Well a number of hours later and after all the early errors being flagged and subsequently resolved, I managed to record OBS video in Zoom (audio via virtual cable). So all seems to be working ok.
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Iām not sure if this is useful for anyone, but I came across a tutorial for using Jack on Windows with OBS, that might be of use for anyone using Ableton or another DAW.
Cheers,
Keith
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I am trying to get myself organised and set up for an OM later in the year.
Having been following this thread to get OBS set up in Zoom, I have some queries on whether I am set up correctly in OBS but will raise that separately.
What I am totally confused about is virtual cables, how many you need and what they do in terms of how the audio is passed forwards and backwards. Read this thread many times and looked at a lot of videos on YouTube and still confused.
The set up I have is vocals and guitar going into separate channels in a Scarlet 2i2, and hearing what I am playing via headphones plugged into the 2i2. The 2i2 is plugged into a Windows 10 laptop running OBS version 30.
Seems you can get audio into Zoom with a single virtual cable or two, called A and B, not downloaded any yet.
Single Virtual cable
Seems straight forward to send the audio to zoom, in that both channels of the 2i2 are combined to send to zoom.
My question is how you get the sound get back for you to hear the audience. I presume that it comes back to the loudspeaker in the Laptop and not into OBS or your headphones.
Cables A and B
If you have two cables then Cable A is taking the audio to zoom and Cable B is Zoom sending the audience audio back to OBS which presumably means you can then you hear the audience in your headphones, rather than the speaker in the laptop. Am I right about this? I think this is may be the best option.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Michael
The idea of two Virtual cables is to facilitate recording Zoom audio within OBS. Normally VB is outbound OBS to Zoom and VA Zoom to Obs. But if you are not planning on doing that, (ie record a video of the Zoom session with OBS) you just need the one virtual cable which is freeware - donations normally asked for A & B.
As to the purpose ? If you consider both Zoom and OBS to be physical boxes in you signal chain, the virtual cables act as patch cables and therefore allow audio to pass between the two, Much like an amp that is patched into an AI.
@Majik will likely explain better than I but computer audio gets a bit complicated when passing data between different apps and creates a great deal of latency. So the VC serve to not only allow cross app communication but also reduce any lags. Laymanās explanation. 
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The other alternative to connect applications together is Jack:
Iāve not used it on Windows, buIāve used it for years on Linux where itās pretty much the standard system for audio production applications.
(More recently on Linux we have Pipewire, but thatās not relevant to this conversation).
The idea with virtual audio cables (and Iām using Jack here as Iāve really only briefly flirted with other solutions) is you can treat applications as if they were stand-alone pieces of equipment, and then connect them together with virtual cables in the same way that you could link them with physical cables if they were physically separate devices.
So OBS has audio inputs which it records/streams from, and audio outputs it streams to (in some systems these are called āsinksā and āsourcesā).
So you can (with Jack) connect the output (or āsourceā) of OBS to in the input (or āsinkā) of any other applications which expose themselves via Jack.
With Linux (with the help of ābridgesā) this can be almost any other application which uses audio.
In Jack, real audio interfaces are represented as outputs (for audio capture) and inputs (for audio outputs to speakers or headphones). This may seem incorrect, but it actually makes sense logically, as it allows you to connect the āoutputā representing the audio being sent from the audio interface down the USB cable to the input of OBS.
Jack allows you to connect virtual cables in any combination as long as you connect inputs to outputs.
To get the audio back from something like Zoom with Jack, you would connect the audio output from Zoom to your local audio interface input.
A reminder: Iāve never done this on Windows, so Iām not sure how it works on that platform, or whether it works well with OBS or Zoom.
YMMV.
But this, hopefully, explains the principle.
Cheers,
Keith
(Iāll try to upload an image demonstrating this later when Iām at my laptop).
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Thanks to both for your input and apologies for not getting a back sooner.
Toby @TheMadman_tobyjenner
I think I follow what you are saying. As I am not envisaging recording a zoom in OBS at this time I think I will go for a single cable and give that a try. I am sure I can always upgrade to two cables in the future if I want.
Keith @Majik
Your suggestion looks very effective but at this stage perhaps a bit too much to sort out as I said above, I think I will just go for small steps at present but will file for future reference.
Wish me luck
Michael
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Well I managed eventually, but it took me quite a few days, trying things and it not working, so giving it a rest and planning what to try next. Couldnāt get a single cable to work so got cables A and B but now see how one would work. Getting audio out of OBS meant delving into parts of OBS I didnāt know existed. Setting up of zoom based on the instructions in this thread was straight forward but being able to hear the āaudience ā in my headphones connected to the 2i2 took a while. I actually was trying to make it more complicated than it needed to be, it was actually very simple. These things always are when you know how.
So all set up for a future OM.
Michael
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Well done for hanging in there and getting sorted Michael. I still only use 1 V cable, as I have no intention of recording Zoom via OBS so no need to push the audio back to OBS for that. For Zoom speakers I either declare my system speakers or AI if I am monitoring via headphones.
The good thing about all these things, be it learning to play the darn guitar, record audio or video its good for the old brain cells when you get to a certain age. And quite satisfying when you figure it all out.
Hope to see you at an OM soon !
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Itās a like a lot of things in life when you worked out how to do it is obvious. Having faced the challenge and worked through it gives you a lot of satisfaction. It keeps the brain cells working.
Hopefully my OM debut is not too far off, just have to fit in with my other commitments on a Saturday.
Michael
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Learning new skills like playing guitar or recording audio and video can be fantastic for keeping the mind sharp, especially as we age. Itās so satisfying when you finally figure things out. And attending Open Mic events sounds like a great way to share your talents and connect with others. Hope to see you there soon!
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The best attitude to have 
ā¦and beyond!
Iām happy we share the same thought.