Question / Help Issue with Multiple audio tracks from 2 audio sources

[Matthews]

Having a track isolation issue here with multiple audio sources both being written equally onto two separate tracks.

I have the advanced audio setting for each track to be a different audio source (Mic 1 being Snowball and Mic 2 being iShowU) being track 1 and 2 respectively.

They both are recognized as different inputs by OBS and both have their own respective audio levels (e.g. when I talk into the mic the Mic 1 meter goes up, when audio come from a computer source like youtube, the Mic 2 meter goes up).

Once saved, both sources are written equally on both track 1 and 2. I've tried this with .MOV format and .MP4 format, both of which allow multiple audio tracks, but both have had this same issue.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong! I can take any more screenshots as needed.

http://imgur.com/a/1KRmB

Any help or advice welcome!

 

[Narcogen]

Do you have a Preview device setup in iShowU preferences?

https://support.shinywhitebox.com/h...to-record-application-audio-in-iShowU-Instant

 

[Matthews]

Actually I don't, because the setup I followed only involved installing the extension and did not involve installing the separate iShowU apps (iShowU Instant or Studio). Instead, it goes through the MIDI setup and Sound preference panes.

The audio records fine, and OBS completely recognized the source, but in the recorded file, both sources (ishowu and my microphone) are blended onto the same tracks rather than into separate tracks.

The iShowU setup was from here, and I don't see nay way to even get to that preference pane in your link: https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/capture-audio-on-mac-no-soundflower.286/

Are you suggesting I use the iShowU application "iShowU Instant" (separate from OBS and separate from the iShowU extension) to record system sounds via that and then rejoin them later on in post-editing? If not, could you help me see where I'm not understanding?

If so, doesn't that defeat the purpose of having multiple audio tracks in OBS itself?

And wouldn't I even be better off just using quicktime to do that if that's what you're suggesting?

I'm not trying to be obstinate, I'm really trying to learn and really appreciate any feedback and help!

 

[Narcogen]

No, not suggesting that at all. I've just never used iShowU so I was trying to see if we could isolate whether or not it is the cause. I routinely record three separate audio tracks in OBS, and I use the 4th track simultaneously with all devices for streaming, so I know OBS' multitrack capabilities work, at least on my hardware.

For sound routing I have used SoundFlower, LineIn, Loopback, and Sound Siphon, all with varying degrees of success, but I've never used iShowU.

If you remove the iShowU virtual device and try to add a second hardware device for OBS to see, does it still put audio from that source and your microphone on to all tracks?

Did you aggregate any devices in MIDI setup when you installed iShowU?

 

[Matthews]

Great, thanks for the clarification Narcogen.

I like your suggestion of diagnosing via multiple hardware inputs (excluding iShowU) to test my OBS/hardware ability in isolation, I'll have to wait until i can dig out another microphone.

In the meantime I figured I'd test JUST the blue snowball mic on multiple tracks. The test was simple:

1) Set Blue Snowball as only source, but in the mixer set it to "track 1" only.

2) Set the file output with 3 tracks.

3) Check to ensure Snowball audio only written to track 1.

This test failed. The snowball audio (Source 1 and ONLY checked in the mixer settings to be imprinted on track 1) was imprinted equally (same exact audio) on each of the 3 tracks.

So even independent of iShowU, my OBS studio (or computer?) seems to be behaving irregular.

I'm on a 2011 Mac Mini, 12 GB ram, 2.3ghz i5, running El Capitan (OS 10.11.4). At the moment I have no idea why even this basic test above is failing.

------------------

Next I decided to test iShowU to check if it is recording in other applications. The test was also simple:

1) Open Quicktime and start a "new audio recording"

2) Set input to iShowU

This test was a success. iShowU captured the system audio (e.g. system noises youtube video in Safari audio) and saved as an audio file fine.

I repeated this test with the snowball mic and this was also a success.

So I know both sources work and are OK. Somehow though, OBS (or my system?) won't separate them?

It's not a huge bother to just use quicktime for system sounds, but it isn't the most practical if I ever want to add more inputs (e.g. specific applications, other mics, etc.) and I will still have to resolve the OBS track-writing issue.

Any ideas?

 

[Narcogen]

I dunno, this one is stumping me.

I'd try throwing out the obs-studio folder in Application Support and/or logging into your Mac as a new user and seeing if OBS does the same thing.

Does OBS double every audio input you give it on all tracks, or just the Snowball?

Does the Snowball have a proprietary driver or software you installed, or did you just plug it in and see it recognized in the Sound control panel?

