Gear for a remote radio guest - Mix minus

Regular readers will know that I'm one of those commentators you hear on the radio. I've always been keen to have my audio sound as close to the studio as possible and I think I'm getting close.

Without a noise dampened studio I need to get close to the microphone to avoid reverberation but I have a tendency to "pop" the mic so I need to monitor my local audio as well as hearing the host. We used to call this "mix minus" where the guest hears a mix of the other speakers and themselves but just the guest's mic would be sent back to the main studio. I've been hunting for how to do this on a computer.

Richard, VK3LRJ, had just the device I needed. It's a Behringer Xenyx 302USB. These aren't new but have the ability to let me hear the mix while sending just the mic up the line. It's also a USB sound card so plugs in to the computer and is powered from that USB port.

One interesting note is that it says the XLR mic socket has phantom power but my Rode mic didn't work. Turns out the phantom power is about 14V rather than the 48V norm so some microphones work but others don't. I'm using a Sure dynamic mic, similar to the studio. These mics have quite low output but this mixer has enough gain.

Anyhow, here's the latest appearance:

Telegram is just one of many messaging apps, being targeted in France over secure messaging, but just how secure is it? AI is the biggest development in technology, and it seems it's also the job that pays the best. Plus, growth in the PC and Phone markets has been slowing, and the next big thing that may stimulate people to upgrade their PC and phone is new AI features that the old models don't offer. Tech Guru Peter Marks, software developer and technology commentator from Access Informatics, with Philip Clark on Nightlife and the latest news and issues in technology. 

You can listen here.