kaiservongrauer

New Member
Hello everyone!

First of all, here's a link to my log file analysis:

The Problem:
When launching OBS, all of the audio is fine. Exactly ten minutes after starting OBS, any sounds coming through the desktop audio channel have a slight (maybe 1-2 sec) delay through my headphones. Viewers do not experience this bit of audio lag. I can fix the lag by either restarting OBS or power cycling my audio interface. Over the course of a three hour stream, it happens at the 10 minute mark and once in awhile it might happen a second time but usually doesn't happen again.

From the log analyzer:
Critical Max Audio Buffering
Audio buffering hit the maximum value. This is an indicator of very high system load, will affect stream latency, and may even cause individual audio sources to stop working. Keep an eye on CPU usage especially, and close background programs if needed.

Occasionally, this can be caused by incorrect device timestamps. Restart OBS to reset buffering.

Source affected (potential cause): Game PC - 4k60 Pro Mk.2 (2)

I'm running a dual pc streaming setup with a Focusrite Clarett 4Pre USB. I ran this setup for years in Windows 10 without issue. While running Win 10, I switched to a GoXLR for about a month and decided to switch back to the Clarett and when I switched back, I figured I'd bite the bullet and upgrade to Windows 11.

In my stream pc, I have two capture cards, one connected to my game pc and another connected to my main camera. I had been running two Avermedia Live Gamer 4K cards (GC573). I am not capturing any audio through either card, only video. When I saw that one of the cards was creating the audio buffer, I swapped the capture cards out for two Elgato 4K60 Pro Mk.2 cards and I'm having the same issue with these cards.

I tried switching off "use device timestamps" on the desktop audio source but that didn't help. For both capture devices I've switched buffering from automatic to off. I've actuallly tried many things to fix this but nothing seems to work.

While creating the attached log file, I watched the performance tab under windows task manager and nothing was maxed out. While recording my CPU is around 8% and my GPU is at around 20%. While streaming the values are roughly the same. The problem happens if I'm idle, streaming or recording.

Interestingly, if OBS is not running and I hit a sound effect on my stream deck, it plays just fine after any amount of time after rebooting. I've made sure that I'm using the proper cables plugged into the proper ports for all attached usb devices on the motherboard, and I''ve updated the software and drivers for everything, and Windows 11 is up to date.

I'm honestly stumped. Any help/advice would be hugely appreciated.
 

kaiservongrauer

New Member
I figured it out!
It's a case of "it's not you, it's me," or PEBCAK Syndrome.

1. In Voicemeeter Potato, I had A1 Hardware Out set to "Focusrite USB ASIO". This is one part I got right.
2. System > Sound > More sound settings > Playback > I had "Speakers Focusrite USB Audio" selected as default device. It needed to be "VoiceMeeter Input"
3. System > Sound > More sound settings > Recording > I had "VoiceMeeter Output" selected as default. I got this right too.
4. System > Sound > Output > I had "Speakers Focusrite USB Audio" selected. It needed to be "VoiceMeeter Input"
5. OBS > Settings > Audio > Advanced > Monitoring Device > I had "Speakers (Focusrite USB Audio)" selected. It needed to be "VoiceMeeter Input (VP-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)".

Once I got my $h!t straightened out, everything fell into place and works like a charm.

Somehow I managed to stream for about two weeks like this. It's a miracle that I had any sound at all.
 
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