Audio Interface input isolation problems (help!!!!) :)

I have a Roland quad capture audio interface, Realtek integrated sound in my PC and Nvidia sound in my graphics card.
 
It is a new I9 PC. 
I am trying to set it up to make (Cakewalk/Adobe/raytracing) instructional and gaming videos. 
 
I plan to use OBS studio to record.
 
I want the switch from when I make a gaming video to when I make a Cakewalk instructional video as least complicated as possible. As simple as changing a profile in OBS and not having to reroute sound devices, hardware plugs and drivers.
 
Example: When I am in Cakewalk I would like to use the same mic (plugged into the Roland quad capture with phantom power) that I am using to narrate the video as I use to sing and lay down vocal tracks in the video.
 
I would think it should be as simple as creating an audio track in Cakewalk and having it input the same mic.
 
No matter what I do I can't seem to get the quad capture to play its audio without it also including the mic input in the signal.
 
I am so confused now between "the main", input 1 + 2 and input 3 + 4.
 
I have a USB analog to digital audio converter box also that has left and right RCA inputs to a coaxial RCA output, this would output the Realtek or Nvidia sound card into its own input on the Roland quad capture. 
 
Though, this seems like the wrong way to do things and I am afraid of a feedback loop and blowing up my whole computer! lol 
 
There must be a way to isolate within the Roland quad capture the mic input from the Cakewalk master output so that OBS can separately see them.
 
I am confused between the "direct" output switch in the quad capture driver software and the playback/input knob.
 
Any help in clarifying this would be greatly appreciated.
 
I don't expect to get all of this answered very quickly. It seems like the kind of thing that may take a month to figure out.  :)
 
OBS studio is fairly easy to set up it is getting Roland quad capture to isolate the master output of cakewalk and my games from the mic input on the quad capture that is giving me the most frustration.
 
If I switch to a USB mic then why use the quad capture at all?
 
I like the quad capture and I am familiar with how it works and I like having a real physical knob to attenuate the volume.
 
I just can't figure out how to set the quad capture to isolate the mic and master outputs into separate tracks.
 
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
 
Someone in a Youtube video suggested using VoiceMeeter Bananna, there must be a way to do this without that program. 
 
Thanks in advance.

azslow3
 
Or...
* set Sonar to use Roland in ASIO
* set Windows to Realtek

I am not familiar with OBS studio, so will only talk to the hardware/Windows settings at this point.
 
The above "may" be your answer, but I am also not clear what the OP is really doing. Windows will run multiple interfaces, but will not let a single program run multiple ones simultaneously, so the above suggestion is preferred, and how I run my system. Are you recording with ShadowPlay, or is OBS studio a variant of that on the audio side?
 
First, the Nvidia HD drivers are only going to do anything if you run HDMI output to a monitor that can play sound (not preferred in most cases), so they only give another resource for Windows to manage and get confused with. You can go into the "Device Manager" and disable those (easiest), but forget offhand if they are required for ShadowPlay.
 
Second, to achieve the above (at least in Win7) you must explicitly tell Windows to use the Realtek driver by default. To do this:

1. Open your sound properties with both Realtek and the Quad on (so both devices are listed).
2. Even if Realtek is "default," set the Quad to default, then shift the default back to the Realtek (highlight them and choose the "set default" near the bottom of that screen).
3. If the Quad is set to default, you only need to highlight the Realtek and set that to default.

With that done, Windows will now default to Realtek for any program which needs audio output and manage conflicts, but makes the Quad reserved for a program you want to use ASIO with (i.e., SONAR). Essentially, a recording program that has ASIO selected inside the program itself is the only thing that will see the Quad.
 
From there, open SONAR and configure it to use the Quad with your mic connected to it, and you should be able to record that mic in SONAR while recording in ShadowPlay, but will need to use a video editor to mate the two audio track up after the fact.
 
You can achieve recording both in SONAR with a physical loopback but this requires discipline and proper setup so that you do not blow an input on the Quad doing so. I will not post details on that at this point, since I am not clear what you are trying to achieve and am not sure how familiar you are with setting things up (no offense to you, just protecting your hardware).
 
Could you please let us know the specifics of what you are trying to do?

I just dug this out of the closet and YAY it is phantom powered!
Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8-Input 2-Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQshttps://www.amazon.com/Behringer-802-Premium-8-Input-Preamps/dp/B000J5XS3C
 
I wonder if I can send a mono signal from this mixer into the mic input jack of the Realtek?
 
Would it work and would it be wired right to accept a mono 1/8" jack into the PC?
 
I could set the Realtek mic input in cakewalk to not enter the main mix but just record and monitor.
 
Would there be a lag in Cakewalk and would my vocal be offset?
 
An I9 should be able to handle it right?
 

Here is a routing diagram I created in Adobe Illustrator. This is how the universe was made (haha, just kidding). Let me know what you think of this way of hooking things up. It took me several entire days to figure it all out. 
 

The Realtek is set to record in 24 bit and unless you are Neil Young and able to hear flea farts you will not be able to hear the noise floor in any recording. Even a 5 dollar sound card recording in 24 bit records far above the inherent noise floor. If you are getting noise in your recordings it is your CPU fan and I suggest getting some long, second gen USB cables and moving your PC further away and some sound proofing foam inside your PC to deflect fan noise and low noise fans. The PC fan noise and keyboard clicks would far surpass any noise made by the computer's electronics.
 
