OBS Studio is a highly popular app content creators use to live stream video and audio. The app is open-source and is free to use, which is one of the reasons it’s so popular amongst live streamers.
Does OBS record audio?
OBS has great audio recording capabilities and makes the process very straightforward. However, when you capture audio in OBS, it is outputted as a video file with a black screen, so you would need to extract the audio then using another program if you wanted a sound-only recording.
Recording audio in OBS requires you to follow a series of simple steps. It’s a great feature for those who want to save their streamed content so that it can be uploaded to an audio-only platform or added to another video file.
We’ll explore the topic of recording audio in OBS throughout this guide, along with some other important related subjects.
Does OBS Save Video and Audio Separately?
OBS is an excellent tool for content creators. It allows you to adjust specific settings related to streams and broadcasts and also facilitates recording your content so that it can be saved and uploaded retrospectively.
OBS users may want to save only the audio content from a stream so that it can be turned into a podcast or perhaps added to other footage. They also may want to save only the video from turning this into content with alternative audio.
Unfortunately, one of the only flaws of OBS is that it isn’t capable of saving video and audio files separately from one another.
You can either export the video and audio together or capture only audio with OBS, which will result in a video with a black screen being exported.
This means that if you want to have the audio and video files saved separately, you will need to use a converter to do this. There are many capable video and audio converters available for free that will be able to achieve this for you.
Most video editing software, like Adobe Premier Pro, allows you to separate the audio from the video and save the two separately onto your computer. However, OBS is mainly designed for streaming which usually consists of audio and video, so it doesn’t automatically save them separately.
Instead, the audio information is included in the video file you save. When you save audio on its own, it will be in a format such as WAV, mp3, or FLAC. Videos are most likely to be MP4, AVI, or MOV files.
If you need to save the audio and video tracks independently when using OBS, I’d recommend searching for a good converter that will allow you to do this or investing in some video editing software capable of separating the sound and visual aspects of the content.
Personally, I use handbrake for this as it’s free and easy (a bit like me lol)
Check out this YouTube video that shows how to convert files with Handbrake.
Where Does OBS Save Audio Tracks?
When you’ve used OBS to record content, you’ll naturally want to save it somewhere so that you can access it later. Perhaps you want to upload it to an online platform, or you want to edit it to create more content.
It’s important to know where OBS is saving your audio files – and your video files, for that matter. If you haven’t changed any of the settings in OBS related to exports and file saves, then the audio tracks will be saved in the default location.
The default location where OBS saves audio and video recordings will be set to the “Video” file, which is located in your computer’s main documents. To find this folder, simply search “Video” in your computer’s system search bar.
Another easy way to find all of the recordings that you’ve made in OBS is by opening the software, clicking on the file menu, then choosing “Show Recordings”. This will automatically open the folder that your recordings are located in, booth audio and video so that you can open or move them.
If you’d like to change the directory folder that your audio tracks are saved in, you can do this by opening the Settings menu. Then, you need to click on the “Output” tab, which will allow you to set a custom location for the recordings to be saved into.
Audio and video tracks aren’t captured separately in OBS, so there’s no need to try and set different locations for the two file types. If you want audio only, you’ll need to use additional software to extract the audio from the video files, then, you can put those files into a separate folder if you wish.
What Are The Best Settings for OBS Recordings?
To ensure that you get the best recordings and streams when using OBS, it’s important to adjust the settings to suit the type of content you’re making. OBS comes with a variety of basic and advanced settings, which significantly alter the way your audio and video recordings will be made.
Firstly, if you’re recording or streaming videos, the settings can be adjusted by going to the “Output” menu, then changing the “Output Mode” to the “Advanced” option. This will allow you to adjust the various aspects of the video output settings.
Once you’ve changed this setting, you can then go to the “Recording” menu, which will present you with various different options. For the type, select the standard option, and then you can choose your own recording path so that the video files you record on OBS will go to a specific folder that is easy for you to find.
The recording format should be set for MP4 if you want to capture video and audio content from your streams, as this is a high-quality format. You can also manually select your graphics card from the menu if you think it is a better option than the default one provided in OBS.
Your rate control should preferably be set to CBR. Then, you can set the bitrate to suit your computer. For high-end computers, use 40000, and for less capable computers, you can choose 25000 to ensure that OBS runs smoothly on your device.
Now that you’ve established the best possible settings for capturing video with OBS, you can move on to setting up the audio. To do this, go to the output menu again, and clock the audio tab at the top of the page.
You’ll then be presented with six tracks, each of which has an audio bitrate and a space for you to name them individually. The bitrate of the tracks you’re using should be set to 320.
Next, go down to the “Audio” tab from the settings menu, which will open up a new page of adjustable settings. Here, you can select the microphone that you want to record with.
How to Record Audio Without OBS for Streaming
Streamlabs is the most popular alternative for streamers who don’t want to use OBS. The two programs are pretty evenly matched, but some people prefer the simplicity of Streamlabs, while others enjoy the more advanced capabilities of OBS.
If you’re a Twitch user, you can also record your streams using Twitch Studio. This program provides the option for recording your entire live stream onto your computer. Like OBS, it allows you to adjust various settings to get the best quality audio and video when capturing your streams.
Another program that is commonly used by Twitch streamers to record audio and video is XSplit. Although it’s not as popular as OBS, XSplit does make it easy to capture your content directly onto your computer or a hard drive.
Related Questions
What is OBS audio output capture?
The Audio Input/Output Capture feature on OBS is used to manually add a device that records or outputs audio. For example, you can use this to add your microphone to OBS or to add a gaming headset.
Can you use Airpods as a mic on OBS?
The inbuilt microphone on AirPods is likely to cause some noise issues if you use it for streaming on OBS. However, in theory, AirPods can be used with OBS, but they won’t perform as well as specifically designed headsets.
Is OBS completely free?
OBS is open-source software, and it is supported by sponsors and investors. This means that the program is available totally free of charge, which is a rarity in the tech world. OBS is free for Mac, Windows, and Linux users, which is one of the reasons it’s so popular. You can download it from here.
