Question / Help OBS Not Picking Up Mic Audio

[artificeandintrigue]

As the title says, when I turn on my mic I can see my voice registering in OBS, the bar bounces up and down, but it doesn't stream/record anything. I saw there were others who had this issue, but all the other threads were several months to several years old. Did this issue get resolved? If not, any help would be appreciated!


Log is uploaded to following link:
https://gist.github.com/61cf1fba3e52cf2cfc6d2cd84f074e1f

 

[FerretBomb]

Do you have a link to a VOD demonstrating the issue? If you're watching using Windows Media Player, lack of audio is a known issue as WMP's codec support is terrible. Download and use VLC instead. You don't appear to have any visible timestamp issues (excessive fall-behind can lead to audio sources being cut).

Issues from your log:
-Streaming over wifi. Never do this. Your log shows MAJOR connection issues, and wifi is the most common cause. It is NOT designed for constant, critical minimum throughput applications. Run a cable, or grab Powerline adapters if it literally is not possible. Wifi is NOT meant to be a replacement for a cabled connection.

-Excessive bitrate. Unless you're Partnered, very few people will be able to watch your stream without buffering at 3300kbps. Non-partnered streamers are advised not to exceed 2000kbps. 720p@30fps on x264 Veryfast will fit within this bitrate budget nicely with watchable video, and it is considered the 'golden point'.

 

[artificeandintrigue]

I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean about VOD or VLC. My tech skills are pretty rudimentary. I wasn't watching my own stream when I tested it. When I watched my own recordings to check the audio I believe those were using the Windows Media Player program.

Thanks for the other insights on the logs. I am on wifi right now so moving around my configuration is something I'll have to look into. I also adjusted the bitrate, I think I based the initial number off an OBS installation guide I read, it's good to know about the buffering issues that leads to.

 

[FerretBomb]

VOD = Video On Demand. In your Twitch account settings, enable 'automatically archive my broadcasts' and they'll be available from your Profile.

VLC is a media player program. Google for it, download, and try the recordings using that instead.

Indeed. A network cable is generally inexpensive and can be run along baseboards. Powerline adapters use your home electrical system as a lower speed (but still faster than wifi) network connection. They're more expensive and do dirty your power phases slightly, but are a *vast* improvement over wifi.
Yeah, there are a lot of guides out there, and a majority of them are full of incorrect, parroted-and-misunderstood, or outright BAD information.

 

[artificeandintrigue]

So VLC would be a different broadcasting program altogether then. Does that mean there isn't much of a fix for the mic audio issue at this time with OBS? That would be a pity since I was liking the customization options I was finding with it.

 

[FerretBomb]

It's a different media player... not a different piece of broadcasting software.

 

[artificeandintrigue]

You nailed it Ferretbomb, it looks like when I play it back using VLC the sound works! (Albeit very soft, but it looks like I can crank up the audio settings to fix that) Thanks for the help and working with my relative lack of tech skills!

One last question which may be rather obvious, do I need to change an option somewhere to make my streams run in VLC natively to ensure other people can hear my audio? I was looking around but didn't see anything like that in the OBS settings.

 

[FerretBomb]

No, VLC is a local player. If you're streaming to Twitch, the stream will have audio using their player. The problem was that you were watching your local recorded video with Windows Media Player, which doesn't have support for the audio codecs in use. So it couldn't play the audio. Using VLC (which has the right codec support) let it play the audio stream that was already there.

If you need to confirm, turn on 'automatically archive my broadcasts' in your Twitch account settings, do a test cast, go to your Profile, Past Broadcasts, and watch the VOD after you've ended the test. You should never watch your stream from the system you're streaming from, while you're streaming, for a variety of reasons (audio looping, excessive CPU use, network load, competing audio). Watch the archived replay instead after you've stopped the cast; it should/will have audio (though may be low, as you'd mentioned). Audio levels are just a settings issue, and easily fixed.