Question / Help Simple "order of processing" question: does OBS capture audio pre- or post-software effects?

[DarkVoidBoy]

You select your audio devices in OBS from drop-down lists. You assign devices to various tracks. Got all that.

My question is:
When someone uses any sort of Dolby/whatever/7.1 or other surround effects software (which, as you all know, takes a stereo source from a game and turns it into a surround effect for their headphones), does OBS capture before or after those software effects?

Put another way:
If someone plays a stereo-source game with 7.1 effects turned on in separate common audio software "because they like how it sounds", should their OBS be set to capture "7.1" or to capture "Stereo" in the Audio settings?

I have just been assuming that OBS would capture the "pure" source, not the post-processed effects, but it's time to verify or correct that.

 

[carlmmii]

It depends on what the device operates as in the windows sound devices realm. If it's set up to behave as a 2 channel device, then OBS will treat it as just that. If it's set up to behave as a 7.1 device (again, according to the windows sound devices), then OBS will have to deal with the 8 channels it has accordingly.

If there's extra software involved to talk specifically to the headset, whatever it does on top of what exists on the windows audio level is ignored by OBS, since there's no hook.