Question / Help Gradual Mic Desync While Streaming OBS with Elgato

[Mike]

Hi,

Is anyone aware how to fix the gradual desync issue with elgato?

It's pretty bad, and pretty frustrating too!


INFORMATION
-Global Soruces-
Capture Card: Elgato Game Capture HD
Use Buffering Enabled, 0ms;
Audio input = Use Device Audio, no audio sync offset;
Webcam (aka USB Camera)
Use Buffering Enabled, 1600ms;
Audio input = Headset microphone, no audio sync offset;


**If more information is needed let me know**


Here's my log file:
http://pastebin.com/uyZWrrQM

And here's the video that corresponds with that log file:
http://www.twitch.tv/thespectrumzone/b/532170010



What is the deal with this? There has to be some type of solution, no? I honestly can't figure it out and i've been messing with settings for ages! Can anyone provide a little input?

 

[Lain]

I actually think I may have this partly fixed, but the problem is that it's only in the rewrite due to the design. OBS1 (as we call the current windows version everyone uses) has some fundamental design flaws with this sort of thing.

However, it may also be partly the device's end due to the fact that it encodes, and it can sometimes gradually increase its delay as needed to compensate for encoding time. It's a very annoying issue, however! I do have a means of fixing this in the rewrite.

Problem is that's going to be quite some time away. Ugh, very annoying. My advice would be for the time being to set your delay a little bit more forward than you usually would just to compensate for the eventual elgato encoding delay, rather than try to compensate for the initial elgato encoding delay. It's not the best solution, but it probably can't really be helped for the time being.

 

[Mike]

Thanks for the reply Jim! I definitely agree that it would be a hardware encoding issue but I'm wondering why elgato hasn't corrected the problem yet. If it truly is a time based thing, that means that the elgato encodes at a variable rate, rather than a fixed, constant rate.

I'm wondering if the firmware is modified to a fixed rate if it would fix the problem. I'll have to contact elgato and see their opinions on the issue. The last time I contacted them they basically told me it's not a hardware problem and that's that. But that's clearly not the case because by refreshing the device it syncs back up temporarily until it goes back out of sync.

So in the new version of obs how do you plan to compensate for the setback? I'm assuming by forcing multiple video feeds and audio feeds into one? For example, currently we can change the audio input device and that will ALWAYS sync up with the video. So if we could set 2 audio input devices we could have the mic and the game volume sync with the video flawlessly. Now the problem with that is that there would be no webcam sync. So you would also have to allow another video input to be inside the already existing video, allowing it to sync up as well with the audio. Right? Or am i way off here? :p

 

[Mike]

Hey jim,

A friend of mine has an elgato like mine and uses xsplit to stream. They do not have the issue described in this thread. I don't want to switch to xsplit because of the lack of the open source flexibility options.

So at least we know it is possible to be fixed on the software side of things of obs even if it is initially a hardware issue.

 

[Mike]

Just tested out streaming with xsplit Jim and the gradual audio desync issue is not there and everything is running as it's supposed to, perfectly.

So now we know for a fact that a fix is possible since xsplit is doing what's intended. I really wish obs had this working, if there's anything i can do to help, please let me know!

 

[Mike]

Bump for jim (:

 

[Goldio]

I too would like to solve this without having to possibly wait for OBS2. Let me know if anything can be done to help or if the only option is to wait patiently for the rewrite.

 

[flavored]

Jim said it's only coming in obs2, didn't he?:)

Speaking of mic desync, do you have constant framerate enabled?

 

[Mike]

Yes I have constant frame rate enabled but constant bit rate disabled. What's weird was when I was streaming with Xsplit I noticed the stream was using a key frame interval of 6 even though it was set to 2. I wonder if this is anything that has an affect?

 

[Lain]

Every time someone with a desktop computer buys a USB 2.0 device, I want to find the nearest tall bridge that I can jump off of. Laptops I can understand, but still, even for laptops, USB 3.0 is becoming more common.

Let me tell you something about USB 2.0 devices. If I were some sort of god emperor, I would immediately ban every single USB 2.0 capture device (excluding webcams) on the planet, and make owning them or creating them an act of heresy. I would destroy every single USB 2.0 capture device in existence, and force everyone to either buy either an internal device or a USB 3.0 device. Anyone who couldn't use either of those would be forced to buy a new computer. I would ban the word 'cat' in any language from being used as a name for any product that's unrelated to actual cats.

