Audio comes through when mic is muted

[Corpsey]

I always have trouble with audio but this one is beyond me and I could use some help..

I watched a video on how to listen to music and etc while on stream, and maybe I'm not completely understanding but I basically am using VBCable as a default audio source, which goes into VoiceMeeter Banana Input 2 (as VBCable Output ?) and then to my headphones. Then, anything I want to have go to stream I put on VoiceMeeter Aux Input.

This seems to work... and so on OBS the output on "Desktop Audio" channel is VoiceMeeter Aux Input and for the mic channel Microphone (High Definition Audio) .. however, for some reason when I turn off my mic on my actual physical headset, audio starts to go through from the VBCable channel to my headset at about half volume. I feel like that doesn't make any sense... why would the audio go through my mic channel at all??

I could post screenshots but its like:
OS - Default Playback: VBCable ⠀ ⠀ Default Recording/Input: Microphone (High Definition Audio Device)
Voicemeeter Banana: Input 2: CABLE Output ⠀ ⠀Hardware Out: Headphones (High Definition Audio Device)
OBS - (Desktop Audio) VoiceMeeter Aux Input ⠀ ⠀(Mic/Aux) - Microphone (High Definition Audio Device)
App Volume and Device Preferences: Anything I actually want on 'Desktop Audio' routed to VoiceMeeter Aux Input

 

[konsolenritter]

Sounds like a wired setup. VBCable and VoiceMeeter Banana and complicated routing? Continuing sound with half the volume sounds like double routing into obs. You watched a (youtube?) video. What was your intention originally?

 

[Corpsey]

Intention was to listen to music/anything(twitch, youtube) from browser while playing. It works... as long as I don't have to mute my mic physically which for whatever reason begins to broadcast audio from the VBCable line - or at least I noticed it specifically with youtube.. probably should've tested other audio (will do now). I suppose I could digitally mute the channel instead, in fact I just made a hotkey for it, this works for now until I can actually figure it all out.

Does all the logic there not seem to work though? Mic input is from Microphone (High Definition Audio Device) so why would other audio -ever- come though this output??? The video I watched was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKyQ5TrtPuE but I am using App Volume and Device Preferences (instead of Audio Router - because that has issues with windows default one now or something) to route my game to the Aux channel, but in-game it feeds to VBCable, thus going both out to stream and to me via voicemeeter Aux/VBCable.