How to route audio when using OBS Virtual Camera

Why OBS Virtual Camera has no audio

OBS Virtual Camera carries video only. When you choose it as your camera in a video-call app, the app gets the picture from OBS but no sound. Silence from the virtual camera is expected behavior, not a fault. Audio has to reach the call app through a separate microphone selection.

You can do this in one of two ways, and the right one depends on what your listeners need to hear:

• Only your voice: select your real microphone directly in the call app. Nothing has to pass through OBS.
• Audio processed or mixed in OBS, such as microphone filters, music, video clips or sound effects: send OBS audio to a virtual audio device, then select that device as the microphone in the call app.

Option 1: Use your microphone directly in the call app

This is the simplest route, and it is enough if you only use OBS for the picture.

• 1. Start the virtual camera in OBS.
• 2. In the call app's audio and video settings, set the camera to OBS Virtual Camera.
• 3. In the same settings, set the microphone to your physical mic rather than a generic default entry, so you know which device is in use.
• 4. If the call runs in a web browser, allow microphone access when the browser asks. If you denied it earlier, re-enable it in the site permissions.

How to check it worked: the call app's microphone level indicator should move when you speak. That only proves the app is receiving input. To confirm that people can understand you, use the app's built-in test call or recording feature, or ask someone on a call to confirm.

Option 2: Route OBS audio through a virtual audio device

A virtual audio device, often called a virtual audio cable, is a software sound device with two ends. One end is a playback device that programs can send sound to. The other end is a recording device that other programs can select as a microphone. OBS sends its audio into the playback end, and the call app listens on the recording end.

Prerequisites

• A virtual audio driver for your operating system. Examples include VB-Audio Virtual Cable on Windows and BlackHole on macOS. On Linux, PipeWire or PulseAudio can create a virtual sink. Follow the installer's instructions; some drivers require a restart.
• The audio sources you want to send, already added to your OBS scene and showing activity in the OBS Audio Mixer.
• Knowledge of which side of the virtual device is playback and which is recording. Names vary by driver. For example, one product may label them as input and output from the driver's own point of view.

Steps

• 1. In OBS, open Settings, then Audio. Under the advanced section, set the Monitoring Device to the playback side of your virtual audio device.
• 2. In the OBS Audio Mixer, open Advanced Audio Properties.
• 3. For each source you want callers to hear, set Audio Monitoring to Monitor and Output. Use Monitor Only if you do not need that source in OBS recordings or streams.
• 4. Leave monitoring off for any source you do not want sent to the call.
• 5. Close and reopen the call app or browser so it detects the new device.
• 6. In the call app, set the microphone to the recording side of the virtual audio device.
• 7. Set the camera to OBS Virtual Camera as usual.

How to check each stage

Check the chain in order. That way, if sound stops somewhere, you can see exactly where.

• OBS: the meters for the monitored sources move in the Audio Mixer.
• Operating system: in the sound settings, the recording side of the virtual device shows activity when OBS plays audio.
• Call app: the microphone level indicator moves when you speak or when OBS plays a sound.
• Listener: a test recording or another participant confirms the audio is clear, not distorted, delayed or cut off.

These checks show that audio travels from OBS to the call app and sounds right in a test. They do not cover the live connection. Network conditions during a real call and the listener's speakers or headphones can still affect what they hear.

Side effects to expect with virtual audio routing

• You may stop hearing OBS yourself. OBS monitoring now goes to the virtual device instead of your headphones. You can still watch the OBS meters to confirm activity.
• Echo or feedback can occur if the call's own audio gets back into the monitored mix. For example, a desktop audio source may pick up the other participants and send their voices back to them. To avoid this, leave monitoring off for desktop audio. Where your OBS version offers it, capture audio from specific applications instead of the whole desktop.
• The call app's noise suppression may treat music or sound effects as noise and reduce them. If that happens, look for an option in the call app to lower or turn off noise suppression, or to preserve original sound.
• Audio and video may drift out of sync because they reach the call app by separate paths. If your speech and lip movements don't match, adjust the Sync Offset for the affected source in Advanced Audio Properties, then test again.

If there is still no sound

• The device is missing from the call app: restart the app or browser. Restart the computer if the driver required it.
• The browser call is silent: check that the site has microphone permission and that the virtual device, not a default entry, is selected in the browser's or site's settings.
• OBS meters move but the call app shows nothing: check that the OBS Monitoring Device and the call app's microphone are the two matching sides of the same virtual device.
• Monitoring is set but one source is silent: confirm that source is set to Monitor and Output or Monitor Only, and that it isn't muted in the OBS mixer.
• Sound crackles or distorts: make sure the sample rate in OBS audio settings matches the virtual device's format in your operating system's sound settings, then test again.

About input levels

No verified level targets or thresholds were available for this setup, so this guide does not give specific numbers. Use the stage-by-stage checks above. Aim for meters that move clearly when you speak without staying at the top of the scale, and rely on a test recording or a listener to judge whether the result is clear.