Using a HDMI to USB capture device would sometimes result in the Video Capture Device having great audio, then from other sources deliver nothing but an irritating rasping sound. I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to solve the problem. Then I read the fine print in the capture device's manual: while the capture device has no problem with PCM and Dolby Digital, it will not translate Dolby Digital Plus. The manual advises going to Settings in your source device (stick, camera, what-have-you) and setting the Audio pass-through to either PCM or Dolby Digital (not Plus). I did so, and voila. Audio. Amazon and other sources are rife with inexpensive HDMI to USB capture devices. As long as your HDMI source is unencrypted, and the Audio is able to be set to PCM or Dolby Digital pass throughput, these common capture devices should be able to deliver video and audio to an OBS Video Capture Device.
Tips:
- in the Sources box I click the "+" button and select Video Capture Device, then click on it's on/off in the resulting Sources box list.
- I then click on the padlock to unlock and set the screen size (red lines)...I go with full screen.
- I lock the screen (padlock click), and then click that little gear button at the bottom of the Sources box, bringing up the Video Capture Device settings dialog.
- the OBS Video Capture Device settings will generally be listed in the Device menu as "USB Video".
- I set Audio Output Mode to Capture audio only.
- I then check the "use custom audio device" box, and select "Digital Audio Interface (USB Digital Audio) from the Audio Device menu.
- i then OK the Video Capture Device settings.
- the OBS Audio Mixer box now has a Video Capture Device audio channel, I click on the (3 vertical dots) menu button and select Advanced Audio Properties.
- on the Video Capture Device line under Audio Monitoring, I select Monitor and Output if I want to hear the capture, or Monitor Off if I don't.
Hope this helps clarify things regarding capture of USB audio and video.
FYI: in audio media files, PCM is generally signified with extension .wav, Dolby Digital as .ac3, and Dolby Digital Plus as .eac3. As video files generally have extensions such as the .mkv container, its hard to decipher what kind of audio the file contains without running it through multiplex editor (like MKVToolNix GUI), so it can be a chore trying to determine your source device's audio codec. If the capture is delivering garbled audio and setting the device's pass through to PCM or Dolby Digital clears it up, you know it was delivering Dolby Digital Plus. Also, USB capture devices generally deliver a single track of 96 KHz sound which OBS separates into 2 channel 48KHz stereo. Multichannel 5.1 can be delivered to OBS via separate optical audio input (if your PC has that capability) from a HDMI Audio Extractor with optical output. In that case, you'd want to check the Video Capture Device settings "use custom audio device" box and select "Optical Audio Interface". HDMI Audio Extractors are also inexpensive, and have a HDMI pass through to plug a joining HDMI cable into your video capture device. HDMI Audio Extractors are switchable between "Pass", "2.0" and "5.1" HDMI throughput and simultaneous optical output.
Tips:
- in the Sources box I click the "+" button and select Video Capture Device, then click on it's on/off in the resulting Sources box list.
- I then click on the padlock to unlock and set the screen size (red lines)...I go with full screen.
- I lock the screen (padlock click), and then click that little gear button at the bottom of the Sources box, bringing up the Video Capture Device settings dialog.
- the OBS Video Capture Device settings will generally be listed in the Device menu as "USB Video".
- I set Audio Output Mode to Capture audio only.
- I then check the "use custom audio device" box, and select "Digital Audio Interface (USB Digital Audio) from the Audio Device menu.
- i then OK the Video Capture Device settings.
- the OBS Audio Mixer box now has a Video Capture Device audio channel, I click on the (3 vertical dots) menu button and select Advanced Audio Properties.
- on the Video Capture Device line under Audio Monitoring, I select Monitor and Output if I want to hear the capture, or Monitor Off if I don't.
Hope this helps clarify things regarding capture of USB audio and video.
FYI: in audio media files, PCM is generally signified with extension .wav, Dolby Digital as .ac3, and Dolby Digital Plus as .eac3. As video files generally have extensions such as the .mkv container, its hard to decipher what kind of audio the file contains without running it through multiplex editor (like MKVToolNix GUI), so it can be a chore trying to determine your source device's audio codec. If the capture is delivering garbled audio and setting the device's pass through to PCM or Dolby Digital clears it up, you know it was delivering Dolby Digital Plus. Also, USB capture devices generally deliver a single track of 96 KHz sound which OBS separates into 2 channel 48KHz stereo. Multichannel 5.1 can be delivered to OBS via separate optical audio input (if your PC has that capability) from a HDMI Audio Extractor with optical output. In that case, you'd want to check the Video Capture Device settings "use custom audio device" box and select "Optical Audio Interface". HDMI Audio Extractors are also inexpensive, and have a HDMI pass through to plug a joining HDMI cable into your video capture device. HDMI Audio Extractors are switchable between "Pass", "2.0" and "5.1" HDMI throughput and simultaneous optical output.