AVerMedia Live Streamer DUO Kit Review

I am always on the search for better solutions to my production setup. I never quite have the best but I always have a broad equipment spread so that I can create what I am into at the time. I produce written content, audio, video, and live streams and I’ve been doing so semi-professionally for many years now. Packages like the AVerMedia Live Streamer Duo, a combo pack that puts together the Live Gamer Mini GC311 and Live Streamer Cam 313, are exciting as starter kits but mileage may vary and my personal journey has yet to blow me away. I’ve spent the last month or so recording and streaming with a lot of ups and downs. 

Most of this review will be in regards to the capture card that comes in the kit which boasts 1080p resolutions and 60 frames-per-second, an upgrade from my 720p AVerMedia DarkCrystal card. The webcam included doesn’t impress me with any particular features; it is a solid 1080p 30fps webcam that has yet to cause me any issues no matter where I put it. I’ve been able to easily load it up in Streamlabs OBS and even get my chroma key looking pretty sharp. Most webcams can look pretty good with proper lighting, so I’ll be focusing on the capture card itself, laying out the specs for each device, and sharing some personal anecdotes.

The Live Gamer Mini is a pretty straightforward capture card with HDMI pass through. No fancy features on the device itself, just a simple box that connects the displays to the PC. There are really two different ways to record with this card, pass through or direct. Pass through enables one to record/stream by routing the connection to a second display, often a TV or monitor. Meanwhile, direct is just connecting the card to the PC via USB and plugging the console in HDMI IN. This can be pretty handy for those using a single screen, but when using software like OBS, ensure that StreamEngine input is selected. This option seems to be the best way to reduce input lag to nearly nothing when playing through a direct connection. 

Provided I was using Stream Engine or pass through, input lag was minimal and the framerate seemed to keep up. I’m not extremely sensitive to display issues since I play on such a wide variety of screens across many consoles and devices but I didn’t notice much. I was able to easily play Dragon Ball FighterZ on PS4 without it feeling like my inputs were being lost or delayed. I also spent a lot of time playing Switch games like Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, Shovel Knight, and River City Girls; every game I threw at it seemed to run fine enough.

However, I have been experiencing an unexplained drop out of the capture, resulting in a frozen frame with audio continuing to play. This only happened in the recording or stream though; my display when using pass-through kept going without a hitch. This would really only resolve when I reset the card by pulling out the micro-USB power cable and plugging it back in. Unfortunately, this often occurred in moments of action, like battling a large BT in Death Stranding or after about 20-30 minutes of play. The footage I was able to capture looks fine for a lower end capture device but this freezing really made it unusable for me for several weeks. This is the kind of problem that brings a stream to a screeching halt and recording sessions end up being too much stopping and starting. I was able to reduce the number of instances of this error by unplugging several of my USB devices, which was suggested by a Product Specialist via email. 

At the time of my initial testing, I had an external hard drive and a Bluetooth receiver. After removing those, the Live Mini was able to capture solid footage without issues for over an hour. While this solution fixes many of the debilitating errors of capturing footage, I recently purchased a capture card during a sale, the Razer Ripsaw HD, which works flawlessly without having to worry about my USB bandwidth. I also noticed some general lag between my TV on pass through and the incoming footage in SLOBS when using the Live Gamer Mini, which makes me worry how that will translate when going for a full video with a face cam and other live elements.

I used two recording software options during testing, SLOBS and AVerMedia’s proprietary RECentral 4 software. I’m not a big fan of RECentral 4; it is an ugly program with limited options. One can record, stream, or multi-stream directly through this program but I really only experimented with recording. I think it will work just fine for those just wanting to record some gameplay to use in video editing later but anyone wanting to stream or record several pieces of the production at once, I recommend using something like XSplit or OBS. 

It would be great to see AVerMedia improve their software in the future as I hear most of their other capture cards like the LIVE Gamer Portable 2 PLUS are pretty great. For most users, I would suggest getting a more expensive card in the AVerMedia catalog as the Mini just doesn’t quite live up to the expectations I had for it. While I was eventually able to get some solid performance out of this capture device, it certainly wasn’t the plug-and-play tech that I was hoping for. I also wished that it used USB-C rather than a Micro USB port. 

