Fix USB Capture Card Audio Delay in OBS Studio

Experiencing a desync between your gameplay and audio can ruin the quality of your stream or recording. This guide provides direct, step-by-step solutions to fix audio delay issues when using a USB capture card in OBS Studio, covering sync offset adjustments, custom audio configurations, and system sample rate alignment.

Method 1: Adjust the Audio Sync Offset

The most common way to fix a delay is to manually offset the audio in OBS Studio so it perfectly matches the video feed.

  1. Locate the Audio Mixer dock in OBS Studio.
  2. Click the gear icon (three vertical dots in newer versions) next to your capture card’s audio source or your desktop audio.
  3. Select Advanced Audio Properties.
  4. Find your capture card’s audio source in the list.
  5. Locate the Sync Offset (ms) column.
  6. Enter a value in milliseconds to sync the audio with the video:
    • If the audio is ahead of the video, enter a positive value (e.g., 200 to delay the audio by 200 milliseconds).
    • If the audio is behind the video, you will need to add a positive sync offset to your webcam and microphone sources instead, delaying them to match the capture card’s lag.

Method 2: Use a Custom Audio Device for the Capture Card

Directly binding the audio feed to the video capture source in OBS often resolves hardware-level desync.

  1. Double-click your capture card source under the Sources dock to open its Properties.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the properties window.
  3. Check the box labeled Use custom audio device.
  4. In the Audio Device dropdown menu that appears, select your USB capture card’s audio input (often labeled as “HDMI” or the name of your capture card).
  5. Click OK.

Method 3: Align Windows and OBS Sample Rates

Mismatching sample rates between your operating system and OBS can cause audio drifting over time.

  1. In OBS, go to Settings > Audio.
  2. Check the Sample Rate (typically set to either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz).
  3. In Windows, right-click the speaker icon in your system tray and select Sound settings > More sound settings (or Sound Control Panel).
  4. Under both the Playback and Recording tabs, double-click your default device and your capture card.
  5. Go to the Advanced tab for each device and ensure the default format matches the sample rate set in OBS (e.g., “2 channel, 16 bit, 48000 Hz”).

Method 4: Disable USB Power Saving

Windows can sometimes throttle USB ports to save power, which introduces latency to external capture cards.

  1. Open the Windows Start menu, type Device Manager, and open it.
  2. Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section.
  3. Right-click your USB root hubs and select Properties.
  4. Go to the Power Management tab.
  5. Uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power and click OK.