-pad sounds, to a communications app. Its instructions also show that source levels can be linked to or adjusted independently from the main mix. RØDE UNIFY audio routing

If the setup already uses OBS, OBS can capture an audio input or output as a source, and its monitoring controls can play source audio through a configured monitoring device. This is useful when OBS is already part of the session, but confirm how its monitored signal reaches the call app; monitoring to headphones alone does not automatically make that audio the app’s microphone input. OBS audio sources

Write down the signal path in plain terms: soundboard → mixer or routing app → room speakers, and soundboard → mixer or routing app → meeting-app input. Then add the moderator’s microphone to the call mix if remote players need to hear the moderator. The room may hear that microphone through the call app or through a local mixer route, depending on the setup.

The important distinction is between a listening output and a call input. Headphones and room speakers play sound; the conferencing app usually sends a selected microphone or audio input to remote participants. A mixer’s headphone output is therefore not necessarily the correct connection for the meeting. Check the device manual for the names and function of its USB, line, auxiliary, and main outputs before choosing cables or software channels.

For the room mix, include the soundboard and any other sources local players should hear. For the call mix, include the soundboard and the moderator’s microphone, along with any other source remote players need. RØDE documents this kind of source selection in UNIFY submixes and notes that a source can be linked to the main mix or adjusted independently. A hardware mixer may label comparable controls as buses, auxiliary sends, or subgroups; use its manual to check which controls affect each output.

Do not send the call’s incoming player audio back into the same call mix. If you do, remote players may hear their own voices returned with a delay, or the signal may feed back. Set the meeting app’s speaker output to headphones or to a playback route that is not included in the microphone mix. If you need remote voices in the room, send the call playback to room speakers at a controlled level, while keeping that playback out of the route feeding the call input.

Connect the soundboard’s audio output to a suitable mixer input. Use the connection type the equipment supports; a headphone output can work for a basic setup, but start its level low and raise it gradually to avoid an unexpectedly loud signal. Connect the mixer’s room output to the speaker system and its call mix output to the computer input the meeting app will use. If using routing software, assign the equivalent virtual input and output devices, then select the intended input in the call app.

Start with source and output levels low. Play a cue and watch the mixer’s meters while raising the soundboard output and channel level until the signal is clear without reaching the red clipping region. OBS’s mixer guide explains that red indicates a level near clipping and recommends checking the signal at the source and again after it reaches the mixer or application. OBS audio mixer guide

Before the session, test with one person in the room and one remote participant, or use a second device in the call. Play a short soundboard cue and ask each listener whether it is clear and at a comfortable level. Speak into the moderator microphone and check that remote players can hear it without excessive room noise. Then have the remote participant speak while you listen in the room and confirm their voice is not being returned to them through the call mix.

If either audience cannot hear the cue, check the route one link at a time: does the soundboard meter move, does the mixer show signal on the intended output, and is that output selected as the meeting app’s input? If the meter moves but the room is silent, check the speaker connection, output assignment, and speaker level. If the room hears the cue but the remote participant does not, check the call mix and the app’s selected input.

An echo usually means the same sound reaches a listener through two paths, or remote call playback has entered the mix being sent back into the call. Mute one route at a time to identify the duplicate. OBS warns that capturing the same device both as a scene source and as a global audio device can cause echo; disable the duplicate capture when using a dedicated source. OBS audio sources

Distortion calls for lowering the level near its source first, then checking each later gain control. A clean signal at the soundboard can still clip at a mixer input or computer input. For low or missing audio, check the selected devices and channel assignments before raising every volume control; the intended call input may be a different device or virtual channel than the one showing activity.

Save or label the working mix if the hardware or software allows it, and note which output feeds the room and which feeds the call. At the next session, confirm the computer still recognizes those devices and that the conferencing app has the intended microphone and speaker selected. Finish with three checks: a soundboard cue reaches both audiences, the moderator microphone reaches remote players, and remote voices are not routed back into the call input.

This setup keeps the cue audible in both parts of a hybrid roleplaying group while giving you a straightforward way to isolate routing problems: follow the signal from source to output, then verify each audience independently.

• Audio Routing — RØDE UNIFY User Guide
• Audio Sources — OBS
• Audio Mixer Guide — OBS