Question / Help Will this External Sound Card work well with OBS?

Boom123

Member
Hello,
I am thinking of getting an external sound card (something like the Creative Sound BlasterX G5), just want to make sure that it will work without any trouble with OBS Studio since it is external.

Will there also be any latency? I am planning to use USB 3.0.

Thank you
 

Boom123

Member
Thank you for your reply. So will having an external sound card also make a difference for the audio in the OBS recordings (i.e. better audio in the mp4 files), or it's only benefit is just for what I hear through the speakers?
 

pkv

Developer
this much depends on your external sound card; if it's a cheap 10 bucks usb device with low quality dac/adc, i doubt it will be any improvement w/ regards to integrated audio. As it is, your question is really vague; do you want to improve mike capture ? audio input or audio output ? If you want to get serious with mike capture, a dedicated sound device is better in general (whether usb, pci-e, firewire ...).
 

Boom123

Member
hello @pkv , ok I'll try explaining a bit more in detail. I was thinking of getting something like the Creative Sound BlasterX G5. I'm not using a mic, and I don't stream, I just do local recordings of gameplay. So no mics need to be involved, just looking to get the most out of in-game audio (the Touhou games have beautiful soundtracks and they're what I play all the time) and also for general music listening on the pc. I don't have any problems with my current setup using on-board audio, but been wondering lately if a sound card will make everything sound nicer, just to get the most out of my system. I just upgraded from a pair of crappy Logitech Z130's to the Harman/Kardon Soundsticks III and am quite happy with the result, which opened the door to me thinking if I could make my audio experience even better.

I read a lot of mixed opinions on sound cards making audio sound better, some say it's a placebo effect, others swear by them, so I thought I'd give on a shot, music is beautiful after all, but just wanted to know if:
1. it will work fine with OBS. I don't have any issues with my current setup and everything is recording nicely, so I just wanted to make sure there won't be any incompatibility issues or audio latency/de-syncing?
2. if my OBS local recordings will also benefit from the sound card (i.e. the improvements I hear over audio will also be recorded, or is the benefit just for what I am hearing at that time through my speakers)?

Thanks for any advice.
 

Boom123

Member
Thank you for your reply. Anyone know if the difference from a sound card will also be reflected in the recordings, or is it just for what I hear at that time?
 

carlmmii

Active Member
Only what you hear, unless you're actively changing the soundscape in the windows layer (i.e. virtual surround or discrete surround, EQ adjustments, etc).

If it exists within windows, that's what OBS will capture. Once it makes the transition from windows layer to the hardware layer of the sound card, it's entirely personal experience.
 
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