How Does OBS Record Audio Only & Its Best Alternative

The OBS (Open Broadcasting Software) is a free and open-source recorder for broadcasting and screen recording that Windows, macOS, and Linux support. Many YouTubers and streamers use this software to record their gameplay to stream on various platforms.

If you are wondering, can OBS record audio only? Then the answer is just as confusing as the settings you need to render to churn an audio file out of OBS. It may not be the best quality, but you can record audio on OBS from some gameplay or screen recording. Here, we will discuss and guide you through the steps to tweak the settings to record audio only on OBS.

Can OBS Record Audio Only 

💡No, OBS record audio only is not supported.

Since this is a screen recorder and broadcasting tool, you have to record some video along with the audio to get the audio output. For example, you can record low-quality videos along with high-quality audio with the help of settings. Then you can either remove or separate the audio file using external tools. You can segregate multiple audio sources like desktop, application, and microphone audio using the OBS tool.

Also read:

How Does OBS Capture Audio Only

As we have discussed earlier, it is impossible for OBS to record audio only, but we can extract the audio file from the video file. To record multiple soundtracks like your microphone audio, desktop audio, and others, where you can get multiple high-quality audio tracks. Many streamers use this feature on OBS to record videos only for later use. Unfortunately, OBS cannot export anything other than video files, and we need to depend on other tools.

Now let us look at the steps and settings we need to set up to record the audio track on Windows and Mac.

OBS Record Game Audio Only on Windows

In Windows, if you want to record sound through the microphone, it is quite simple, as you have the inbuilt framework in the OS and do not have to introduce or set up sound recorders to record sound.

But, if there is a scenario where you want to record internal audio of your desktop, like game sound, online music, etc., then you use the OBS, the open-source telecaster, to catch the audio.

Steps to record audio only on Windows using OBS:

Step 1. Get OBS on your computer and launch the application.

Step 2. Go to Settings. You can either click on File in the menu bar or click on Settings at the bottom right corner of your screen.

Step 3. In the Capture Settings: Navigate to the Audio settings and set the Desktop Audio to "default." Disable all the other audio sources if you do not want to capture them. Hit on Apply and Ok to save the settings.

Step 4. Now, go to Output settings, and change the output mode to Advanced. In the Recording tab, change the recording format to mp4. Output file form.

Step 5. Set the Audio Bitrate. You can save your recording at your desired bitrate, depending on the quality of output audio you need.

Step 6. Once done, click "Apply" and Ok to save the configured settings. Now you are good to go, "start recording" your game audio and save it.

📌Now, you need to search for online tools to separate or remove the video file and extract the audio file from the Output video file.

OBS Capture Audio Only on Mac

You cannot use the same method for Macs as Windows PC, and the problem is that Apple has disabled the inbuilt framework to record audio on Macs. So, you need to download or have a recording application and editing software to record the gameplay and audio sounds separately.

Steps to record audio only on Mac with OBS:

Step 1. Creating New Audio Recorder Steup:

Launch the audio recording application. Click on the + symbol and create a new project. If you wish to enable audio monitoring in OBS studio, you can right-click in the mixes area and navigate to Advanced Audio Properties.

Step 2. Set up Record Audio Only Feature:

If you are setting up the record-only feature for Mac in OBS, you can get the audio output of the Desktop. Once you have enabled this feature, go to the recording interface.

Step 3. Set up Screen and Output mode:

In Mac, you need to set up the screen and output mode to get the source stream's and desktop's sounds independently. That means both sounds can be heard on the desktop at the same time. Now, you can press the Record button to start the recording.

Step 4. Exporting the audio file:

After the recording is done, By default, the OBS for Mac will output the desktop audio to your Mac's default playback device. If you wish to change the monitoring output device, you can use the Audio tab in the OBS studio settings.

Now, you have your separate audio file on your default playback device, you can access it from there.

Pro Tip: The Best OBS Alternative for Record Audio Only

Well, that was complex to record audio only on OBS for Windows and Mac. A user must configure many settings and use external tools to get a simple audio file from a screen recording using the OBS studio.

The whole process is complex and confusing, especially if you are a novice user. The best alternative to avoid this complex process and record audio only on your computer is EaseUS RecExperts.

EaseUS RecExperts is an excellent screen recorder with exclusive features for recording all media types. With simple UI and robust features, you can simultaneously record audio, video, and both in all basic formats of the utmost quality.

To get the audio file, you can either extract audio from MP4 file or save the extra audio files. You can even export the video file as MP3 to get the audio file of the whole recording. You can do all this in a few simple steps, and anyone from any educational background can easily understand this.

🎨Key Features of EaseUS RecExperts:

• Record audio, video, and online webcam of any desktop simultaneously. 
• Supports 10+ file formats for the output files.
• Allows users to schedule recordings with desired durations.
• Offers editing options for trimming videos or audio 
• Preview your file before saving it with the built-in media player.

🔎Here are steps you can follow in recording audio only with EaseUS RecExperts.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS RecExperts and choose "Audio" (looks like a speaker) from the left side of the interface. Select the sound source by clicking on the speaker sign (the system sound) or the mic sign (the microphone). Or, you can record them both at the same time.

Step 2. Hit "REC" button to start recording audio. To finish it, you just click on the red square icon to stop the recording.

Step 3. After that, the recording list window will pop up automatically. You can listen to or edit the recording with built-in tools.

The Final Verdict

It is not entirely possible for OBS record audio only. Still, we can configure the settings to obtain a low-quality with high-quality video files and then extract the audio file for Windows. On Mac, you need to download an additional sound recording application and change the settings for this to work. To avoid these complex processes and to simplify things, download EaseUS RecExperts, an excellent audio and screen recording tool to either detach the audio file from the video file or export the file in MP3 to get the audio file directly.

If you think this post is helpful, share it with your friends and leave a comment about it. If you have any confusion regarding the topic, feel comfortable asking them in the comment box, and do let me know of the future issues you wish to see articles from EaseUS.

FAQs

Here are some of the most frequent FAQs asked on the topic. If you have similar queries hope this will help you.

1. How do I record separate audio tracks in OBS?

To record separate audio tracks in OBS, you must set it up using the Output options.

Steps to record separate audio tracks in OBS:

Step 1. Hit on File in the menu bar and navigate to Settings.

Step 2. Open the Output settings.

Step 3. Now, change the Output mode to advanced and click on the Recording tab.

Step 4. Besides Audio Track options, you can select the number of tracks you want to record. (supports up to 6 tracks).

Step 5. Click Apply and Ok to end the configuration.

To configure or modify the multiple tracks, you can go to Audio Mixer settings on the main interface and click Advanced Audio Properties.

2. How do I get Internal audio on OBS?

To get the internal audio on OBS, you must select your audio interface as the device in Audio Mixer.

Go to Audio Mixer >Desktop Audio > Settings> Properties > select your audio interface as the device.