Separate Mic and Game Audio in OBS Studio

Recording your microphone and game audio on separate tracks in OBS Studio is essential for professional video editing, allowing you to adjust volume levels independently in post-production. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step walkthrough on how to configure OBS Studio’s audio output settings, assign your audio sources to specific tracks, and choose the correct recording format to preserve these individual channels.

Step 1: Enable Multiple Audio Tracks in Output Settings

By default, OBS Studio merges all audio sources into a single track. You must first configure OBS to output multiple tracks.

  1. Open OBS Studio and click Settings in the bottom-right corner.
  2. Select the Output tab from the left sidebar.
  3. Change the Output Mode dropdown at the top from Simple to Advanced.
  4. Click on the Recording tab.
  5. Locate the Audio Track section and check the boxes for the tracks you want to record. For separate game and mic audio, check 1 and 2.
  6. Click Apply.

Step 2: Choose a Multi-Track Recording Format

Not all video formats support multiple audio tracks. You must select a compatible container.

  1. While still in the Recording tab under Settings, locate Recording Format.
  2. Select mkv, mp4, or mov from the dropdown menu. (MKV is highly recommended, as it prevents file corruption if OBS or your PC crashes during recording).
  3. Click Apply and then OK to close the Settings menu.

Step 3: Assign Audio Sources to Separate Tracks

Now that OBS is configured to record multiple tracks, you must assign your game audio to one track and your microphone to another.

  1. Look at the Audio Mixer dock on the main OBS screen.
  2. Click the gear icon (cogwheel) next to any audio source and select Advanced Audio Properties.
  3. A matrix grid will appear showing your audio sources on the left and tracks numbered 1 through 6 on the right.
  4. Configure the tracks as follows:
    • Desktop Audio (Game Audio): Check only box 1 (uncheck boxes 2 through 6).
    • Mic/Aux (Microphone): Check only box 2 (uncheck boxes 1, and 3 through 6).
  5. Click Close.

Step 4: Verify in Your Editing Software

When you drag your recorded video file into a video editor that supports multi-track audio (such as DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Sony Vegas), you will see two distinct audio tracks beneath your video track. You can now mute, cut, or adjust the volume of your game audio and voice independently.