Also, I send my line out of the PC into a: 
PYLE-PRO PHE400 Hum/Noise Eliminator 2-Channel Box with TRS Phone and XLR Inputs/Outputshttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BARTW42/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
This eliminates a huge hum factor.
 
If you are hearing any hum in your output or recordings after all of this you have a faulty device along the chain or you are setting your record volume way too low.
 
All electronics put out hum and it is that very hum that is being added back into recordings to give them more analogue warmth...
 
Also one could add a second Roland audio interface if need be but I am still learning the system and learning the ins and outs. Also, having the PC keyboard set master volume and mute is a nice feature.
 
If over time I notice any degradation in the final sound product I will go for a second external interface replacing the realtek internal interface altogether.
 
Still recuperating from the I9 price tag though. :)

Azslow3 thank you for your input! I welcome even corrections on my understanding of this technology.
 
I would like to state that the diagram I put forward above was put there for the very reason to elicit criticism and a simpler solution.
 
I have for a week steady been plugging and re-plugging in devices, changing their settings to no avail.
 
It seemed every time I would try a configuration I would come up against a wall or, find distortion in the signal.
 
You mentioned Azslow3 that your laptop had an enormous amount of hum in the signal, that is not because of the electronics not being shielded well, that is because the power supply acts as an antenna. The next time you set up your laptop to record and experience the hum try this test. Unplug the power supply and let it run only on battery.
 
Your noise will be gone. I learned this the hard way out on a gig trying to use my laptop. Unfortunately I could not get rid of the terrible buzz/hum until I got back home and researched the problem on Google.
 
All non Apple laptops with an external power supply have this inherent problem.
 
Just wondering if that was what you were experiencing.
 
As for my problem at hand.
 
Last night was the first time I was able to finally get my setup to work. I was just about to go to bed at 4AM and I said to myself just one more test... This was successful!
 
Using various Youtube tutorial videos I overcame much confusion as to whether to try and record the source input or the source output. Whether to use ASIO drivers and on what devices. How to route those drivers within Windows and what virtual software to use to accommodate those drivers so as to be able to pass these signals off to OBS studio so I cold isolate these sources into different audio tracks while still maintaining the highest quality signal. 
 
There are so many switches and toggles along the way. I am by no means saying I understand it (hell no!) but I got it to finally work and the setup is now saved and retrievable, (hopefully) reproducible with other programs and devices. 
 
And for the most part "simple" and not requiring jumping hoops like my rats nest of a diagram I posted above.
 
For one I was able to shut off the Realtec and Nvidia sound devices completely!
 
That sure simplified things considerably!
 
I am also using ASIO for ALL and VoiceMeeter Banana (both apps I plan to leave a nice donation to soon). 
 
I will be spending a few hours tonight remaking my diagram, I need to cement this program of wiring and switches in my head.
 
I am able to use my XLR Audio Technica microphone and that is one of the pluses that I have not seen others use online in the the various Youtube instructional videos. They are all using USB microphones.
 
I am also relying only on my Roland Quad capture and there are no other sound cards (other than virtual) that are being used.
 
Other than, an analog to digital device smaller than the size of a cigarette pack that converts my mic out signal from the mixer to digital so it can enter into the 3/4 input on the back of the Roland quad capture. I bought this device because I wanted to someday maybe utilize those ports on the back of the Roland and it was real cheap on Amazon.
 
This is the device listed below on top I used to pipe the mic out of the mixer into the 3/4 inputs on the back of the Roland Quad Capture. It has brand name printed on the device it that is not shown or listed in the Amazon description and that name is "Portta"...  
SANOXY Analog to Digital Audio Converter Adapterhttps://smile.amazon.com/..._s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
 
I also bought this device listed below which I am not using.
 
PROZOR Digital to Analog Converter DAC Digital SPDIF Toslink to Analog Stereo Audio L/R Converter Adapter with Optical Cable for PS3 XBox HD DVD PS4 Home Cinema Systems AV Amps Apple TV
https://smile.amazon.com/..._s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
 
I just love having little doohickey devices like these anyway.
 
Being external it is far removed from the electronics of the motherboard and its fans and it is powered by USB that I plug into one of my phone charger cubes.
 
I will post a new diagram once I am done making it.
 
Since a lot of this stuff is handled internal to Windows I am not sure I will be able to really represent all of the routing parameters in this set up but I will make a listing of how everything is set regardless of if I understand it.
 
The final test of if this has been working or not has been taking the MP4 file created by OBS studio and dragging it into a test file I made in Premiere and seeing if the stereo vocal track is isolated and has no game music in it and if the separate game music track is clear of any vocal mic input. Also the vocal track and music track needs to be free of any perceptible noise (hiss, pops, hums, clicks distortion etc), this seems to be working now.
 
Now to try and get this same setup to translate over to Cakewalk. I think it will work and I think I have a hunch as to why it would not work before but I need to test out that theory before I say what it might be.

The comment about ALL laptops suffer hums is not true. I use my laptops for live performance. I once had an Acer that hummed. I took advice somewhere and cut the ground pin off. Hum went away--but, power supply died within 2 months. Next Laptop was a Asus netbook, I still use it after 10 years. No hum. I also have a 2008 Sony, no hum, and just was given a nice i5 Acer. No hum. 
Of course there is some hum when you use the 1/8' jack but it is so low as to not be noticeable. The little Asus net book is dead quiet and the bet of the lot.  SSD drives I think help. 
 
 

My device is so low , and i think i need to root it ?