Do I need to use VoiceMeeter with OBS

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NoM0re

New Member
So many confusing information online about a thousand freaking options you can do to setup your audio stuff for recording/streaming/whatever.

I found VoiceMeeter to be adequate but it's a headache to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. And now there's VoiceMeeter Banana and Potato..
That's it. I've had enough.

Is VoiceMeeter recommended with OBS or what? Will OBS (modern versions) work fine without having VoiceMeeter as a mediator?
If not then what would be a reason to use VoiceMeeter alongside OBS? What does VoiceMeeter add that OBS or Audacity post processing won't do (besides more stuff to set properties hence more pain for no reason)?
 
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Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
I've been streaming for HoW for 9+ months now. I don't use VoiceMeeter, just the native audio in OBS (with audio input from either recorded videos, or an audio output from a professional, simple sound panel (really only used to balance and accommodate various including wireless Lav mics, no effects)
I'm using OBS v25.0.8. I tried some of the audio effects, but I caused more problems than i solved, so I removed all effects at this point. Some of the noise suppression new features in v26 is the one item that has me eyeing an update. But audio is my weakest knowledge area, so I'm keeping it simple for the time being

The use of VoiceMeeter or other depends on your use case, audio processing effects (including variable delays) that you might want.
So, yes, OBS is free, open source software meaning a level of tool mastery is typically advisable for making good use of the s/w, and as free, there isn't money for quality documentation and/or support staff... the normal trade-off. And for all the features someone might want, for various use cases, there are lots of plug-ins and options (from professional to home/simple use cases).

What you don't mention is what you are trying to accomplish, what exactly of the native OBS capabilities aren't meeting your needs, why you are even dealing with VoiceMeeter and or Audacity, etc. Are you live streaming, or recording locally, editing, then sharing/distributing? With such clarity maybe someone on this forum can advise you
 
koala

koala

Active Member
Voicemeeter is useful, if you need to output audio to more devices or apps than just OBS. If you're just recording, this is usually not the case. Or if you're just streaming what is running on your PC.
With such simple setups, audio is fed into OBS, and OBS mixes it fine and outputs it to recording or stream. Mission accomplished.

But if you need to output some audio to additional devices in addition to what is being recorded or streamed, Voicemeeter might be useful. The issue is that the audio mixed with the internal mixer of OBS cannot be given back to some Windows audio device to use it with other apps. The use of the monitoring device of OBS is not suited for this.

For example, if you don't record/stream but instead use OBS as virtual webcam for zoom meetings. If you want to send some mixed audio sources to Zoom, for example your voice and the audio of some video you're playing, you need to mix your mic with the media player output and send this to a device you connect with Zoom. This is where Voicemeeter will help.

Or if you are a musician and want to record audio externally in high quality, and additionally feed it into OBS for streaming/recording.

Or you're doing a life event where your thing is recorded/streamed, and in addition you're sending it directly to devices on a life stage to an audience. For video projectors, you use the projector feature of OBS, and for audio you need to output the mixed audio to some pa system.

Or if you need to output different mixes to different outputs at the same time. One output gets audio with a narrator, a second output gets the same audio, but without the narrator. Or some game output with voice chat, another without voice chat at the same time.

What you might need more often than Voicemeeter are virtual audio devices, if you need to split and separate audio from different apps. You tell these apps to output their audio not to the default desktop Windows audio but to a virtual audio device, so you can pick up their audio exclusively and feed it into OBS without any other unwanted sound. These seem silent, because they don't output their audio to Windows desktip audio any more, so some people recommend Voicemeeter to make them audible for monitoring - they simply don't know how to feed such audio to the desktop audio. But this is not necessary, you can output every sound from virtual devices directly to desktop audio for monitoring purposes. You simply go to the recording configuration of the virtual device in the Windows audio configuration and activate the "Listen to this device" setting.
 
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Babblingo

Member
koala said:
Voicemeeter is useful, if you need to output audio to more devices or apps than just OBS. If you're just recording, this is usually not the case. Or if you're just streaming what is running on your PC.
With such simple setups, audio is fed into OBS, and OBS mixes it fine and outputs it to recording or stream. Mission accomplished.

But if you need to output some audio to additional devices in addition to what is being recorded or streamed, Voicemeeter might be useful. The issue is that the audio mixed with the internal mixer of OBS cannot be given back to some Windows audio device to use it with other apps. The use of the monitoring device of OBS is not suited for this.

For example, if you don't record/stream but instead use OBS as virtual webcam for zoom meetings. If you want to send some mixed audio sources to Zoom, for example your voice and the audio of some video you're playing, you need to mix your mic with the media player output and send this to a device you connect with Zoom. This is where Voicemeeter will help.

Or if you are a musician and want to record audio externally in high quality, and additionally feed it into OBS for streaming/recording.

