Why Can’t I Hear Audio When OBS Is Open? Solved

OBS, also known as Open Broadcast Software, is used for screencasting, broadcasting, and streaming. OBS is an open-source application available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is considered best for video recording or gameplay recording. You can also record your screen, including your webcam video overlay. 

Recently, many users have claimed that they can’t hear audio when OBS is open. It means you can’t hear any sound from your speakers whenever the OBS is opened. Here we will discuss all the potential causes and how you can resolve this issue with a step-by-step guide. So, let’s dive into the topic!

Why Can’t I Hear Audio When OBS Is Open? 

If you are using more than one output device, have installed multiple audio drivers like Realtek and NVIDIA, are using the audio monitoring feature, or your default audio is not selected, then OBS will detect more than one device and, as a result, your PC won’t be able to play any sound.

Audio Monitoring: This feature allows you to use headphones to listen to your audio while recording. This feature could cause hurdles between the input and output devices and may disable the sound of all other devices.

More than One Output Device: If you are using more than one output device like speakers, headphones, or Bluetooth speakers, then you might have to use only one device.

Administrative Permissions: OBS requires administrative power to control many features, including audio devices. If its unable to get permission, it is more likely to restrict many functions, including audio from other devices.

Bluetooth Interference: Some Bluetooth devices can be connected to more than one place. It can cause interference and may disable the sound from your devices.

Turn Off Audio Monitoring

The audio monitoring feature allows you to hear your audio while recording. If audio monitoring is turned on, then it might disable all other devices to interfere with the audio. It may result in no sound or low-quality audio. You can access the Audio Monitoring option by going to OBS Settings.

• Launch OBS and go to “Settings,” selecting from the “Control” panel in the lower right corner.
• Go to the “Audio” section and scroll down to the “Advanced” options. 

• Here you will find the “Monitoring Device” settings. Tick on “Disable Window audio ducking.”

You can also select another device than your connected headphone for monitoring. This option forces the output sound just to go through the selected device and disables all other sounds.

Disable Other Global Audio Devices

OBS has a feature that has two desktops and four auxiliary or microphone devices at the same time. This feature makes it easy to broadcast or screen share with your friends. It also enables you to connect studio microphones and headphones at the same time. 

The global audio devices feature interferes with the audio from other devices. It could lead to no sound from your speakers or headphones. You can disable all global audio devices in OBS to see whether the issue is resolved. Here’s how to disable it,

• Open OBS and go to Settings. 
• Navigate to “Audio” and then scroll down to “Global Audio Devices.”

• Now disable all options except “Desktop Audio” and “Mic/Auxiliary audio.”

All other audio devices won’t be able to produce sound if all the audio is enabled or if only one device is chosen in each available option. Therefore, you should never use more than one device as the output device and turn off the rest. It will surely resolve the issue.

Select The Right Device

How do you identify which one is your audio device to select the right one in OBS to avoid this audio restriction issue? To determine your windows default device, you have to go to windows audio settings. Let’s first find the default device,

• Right-click on the “Speaker icon” on the Windows taskbar and then click on “Sound” to access sound settings. 
• Here go to the “Playback” devices tab and look for the device with a green tick on it. This device is your default audio device. Note the name of the device. 

• Now open OBS and go to “Settings,” then go to “Audio” settings. 
• Select the global audio device, which one is the default device. 

Change Stereo to Mono

Stereo and mono are two types of audio channels. Mono has a single channel, while stereo audio has two separate channels for input and output. Stereo sound is usually preferred over the mono sound. That is why the default audio is set to stereo in OBS Studio. 

But this could be the root of your No Audio issue. If you are using a mono speaker and the settings in OBS are set to stereo, then it might disable all output devices and restrict audio coming from all other Windows programs. Here’s how you can disable your audio,

• Open OBS settings and go to “Audio” from the left option bar. 

• Here, in “General”, for audio options, look for “Channels” and switch Stereo to Mono. 

Run OBS as Administrator

Like many other applications, OBS requires administrative resources to collaborate with system applications and programs. If you don’t allow these resources, OBS will not be able to access the Windows audio devices and may restrict them. So, when you open OBS, other apps’ audio will stop.

• Right-click on OBS studio’s icon and select “Run as administrator.”

Disable Desktop Bluetooth 

You need to disable Bluetooth on the desktop device. A Bluetooth connection is used to connect devices such as headphones, speakers, and other audio output devices wirelessly. And when a Bluetooth device is connected, every audio output is directed to the Bluetooth device.

So if you are using a Bluetooth-enabled speaker or headphones with OBS, you need to turn off the Bluetooth device before running OBS. It will ensure that all sound output is directed through OBS and that other audio will not be restricted.

Conclusion

If you are facing the issue where OBS restrains audio from other programs, this guide will help you resolve the issue. This article will show you how to disable all global audio devices, select the right device as your default audio, change stereo to mono and run OBS as administrator. All of these methods should help you resolve the issue.