Low Volume For Elgato Capture

[AetherNightmare]

Recently I've experienced extremely low game volumes when attempting to capture audio with my Elgato HD60 capture card in OBS. My settings remain unchanged from previous streams, and the sound bar shows audio being output at a proper volume bar range (between -25-30), but in the actual streams and recordings, the volume is much lower (if I had to estimate, I'd say it sounds like -50 easily). To get even slightly reasonable levels, I'd now need to set the game capture volume to 0.0dB.

Meanwhile, volume recorded as a test in 4K Capture is still at proper levels. Both OBS and 4K capture are also updated to their most recent versions. I've attempted to disconnect the capture card, but the issue persists. And volume levels for both programs in windows are at 100% (please note they are not both open at the same time, I'm just pointing out both to troubleshoot).

I am using audio input capture for recording game sound, but the issue persists even if using the audio directly from the video capture instead.

When recording from a different application like Streamlabs (even though I prefer base OBS), I do not have said low audio issues.

The microphone in all of these scenarios works fine and has needed no adjustments.

Any help towards getting this issue resolved would be much appreciated.

Log File: https://obsproject.com/logs/BG9WsAWBOsa0hP4H

 

[Junk_Head]

Same issue, came here to find a solution. Maybe it has something to do with the latest OBS update.

 

[AetherNightmare]

Same issue, came here to find a solution. Maybe it has something to do with the latest OBS update.

I didn't find the fix, someone in my community did and deserves all the credit, but in my case, it was the result of the Elgato audio input capture mistakenly broadcasting together as a source via the desktop audio, even though it shows no visual indication of doing that. The two aren't (supposed to be) connected in any way, but are getting their wires crossed behind the scenes, likely by the new Deduplication feature added in recent updates. (I had been using an older version of OBS for a while before this.)

Source:
Version 32.1.0 log (broken): https://obsproject.com/logs/BG9WsAWBOsa0hP4H
Version 29.1.3 log (working): https://obsproject.com/logs/wN2D3i9It8bxmKxP

My community did find a method that works on the latest update (best for people who use plugins), but ultimately, for my own ease and ultra-casual purposes, I found it easier to just switch back to an older build that was working for me last (version 29.1.3). This may also be because I intentionally have slightly outdated Nvidia drivers, because the most recent ones break the encoders I use for my editing program. So I have to find a balance that works for everything. So best to check if your drivers and stuff are up to date first (provided you don't have some other reason like I do).

However, if you want to try the other method they found, it's to have two audio input sources for Elgato. The one that originally comes through as "video capture device", and one you add manually under sources as "audio input capture" (set it to access the Elgato device too). Then, under properties, set "audio input capture" to "monitor off", and have "video capture device" set to "monitor only". (Desktop audio for me is also set to "monitor off".) This makes one track go to the stream, and one go to your headset/speakers, without being duplicated, and without getting accidentally tied to the desktop audio settings. Just keep in mind this could cause some desync issues depending on your PC, so be sure to test it out first on a longer test stream (2+ hours) before doing anything super important with it.