Stream What You Hear for Live Streams and Meetings

Stream What You Hear for Live Streams and Meetings

Streaming system audio—often called “stream what you hear”—lets your audience hear exactly what plays through your speakers: music, system notifications, application sounds, and the audio from videos or games. It’s essential for professional-sounding streams and clear meetings. This guide shows how to set it up reliably across Windows and macOS, how to manage audio quality and latency, and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Why stream system audio

• Complete context: Viewers hear media, alerts, and app audio alongside your voice.
• Better demos: Tutorials or webinars that include video or music play correctly for attendees.
• Fewer workarounds: No need to route audio through external mixers or re-record clips.

Basic workflow (what you’ll do)

1. Choose an audio routing method (virtual audio device or stereo mix).
2. Configure your OS audio so “what you hear” is routed to the virtual device.
3. Set your streaming or meeting app’s audio input to that device.
4. Test levels and latency; mute unwanted system sounds.

Windows: Options and setup

Option A — Stereo Mix (built-in, if available)

1. Right-click the speaker icon → Sounds → Recording tab.
2. Enable Stereo Mix and set it as the default Recording Device (or use it alongside your mic).
3. In your streaming/meeting app (OBS, Zoom, Teams), select Stereo Mix as an input or add it as an audio source.
4. Adjust levels in Windows and the app to avoid clipping.

Notes: Not all systems expose Stereo Mix; drivers or manufacturers may disable it.

Option B — Virtual audio cable (recommended when Stereo Mix is unavailable)

1. Install a virtual audio driver (examples: VB-Audio Virtual Cable or VoiceMeeter).
2. Set your system output to the virtual cable (or use the virtual cable as a loopback in VoiceMeeter).
3. In your streaming app, choose the virtual cable as an input source.
4. If you also want to use a mic, route both mic and system audio through the mixer (VoiceMeeter) and send a mixed output to the virtual cable.

Tips:

• Use VoiceMeeter to mix and control separate levels for mic and system audio.
• Enable exclusive mode only when necessary; it can block other apps.

macOS: Options and setup

Option A — Loopback/BlackHole (virtual drivers)

1. Install a virtual audio driver (BlackHole is free; Loopback is paid and has a GUI).
2. Create a multi-output device or an aggregate device that includes your speakers and the virtual device so you can hear audio while also sending it to the virtual device.
3. In your streaming/meeting app, select the virtual device as the microphone/input.
4. Use Audio MIDI Setup to manage devices and sample rates.

Notes:

• Loopback and Loopback-like drivers support app-specific routing (send audio from Chrome, Spotify, etc., individually).
• Keep sample rates consistent (44.1 kHz vs 48 kHz) across devices to avoid distortion.

Streaming apps: OBS, Streamlabs, and meeting software

• OBS: Add an “Audio Input Capture” for the virtual device or enable “Desktop Audio” if the OS routing exposes it. Use separate tracks for mic and system audio to give editors flexibility.
• Streamlabs: Similar to OBS — choose the routed device as a source.
• Zoom/Teams/Meet: Select the virtual input as the microphone. Mute your microphone in the meeting app if you want only system audio, or mix both as needed.

Pro tip: In OBS, route mic and system audio to different tracks and use the advanced audio properties to control sync and monitoring.

Quality, latency, and sync

• Use 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz consistently.
• Buffer sizes: Smaller buffers reduce latency but may cause dropouts; increase buffer if you hear glitches.
• Sync issues: If audio lags behind video in streams, add an audio delay in OBS or your streaming software to re-align tracks.

Legal and etiquette considerations

• Respect copyright: don’t stream music or videos you don’t have rights to.
• Mute notifications and sensitive content to avoid broadcasting private alerts.
• Warn meeting participants before sharing system audio.

Quick troubleshooting checklist

• No sound sent: Verify virtual device is selected in both OS and app.
• Echo or feedback: Disable monitoring or avoid routing the same audio back into the input twice.
• Low volume: Raise application output and the virtual device input levels, not just the app’s slider.
• Distortion/clipping: Lower levels and avoid boosting gain; use a limiter in your mixer if available.

Minimal setup recommendations

• Casual users: BlackHole (macOS