Question / Help Is it possible to only record audio using OBS?

[SorteKanin]

I've been trying to put my custom output to mp3 or other audio file formats, but either I get an outright error (with mp3 it can't seem to find the encoder) or it bugs out when trying to record it, resulting in what seems to be an empty or corrupt file (I've included a log file where I both attempt mp3 and flac recording).

I'd like to simply record audio and get a resulting mp3 file (other audio formats would be acceptable too). Is this possible and if so, how do I do it?

 

[Banyarola]

When I need just an audio file I save the video file and then using Format Factory I save it as a MP3 file and it just saves the audio portion. I don't do it in OBS but as long as you have the OBS video file you can use Format Factory to save just the audio portion. Format factory is free and easy to use.

 

[Adrian Schofield]

I'd use Audacity if you really just need audio, OBS is total overkill in that respect. If you record video and just need to separate the audio then that's different

 

[SorteKanin]

When I need just an audio file I save the video file and then using Format Factory I save it as a MP3 file and it just saves the audio portion. I don't do it in OBS but as long as you have the OBS video file you can use Format Factory to save just the audio portion. Format factory is free and easy to use.

I know I can record it as a video and convert it but I'd rather avoid doing that.

I'd use Audacity if you really just need audio, OBS is total overkill in that respect. If you record video and just need to separate the audio then that's different

I can't find a way to let me record both my microphone and my audio in Audacity, without having me listen to my own voice from my mic.

 

[ntoff]

Try VoiceMeeter Banana, it's an audio mixer / input control thing. It has a built in audio recorder that is able to record from multiple sources simultaneously and can record directly to wav/mp3 (and a couple of others).

 

[gnumaru]

from here:
https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/record-audio-only.108231/

You can either use "Audio Output Capture" as your only source or use "Display Capture" and disable the visual capture by checking the eye icon, to the left of the lock icon. This will give you a video file with all black video but with normal audio. Then you can extract the raw audio stream into an audio file using ffmpeg. For example you could extract the raw audio stream from an mp4 file using the following command:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a copy output.m4a


Ps.: The problem with audacity is that it records the raw audio before you can export it to a losless format like flac or lossy format like ogg or mp3, which makes the available disk space a restraining factor for recording long audio sessions like, say several hours or audio. OBS, on the other hand, streams the converted lossy AAC audio stream to disk wich is much more eficient in terms of disk usage, allowing very long recording sessions. You could use audio only recorders like the one mentioned above, but if you do not wish to install another software, just disable the video stream in the display capture like I said above.