also, is the audio filter setup supposed to be in a different order from this:
Gain
Noise Suppression
Compressor
Noise Gate
Noise Suppression or Noise Gate
Compressor
EQ
If needed, Gain before EQ. It could be after EQ but I like it before.
Use the mic's physical gain to get a decently strong signal that never clips. Don't use OBS's gain filter for that. In fact, I don't use a dedicated gain at all, whether in OBS or a DAW. All faders are at 0dB, which is no change, might as well not exist, and everything is done in the chain of processors / DAW plugins / OBS filters / whatever I'm using at the time:
- Highpass: Typically around 150-200Hz or so. Generally, as high and steep as I can get without actually changing the sound, or sometimes slightly thinning the sound on purpose because it's just too muddy. OBS is sorely missing this.
- Noise Suppression: Also set by ear to barely not damage the intended sound. Could swap with the highpass with no real difference either way.
- Noise Gate: DON'T OVER-RELY ON THIS!!! Gates are good to cut a small amount of noise from what's supposed to be silent, but they can't unmix. A large amount of noise coming and going, is more distracting than keeping that noise, so don't use a gate in that case.
Also, if you're using a gate to enhance a noise suppressor, see how it works instead to cascade two noise suppressors and not use a gate at all. Set the first one to allow some through, but not all, and the second one to stop that, without ever shutting off completely like a gate does.
- EQ: I greatly prefer a parametric EQ, which OBS doesn't have. OBS's 3-band graphic is almost the least usable type of EQ in my experience, superior only to the 5-band graphic, which is *right* in that awkward sour spot that seems fancy at first glance, but still never lines up with where the problem actually is that you need to fix. If you're going to go graphic, you need a LOT of bands to make it worthwhile. Otherwise, you really want parametric, so you can put one band at the exact frequency that needs attention, and boost or cut there. One band per problem, and fixing problems more than creating anything new. If it's already perfect, it's perfectly okay to not EQ at all.
- Compressor: This does most of the work of taming the "live" signal that you get from the mic and through most of the processing, and makes a "broadcast" signal out of it. It automatically turns down the louder parts and allows the softer parts to pass through unchanged, so it's much more uniform coming out. Then you can use the compressor's makeup gain to put it right at full-scale as expected for braodcast, without ever going over.
- Limiter: The final safety net. The compressor does most of the work, but depending on how you have it set to stay audibly transparent, there might still be an errant peak or two. Most of the time, the final limiter does nothing, but it's there to *guarantee* that you never go past full-scale.
I rarely use all of that, but that's my order. If you've set the Compressor and Limiter well, then OBS will frequently warn you that it's clipping...except it's not. That warning has to happen slightly *before* clipping, just to make it happen at all, and you're right there tickling it! Both safely and transparently, because of your settings.
Some people swap the Compressor and EQ, or have two of one or the other to get the benefits of both orders at the same time. It makes a difference in how the compressor behaves, and pretty much every professional digital mixing console allows you to swap that order because of that difference. (or just outright design each channel strip completely the way that you want it, like you do with OBS's filters)