Possible issue with Chrome browser being used as an Application Audio Source

RexBuckingham

New Member
Hello OBS devs & users! I encountered this issue earlier this day when using the application & I'm very confused why it happened. In my OBS, I have an Application Audio Source that is set to be my Chrome browser & assigned to a specific tab that I always have when streaming. Today, I opened up that tab in a private Chrome window like I always have done in the past & prepared to play the audio from that tab (it's a YouTube music video) when I would go live. Then, I launched OBS afterwards (it was not running before this). The result was that when I went live & clicked the play button on the YouTube music video, OBS refused to capture any of the audio & did absolutely nothing.

When attempting to fix the issue, I tried several things including changing the application to something other than Chrome for capturing the audio, then reverting it back to Chrome. I tried changing the Window Match Priority, I tried removing the Application Audio Source entirely & creating a brand new one. Nothing I did would work & OBS still refused to capture the Chrome tab's audio.

I decided to test out Firefox instead of Chrome, creating a brand new Application Audio Source & selecting my Firefox browser. Unsurprisingly, Firefox had zero issues whatsoever & OBS perfectly captured the audio. As a final test, I tried one more change. I completely closed the Chrome window I had open, reopened a new Chrome window, then opened up the exact tab the Application Audio Source was set to. When I did this, all of a sudden, OBS starts capturing the audio without problems.

So then, I decided to test Firefox in the exact same way. The resulting conclusion I discovered is that if I open up the Chrome window & specific tab before I launch OBS, the Application Audio Source refuses to capture audio. However, if I have OBS already launched & running, then I open up the Chrome window & specific tab after OBS is active, everything is fine. Even more confusing though is that Firefox does not experience the same behavior. Regardless of whether I have the Firefox window & tab open before or after OBS is launched, OBS does not have any issues with capturing Firefox's audio. I don't have any explanation as to why.

Does anyone have an answer to this mysterious situation?

Also as a side note, I highly doubt my log file shows anything relating to this Chrome Application Audio Source issue, but I have it attached for reference. Thank you!

 

qhobbes

Active Member
My solution is KYSS; Keep Your Stream Simple. Legally obtain a recording of the audio and use Media Source source instead of audio application source, which is BETA, so don't depend on it.
 

prgmitchell

Forum Moderator
fully disagree with that answer, application audio capture sources work fine and the BETA tag is long overdue being removed (good reminder actually). are you able to reproduce this issue on demand @RexBuckingham or was it a one-off? it would be impossible to look into if not but just from some quick tests everything seems to be working fine for me.
 
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