Question / Help OBS Audio Skip and Mic Loss

atoldiago

atoldiago

New Member
My issue is double sided and started last Thursday.

OBS has begun forcing any and all audio getting pushed through it to either crackle occasionally, or all out skip. The skipping doesn't usually start until around the 30 minute mark but once it starts it has a couple of seconds, to several minutes in-between each skip.

Skip may not be a proper name for it. It's more like all audio stops for a second or two. During this time, my second issue occurs.

After each sound skip occurs, there is a chance that my mic gets lost. I have no other way to explain it. OBS loses connection with my mic and I have to reinitialize it through the settings for it to work again.

I've been using OBS for a couple of years now and have never had any issue with it. On occasion the program craps out on me, but that can be said about nearly every program ever. This is the first time something like this has happened and it's getting to a point where I can't stream properly anymore.

I initially thought this may have been a webcam issue, but updating drivers did nothing. I also went through and disabled any other mic the system sees, thinking maybe (for some reason) OBS was getting confused on what it needed to get its audio from. Nothing worked.

I've attempted to attach the latest log file, but I don't see any proof that it will show on this post. I looked it over and was surprised to see a large portion of mentioning my mic. Like... a lot of it. You'll see.

EDIT: The log is well over the 1 MB limit. How would you like me to give the log up? I can use email or Dropbox, or try and compress the file.
 
If the log has a ton of repeating lines for things like audio timestamps bloating its size, just cut out the majority of them and throw it up on pastebin.com or a similar site.
 
Go to Settings > Advanced and change your scene buffering time to 700. Open your webcam's source properties and lower the resolution down to 1280x720. Test again and see if things work better.
 
2.5 hour stream with none of the issues described in the initial post. However, one odd thing did occur: my mic was given extra boost, despite not having touched it in the slightest. I ended up having to reduce gain using the knob on the mic itself, and in the sound > recording tab as well. Odd, but not a hassle. Thanks for the help!

Would you be willing to explain why your suggestions worked? I'm confused as to how the resolution of my webcam would have any effect on sound, and I am embarrassed to say that I have no idea what scene buffering actually does, let alone why shifting it from 300 (400? can't remember now) to 700 was appropriate (other than because you suggested it). Thanks again for the help.
 
Running a USB 2.0 webcam at 1920x1080 is more than a lot of systems will handle due to bandwidth limitations. If a webcam starts eating it in your scene it can affect everything else, from killing the frame rate to causing drifting audio sync issues and all kinds of other stuff. Since your audio devices are USB-based too they're affected more directly, and coupled with the very low scene buffering time it was a recipe for nothing working right.
 
Alright, I thought this was fixed. It was, in fact. However, updating my webcam has now re-invited the issue. I attempted to use the old webcam and keep the original settings, but now that webcam is having issues being recognized. The new one is the Logitech C920 HD Pro. It should be more than capable of pushing out 1920x1080 (that's one of its features after all) so I don't know if that's the issue anymore. I have tried it in both 2.0 and 3.0 slots (though, as far as I know, the actual slots shouldn't matter). I even changed the mic to my Astro headset to alleviate the use of a direct USB mic. It takes a little longer to require a re-initializing for the mic, but eventually it still happens (the audio skipping occurs regardless). Would furthering the buffer to, say, 1000 change anything? How would that affect the stream?

I have to reiterate: the issues never popped up in nearly two years of streaming. Then, all of a sudden, with absolutely no gear or software changes, it all goes to hell in a hand basket. I've only had two recent additions before everything started: Snip and a deathcounter. I thought maybe Snip was the issue, but my audio skipping still occurs using Teeboard's "Now Playing" feature as well. I will attempt to get my old webcam working again, as I know that configuration worked (eventually). What could the issue be with the new cam? I also attempted the settings suggested for the new webcam, to no avail.
 
Thanks a lot Sapiens and also atoldiago for posting this thread. This worked like magic after changing my settings.

Would you guys happen to know, how to have the party/game chat active while trying to stream?
 
I mean so that it doesn't look like I'm talking to myself while streaming, I would like my audience to hear my friends as well. Any help is appreciated.
 
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