Microphone recording desktop audio

[CJVdeG]

Hi all,

Hoping anyone here can help as I've been searching the internet all day trying to troubleshoot this issue to no avail.

I have downloaded OBS studio (I''m on Windows 10) and have set up my Microphone (Audio Input Capture) and Desktop Audio (Audio Output Capture) as separate sources.

Whenever I am playing any sound from my Deskop (via speakers), that sound is also transmitting via my Microphone resulting in a distorted/echoed sound.

I am lost and have no idea how to solve the issue. I even went to the store just now and bought a professional studio microphone hoping that would solve the problem, but it didn't.

My microphone is a Chanter Studio Microphone connecting via USB. The USB is plugged in to the back of my PC.

Here are things I've already tried:
- Troubleshoot all audio output and input devices: no issues
- Disable all input and output device in Sound Control Panel except for the ones that I am using as default output and input devices
- Check if all drivers for the devices are up to date, which they are.
- Disable all Global Audio Devices in OBS settings and set the Input and Output sources manually
- Tweak the tracks on which each audio input/output device are transmitting.

Could it be that the issue is that I am using a Microphone via USB connector and should it instead be via audio input jack? I did try this with an old headset and the issue seemed to be fixed, but I want to use the USB Microphone that I am using since I just bought it. I suppose I could return it and change it for a Microphone with audio jack input, but I don't see why a Microphone via USB connector shouldn't work.

Here's what I'm trying to do:
- Play music through my speaker so I can hear it myself, while at the same time streaming that sound.
- Overlay my voice via Microphone.

Hoping anyone can help here, any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[CJVdeG]

So now I've switched to a microphone with audio jack input, still the same problem. Honestly can't believe that something as simple as setting up a microphone turns out to be such a huge issue with OBS, as I see that many users are reporting the same problem. It just doesn't work.

 

[Videobuff]

So now I've switched to a microphone with audio jack input, still the same problem. Honestly can't believe that something as simple as setting up a microphone turns out to be such a huge issue with OBS, as I see that many users are reporting the same problem. It just doesn't work.

 

[Videobuff]

I’ve also experienced this and I expect everyone who ever uses obs has experienced it as well as for this setup, and if you think about it, it’s exactly what should happen when your microphone is set up to record sound and your speakers are producing sounds, which the microphone then captures. I’ve had some success playing around with audio filters to reduce it can reduce audio quality though), ive also used Omni directional microphones to limit the capture from the speakers but nothing has ever proven fully successful for me. maybe there are solutions out there for this but im guessing they might involve expensive equipment, so in the end I just turn down my speakers and listen through my headset. That way I get two perfect audio device captures and can use them however I want to. That worked for my use case, not sure it would work for yours. If you or anyone else knows a good solution, I’d be very happy to hear it also.

 

[gloomz]

I’ve also experienced this and I expect everyone who ever uses obs has experienced it as well as for this setup, and if you think about it, it’s exactly what should happen when your microphone is set up to record sound and your speakers are producing sounds, which the microphone then captures. I’ve had some success playing around with audio filters to reduce it can reduce audio quality though), ive also used Omni directional microphones to limit the capture from the speakers but nothing has ever proven fully successful for me. maybe there are solutions out there for this but im guessing they might involve expensive equipment, so in the end I just turn down my speakers and listen through my headset. That way I get two perfect audio device captures and can use them however I want to. That worked for my use case, not sure it would work for yours. If you or anyone else knows a good solution, I’d be very happy to hear it also.

It has nothing to do with audio coming out of the speakers in my case - the mixer is showing the exact same levels as the Desktop Audio for the Mic INPUT. Speakers are at 0 volume and even when I mute my headphones, I can see the mixer still triggering like that. It randomly started happening recently and I'm not sure what caused it. Likely going to just reinstall.

 

[AaronD]

It has nothing to do with audio coming out of the speakers in my case - the mixer is showing the exact same levels as the Desktop Audio for the Mic INPUT. Speakers are at 0 volume and even when I mute my headphones, I can see the mixer still triggering like that. It randomly started happening recently and I'm not sure what caused it. Likely going to just reinstall.

Are you using an internal sound card or a cheap USB one?

Internal sound cards, whether on the motherboard itself or as an add-on, are in such a noisy environment (inside the PC case) that it really doesn't make sense to put a lot of engineering effort into them. Even the stupidly high-spec ones have the same problem, because it's not really the chip's fault, which is what the high spec is all about. Same for cheap USB sound cards, that have the same chip that normally goes directly on a motherboard, and the same small jacks with the same functions.

