Is it possible to do this and what's needed?

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

I am a clinical hypnotherapist.

In a session with a client I want the client to have headphones listening to my words at the same time listening to a sound file playing from the computer while simultaneously recording both the sound recording and my voice.

Is this possible?

What hardware is ended? What softwares

THANKS

2

Here’s your shopping list:

1 small mixer with at least one microphone input, one “line level” input, and a headphone socket.
1 microphone with an XLR lead to plug into the mixer
1 pair of headphones
1 audio player (MP3 player or CD player, or iPod, or similar) for playing the music
1 audio recorder with line level input.

The audio recorder could be a stand alone recorder (such as a Zoom H2 or even a cassette recorder), or a computer. If you use a computer, it needs to have a “line level” input. Most laptops have only one audio input for a computer mic, which is not suitable for this purpose, so you would also need a USB audio interface that has line-level inputs (such as a Behringer UCA-202 or similar).

Playing the sound from the computer at the same time as recording will make the process much more complicated and prone to failure. Much better to play the music on a separate device.

Plug your music player, microphone and headphones into the mixer.
Adjust the controls so that you have a suitable mix of music and microphone.
Connect the mixer main output to the input of your audio recorder.

The recording will have both the microphone and the music mixed together.
If you need to record only the microphone without the music, then you need to ensure that the mixer is able to provide a “control room” mix to the headphones that is a different mix from the “main mix”.

3

Alternatively, you could rule out the computer and the numerous cables, and use a portable multi track recorder.

Something like the Boss Micro BR BR-80 (around 250$):

http://www.bossus.com/products/micro_br_br-80/

Or the Boss Micro BR Digital Multitrack Recorder (around 120$):

http://www.bossus.com/products/micro_br/

Or the Zoom R8 (around 300$):

https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-R8-Multitrack-Controller-Interface/dp/B0052B9LGQ

Or the Tascam DP006 (around 150$):

http://tascam.com/product/dp-006/

These have built-in mics, can play back audio and record simultaneously on another track.