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Using a DAW with OBS on Windows

How to set up a DAW with OBS on Windows

OBS ASIO Plugin

In order to connect your DAW to OBS, you'll need some form of third-party sound-forwarding software.  There are several ways that you can do this, but one easy option is the third-party ASIO plugin called OBS ASIO.  Ensure that your OBS application is up to date before installing the plugin. 
 

Set up an ASIO Source

Under Sources, click the "+" sign and choose a source of ASIO.
 
 
You will be prompted to create a new source. You can name this whatever you would like, then click OK.
 
 
In the ASIO source settings popup, under "Device", select your audio interface. 
 
Next is format. If you select stereo, you will be able to send 2 channels to OBS (Left/Right). If you’d like to send more channels, select any of the other options from the dropdown menu. 
 
The default will be stereo 2 channels.
 
The maximum (if your interface is capable) is 8 channels of independent audio and is labeled “7.1”. While this is a surround sound labeled format, all channels will still be summed down to stereo.
 
Once finished, you can test to see which outputs correspond with the OBS inputs. For example, your line outputs might be labeled “Computer Play”. You would need to route “Computer Play 1” to the input you would like to use for OBS.

Please note, the odd-numbered inputs (1, 3, 5, etc) default to sending to the left channel, while the even-numbered inputs (2, 4, 6, etc) default to sending to the right. If you are trying to send a mono signal out, use a stereo output to send it centered.

We do not recommend trying to monitor your feed from inside OBS or on the Volume website, as there is an inevitable latency that could make it difficult to play along with.

 
When you're done configuring your source, click OK and your device will appear under “Sources”.
 
 

Voicemeeter Banana

Another great solution to sound-forwarding is Voicemeeter Banana. One can install it here. Once installed, it's very important that the user restarts their device.

Once the setup is complete and the device has been restarted, one may go ahead and set their sound output to "VoiceMeeter Input." Here we are effectively routing desktop audio into Voicemeeter (it will show up in the VAIO section)

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Once that is set, one can now open their DAW, go to the audio output settings, and set the output to "VoiceMeeter Aux Input." This sets the output of our DAW into an auxiliary track in Voicemeeter, Voicemeter AUX

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In OBS, add an audio input capture, setting the device to VoiceMeeter Aux Output. In this step, we are making sure that whatever we route into Voicemeeter's AUX channel will also go to the aux output

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Finally, we need to tell Voicemeeter what we want to be routed. In Voicemeeter Banana, enable B2 for Voicemeeter Aux in the Voicemeeter Virtual Input Section. This ensures that whatever is going into the AUX channel is sending the signal to its corresponding output. If we want desktop audio, we can enable B2 for the VAOI virtual inputs. Similarly, if we want some sort of hardware input (ie. a microphone) to go through to OBS, we can directly do that by enabling B2 for each hardware input we want.

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Troubleshooting

In windows, if you lose sound to OBS once you open your DAW, make sure that your audio interface is not set in “Exclusive Mode”. To check this, navigate to Control Panel → Hardware & Sound → Recording → Right-click on your interface → Properties → Advanced. Uncheck Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.
 
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