Or you're doing a life event where your thing is recorded/streamed, and in addition you're sending it directly to devices on a life stage to an audience. For video projectors, you use the projector feature of OBS, and for audio you need to output the mixed audio to some pa system.

Or if you need to output different mixes to different outputs at the same time. One output gets audio with a narrator, a second output gets the same audio, but without the narrator. Or some game output with voice chat, another without voice chat at the same time.

What you might need more often than Voicemeeter are virtual audio devices, if you need to split and separate audio from different apps. You tell these apps to output their audio not to the default desktop Windows audio but to a virtual audio device, so you can pick up their audio exclusively and feed it into OBS without any other unwanted sound. These seem silent, because they don't output their audio to Windows desktip audio any more, so some people recommend Voicemeeter to make them audible for monitoring - they simply don't know how to feed such audio to the desktop audio. But this is not necessary, you can output every sound from virtual devices directly to desktop audio for monitoring purposes. You simply go to the recording configuration of the virtual device in the Windows audio configuration and activate the "Listen to this device" setting.
Click to expand...
 
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Babblingo

Member
Thank you for starting this topic NoMOre and Lawrence. Great info for me.

And thank you very much, Koala. Your forum explanations are always very clear and on point.

I have been struggling to understand how to set up my
Win 10 gear for sharing my edit software’s timeline audio... running it into OBS to
ultimately output as “virtual” mic audio specifically for Zoom meetings...that also see my edit software UI as a virtual camera.

I have been able to do all that using a Virtual-Cable (but without Voicemeeter mixer) yet I continue to get lost sometimes with basic audio patching concepts, Win10 Sound Settings, and understanding normal limitations... so your detailed Reply-post above...is gold. Very instructive and encouraging..

Happy New Year to OBS crew and all who use it.
 
koala

koala

Active Member
About the crucial "Listen to the this device" option, see here where it is located:
The contained screenshots are for mic devices, and every virtual audio device has a pair of one mic (recording) device connected to one playback device, so it applies for a virtual audio device as well.

What you send to a virtual audio device is available from both parts of the pair. If you use it as playback device, for example to separate media player audio from desktop audio, the same audio is available in the mic part of that virtual audio device. So you can activate the "Listen to this device" option of the recording device part of the virtual audio device and make it route the audio to wherever you want it, usually speakers or headset. This way you don't need an external mixer. It's all Windows integrated.

Usually, I use this function for monitoring purposes - to make a split-off audio audible again within my headset or my speakers.

I don' use the monitoring feature of OBS for sources that are Windows audio devices in the first place, but only for sources that are created by OBS itself, such as media sources or capture device sources. Usually these are completely silent, because their audio never reaches any Windows audio device. They only appear on the stream, but there is unfortunately no way to monitor exactly the audio that is going out on the stream, so you will hear them only if you connect to your own stream and listen to it (with 5-10 seconds delay and added network load and possibly creating a feedback loop).

So I activate monitoring within OBS for these otherwise silent media sources or capture device sources. But which device should you configure as monitoring device (Settings->Audio-Advanced->Monitoring Device)? You cannot set a device you're recording with OBS, otherwise you're creating a feedback loop. You want it on your speakers or on your headphones, but you can only if you don't record your speakers or headphones with OBS. That's an issue if you are participating in voip chat and want to broadcast your voip chat - you don't want to additionally feed the monitored audio into the chat! For this, you could use a 2nd headset.

Or you can use a virtual audio device instead of the playback device of your headset. Route your voip audio app to that virtual audio playback device instead of directly to the headset and grab that virtual device with OBS, so your broadcast will be fine. Only handle the playback part of the headset, don't change the mic part.
To enable yourself to listen to the voip chat, activate the "Listen to this device" in the virtual audio device and route it to your real headset. And now you can calso configure the real headset device as monitoring device in OBS. With the virtual audio device, you tapped the line between the voip app and your headphone before other audio got mixed into it.

ps. sometimes, Windows doesn't immediately pick up audio if you enable the "Listen to this device" option. You need to toggle it a few times, or close/reopen corresponding apps, or even a reboot might be necessary.
 
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Babblingo

Member
Again, this is GREAT info. Thanks. I will refer to these notes,often.
I have too many questions, but here's one that I hope may be easy:
I have 3 Audio inputs in OBS, two are on a separate VB-Cables, A, & C. The third is a USB-connected Mic (and which has a stereo mini headphone monitoring output as well) . In OBS, Monitoring is ON and I hear the mix I want thru the Mic's Stereo Mini jack.

When I go over to Zoom > Settings > Audio > Microphone, I can only SEE audio levels bounce on its meter when either A, or C or the Mic is selected. But I cannot figure out why I cannot seem to get the full mix I hear from OBS into Zoom, using a 4th VB--Cable D, which is the same virtual output cable I chose in OBS> Controls > Settings > Audio > Advanced > Monitoring Device.

