Streamers may find it challenging to figure out a proper audio setup with multiple sources and devices. In this guide, we showcase some of the most common troubleshooting steps to fix potential audio issues with Sound Alerts.
What can I do in case of Audio Issues with Sound Alerts?
Audio issues with Sound Alerts in your stream can happen because of two main reasons:
- Issues with your Windows/Mac audio settings or device management
- Issues with your OBS/Streamlabs Desktop audio settings
This guide will mainly focus on fixes for OBS, but you can apply most of these steps to Streamlabs Desktop (the settings might just be named differently). Our dedicated video guide below is a good starting point for your troubleshooting journey.
Please note that even working audio setups can also be affected by OBS or Windows updates that change some of your setup settings.
About Audio Monitoring
To get into the specifics of your setup, you will need to open your advanced audio properties in OBS by clicking the gear icon in your audio mixer. A new window will open, showing you all the details about all your audio sources — even the ones you may not have selected "control audio" for. This window offers you a lot of settings, but the important part is the "Audio Monitoring" dropdown. Here, you have the option to set one of three different options for any audio source:
- Monitor Off — Meaning no sound will be sent to your Monitoring Device, but your stream (also known as the Output) will hear it.
- Monitor Only (mute Output) — The opposite of 1., meaning no sound will be sent to your stream, but you will hear the audio on your Monitoring Device.
- Monitor and Output — The option to choose if you want it all, meaning you and your stream will hear the audio source.
This is where the magic happens — often, when you can hear your alerts, but your stream cannot, the "Output" is disabled in these settings. Depending on your exact setup, especially when you only have one audio device, your stream may be able to hear everything you hear, including what is meant only for your monitoring ears. Still, when this changes, things can go awry. For example, you may have switched from sharing your Desktop Audio to capturing only specific apps, meaning your alerts are no longer indirectly captured through the Monitoring setting.
These settings generally only make sense if you have a separate Audio Output Device — speakers and headphones, for example. You can then check your Monitoring Device in the settings to monitor any audio sources you wish without sending them to your stream already. Especially if you are utilizing Studio Mode, you can then prepare a full new scene ahead of time, without spoiling your stream anything you are preparing.
My Viewers/Stream can not hear my Alerts — what can I do?
This means none of your Audio Sources that "hears" your Alerts is set to Output in the Advanced Audio Properties. Usually, you will want to have the Sound Alerts browser Source set to Output directly — this way, your Stream is guaranteed to hear it. If they still do not, ensure you did not accidentally Mute the Audio Source. For example: If set up as below, your stream can hear the alerts, but you cannot! The Monitor is off, but the Output is on.
I can not hear my Alerts, but my Viewers/Stream can — what can I do?
In most cases, this will be due to your Sound Alerts browser source's audio not being transmitted to you. To rule out the Monitoring Settings, check which of the three settings it is set to — if the Monitor is enabled, you should check that your Monitoring Device is correctly set. Change the device to something else and back before restarting your streaming tool to make sure the changes are remembered correctly! If you do not intend to use a Monitoring Device, you may want to set the Monitoring Device to your default "Desktop Audio" and turn off the Output of the sound source. In that case, you need to make sure you have set that "Desktop Audio" as being Output to your stream, though, otherwise your audience will not hear it! An example: The same device is set for monitoring that is also being sent to the stream — so even when the Output in the Advanced Audio Properties is "off", you and your stream can hear it. (This can cause "duplicate" or "echo" sounds and is thus not recommended.)
My Alerts are echoing — what can I do?
If you can hear your alerts twice or even more times, you can follow these steps:
- Make sure that Sound Alerts is not active in multiple scenes simultaneously. If you copy the Sound Alerts browser source into multiple scenes, use the "Paste (reference)" method instead of creating a copy.
- Close your Sound Alerts browser source in other tools like your web browser.
My Alerts do not sound right — what can I do?
If your alerts are distorted, include crackling noises or sound choppy, you can try these steps to prevent that from happening:
- Ensure that your streaming device has enough resources for OBS by closing other resource-heavy tools or upgrading your hardware.
- Refresh and re-implement your browser source via the Sound Alerts Dashboard and OBS.
- Switch off the "Control Audio via OBS" setting.
- Close OBS and open it again.
- Disable other external audio software on your streaming device.
- Change your audio sample rate and encoder settings in OBS.
How can I change the Volume of my Alerts?
There are multiple ways to change the sound volume of your alerts:
- Visit the Dashboard settings and change the global browser source volume.
- Visit your alert settings and change the volume of individual alerts.
- Adjust the volume of the browser source via your OBS audio mixer (usually located in the bottom right of OBS if you enabled the "Control Audio via OBS" setting).
