Question / Help Audio Crackling While OBS Is Running [RESOLVED]

[ShishKebab]

Hello, all!

I wish I could pinpoint exactly when this started happening, but I believe it was a few weeks ago.

I have an issue where my PC's audio crackles while OBS is running. It is not exclusive to the stream/recording output (OBS only needs to be running, not recording or streaming), the audio coming out of my speakers or headphones crackles, and it ALSO does sound that way on a stream or recording output.

Here is an example of the audio issue: https://youtu.be/-mzNOWGjO3c

I've tried different speakers/headphones and using different ports on my motherboard, even though if those things were the issue, it wouldn't explain the capture sounding bad or that the issue only exists while OBS is running.

I'll keep tinkering with settings in the meantime since PC games are basically watchable for viewers with this issue.

Also attached is the log file of the recording of the video above.

Thanks!

 

[ShishKebab]

To elaborate a bit when I say "my PC's audio" ... audio coming in from my mixer (to my PC's mic port) including microphone and game audio is unaffected. Only audio who's source is my PC is affected. That PC audio can be from Spotify, Chrome, any game; it appears global.

 

[ShishKebab]

Update, it turns out the audio crackling is NOT exclusive to PC audio, but all audio contained in the stream/recording. I was only aware of the PC audio because that is the only audio that was crackling in my monitor while other audio was being monitored from my mixer before it reached the PC.

Here is a video recording using OBS showing the issue: https://youtu.be/IJbHSWmauR8
Here is an audio recording using Audacity showing no issue: https://soundcloud.com/jake-dooley-super-retro-bros/audacity-recording

I have tried reverting to OBS versions 18 and 17. This helped a good deal, but did not eliminate the issue.

I appreciate any guidance! Audio is a nightmare :/

 

[ShishKebab]

This issue has now been RESOLVED!

I was using two webcams... have been for a long time. For some reason, one of the cameras (Logitech c615 or something) had drivers that OBS seemed to disagree with. The camera functioned and worked for a long time, but when I recently started having these audio crackles, that turned out to be the issue. I unplugged that camera, threw it in the trash, and now all seems fine.

This camera did give me issues at one point previously; occasionally when opening OBS, my PC would blue-screen. I traced the error dumps to that camera's drivers and reinstalled them which fixed the issue... but then this weird audio issue came up, so I'll just probably get rid of this secondary cam.

 

[scotthoward432]

Hello, all!

I wish I could pinpoint exactly when this started happening, but I believe it was a few weeks ago.

I have an issue where my PC's audio crackles while OBS is running. It is not exclusive to the stream/recording output (OBS only needs to be running, not recording or streaming), the audio coming out of my speakers or headphones crackles, and it ALSO does sound that way on a stream or recording output.

Here is an example of the audio issue: https://youtu.be/-mzNOWGjO3c

I've tried different speakers/headphones and using different ports on my motherboard, even though if those things were the issue, it wouldn't explain the capture sounding bad or that the issue only exists while OBS is running.

I'll keep tinkering with settings in the meantime since PC games are basically watchable for viewers with this issue.

Also attached is the log file of the recording of the video above.i

Thanks!

i HAVE THE SAME ISSUE...STARTED A MONTH OR SO AGO... I HAVE TRIED CHANGING WIRES... LOWERING VOLUMES ETC...AND ALL I GET IS THIS DAM CRACKLING....ANYONE?

I HAVE YAMAHA BOARD, BERHINGER UMC204HD TO MY LAPTOP... AND MY VOICELIVE 2... THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE... SHOULD i UPDATE THE SOFTWARE ON MY BERHINGER? THOUGHTS?

 

[FerretBomb]

i HAVE THE SAME ISSUE...STARTED A MONTH OR SO AGO... I HAVE TRIED CHANGING WIRES... LOWERING VOLUMES ETC...AND ALL I GET IS THIS DAM CRACKLING....ANYONE?

I HAVE YAMAHA BOARD, BERHINGER UMC204HD TO MY LAPTOP... AND MY VOICELIVE 2... THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE... SHOULD i UPDATE THE SOFTWARE ON MY BERHINGER? THOUGHTS?

The first step is to turn off caps-lock.
More commonly than the 2017 thread you've dug up, this is caused by using nVidia Broadcast for your audio input; it can cause crackling issues.