Mic not working via Scarlett 2i2 within OBS

[Benochian]

Greetings, gurus and future friends!

I'm getting somewhat exasperated about not being to use my microphone within OBS.

I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and a Studio mic.
These work perfectly well in EVERY other software I use; chiefly my DAW's such as Cubase, Pro Tools, etc.

I have repeatedly followed the help videos on the Focusrite website and even tried other videos about similar issues on YouTube, but to no avail.

I can get desktop audio playing through and metering within OBS, but not my microphone.

Has anyone else had any similar issues similar to this?

Many thanks in advance for any sage advice!

All the best,
Ben


Windows 10 (latest update)
i7, 64GB RAM, SSD's
Cubase, Pro Tools, Ableton, Davinci Resolve user.

 

[Benochian]

Bump de bump.

Still seeking some help.

Thanks

 

[Suslik V]

It is unknown if this even possible in OBS. The ASIO is not compatible with the GPL licensing so it is not shipped with the OBS (but probably you can add it manually, see below).

All is known is some small workaround for older versions of OBS (like v28.x.x or so, and maybe it works OK for modern builds of OBS too), here it mentioned (in the end, all the links will point you to the ASIO plugin for OBS):

Recording from two XLR microphones

Hi everybody - I am trying to make a recording of classical guitar using two external microphones. I use two XLR dynamic mics connected to the Audio Interface Scarlett 2i2 which in turn connects to my computer via USB. I can't find the way to see in OBS Studio (on the Audio Mixer panel)...

obsproject.com

 

[Benochian]

It is unknown if this even possible in OBS. The ASIO is not compatible with the GPL licensing so it is not shipped with the OBS (but probably you can add it manually, see below).

All is known is some small workaround for older versions of OBS (like v28.x.x or so, and maybe it works OK for modern builds of OBS too), here it mentioned (in the end, all the links will point you to the ASIO plugin for OBS):

Recording from two XLR microphones

Hi everybody - I am trying to make a recording of classical guitar using two external microphones. I use two XLR dynamic mics connected to the Audio Interface Scarlett 2i2 which in turn connects to my computer via USB. I can't find the way to see in OBS Studio (on the Audio Mixer panel)...

obsproject.com

Thank you for your comment.

What's strange is that Focusrite believe it should be entirely possible, as per this video:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

But despite following it a few times, I cannot get it to work!
:-(

Honestly, I just want ONE input to work...which would be my microphone.
But not even that works.

 

[AaronD]

You might not be able to use an ASIO driver in OBS, but Windows should have its own that works. Does Audacity see it, just for testing?

Another thing that might be worth doing anyway for other reasons, is to do ALL of your audio processing in the DAW (which naturally solves the mic problem), and then pipe the finished soundtrack into OBS as its only audio source at all.

 

[Benochian]

You might not be able to use an ASIO driver in OBS, but Windows should have its own that works. Does Audacity see it, just for testing?

Another thing that might be worth doing anyway for other reasons, is to do ALL of your audio processing in the DAW (which naturally solves the mic problem), and then pipe the finished soundtrack into OBS as its only audio source at all.

Thanks for your thoughts, Aaron.

My interface and it's resident ASIO/WDM handle all that aspect, regardless of what I'm doing.

It's very odd because it all works perfectly in my multiple DAW's and video editing software (Cubase, Pro Tools, Resolve, etc)

I can also get the audio I want played to meter and play in OBS via VLC...which is what I'll be using for my live stream.

Yet, OBS simply won't see my microphone... despite me checking it in my other audio software.

As you can imagine, this is deeply frustrating.

I'm quite sure it's something fairly straightforward that I'm missing, but thus far it remains elusive!

But you raise a good point about using my DAW to do everything and then pumping that into OBS.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

 

[AaronD]

Thanks for your thoughts, Aaron.

My interface and it's resident ASIO/WDM handle all that aspect, regardless of what I'm doing.

It's very odd because it all works perfectly in my multiple DAW's and video editing software (Cubase, Pro Tools, Resolve, etc)

I can also get the audio I want played to meter and play in OBS via VLC...which is what I'll be using for my live stream.

Yet, OBS simply won't see my microphone... despite me checking it in my other audio software.

As you can imagine, this is deeply frustrating.

I'm quite sure it's something fairly straightforward that I'm missing, but thus far it remains elusive!

But you raise a good point about using my DAW to do everything and then pumping that into OBS.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

Yes, a bunch of DAW's see it. You said that earlier. But does *Audacity* see it? That uses both ASIO and Windows drivers, and I think you can force it to use Windows. Or if you can force a DAW to use the inferior Windows driver, that might suffice too, just for a test.

But if you move it all into a DAW anyway, then it's a moot point. And you'll get better processing and better quality too: any plugin that works in the DAW, and 32- or 64-bit floating-point samples, instead of 16-bit integer in OBS. 16-bit integer is fine for distribution, but not for processing!
The reason to use more bits for processing is to reduce the cumulative round-off error to where it makes no difference at all at the lesser-quality output. Thus, mathematically perfect as far as that output is capable of discerning. You can't do that when the processing bit depth is the same as the distribution bit depth, as it is in OBS.

The DAW (or a capable physical rig) also allows you to do a much better job of converting the "live" mentality that you kinda have to use for the raw mic (leave some headroom for the peaks to not clip) into a "broadcast" mentality (slam the meter, leave no headroom at all, but never go over because the errant peaks have all been tamed).

 

[Benochian]

Oh, I won't be doing any actual processing within the DAW itself as everything is already rendered so the processing aspects aren't strictly relevant.

Although, I appreciate what you're saying about the 64 bit processing being superior to the OBS abilities overall.

I literally wanted to just use my mic and playback some rendered .MP4 files via VLC...which, in theory, should be a very simple task.

A workaround of loading those files into the DAW to play and using an audio channel for my mic is fine by me...but still curious why I just can't get my mic to work within OBS.

But still, I'll be happy as long as I can stream and people can hear me, along with watching my renders.


Anywho, I'll test this all and see how I get on.

 

[Suslik V]

*A little remark about the bits and numbers.
OBS uses floating point numbers (up to 1.0) to describe all audio samples. The mentioned here "bitness" is defined by the "shared mode" of the device that was set by the user in the Windows (not by OBS itself).

 

[AaronD]

*A little remark about the bits and numbers.
OBS uses floating point numbers (up to 1.0) to describe all audio samples. The mentioned here "bitness" is defined by the "shared mode" of the device that was set by the user in the Windows (not by OBS itself).

That's good to know! Not so good though, that it clips at 1.0.

Or are you simply referring to that FP value corresponding to integer full-scale?
Or more accurately, the numeric value is the same, but all of the "integer" bits are actually fractional - (-1), (+1/2), (+1/4), (+1/8), etc. - so that the largest representable "integer" is actually 0.999... Interpreting "integer" audio as actual integers is therefore a mistake.

 

[Suslik V]

after processing output is clamped to 1.0 and 0.0 with this: https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/pull/6518 and other code (useful to resolve some errors in AAC FFmpeg encoder).

Single precision (binary32, 32-bits, IEEE 754) is in use.

System will use this 1.0 value = 0.0 dB attenuation (in other words, max "loudness" for speakers). ---> better to avoid this interpretation.
The smallest step (that will physically move the speaker's diaphragm) is depending on "bitness" of your sound card and system settings (the mentioned "shared mode" for the device).