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.
Must confess I am slightly puzzled but not particular concerned I donāt think
At the beginning of the year I managed to connect together my 2i2, OBS and Zoom using Virtual Cables, took a bit of time but got through it.
Have recently been making some adjustments to OBS by separating out the two inputs channels from 2i2 into separate items in the OBS Audio Mixer as I wanted more control over the balance between the inputs as I have guitar in one and dynamic mic in the other.
However, when I came to set up the link to zoom whereas it used to say
Cable Input (VB Audio Virtual Cable)
it now says
Speaker/headphones (VB Audio Virtual Cable)
It has changed the wording before the brackets as I have screen shots of the earlier set up. In Zoom it still says
Cable output (VB Audio Virtual Cable)
Still seems to work Ok perhaps I have changed some other settings without knowing, I did delve into the Windows sound settings so might have changed something there by mistake. Not aware that the Virtual Cables software has been updated without me knowing about it.
Everything seems to work fine it just seems strange, not sure if anybody else has come across this before.
Michael
Michael
I tend to use my system speakers for Zoom output but have used my monitors connected to my AI. But looking at the drop down menu both of your only one your options are available, as you Speakers (VB ā¦), canāt recall seeing Cable Out as I donāt send audio back to OBS.
If its working, donāt touch it and go with the flow. All Iād recommend is you do a test recording via Zoom and double check your golden on the video ala Bowie - sound n vision !
I feel like Iāve got a decent handle on this topic (thanks everyone who participated), but there is something Iām struggling with that Iām hoping to find a solution. Adding here, rather than a new topic because this thread seems to be the best place for OBS info
If I use OBS for a period of time, it stops recognizing the audio interface. As in, I no longer get audio from the interface, and the monitor bars do not register anything.
However, the audio interface itself does register ( monitor shows input)ā¦and Iāve had this happen with 2 different audio interfaces ( different brands). So the issue does seems to be somewhere in my OS ( Windows) or OBS itself.
It remedies itself if I restart OBS.
Restarting audio interface does not seem to help.
Iāve tried deleting and re-adding the Audio Source, but the issue still crops up.
Iām not positive, but I donāt know if it has ever happened during a recording session, but certainly happens between them.
Iām pretty sure itās happened during an open mic stream to zoom. ( I got flustered so donāt remember the details clearly)
This might be a tough one to solve. I canāt reproduce on demand, but will almost certainly happen over any extended period of time. My googling hasnāt turned up anything helpful either.
Hoping to maybe find some insight.
-Dale
Dale
First a couple of things. Are you running Windows ? Have you had a recent Windows Update ? Have you have any audio āusingā applications running alongside OBS at the same time, like a browser ?
I have had something similar a couple of times and across 2 different AIs and it normally needs a system reboot, if stopping and starting OBS doesnāt cure it.
What I found with windows, is this occurs when audio devices are set to exclusive use. So whatever grabs them first, inhibits other apps from using them.
In Windows go to Settings Sound Audio Device Manager and Advanced settings for your AIs.
Check the Exclusive Mode setting, this needs to be Unchecked.
Despite setting all my devices to non-Exclusive, after a Windows Update I frequently find the setting has not been carried over and the Exclusive Mode becomes checked again !!
A bit of a PITA to unchecked ALL the devices (Recording and Playback) but it seems to resolve the issue.
If you are not using Windows, hold the line caller, someone will be able to help you shortly,
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Much appreciated Toby.
Yes it is Windows, and while I donāt think I have anything else using soundā¦I most likely have had a browser open somewhere.
Your familiarity with the issue brings me hope!
I plan to do some recording this weekend so I will certainly give this a try.
Edit: And a quick check tells me āyes - I have exclusive mode on all these these devicesā
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Get rid of the Xs lad !! 
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