Question / Help Desktop audio picking up on Mic channel

[AaronD]

I'm having the same problem and I can hear myself thro my headset. I'm so annoyed here r my setting if anyone could help pls. It was not a problem until this week and now I cant get it to stop. In order to get the loop gone i have to go into my editing software to delete one of the tracks to get rid of the loop. But that wont work when I stream. And I also followed all the steps listed and still that same.

i figured it out i had to delete my mic and create a new source for it. Not sure if this will work for u but this was my fix

Dedicated thread, instead of further hijacking this one:

Audio Looping problem

Just started having this problem. Not sure how to fix it. Pls help my voice loops into my headphones and i can figure out how to get it to stop. She sound end up in my live stream and in my video. I am new to this so i would appreciate any help i can get.

obsproject.com

 

[timboneesono]

i figured it out i had to delete my mic and create a new source for it. Not sure if this will work for u but this was my fix

This worked for me too, cheers

 

[AaronD]

I solved it by following this video

Ah! Yep! The default processing - in the audio driver, not OBS - to make a conference call work on speakerphone, doesn't know that the mic can't hear the speakers. So it tries to subtract the speakers from the mic...which is the same as adding the inverse, which sounds exactly the same when there's nothing for it to cancel.
It's supposed to figure that out, as part of figuring out what the acoustics are that it also needs to account for, but I guess it doesn't always go far enough to see that it really needs nothing.

At any rate, always look through ALL of the settings, everywhere, understand what they do, and make the unconscious machine work for you, not the other way around. Anything that is not "a straight dumb wire" between the raw source and OBS, needs to go away. If something is there by default and hidden, find it (because you're going through everything anyway) and turn it off.

Duplicated threads:

Question / Help - Mic is picking up desktop audio. echo

HI, I have been experiencing an issue with my audio on OBS. This problem is creating an echo of my game audio but not my voice. my mic is picking up my desktop audio. If i turn my desktop volume (actual desktop volume, not desktop audio slider in OBS) off its fine. OBS picks up game audio...

obsproject.com

Mic is picking up desktop audio

I want to start by saying that I am not great with a lot of things related to computers, so this could be something really simple I am missing. I am trying to record the audio from my desktop and record with my microphone at the same time. I do not have a microphone so I am using the one that...

obsproject.com

 

[MCVNM]

"You're welcome!"

You did nothing (Narcogen).

In case anyone else has this problem, here's how you fix it.

Firstly open sound settings, and then click Sound Control Panel
View attachment 55983

Click on the Recording tab, and write click on the microphone you are using.

View attachment 55984

Click on Properties. Then click on the Listen tab.

View attachment 55985

In the Listen tab, above the 'Playback through this device', uncheck the 'Listen to this device' box. Click apply, then OK.

This how I solved the problem.

(And THIS ^ is how you show people how to solve a problem. "You're welcome!")

My listen to this device is already off but I have the same issue. any tips?

 

[AaronD]

My listen to this device is already off but I have the same issue. any tips?

My post immediately above yours describes another way to get the same bad result. If the PC (not OBS) assumes that the mic can hear the speakers, then it can try to remove the speakers from the mic. The technical term for that is "echo cancellation". It's used mostly for conferences to make the "speakerphone" function work without screeching, and is probably on by default because far more people do that than produce video content.

But if your mic *can't* hear the speaker for whatever reason, and for whatever reason it doesn't know that, then its attempt to remove the speaker actually *adds* the speaker.

As I said above:

...always look through ALL of the settings, everywhere, understand what they do, and make the unconscious machine work for you, not the other way around. Anything that is not "a straight dumb wire" between the raw source and OBS, needs to go away. If something is there by default and hidden, find it (because you're going through everything anyway) and turn it off.

 

[protocone]

"You're welcome!"

You did nothing (Narcogen).

In case anyone else has this problem, here's how you fix it.

Firstly open sound settings, and then click Sound Control Panel
View attachment 55983

Click on the Recording tab, and write click on the microphone you are using.

View attachment 55984

Click on Properties. Then click on the Listen tab.

View attachment 55985

In the Listen tab, above the 'Playback through this device', uncheck the 'Listen to this device' box. Click apply, then OK.

This how I solved the problem.

(And THIS ^ is how you show people how to solve a problem. "You're welcome!")

"You're welcome!" This ALSO did nothing. Yup, audio is still playing audio from my PC in my Mic.

 

[AaronD]

"You're welcome!" This ALSO did nothing. Yup, audio is still playing audio from my PC in my Mic.

Did you read my post immediately above yours?

 

[protocone]

Did you read my post immediately above yours?

I did exactly that and nothing happens.

 

[AaronD]

I did exactly that and nothing happens.

Did exactly *what*? Dug through ALL the settings, in Windows too, and the sound drivers, including the buried ones that muggles aren't supposed to stumble onto? 'Cause that's what I said to do...

---

Computers used to be single-purpose, and then they became general-purpose. Windows, it seems, is slowly going back to single-purpose, and what *we* do with it is not that single purpose. So far, the settings to make it work for us are still present, but they're buried now. I wonder how long until they go away entirely, and then Windoze is useless for our purpose?

I jumped ship a year or two ago - happy Linux user now - so I can't tell you exactly where those settings are in Windblows anymore.

General principles and basic requirements are the same regardless of what system you use. If your system no longer meets them, then you can't use that system anymore.

 

[mart492]

It looks like that might've been the problem. I changed my setup a bit and my mic isn't going through the stereo mix, now.
Instead it's gong through here:
View attachment 46402
Gonna do some rebalancing of my audio, but that seems to have removed the issue of desktop audio being on my microphone mix.
Thanks for the help :)

"You're welcome!"

You did nothing (Narcogen).

In case anyone else has this problem, here's how you fix it.

Firstly open sound settings, and then click Sound Control Panel
View attachment 55983

Click on the Recording tab, and write click on the microphone you are using.

View attachment 55984

Click on Properties. Then click on the Listen tab.

View attachment 55985

In the Listen tab, above the 'Playback through this device', uncheck the 'Listen to this device' box. Click apply, then OK.

This how I solved the problem.

(And THIS ^ is how you show people how to solve a problem. "You're welcome!")

This is my problem too. I've spent hours on it today with assistance from Ai but no luck. One of the suggestions that came up was this exactly. My problem was when I get to where you've suggested I have no Listen tab. I don't know if it's because I've windows 11. But an alternative if available would be much appreciated.

 

[AaronD]

...when I get to where you've suggested I have no Listen tab. I don't know if it's because I've windows 11. But an alternative if available would be much appreciated.

Is my comment about Windows coming true? Going back to single-purpose with no options to do anything different, not even hidden, and that single purpose is not us?

Still a happy Linux user, BTW. Specifically, this:

Ubuntu Studio – A free and open operating system for creative people.

ubuntustudio.org

It has an old version of OBS preinstalled and working, so you don't have to mess with that until you're ready. If you want to get all the way up to date with the latest features, you can ignore the official instructions that get people in trouble, and go here instead:

Releases · obsproject/obs-studio

OBS Studio - Free and open source software for live streaming and screen recording - obsproject/obs-studio

github.com

Download the .deb for Ubuntu 24.04 (assuming you got that version of UStudio), open a command prompt (Ctrl+Alt+T, for Terminal), and sudo apt install /path/to/OBS-Studio...x86_64.deb It probably works to just double-click the .deb file, but doing it on the command line gives you a record, which I like.