The hatred that emanates from the very core of my being toward USB 2.0 capture devices (excluding webcams) cannot be understated. They are the most unideal type of capture devices for streaming one could possibly get. Delayed, Gradual delays, dealing with this plus trying to 'sync it up with my skype!', the nightmare never ends. It never fricken ends. They are not good for streaming. They are terrible for streaming. And it makes me incredibly sad, frustrated, and stricken with madness, because I don't want to have to tell this to people who have spent 100+ dollars on them.

It's a nightmare, yet people keep buying them.. and when they buy them for desktop PCs especially, I roll my eyes back up in to my head until nothing but the whites of my eyes show, shaking, convulsing until I'm almost possessed or something, foaming at the mouth, and then suddenly I wake up the next day two towns over not knowing what I was doing, drenched in blood without a body in sight.

And don't even mention the ones that don't work. They don't even provide their own decoding. The people that make them are like "uh yea! Why in gods name would we provide decoding? Just feed it in to FFmpeg and you're good to go! :)" ..That smiley is a fictional smiley, never happened, but I imagine it in my mind, and I think to myself, "I want to spontaneously combust."

People keep demanding that I implement the ones that aren't working, and I want to help them stream, but then, then I remember how much pain and suffering I will feel when I eventually implement them (sadly, soon). I picture myself screaming in my mind dealing with the fallout from having to implement those devices, or curled up in a corner of a room, wanting the bad devices to go away. Yet, people breathing down my neck to implement their terrible capture devices that I already know are going to be terrible and are terrible. I sometimes fear the nightmare will continue forever..

..Er, anyway, that's the nightmare I have to deal with. I wish I didn't have to deal with it. So help me god if you are on a desktop PC and you are considering buying a USB 2.0 capture device, remember this.

 

[Mike]

That was a very insightful rant, Jim! I currently have a laptop with only USB 2.0 capability so at the time the elgato seamed like a good solution. I plan on building an entire desktop PC soon, for streaming, hopefully 1080P 60 FPS console games. If I am going to do this though, what capture card would you recommend? An on board or a USB 3.0?

Also, which brand would you recommend that is a high quality 1080p 60fps, supports hdmi passthrough and does this mean there is no input lag?

Thanks,

Ps. I heard the avermedia onboard capture device has gradual desync as well. Just a quick question though, do you plan on implementing a workaround to the gradual delay within the next 3 months or is it going to be longer than that?

 

[Goldio]

I did my research when buying a capture card but unfortunately there aren't very good alternative. I have 2 6gb 7970s in my PC and can't fit anything PCI-E related into the motherboard so internal graphics cards are off the table unless i build a new PC or switch out a graphics card and capture card every weekend basically. After that the only 3.0 USB Capture card I'm familiar with is the Blackmagic intensity which is only compatible with a certain MOBO chipset that's outdated and I don't have either.

I own a stupid Hauppauge that I know will probably never be supported so I did some research on what to get and saw that most people streaming my game were using the Elgato so it was really my only option?

Can you point me in the direction of a USB 3.0 Capture Card that isn't the blackmagic that is under 500 bucks?

 

[Lain]

xcapture-1 is the one I hear about the most. I think there's also avermedia U3 I think it's called, though the xcapture-1 has more options for either the same or less cost I believe.

 

[Goldio]

The U3 only has HDMI input which takes out my game but the Xcapture 1 has S Video in. I need it to have Component in for the Wii but I could possibly use the S Video on the X Capture-1 but it would come in at a pretty low resolution.

Edit: Looks like you can get component into the X Capture 1 at 480i and at 60fps over the Elgatos 30fps. I might be adding this to my arsenal.

Thanks Jim

 

[dodgepong]

Note that you have to get a D-Terminal adapter for Component input on the XCAPTURE-1. You need to get 2 adapters if you want passthrough.

 

[Goldio]

Note that you have to get a D-Terminal adapter for Component input on the XCAPTURE-1. You need to get 2 adapters if you want passthrough.

Yeah I saw the adapter for D terminal to Component. And I never want passthrough as it tends to add lag to the setup. Even 1 frame of input lag on melee and players will notice.