Question / Help Need Help with Audio on Mac

[Michael Hyatt]

I have OBS set up and tested with Facebook Live. Everything works as advertised. However, I am stuck trying to get audio from a video to play through OBS. I am using El Capitan.

I tried to install SoundFlower, but the developer no longer supports it and now recommends LoopBack. I tried the trial version of the software and couldn't get it to work. Either I am doing something wrong or need a step-by-step tutorial.

I did search the forums but couldn't seem to find anything that applied. I would be grateful for any help you can give me. Thanks.

 

[c3r1c3]

1. You might want to contact the Loopback people. They should have a tutorial/info for their stuff working with OBS.
2. I've never used Loopback, but it seems like you add the devices/programs you want OBS to capture to their app, and then use the sound device that Loopback creates as an audio source in OBS.

 

[Michael Hyatt]

Thanks for that suggestion. I just sent them an email.

I guess where I am stumped is that I am not trying to play my desktop sounds per se. I have an intro video that I want to use to start my show. I set it up as a Media Source. The video plays, but I can't hear the audio. I am not sure what audio source to select to make it work. (See below.)

 

[c3r1c3]

OBS shouldn't be a source in Loopback... not unless you want OBS to get it's own audio with a slight delay (i.e. feedback loop), and blow out your audience's speakers.

I see that you do have display audio selected. See that mic icon to the left of the various items listed in the "Audio Devices section"? Those all have a mic icon on the left. Odds are that means it's using the microphones/inputs on those devices. That means it's not capturing your desktop audio, but rather the mic in your display.

Try adding the what you want to capture (e.g. Quicktime Player) to the sources area, and then in OBS add the "Loopback Audio" device. Then play something in Quicktime (with audio of course), and see if the meter in OBS for the Loopback Audio source moves.

 

[Michael Hyatt]

Yes, the meter moves when I play a video in QuickTime. So in OBS, I want to load the actual video file as a Media Source, but how do I get the audio to work. I am still not hearing it.

Thanks for your help!

 

[c3r1c3]

OBS doesn't output audio to the desktop. It only outputs audio to the stream/file.

 

[Michael Hyatt]

I guess what I am asking is, how do I play a video in OBS plus the audio? I am assuming that I set up a Media Source and point to the video file. The video then plays in OBS as expected. It is not playing via QuickTime. I can see the audio meter moving; I just can’t hear it. Thanks.

 

[c3r1c3]

If you see the meter in OBS moving, OBS is playing the audio, and outputting the audio to your stream/recording.

OBS does not send audio out to your speakers/desktop/other source (at least not at this time). If you want to hear the audio in your file, you need to play it in a media player, and have OBS capture it.

If you want to hear what OBS is playing, you need to listen to your stream (on another device), or when you're done recording, play the file back. Of course both of those have a large amount of delay in them.

 

[Michael Hyatt]

Okay, cool. That worked. The only problem is that my audio is choppy. It cuts in and out. I am running on an iMac with 32GB of RAM. Could this be due to an audio setting?

 

[c3r1c3]

I tend to use VLC for video playback and have OBS capture that.

If you can post a log (https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/include-a-log-file-if-you-have-a-problem-heres-how.16571/ ) I can at least take a look and see.

It seems that there is a bug in the media source/VLC source options in OBS that can cause 'static-ish' sounding audio. I don't know the current status of that issue (i.e. if it's been fixed in the source code, or if the source of the problem has even been found), but I do know that some codec combos that are non-standards-compliant (like using MP3 audio in a mp4 video file) can cause issues with audio cutting out.

 

[CutboxStudio]

I'm having the same issue using a nearly identical set-up as Michael. The benefit in using the Media option in OBS is that it will autoplay the video on scene switch which is ideal for bumpers. Playing back with a media player is a bit cumbersome when your are trying to live stream alone. I dont suppose VLC player has any integration with OBS that will autoplay a file?
BTW, Michael - if you are still interested in using Soundflower, there is a v2.0 available from the original developer that seems to work with El Cap. You can find it here: https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower/releases/

 

[c3r1c3]

@CutboxStudio: awesome! Thanks for sharing.

As to VLC, if you install it, and run OBS, it becomes a new source option. You can set some behavior, and combining that with hotkeys, you can have some pretty good control over your media items.

 

[Boildown]

@dping OBS Studio Mac problem