OBS – MacOS – Proper Desktop Audio Recording Setup

If you’re looking for instructions on recording desktop audio using OBS on macOS – you’ve found the right place.

I recently faced a few challenges in getting this to work myself until I asked for help from reddit and received a helpful response. The answer from reddit required one tweak to work – and now it works beautifully.

Here’s the start to finish workflow for proper desktop audio recording on macOS using OBS:

• Download Blackhole 2ch (or similar virtual audio router).
• Follow installation instructions for macOS system setup.
• CMD + SPACE (Opens System Search) > Search ‘Audio MIDI SETUP’
• Audio MIDI Setup > Add New Multi-output device > BlackHole 2ch (check this source, uncheck all other sources).
• System Sound > Set macOS speaker output > New Multi-output device
• OBS Studio > Preferences > Audio > Advanced > Audio Monitoring Device > Earbuds
• OBS > Scene > New Audio Output Device > Set to BlackHole 2ch
• Audio Mixer > Settings > New Audio Output Device > Monitor & Output On