Did you create any aggregate devices in MIDI setup to use it, like for monitoring?

 

[amsyar ZeRo]

@Matthews From my understanding,you want separate audio tracks?

That's not possible with OBS.It's just the same,you use iShowU Audio Capture,Soundflower,LineIn or Sound Siphon(or combine it all),OBS will still write it to just one video.

You could request that feature,though(devs?).

 

[Matthews]

@amsyar ZeRo

All due respect, but that doesn't sound right. As far as some other posts I've read (from @Narcogen included) there are people saying you can do multiple tracks from different sources.

I know for a fact I can do multiple tracks, because I have done it plenty of times.

To demonstrate, in the mixer settings themselves in OBS Studio, (seen here: http://i.imgur.com/R41jE5T.png ) it literally lets me pick which audio source will go on to which track(s).

Also in advanced settings, OBS Studio allows me to choose which tracks to write to the finished file (seen here: http://i.imgur.com/1B9b6wt.png ).

It's just the same,you use iShowU Audio Capture,Soundflower,LineIn or Sound Siphon(or combine it all),OBS will still write it to just one video.

Correct about one video, but a single video container file (e.g. MP4, MOV) can contain multiple audio tracks. For instance, when I make a recording with multiple audio tracks, I can isolate and alter individual tracks.

The only issue at the moment is that my sources aren't isolating the way the mixer settings imply they should (or at least the way I understand it should).

Happy to be corrected with better information than this though.

 

[Narcogen]

@Matthews From my understanding,you want separate audio tracks?

That's not possible with OBS.It's just the same,you use iShowU Audio Capture,Soundflower,LineIn or Sound Siphon(or combine it all),OBS will still write it to just one video.

You could request that feature,though(devs?).

This is absolutely possible and I do it every day.

It will write it to one video, but that video will have multiple, separate audio tracks if recorded in a compatible container (mp4 or mkv). You can record up to four such tracks.

To see the options for selecting which audio tracks to record, go to Settings > Output and select "Output Mode: Advanced".

The audio mixer (Advanced Audio Properties in the Edit menu) allow you to select which audio devices are recorded on which audio track. Each device can be assigned any combination of tracks. For me, I have three tracks: my game audio, my microphone, and output from my audio chat program. Game Audio is on track 1 and 4, microphone input is on tracks 2 and 4, chat audio is on tracks 3 and 4. I record tracks 1-3 and streaming output is track 4 (all devices muxed to one track).

 

[Matthews]

@Narcogen So I went back and added a second hardware device. In this case it was a Logitech USB microphone. Failed the independent-track test.

(For background info, neither the logitech, nor the snowball need and drivers installed and both work out of the box with my mac mini.)

I put the Snowball on track 1 in mixer settings Logitech on track 2, and iShowU on 3. Unfortunately, the same result. Although each source is set for a different track - all sources are still for some reason imprinted onto all tracks (see screenies: http://imgur.com/a/fYccG )

I then repeated this with no iShowU (disabled). So only 2 sources (snowball usb and logitech usb) and both did the same exact thing (wrote their audio onto all tracks).

I was wondering if maybe OBS Studio needs every source to have at least 2 tracks (which could potentially explain why it works for you since you have them all on track 4 together). I decided to try having 1 source on tracks 1 and 3 and leaving 2 blank. Still failed. the source was written to all tracks (track 1, 2, and 3) despite track 2 being unchecked.

Is it possible my mixer settings aren't actually taking effect when I choose them and close the window? And that it is still defaulting to writing all sources onto all tracks? If so, is there a text file or file I can view the hex on to see if that's somehow the case?

 

[Narcogen]

OBS doesn't need each device to be on multiple tracks. I only added Track 4 later when I started streaming; at the beginning I was recording only 2 or 3 tracks and Track 4 was empty, with only one device per track, and only one track per device.

I'd suggest wiping the obs-studio folder from Application Support and restarting; make a backup first if your setup is complicated.

 

[Matthews]

@Narcogen Yes I didn't think the multiple tracks would be logical, but perhaps an error in the programming that might make it work somehow (grasping at straws).

Wiped the ons-studio in the app support folder and restarted and still no dice. Writes each source to all tracks and I'm really at a loss as to why.

Would really have been nice to be able to use it for multiple independent sources, but I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, or if it's something wrong with the setup.

Open to any ideas or suggestions to diagnose further

 

[Narcogen]

Out of curiosity, does it do the same thing while streaming?

Also grasping at straws here. Do you have another machine for testing?

Does it do the same thing if you create a fresh user account on the machine and run OBS there?