Duck Music in OBS When Discord Friends Speak

This guide explains how to automatically lower your stream’s background music whenever your friends talk on Discord using OBS Studio. By configuring the Compressor filter’s sidechaining feature, you can ensure that team communication remains clear and audible over your gameplay music without manual volume adjustments.

Step 1: Separate Your Audio Sources in OBS

For sidechaining to work, OBS must recognize Discord and your music player as separate audio sources.

1. Open OBS Studio.
2. In the Sources dock, click the + icon and select Application Audio Capture.
3. Name this source Discord and select the Discord executable from the window dropdown.
4. Create a second Application Audio Capture source for your music (e.g., Spotify or web browser) and name it Music.

Step 2: Add a Compressor Filter to the Music Source

The compressor filter will handle the volume reduction (ducking) of your music.

1. Go to the Audio Mixer dock in OBS.
2. Click the three vertical dots next to your Music source and select Filters.
3. Click the + icon in the bottom-left corner of the Filters window.
4. Select Compressor, name it “Ducking”, and click OK.

Step 3: Configure the Sidechain/Ducking Source

This step links the volume of your music to the incoming audio from Discord.

1. In the Compressor filter settings, locate the Sidechain/Ducking Source dropdown menu at the bottom.
2. Click the dropdown and select Discord (the source you created in Step 1).

Step 4: Fine-Tune the Compressor Settings

To make the music volume drop and recover smoothly when your friends speak, adjust the compressor sliders to the following recommended settings:

• Ratio: Set this between 3:1 and 5:1. A higher ratio means the music will quiet down more when someone speaks.
• Threshold: Set this between -30 dB and -45 dB. This controls how loud your friends need to speak to trigger the music drop. Lower the threshold (move it further to the left) if the music isn’t dropping when they speak.
• Attack Time: Set this between 50 ms and 100 ms. This determines how fast the music volume drops when a voice is detected.
• Release Time: Set this between 600 ms and 1000 ms. This controls how long the music takes to fade back up to its normal volume after your friends stop talking. A longer release time prevents the music from bouncing up and down during natural pauses in conversation.
• Output Gain: Leave this at 0 dB.