Question / Help Windows 10 Master Volume Audio Question/Issue?

[Marche]

hey guys got an OBS audio issue driving me crazy rn, hopefully som1 here can shed some light for me.

I just reformatted my PC from win7 to win10, using OBS studio with same exact profile settings and hardware as before. Basically issue im having is now on win10 my desktop audio seems to be downstream from the windows master audio. Meaning when I adjust my windows master audio it affects my OBS desktop audio, which completely defeats the purpose of the OBS audio slider. Is there any way to make the two separate from eachother? This was never how it worked when I used obs studio on win7, I could adjust my windows master audio or even mute it all I wanted and it wouldnt affect OBS desktop audio output at all.

Upon reading the OBS mixer wiki it says -

"Your Operating System (Windows, macOS, Linux, etc) also has its own volume sliders and mixer
1) Note that some devices may have a 'safe zone' that is well below the 100% mark.

• In Windows for example, Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Sound, under the Recording tab, select the device in question (like your mic) and click Properties. In the Levels tab, right click the % value and choose 'decibels'. You want this to be at (or around) 0.0dB for the least amount of clipping. It will retain the setting when you switch back to 'percent'.
  2) Your system's primary volume slider does not affect the volume of the sound that OBS hears
  3) Individual application volume sliders do affect the volume of the sound that OBS hears"

Number 2 is consistent with how my mixer USED to work but ever since switching to window 10 this is no longer the case. Additionally if I completely mute my windows master audio, OBS then goes and MAXES out the desktop audio potentially blasting sound to my stream or recording. Anyone else find a fix for this??

PLEASE HELP!

 

[Sukiyucky]

I always baseline my audio system and then control on a per application basis. There are various audio levels of control:

Physical Hardware Level
These are your studio monitors/speakers, headphones, mics, mixer. Most have volume/gain sliders/dials.

Operating System Level
In Windows Sound panel, set each playback and recording audio device volume levels to 99 and don't touch again.

OBS Capture Level
Leave mixer settings at 0.0db (unity) and don't touch. Let OBS clip above 0.0db for your recordings and streams.

Application Level
Each application lets you control it's various audio settings. Just leave the master volume at the highest gain/volume setting.

Windows Volume Mixer
This is the trick assuming you have base lined every level described above.

Volume mixer lets you control all application volume/gain in one central location. For convenience, I have this running along side OBS on a secondary monitor. Get at it in Windows 10 by right clicking on the volume icon in the Windows task bar. Then choose Open Volume mixer. When Windows applications connect/disconnect using the sound API, they will appear/disappear in the volume mixer.

Set the gain/volume on a per application basis. Their volume levels will be remembered the next time you launch the application.

For example, the attached image shows that I leave OBS, Focusrite Audio Interface, and Fortnite at 100%. YouTube via Chrome and Windows Media Player around 20% (their playback sliders are set to 100%). Applications that I don't want introducing audio into recordings/streams are muted. System Sounds around 10%.