Question / Help Recording Desktop Audio Lag

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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
I'm having some trouble with recording desktop audio without lag. Whenever I record a video, the game audio is behind the video by quite a large margin. I'm using the Window Capture mode to do this, and the IShowU plugin for the desktop audio capture. I have tried setting a Sync Offset but it didn't seem to help. Any ideas where I'm going wrong?
 
Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
It might help other users if you posted your solution, in case others have a similar problem.

For my part I would have suggested not using Window capture, as it is the least performant option available. Use Syphon when possible, and Display when Syphon is not possible.
 
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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
Basically the problem I had stemmed from using the PS4 Remote Play to send video to my iMac and recording that. As a result, I decided to just wait and pick up a capture device. It wasn't that the recording was lagged, but the audio from the remote play itself was. While I was playing the sound was coming through my TV, not the iMac so I didn't notice the issue. I would have deleted this question if I was able to.

Just for future reference, how does Syphon work? Thanks in advance.
 
Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
Syphon Inject attaches to a process running an OpenGL renderer and (in some cases) allows for direct capture of rendered frames with performance comparable to the Game Capture mode on Windows.

However, it only works with OpenGL programs, generally only on those that render in a single window, and doesn't always work with those. YMMV.

Be careful buying capture equipment. Some will advertise themselves as being "compatible with MacOS" as well as "compatible with OBS" but won't disclose that they aren't compatible with OBS on MacOS.
 
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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
That's a shame. I did do some digging and discovered a workaround and luckily I don't intend to use a webcam or anything. I'll take a look at other threads that you've linked to see if there are any other options that work better, but if push comes to shove I can set up an old Windows PC just for streaming.

Thanks again!
 
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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
Just out of curiosity, as you seem to know what you're talking about, what would you recommend? I'm looking into the BlackMagic Designs Intensity Shuttle. Does that work well? Would the Thunderbolt version be better than the USB version?

Thanks in advance.
 
Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
I have an intensity shuttle and find it fickle in the extreme. Half the time when you plug it in, it just isn't recognized, and you have to plug and unplug it, move it around to different ports, or even reboot to get it to be recognized. However, I have the USB3 version and not Thunderbolt.

I have had far more luck with the AJA U-TAP HDMI. It is slightly less convenient to use than the shuttle since it lacks HDMI passthrough, so you'll need a splitter with it.
 
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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
Ok, that's good to know. I'll try my luck with the Intensity Shuttle I think, as my budget can't stretch to the U-TAP. Fingers crossed it'll work out well.

I know Window Capture with the Elgato is an option but degrades quality and increases lag so I figured that's out. It's a shame that they haven't worked on drivers for OBS for Mac, really.
 
Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
Just to be clear-- they don't need to make a special driver "for OBS"-- just a generic video device driver for MacOS, which would enable it to work with OBS and plenty of other apps.
 
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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
That makes it even more baffling that it hasn't been done yet. Maybe it's to push more people to use their software. Still, hopefully one of the workarounds will be successful for me. It's a shame Mac users have to jump through hoops. Have to be honest, I do find it all somewhat confusing in there doesn't seem to be one definitive answer that costs under £200. I'm completely new to all this, so...
 
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Narcogen

Narcogen

Active Member
I don't doubt that the intersection of Elgato users who are both on MacOS and insist on using third party software is too small for them to invest in making the driver.

They've also just recently released an HDMI-USB dongle (I forget the name) for which they claim it works with the standard webcam driver.
 
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xStraightEdgePandax

New Member
I have no idea what that means, but yeah. I guess it makes sense that the user base is much smaller than for Windows. Still, at least people have found ways around it.

Thanks again for all the info and the help!
 
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