Monitor OBS Studio Audio Without Broadcasting It

In OBS Studio, monitoring your audio allows you to listen to your audio sources in real-time to ensure your levels are correct. However, configuring this incorrectly can cause your stream to hear a distracting double-audio echo or broadcast audio that you wanted to keep private. This guide will show you how to configure your OBS audio settings so you can monitor your audio sources privately without broadcasting that monitored audio to your live stream.

Step 1: Set Your Dedicated Monitoring Device

To prevent monitored audio from looping back into your stream, you must output it to a device that OBS is not capturing as an input.

1. Open OBS Studio and click Settings in the bottom-right corner.
2. Select the Audio tab from the left-hand menu.
3. Scroll down to the Advanced section.
4. Next to Monitoring Device, select your headphones or audio interface.
5. Click Apply and then OK.

Note: Avoid selecting “Default” or your main desktop speakers. Using headphones is highly recommended to prevent your microphone from picking up the monitored sound.

Step 2: Configure Advanced Audio Properties

Once your monitoring device is set, you need to tell OBS which specific audio sources you want to hear.

1. In the main OBS window, locate the Audio Mixer dock.
2. Click the three dots (or gear icon) next to any of your audio sources and select Advanced Audio Properties.
3. Locate the audio source you want to monitor.
4. Under the Audio Monitoring column, click the dropdown menu and select one of the following:
   • Monitor Only (mute output): This allows you to hear the audio source in your headphones, but it is completely muted for your stream/recording.
   • Monitor and Output: Both you and your audience will hear this audio source.
   • Monitor Off: Only your audience will hear the audio source; you will not hear it.

Step 3: Prevent Feedback and Echo (The “Double Audio” Fix)

If you chose Monitor and Output in the step above, OBS will send that audio to your headphones. If your OBS is also capturing your “Desktop Audio” (which includes your headphones), your stream will hear the audio twice.

To prevent this:

• Use Application Audio Capture: Instead of capturing your entire “Desktop Audio” globally, add individual Application Audio Capture sources (such as your game or Discord) directly into your scenes. This ensures OBS only captures the specific apps you want, bypassing the global monitoring channel.
• Disable Desktop Audio: Go to Settings > Audio and set Desktop Audio to Disabled if you are manually routing your audio sources. This completely eliminates the risk of feedback loops.