Thus, pretty much every analog audio problem that can exist, does for them. Lots of Johnson and Shot noise (constant hiss from the analog circuitry itself), crosstalk everywhere (mic picks up the speaker, and the GPU circuitry, and everything else inside the case, even with nothing plugged in); you name a problem, it's probably got it to some extent or another.

To avoid those problems, get a USB one that is designed for the pro market. XLR inputs, with physical knobs to adjust the level of each, and no software controls at all. Probably no 1/8" (3.5mm) jacks at all either. The closest you'll get to that is 1/4" (6.5mm), and you'll have to adapt it from there if you really want the smaller one.

 

[AaronD]

ive also used Omni directional microphones to limit the capture from the speakers but nothing has ever proven fully successful for me.

Better would be a specific pickup pattern that allows you to point the null(s) directly at the speaker(s), or whatever your worst source of noise is. We do this on a live stage with vocal mics and floor-wedge monitor speakers: we know where the mics *don't* pick up sound from, and we point that spot at the closest speaker(s).

For a live stage, it's either cardioid (single null point, directly behind) or super-cardioid (null ring, sightly off of directly behind), but depending on your arrangement, you might do well with a figure-8 (null ring exactly sideways, and picks up equally well from the back as it does the front).

Also, consider putting a "shy baffle" between noisy things and the mic. That's what the small bits of plexiglass are for on the drums of a live show: they go between the worst offenders in the kit - the cymbals - and the vocal mics, and block the direct sound. You can make them out of almost anything: I made one from Lego to block a laptop cooling fan.

 

[JonIIDX]

This sounds very similar to an issue I have been having with my Blue Yeti mic after a recent OBS update. The game audio from a separate USB video capture device is being reproduced through my microphone audio channel. I am still troubleshooting to try to figure out the root of the issue, but I definitely was not getting this last week... It just started happening after the most recent OBS update. Not sure if this is the same type of issue OP is having or not...

Again, it is NOT picking up noise from the speakers, it is reproducing the exact audio feed from my video capture card through my microphone channel (not from speakers). Just like @gloomz mentioned, the delay from the mic channel is just slightly different enough from the video capture card feed that when they are both playing at once there is a strange sound (almost like the type of effect you'd get when you slow down audio - we're talking a few milliseconds apart, not an actual reverb echo). Bizarre... Thanks.

As a tip to @gloomz, until OBS fixes this issue, just mute your desktop audio track and keep your mic unmuted. It will only play the audio coming through your microphone feed (which OBS is blending with your desktop audio or other audio input for some reason) and your audio should at least be sorted out for the time being. Quite a nuisance, especially if you are recording separate audio tracks to isolate each audio source like me.

 

[gloomz]

Are you using an internal sound card or a cheap USB one?

Internal sound cards, whether on the motherboard itself or as an add-on, are in such a noisy environment (inside the PC case) that it really doesn't make sense to put a lot of engineering effort into them. Even the stupidly high-spec ones have the same problem, because it's not really the chip's fault, which is what the high spec is all about. Same for cheap USB sound cards, that have the same chip that normally goes directly on a motherboard, and the same small jacks with the same functions.

Thus, pretty much every analog audio problem that can exist, does for them. Lots of Johnson and Shot noise (constant hiss from the analog circuitry itself), crosstalk everywhere (mic picks up the speaker, and the GPU circuitry, and everything else inside the case, even with nothing plugged in); you name a problem, it's probably got it to some extent or another.

To avoid those problems, get a USB one that is designed for the pro market. XLR inputs, with physical knobs to adjust the level of each, and no software controls at all. Probably no 1/8" (3.5mm) jacks at all either. The closest you'll get to that is 1/4" (6.5mm), and you'll have to adapt it from there if you really want the smaller one.

Hey Aaron - thanks for the information, but it looks like I resolved the issue.

I am using a PreSonus Studio 24c. I recently updated my "Universal Control" and didn't realize that the "LOOPBACK" feature must have defaulted to On for some reason - I turned the Loopback off and it resolved my Mic In / Desktop Audio sound duplication issue.

 

[AaronD]

Hey Aaron - thanks for the information, but it looks like I resolved the issue.

I am using a PreSonus Studio 24c. I recently updated my "Universal Control" and didn't realize that the "LOOPBACK" feature must have defaulted to On for some reason - I turned the Loopback off and it resolved my Mic In / Desktop Audio sound duplication issue.

That'll do it too!

I fail to see why a sound card would even have that feature though, since pretty much any operating system can do that already with *any* audio output. (the "Monitor of..." devices)

The one exception might be for testing the card itself without a physical cord, like I do when I'm playing with an Arduino-based DSP project, just to make sure that the transport is working in the first place. But by the time I'm done, I take that loopback out: not even possible anymore.