[LAU] Minimalist telephone interview setup

Dear list! I just spent a lot of time finding a good setup for telephone interviews. In case someone else is interested for making podcasts or live shows of some sorts, I thought I'd share the setup: # Hardware Laptop, smartphone, USB interface, iRig 2, microphone, headphones. XLR cable for the mic, 2 Jack - Jack 1/4" TS cables, USB cable. I'm switching between an Edirol UA-25ex and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4. Proper connection of the phone to the setup was a headache and I spent quite some time testing a range of adapters. Most of them require an electret mic to function, which does not go well with my setup. Thanks to https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wl6YuVu_v_g for pointing me to the iRig. # Connections Mic > USB 1 USB out 1 > iRig instrument input iRig amp out > USB 2 iRig < > telephone iRig set to FX To cancel echo from my own voice the Input / Monitor selector on the USB needs to be set almost fully counter-clockwise (almost input only). # Software Kubuntu Studio 20.04, Ardour 6.6, Studio Controls 2.1.64, Carla 2.3.0, Ubuntu studio backports PPA. # Software connections 1. Set Ardour to handle monitoring 2. Set Ardour Master to send L/R to System playback 2 3. Set up a mono foldback bus in Ardour for mix minus (everything except the caller). Foldback sends to System Playback 1 4. Use Carla > Patchbay to disconnect System playback from pulse_out Using a cheap Shure PG58 mic this setup is close to noiseless, even in my bedroom home office :-) Regards, Alf