Question / Help Audio input dropping (randomly?)

[Tanner Schultz]

My streaming setup includes:

• Logitech HD Laptop Webcam C65
• Samson Q2U Dynamic USB Microphone
• Partilink HDMI USB 3.0 Capture Device
• Lubuntu 18.10 - 19.10

First problem: when starting OBS for the first time after a reboot, all the inputs are messed up and require me to manually switch each source back to the correct input. This alone is often not sufficient and I must further set some sources to "default" and then back to the correct source to get them to function. This is a headache, but it is manageable.

The real problem is that the audio portion of the HDMI capture frequently stops working. It can be made to function again by swapping the input on the source to "default" and then back again, though this sometimes requires several attempts. I do not believe this is the fault of the hardware, as I've attempted to bypass the HDMI capture device and run the audio directly to the analog microphone input on the computer, only to have that too drop out in the same way.

At this point I feel there are two possibilities:

• PulseAudio or some other portion of the Linux audio stack is to blame
• OBS studio is to blame

This thread seems to describe a similar problem: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/audio-input-capture-dropping-out-randomly.95112/ but has no resolution.

I am currently in the process of installing Windows on a separate disk to see if the issue persists there. Unfortunately I did not grab a log file before undertaking this measure, but I will do so at the next opportunity.

 

[Tanner Schultz]

After trying the same setup on Windows, I'm confident that the problem is actually the hardware. It appears that the capture device drops audio whenever it switches resolutions. A simple deactivate->reactivate fixes the problem, so it'd be great if OBS could detect the situation and fix it automatically, but as far as I can tell OBS has no way of detecting it since it doesn't log anything when it happens.