Can't monitor (hear) audio when when playing through OBS

Popmillipede

New Member
My primary scenario is using virtual cam and virtual audio to feed Zoom. That's working great. Zoom receives all the audio and video. And OBS recording works as well. All audio is recorded. But I cannot hear the audio from any external sources in this configuration. So when I play an MP4 or YouTube video via a browser source, I cannot hear it. But my audience on Zoom can so it's not a show-stopper.

What's the secret to outputting audio to a virtual audio cable and hearing it in my headphones or speakers? My monitoring device in Advanced audio settings is VB-Audio Virtual Cable, and that's my "mic" in Zoom. All audio sources have Audio Monitoring set to Monitor and Output in Advanced Audio Properties.

If I uncheck the "control audio via OBS" box in properties for browser source content, then I can hear it locally but it doesn't stream to Zoom. I can't hear the MP4 files no matter what I do.
 

markcofano

New Member
My primary scenario is using virtual cam and virtual audio to feed Zoom. That's working great. Zoom receives all the audio and video. And OBS recording works as well. All audio is recorded. But I cannot hear the audio from any external sources in this configuration. So when I play an MP4 or YouTube video via a browser source, I cannot hear it. But my audience on Zoom can so it's not a show-stopper.

What's the secret to outputting audio to a virtual audio cable and hearing it in my headphones or speakers? My monitoring device in Advanced audio settings is VB-Audio Virtual Cable, and that's my "mic" in Zoom. All audio sources have Audio Monitoring set to Monitor and Output in Advanced Audio Properties.

If I uncheck the "control audio via OBS" box in properties for browser source content, then I can hear it locally but it doesn't stream to Zoom. I can't hear the MP4 files no matter what I do.
I'm having a similar problem but a bit different. You appear to have solved a problem I can't.

I'm using AB Virtual Audio cables. "Cable A" to Zoom as Microphone. "Cable B" from Zoom back to OBS. Recording works fine and my Zoom guests can hear my voice. I can't hear them in my headphones though! Recording and streaming has the guest voices. If I can't hear them, I can't participate in the conversation. I'm stuck.

Paul Richards did a video where he directed Audio Monitoring to Cable A so I did the same. Are you able to hear your zoom guests in your headphones?

I know my basic setup is working as I can see the output from zoom in my B Cable audio monitors in OBS, so the sound from the guests is making it from Zoom to OBS.

I don't understand if the OBS monitor output is assigned to Cable A and that goes to Zoom, and the Zoom Speaker is assigned to Cable B and that sends all Zoom audio back to Zoom, how am I supposed to monitor the audio and hear my guests? Perhaps you're doing something different? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

On the problem that you're describing, there is an option on the Zoom More menu (...) to share computer sound. You have to be sharing a screen. Are you screen sharing or just playing .MP4 or youtube videos on your local machine and can't hear it?
 

Popmillipede

New Member
Hi Mark. Our scenarios are similar but it seems we worked around them differently. Maybe there's a middle ground to get this right. :-)

I'm not piping audio from Zoom back to OBS. So I use my headphones (or desktop speakers) as the speaker in Zoom and can hear all conversations. Nothing virtual there. I only use the virtual mic, which is the output from OBS. If I need to record, I just record within Zoom. The only thing I'm missing in this scenario is the sound from my youtube streams and local MP4 files. But my audience can hear them just fine.

The scenario above is all within OBS. If I do a screen share in Zoom, I can check the Computer Sound box and it works fine for me and the audience. But my objective is to send all video/audio content through the video feed without using screen sharing.
 

markcofano

New Member
Hi Mark. Our scenarios are similar but it seems we worked around them differently. Maybe there's a middle ground to get this right. :-)

I'm not piping audio from Zoom back to OBS. So I use my headphones (or desktop speakers) as the speaker in Zoom and can hear all conversations. Nothing virtual there. I only use the virtual mic, which is the output from OBS. If I need to record, I just record within Zoom. The only thing I'm missing in this scenario is the sound from my youtube streams and local MP4 files. But my audience can hear them just fine.

The scenario above is all within OBS. If I do a screen share in Zoom, I can check the Computer Sound box and it works fine for me and the audience. But my objective is to send all video/audio content through the video feed without using screen sharing.
Thanks Popmilliipede...I suspected that might be what you are doing. I tried the same thing and it does work from a sound and recording perspective. Where it isn't quite right for me is that I need a really polished interview format and don't want to capture the entire zoom screen. I want to record myself and the guest on a custom background. To get the effect I want, I need to "snip" the guest video out of the zoom window.

That works fine and looks fine and the OBS Cam feeds right into Zoom. The hitch? When you record in Zoom it records all zoom participant windows. So I get myself and the guest (from OBS) side-by-side with the Guest all by themselves. See below Not what I want at all. I only want the recording of myself and the guest on the custom background (the image on the right) below.

I hope someone can help the A / B cables work great, I just can't figure out how to hear the sound after it leaves Zoom and comes back to OBS. Perhaps there's another way but I can't seem to figure it out.


Capture.jpg
 

Popmillipede

New Member
Yes, I've tried multiple sources. They all stream to Zoom without a problem. My issue seems to be my monitor feed. It's a dead end right now. I'll keep trying other permutations until I get it right.

Regarding your issue, have you tried capturing an additional audio input? Not just the browser?
 

markcofano

New Member
I figured out my problem. Instead of using the AB Virtual Cables, I used just the VB Audio Cable from the same website. This virtual cable became my Zoom speaker output. I then did an audio capture inside OBS of the cable. Lastly, I change my MIcrophone for zoom to my studio mic in OBS. I used the OBS virtual cam driver to supply video to Zoom and clipped a section of the Zoom window as an input in OBS. Everything works great.

I'll spend some time on the issue you've mentioned. I hope to be helpful soon.
 

giligilimagic

New Member
I figured out my problem. Instead of using the AB Virtual Cables, I used just the VB Audio Cable from the same website. This virtual cable became my Zoom speaker output. I then did an audio capture inside OBS of the cable. Lastly, I change my MIcrophone for zoom to my studio mic in OBS. I used the OBS virtual cam driver to supply video to Zoom and clipped a section of the Zoom window as an input in OBS. Everything works great.

I'll spend some time on the issue you've mentioned. I hope to be helpful soon.
"Studio mic in OBS".. please elaborate... I'm having trouble here.

Infact, i used the AB cable, configured both Zoom n Obs.. both worked fine to the participantsin zoom.. but I can't hear anything!!!
 

LynneRobert

New Member
So do the AB cables work differently from the VB cable? I have also had the issue that the full setup with Virtual Cam and Virtual Audio A + B cables works well with zoom except for the output of the return sound from zoom. There is a visual in the volume monitors, but no sound from the computer speakers. I can't figure out how to have an interactive zoom session with OBS.
 

mattcebc

New Member
"Studio mic in OBS".. please elaborate... I'm having trouble here.

Infact, i used the AB cable, configured both Zoom n Obs.. both worked fine to the participantsin zoom.. but I can't hear anything!!!
I'm having the same problem. The issue for me is my monitor output in Obs is set to a virtual cable for zoom, so I cant hear it on my desktop. We can only set the monitor to one thing either local desktop for me or virtual cable for zoom but not both. Any work around suggestions please?
 

mattcebc

New Member
Thanks. I solved this by using the software "voice meeter" really good app which allows you to mix different inputs/outputs
 
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