The Live Streamer bundles are available in a few different options. The Live Streamer Duo comes packed with the Live Gamer Mini capture card and the Live Streamer 313 webcam for 179.99 USD. There is also the Live Streamer 311 bundle which is the same as the DUO but also comes with the USB Microphone AM310 for $249.99 USD. On the much higher end is the Limited Edition Live Streamer Kit, the BO510 for $599.99 USD which comes with the Live Gamer 4K GC573 internal capture card, the 4K UHD Webcam 510 PW510, and the same USB Mic AM310. Of course with the higher-end products, users can get larger resolutions and higher framerates.

Further details about these bundles and other products can be found on the AVerMedia website.

These bundles are cool gifts and I really like the idea of them. I think that improvements can certainly be made to the Live Gamer Mini and it could even be as simple as a firmware patch. I had a lot of trouble with mine at first but that doesn’t mean that someone else couldn’t have a wildly different, hopefully, more positive, experience. Honestly, I think it would be more beneficial to snag these items individually, especially since many of them are dropping in price with sales on many shopping sites. The AVerMedia Portable capture cards are used a lot at conventions like PAX and I’ve seen a lot of developers use them to easily capture footage for players onto an SD card, so surely they are pretty good. This is especially more appealing since the price difference between the kit or the Live Gamer Mini itself and the higher-rated devices is small. For another $30 to $50, one could buy a (presumably) better device from the same manufacturer. 

I like the idea of making things as simple as possible to the average consumer but the Live Streamer DUO kit just isn’t quite there yet.

More information about AVerMedia products can be found on the official website. A review unit of the Live Streamer DUO kit was provided for the purpose of review. 

For another hardware review, check out my take on the Nintendo Switch console at launch. I’m still not a huge fan of the unit itself but the software continues to be stellar on the console. I also recently put out my thoughts on the Switch version of Ori and the Blind Forest and the new Blair Witch game.

Technical Specifications

Live Gamer MINI (GC311)

• Interface: Micro USB 2.0 (UVC)
• Video Input: HDMI 1.4
• Video Output (Pass-Through): HDMI 1.4
• Max Pass-Through Resolutions: 1080p60
• Max Record Resolutions: 1080p60
• Supported Resolutions (Video input): 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 576p, 576i, 480p, 480i
• Record Format: MPEG 4 (H.264+AAC)
• Dimension (W x D x H): 100 x 57 x 18.8 mm (3.93 x 2.24 x 0.74 in)
• Weight: 74.5 g (2.63 oz)

Live Streamer CAM 313 (PW313)

• Interface: USB 2.0
• Sensor: 1/2.7“ CMOS sensor
• Image Resolution: 2MP
• Max Frame Rate:1080p30, 720p60
• Field of View: Horizontal 65°
• Focus Type: Fixed
• Working Distance: 40 cm – 100 cm (1.31 feet – 3.28 feet)
• Lens f#: 2
• Video Mode: MJPEG
• Privacy Shutter: Yes
• Built-in Mic: Dual Mics (Mono)
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 90 x 53 x 47 mm (3.54 x 2.08 x 1.85 in)
• Weight: 130g (4.6 oz)
• Cable Length: 1.5 M (5 ft.)

System Requirements

Live Gamer MINI (GC311)

• Operating System: Windows® 10 ; Mac OS X 10.13 or later
• Desktop: Intel® i5-3330 or comparable (i7 recommended) + AMD A10-78/ AMD Radeon™ R7 250X or above are recommended + 4GB RAM
• Laptop: Intel Core i7-4810M90K (Quad-core) or above + NVIDIA® GTX 650 Q + NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 870M or above + 4 GB RAM (8GB Recommended)

Live Streamer CAM 313 (PW313)

For Webcam

• Windows® 10 / 8.1 / 7 or above
• Mac OS 10.6 or above
• USB 2.0 port
• For 1080p video recording

For AVerMedia CamEngine

• Windows® 10
• Intel® Core™ i5-6500 3.10 GHz
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660 or above
• 4 GB RAM

What’s in the box

Live Gamer MINI (GC311)

• USB Cable
• Quick Guide

Live Streamer CAM 313 (PW313)

• Quick Guide

My System as of this review

• GPU – GeForce GTX 1080
• Processor – Intel(R) Core(™) i7-8086K CPU @ 4.00GHz
• Installed RAM – 16 GB
• OS – Windows 10 Pro
• Display 1920 x 1080, 60Hz