Capture Console Party Chat in OBS Studio

Capturing your console’s party chat while streaming or recording with OBS Studio can be challenging due to how PlayStation and Xbox route voice audio. This guide provides direct, step-by-step methods to seamlessly capture your friends’ voices alongside your gameplay, using hardware adapters, built-in system settings, or Discord integration.

Method 1: The Xbox “Headset & Speakers” Setting (Easiest for Xbox)

Xbox makes capturing party chat simple because the console allows you to route chat audio to two destinations simultaneously. This sends the party audio through your HDMI cable directly into your capture card and OBS.

  1. Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
  2. Navigate to Profile & system > Settings > General > Volume & audio output.
  3. Select Additional options.
  4. Change the Party chat output setting to Headset & speakers.
  5. In OBS Studio, your capture card’s audio source will now automatically receive both game sound and your party’s voices.

PlayStation consoles disable party chat audio over HDMI as soon as a headset is plugged into the controller. To bypass this restriction, you need a hardware solution like the Elgato Chat Link (or Chat Link Pro) cable.

  1. Connect the male jack of the Chat Link cable into your PlayStation controller.
  2. Plug your analog gaming headset into the female jack of the Chat Link cable.
  3. Plug the remaining long male jack of the Chat Link cable into the Line In port of your PC or your capture card (e.g., Elgato HD60 S+/X).
  4. Change your capture card settings: Open your capture card’s utility software (like Elgato 4K Capture Utility) and change the Audio Input from HDMI Audio to Analog Audio.
  5. In OBS, the audio coming from your capture card source will now include both your game audio and your party chat.

Method 3: Use Discord (Universal Solution)

Both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S support native Discord integration. By routing your party chat through Discord instead of console-specific party chats, you can capture audio directly on your streaming PC.

  1. Set up a Discord voice channel and have your friends join it.
  2. Your friends can join the Discord channel directly from their PlayStation or Xbox consoles.
  3. On your streaming PC, open the Discord desktop app and join the same channel.
  4. In OBS Studio, add an Application Audio Capture (BETA) source and set the window target to Discord.exe.
  5. This captures your friends’ voices perfectly in OBS while you listen to them through your PC headset.

Method 4: The PlayStation App on PC (Alternative PS4/PS5)

If you are on PlayStation and do not want to buy a Chat Link cable, you can use the official PS App on your PC.

  1. Download and install an Android emulator (like BlueStacks) on your streaming PC.
  2. Install the PlayStation App inside the emulator and log in with your PSN account.
  3. Join your friends’ PlayStation party chat from the emulator on your PC.
  4. In OBS Studio, add an Application Audio Capture or Window Capture source targeting the emulator to pull the party chat audio directly into your stream mix.