I am wondering what key concept I'm missing, or if we simply cannot send a combined OBS Monitor stereo mix over to Zoom as a microphone input, (unless all my OBS inputs were put on the same Virtual Cable, which did work, as I recall)

??

In tackling this amazing OBS software, biggest challenge so far, has been understanding how to set up my Win 10 > Settings > Sound > Advanced Sound Options/ App Volume and device preferences, for the sound apps involved. Your posts are really helpful! I'm normally able to learn such things, but
this has truly had me stumped since I started a few months ago.

In terms of Zoom, I'm not able (currently) to verify the Zoom output audio, but I can see its input meters go on & off as I un-mute my three separate Audio inputs, one at a time.

I was thinking I could monitor my OBS mix, either at the Mic's headphone output, or more conventionally, at my PC's Real-tek Headphones, but either way, I am not clear whether I can monitor ONLY the Zoom > Settings > Speaker/Headphones, without
also hearing my Mic thru headphones.

And as you say, I can or should Monitor the mix by checking Zoom on a diffetent device... like my smart phone.

Question 2: What is the basic difference between Win10 "Default Device" vs. "Default Communications Device". ?

Thanks for any feedback... now, later or later next year!
 
koala

koala

Active Member
Sources in advanced audio properties of OBS you set to some kind of monitoring ("monitor only" or "monitor and output") have their audio passed on to the OBS monitoring device in OBS->Settings->Audio->Audio-Advanced->Audio device.

If you set this audio device to your VB-Cable D, and you configure this VB-Cable D as mic in Zoom, you're transmitting these OBS sources to zoom.

If this is silent (the meter in zoom doesn't move), you either didn't set any source to monitor in the advanced audio properties of OBS, or you configured the monitoring device of OBS (VB-Cable D) somewhere in OBS Settings->Audio as desktop audio or mic audio. If OBS detects the latter, it ceases outputting anything to the monitoring device to prevent a roaring feedback loop. Remove VB-Cable D from any setting in Settings->Audio and make sure you didn't add it as Audio capture source in any scene as well.

In your case, with so many different sources and an output external to OBS (Zoom), Voicemeeter actually might be of some use to you. Funneling audio through the OBS monitoring device is not a replacement for a proper mixer. It's only useful for non-monitoring usecases if you have some internal audio sources within OBS that are no Windows audio devices.
 
B

Babblingo

Member
koala said:
Sources in advanced audio properties of OBS you set to some kind of monitoring ("monitor only" or "monitor and output") have their audio passed on to the OBS monitoring device in OBS->Settings->Audio->Audio-Advanced->Audio device.

If you set this audio device to your VB-Cable D, and you configure this VB-Cable D as mic in Zoom, you're transmitting these OBS sources to zoom.

If this is silent (the meter in zoom doesn't move), you either didn't set any source to monitor in the advanced audio properties of OBS, or you configured the monitoring device of OBS (VB-Cable D) somewhere in OBS Settings->Audio as desktop audio or mic audio. If OBS detects the latter, it ceases outputting anything to the monitoring device to prevent a roaring feedback loop. Remove VB-Cable D from any setting in Settings->Audio and make sure you didn't add it as Audio capture source in any scene as well.

In your case, with so many different sources and an output external to OBS (Zoom), Voicemeeter actually might be of some use to you. Funneling audio through the OBS monitoring device is not a replacement for a proper mixer. It's only useful for non-monitoring usecases if you have some internal audio sources within OBS that are no Windows audio devices.
Click to expand...

This is helpful. I thought you may suggest I use Voicemeeter, but I will work my way up to it... I have it and various lessons for it but I’m
a bit over my head still with Windows Sound Settings.

In a year, I hope to understand OBS more fully.

I followed your Link above and was able to send my Mic to VB-Cable D, and then Monitor Mic sound from the Mic’s Stereo mini or Real-Tek or potentially my HDMI monitor’s Stereo mini audio out.

I may come back with a question, but I see that it allows a second monitoring point.

It was basically Mic to VB-Cable D, in Win Sound settings. And VB-Cable D to Mic Stereo Mini output.
(Or different monitoring device)

Re: OBS. Its great to know that I should be able to configure a VB-Cable to send the full OBS mix I hear into Zoom. (Or elsewhere) I’ll work on it.

There’s a panel in OBS Settings called Global Audio Devices where all 6 items are in “Disabled” position.

But I may have some stray inputs left muted that had used the D cable among my Sources. I’ll get rid of those and see if I reach the goal of Zoom showing Mic input meter activity.

I am grateful for your help. I am making much progress and going slowly on purpose as I’m relying on my home pc for remote work, like everyone else these days. I can’t be too careful. That’s why I’m waiting on Voicemeeter.

Take care, be well.
 
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