Hey everybody

Notice: This is a rather long post! If you want to skip the introductory bla-bla, please jump to the smiley below!

I know that what I'm asking for is absolutely not the "golden standard" to have two microphones running side by side. But my partner and I do busking while backpacking, alas we want to carry as little gear as possible.

We have two guitars (Taylor GS Mini-e) and two dynamic microphones (Sennheiser e-904). We want to use my tiny Roland Mobile Cube.

But obviously, the Roland Mobile Cube is designed for one person, not two. But I already found some nice workarounds to nudge it closer to our use case:

CONNECTING TWO GUITARS:

1) I can connect both guitars (to L and R input)...



...but only when choosing a "Stereo input", which makes it impossible to use the guitar-specific effects (e. g. overdrive), as the R input is not active when anything else but "Stereo input" is selected.



That's better than nothing, but it would indeed be nice if the two guitars were a little different from each other (by applying some effects on at least one of them).

2) Another option is to connect the 2nd guitar to an iPhone using an iRig, together with a guitar effects app like Tonebridge.



Then we can feed the headphone output back into the AUX-in of the Roland Mobile Cube. This allows to choose a guitar effect for the first guitar (through the Mobile Cube), as well as for the second guitar (within the Tonebridge app).

Goal accomplished!

CONNECTING TWO MICROPHONES:

1) Instead of using an iRig (which can only connect a guitar as input), I could attach a small, battery-powered audio interface to my iPhone, that offers two inputs. I have a Zoom U-24 which works well for this scenario:



Like the iRig, I can connect the U-24's headphones output to the AUX-in of the Mobile Cube.

Job done! ...But the U-24 is actually quite big! I looked around for similar but smaller devices, and while there are a few (like the iRig Pro Duo or the MeloAudio TS Mini), they still are quite bulky - and they add quite a bit of delay between input and output (because they have to go "through" the iPhone first, where the audio signal is processed and then sent out afterwards). Admittedly, it's not that much - but it is not optimal. (For the records: the Mobile Cube doesn't add a noticeable delay).

In addition, adding all this stuff makes the whole setup much more complicated and error prone! The iPhone (or the used app) can crash, cables may have loose contact, etc. Not good for live performances!

So I'd wish that I could connect a second microphone DIRECTLY to the Mobile Cube's microphone input (and for the guitars I'm happy enough with using a "Stereo input", as described above).

So (after this lengthy explanation), here's my real question:

Is it possible to connect two identical dynamic microphones to a single 1/4 input using a splitter cable?

On Can a Y Cable Be Used To Plug Two Microphones Into a Single Input?, I read the following:

I think that in my situation, it might get the job actually done, because when busking on noisy streets, some minor buzzes would not be too bothersome. And with two identical microphones, the impedance mismatches might also be no problem?

But where do I find such a cable? I mean - I don't need a "single Stereo to double Mono" Y-splitter, right? I need one that splits a "single Mono to double Mono"! Is there anything like this, or do I need to create one myself?

Thanks a lot for your comments!
Josua

Meanwhile, I found this guy creating (what he calls) "unifier" cables:

The Stereo-to-Mono Summing Cable That No One Makes

I think this goes quite into the direction I'm looking. I wrote him an email, let's see what's his opinion about my idea.

Greetings!

I think just getting a second Roland Cube (if possible) will solve all of your problems in one fell swoop without any compromising and messy workarounds that will certainly have an affect not only on the audio quality itself but also on how much you enjoy playing with such a setup. I think it will pay for itself in the long run.

As a second option I would use the the main inputs on the Cube as they were intended for the first performer and then use the U-24 for the second performer, connecting its output (line as opposed to headphone) to the aux input on the Cube. I am assuming here that the U-24 works in standalone mode with direct monitoring, thus adding no perceivable latency in such a setup.

Hums and buzzes may not seem like a big deal on a busy street but if you're having to crank up the amp in order to be heard it might become quite the issue. Just my humble opinion, best of luck with it!