Question / Help White noise on OBS only.

[Gustaf789]

Hello everyone.

I have searched the foruns for it but could not find a solution.

The problem is, whenever I try streaming or recording, there is an anoying white noise being captured by my microphone.
This noise is either not present or actually really low on any other application like steam, skype, audacity or even on windows' "listen to self" function.

On OBS, the noise is quite loud and anoying.
Here is a video so you guys can listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJMxcKqr8jg

My OBS audio config:

Desktop Boost: 1
Mic/Aux Boost: 1
Mic Sync Offset: 0

Audio encoding config:

Codec: AAC
Format: 48Khz
Bitrate: 320
Channel: Stereo

I have played around with the settings but it made no difference.
I don't think the problem would be the microphone as it sounds fine anywhere else.
Noise gate is not really a solution because everytime I speak the loud noise will be recorded.

Thanks in advance.

 

[FerretBomb]

OBS uses the raw audio provided by the microphone. Skype and other programs use noise reduction methods that OBS does not, as OBS is expected to be a production tool. So it doesn't mess with the signal you hand it, expecting clean audio. Yes, the problem is the mic.

You can use the Mic DSP Plugin if you need to:
https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/microphone-dsp-plugin.21034/

Mic audio will show up on the System graph due to how it works, but mute/unmute will still work on the mic channel.

Also, you ABSOLUTELY do NOT need 320kbps AAC audio. That's a massive waste of bitrate. Even 160kbps is overkill, and 128 vs 96 is the breakpoint where people MIGHT hear a difference. 320 was needed for MP3 as it was a much worse codec than AAC.

 

[Cryonic]

Yep, the microphone is the problem. You can route that through Audacity or other plugins/standalone solutions and then corrent the additional latency in OBS, this will give you all kinds of filters and effects to clean up the audio. But remember, thats only a little bit of help, it cant make gold out of shitty audio quality coming in.
This is the reason why most streamers go with the pretty expensive and bulky condenser microphone option sooner or later.

Bitrate: 128kbps is the "standard" bitrate for many things. Like spotify (non-premium), most online radio stations and all kinds of live content. AAC is pretty good at this bitrate. You CAN hear the difference between the 128kbps and 320kbps AAC, but in a clean environment, with a single (well known to you) audio source like your fav. song. On stream where you have multiple audio sources, it is impossible to tell the difference.

I used to crank it up to 320kbps for my DJ streams and it was needed, but until you start doing creative music/audio based streams (and you can make sure that all your audio material like songs have the needed bitrate), its a waste and additional load for the viewer that he has to squeeze into his connection (and it is sometimes pretty bad).

I´m all in for max. video quality, but audio - you dont notice it^^

 

[Gustaf789]

Thank you guys for sharing the knowledge!

The plugin worked as a miracle, there is absolutely no more white noise to be heard!!!
I've reduced the bitrate to 128 aswell!

Thanks again guys!!! :)

 

[Takia]

I'm having this same white noise issue. I'll try the plug in. However, what's causing the constant audio looping?