Have to reset audio devices nearly every time I start OBS

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dizzyweb

New Member
Almost every time I start OBS all my audio devices are set to default, except monitoring... Which is set to the correct name, but somehow the wrong device after all.

I use a Steelseries Arctis 7 headset and I figured it had something to do with the headset disconnecting and reconnecting and it somehow getting some different ID in Windows (which still sounds like a 1990's era issie, not a 2022 issue, come on). So I switched to Sonar, Steelseries virtual audio devices. Shouldn't change, you'd think. But the behavior is still the same. Every time I start OBS I have to go to my audio sources and reset my desktop audio, reset my mic, reselect my monitoring device.

How is this still an issue in 2022 in the most widely used broadcasting software?
 
koala

koala

Active Member
If you plug in (or switch on) an audio device, Windows activates this device so it can be used, and makes it the "default" device. The previous default device is not the default device any more. Most audio apps such as media players switch their output device in this moment to the new default device. There is a default output device (speakers/headphones) and a default input device (mic).

OBS evaluates the default device only at startup (or if you select some device in a configuration drop down list) and doesn't switch on the fly. If you use the "default" device in OBS instead of explicitly configuring your audio devices, you stick with the device that was default at OBS startup. If you switch on your headset after starting OBS, your audio sources connected to the "default" device don't refer to your headset but to other existing audio device. This behavior might have caused confusion for you.

To avoid this confusion, switch on your headset and look for "Default" entries in OBS Settings->Audio. Instead of using default, explcitly configure the audio device you want to connect to that source.

You can also manually fixate the default device in Windows, so if you switch on/off your headset Windows doesn't hijack the default device, but this is a Windows configuration, not a OBS configuration.

By the way, if you disconnect a headset and connect it to a different jack, it's a different device for Windows, and any settings you made in Windows are gone. If you connect it back to the old jack, the settings are back. Because of the "default device" hijacking, it looks as if Windows recognizes your device as the same even on a different jack, but actually this is not the case.

To see which devices were once recognized on some jack but are now inactive because they were removed or connected to a different jack, go to Windows device manager and choose View->Show hidden devices.
 
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zrux

New Member
1) I didn't even know Windows could switch output and input devices automatically. I've always changed them manually in the windows sound settings. Though just between my TV speakers and my headset when I'm gaming.

2) I only have one input device (a standalone mic) and I never switch it. As far as I can tell no matter if I turn my PC on or off or the device on or off or anything it's still set to that device.

But it is also still resetting in OBS every time. It's free so I know I can't expect much but it's pretty frustrating.
 
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therentabrain

Member
OBS should be like Zoom, where it detects changes that Windows has done and adjusts/resets devices accordingly. This is a problem that goes way back with OBS and it's overdue for a fix.

Unless the latest OBS has it fixed. I'm a couple of versions behind because it's critical that the shows I produce not freeze up mid-stream, and they were.
 
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