Compression on Live Stream with OBS?

[davegardner0]

I know I'm about one year late to the live stream bandwagon, but I was thinking about trying my hand at streaming acoustic guitar and vocals to my friends via Facebook live. I'm a little unsure on the audio setup, as I definitely want really good audio.

I'm using an analog mixer to mix together a small diaphragm condenser xy pair for the guitar, and a large diaphragm condenser for the vocals. I'm adding some of the mixer's built in reverb too. I like the mix and stereo image coming out of the mixer.

I'm sending the mixer's stereo output through an audio interface into OBS, and that's where my question arises. Some of my songs are fingerpicking with soft vocals, while some are strummers with louder vocals. And I can't monitor my levels in real time. So I think I need some compression. OBS has a compressor and limiter, but I'm unsure how to set them. I'd rather not be too aggressive and sound squashed. Also I'm concerned the limiter kicking in for loud transients on the guitar could make my vocals sound weird.

Any tips? My mixer has reverb but no compressor, and I don't have an outboard compressor, so I can't just compress the guitar channel before going into the computer. I tried bringing the vocals and guitar channels into OBS separately and applying a different compressor to each, but I had syncing issues between the different OBS audio channels and since there's bleed between the mics I had phasing weirdness.

Thanks for the help!

[open-road-matt]

I have not fooled with any of the effects built into OBS so sadly, I can't offer any help there.

But the way I do an OBS sound check is to record with OBS. Then I go back and listen to the video on my computer, on my phone, with headphones, without and what I hear from the OBS recording is what I hear when I listen back to my live streams.

It's not super convenient but they don't have to be long recordings. So when I want to fix something, use a different instrument, etc. I make some tweaks, do a short recording, listen back and repeat until I'm happy with my results.

I hardly change anything with my vocals and my piano now that I have those set. When I make adjustments to my different guitars, I do so in presets that are saved in my HX Stomp. Then I can just call up the preset I need.

I know that doesn't help you solve the problem of getting the effects you want out of OBS but it may help you listen to your OBS audio and play around with it until you are happy before you go live.

Matt

[shufflebeat]

Do you have a pickup on the guitar?

[davegardner0]

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

Do you have a pickup on the guitar?

Nope, I don't.

[davegardner0]

Originally Posted by open-road-matt

I have not fooled with any of the effects built into OBS so sadly, I can't offer any help there.

But the way I do an OBS sound check is to record with OBS. Then I go back and listen to the video on my computer, on my phone, with headphones, without and what I hear from the OBS recording is what I hear when I listen back to my live streams.

It's not super convenient but they don't have to be long recordings. So when I want to fix something, use a different instrument, etc. I make some tweaks, do a short recording, listen back and repeat until I'm happy with my results.

I hardly change anything with my vocals and my piano now that I have those set. When I make adjustments to my different guitars, I do so in presets that are saved in my HX Stomp. Then I can just call up the preset I need.

I know that doesn't help you solve the problem of getting the effects you want out of OBS but it may help you listen to your OBS audio and play around with it until you are happy before you go live.

Matt

Good suggestion, thank you! I was thinking i could do something like this - at least I can know what I'm dealing with. I'll have to do some tests and see how the compression sounds...

[Doug Young]

OBS can support VST plugins, so you can use any plugin you may have. There are lots of them out there, even free, if you want something other than the built-in compressor.

But I don't think compression is a good idea for that you're describing. Having enough compression to even out the levels between strumming and fingerpicking is likely to sound pretty bad when it's kicking in, it will squash everything and be noticeable when you're playing loud. It'd be better to just figure out what levels you need and change them. You're using a mixer, so put a piece of tape beside the channel and mark the two levels you need.

[davegardner0]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

OBS can support VST plugins, so you can use any plugin you may have. There are lots of them out there, even free, if you want something other than the built-in compressor.

But I don't think compression is a good idea for that you're describing. Having enough compression to even out the levels between strumming and fingerpicking is likely to sound pretty bad when it's kicking in, it will squash everything and be noticeable when you're playing loud. It'd be better to just figure out what levels you need and change them. You're using a mixer, so put a piece of tape beside the channel and mark the two levels you need.

Oh yeah, hmmm, I hadn't thought of that. Very good idea though! I could probably even do it with being the distance to the mics, not sure which method would be better. Either way I think I could do it with 3 "presets": fingerpicking, soft picking, and loud strumming. I'll have to try this out.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by davegardner0

Oh yeah, hmmm, I hadn't thought of that. Very good idea though! I could probably even do it with being the distance to the mics, not sure which method would be better. Either way I think I could do it with 3 "presets": fingerpicking, soft picking, and loud strumming. I'll have to try this out.

Well, mic distance is the other approach - how would you perform this stuff live at some venue? It's best to be able to deal with dynamics - fingerpick louder, strum softer, and/or turn your guitar up or down. When singing softly get close to the mic, back off when singing loudly.

[shufflebeat]

Instead of having an XY pair, which I think might be wasted effort anyway, maybe have a close mic (fingers) and a distance mic (strumming) and mute the one you're not using.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

OBS can support VST plugins...

Actually, it supports VST2 plugins. There is a module you can install to support VST3 plugins:

https://obsproject.com/forum/tags/vst-3x/

[Br1ck]

I'm only using zoom, and one way or another, you have to do what you can not to hit peaks and trigger the zoom horrendous audio gremlin that lie in wait. I tend to want a lot of dynamic range, a zoom no no. So I compress with a fast attack and a slow release, a moderate ratio, say 4:1, and more threshold than I'd like. I 86ed my nice big condenser in favor of a pair of SM 81s. Zoom has a feature where you can start a meeting for yourself and record a video. Then you can play it back to assess the quality. I've also learned to back off the intensity of my performance. It sucks, but it's what we have.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I'm only using zoom, and one way or another, you have to do what you can not to hit peaks and trigger the zoom horrendous audio gremlin that lie in wait. I tend to want a lot of dynamic range, a zoom no no. So I compress with a fast attack and a slow release, a moderate ratio, say 4:1, and more threshold than I'd like. I 86ed my nice big condenser in favor of a pair of SM 81s. Zoom has a feature where you can start a meeting for yourself and record a video. Then you can play it back to assess the quality. I've also learned to back off the intensity of my performance. It sucks, but it's what we have.

In Zoom you have to remember to 'Enable Original Sound' and 'Turn off automatic volume adjustment'.
That should take care of the "zoom horrendous audio gremlin" problem!

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

In Zoom you have to remember to 'Enable Original Sound' and 'Turn off automatic volume adjustment'.
That should take care of the "zoom horrendous audio gremlin" problem!

+1

BTW, when using Original Sound, either wear headphones or turn it off when you and someone else are both unmuted.

[davegardner0]

Well I did my livestream on Saturday and the audio worked out pretty well! I ended up varying my volume using the sliders on my mixer - I marked off 2 positions on the vocal mic (loud and soft singing) and 3 positions on the guitar mics (fingerpicking, soft flatpicking, and hard strumming). I think it went pretty well! I used the record feature in OBS to do some "soundchecking" beforehand and figure out these levels. I also did try simply varying my distance from the mics, but I had to be so far away for strumming that it made the guitar sound thin in my opinion.

Here are the OBS settings I ended up with:
Compressor: Ratio 3:1, threshold -25dB (about 5dB lower than where I could start to hear it), atack 6ms, release 60ms, output gain 17dB
Limiter: Threshold -2dB, release -60dB
"Reverb Solo" VST Plugin: Knob at about 10:30, slider about 3/4 of the way towards "dry". (I didn't use the reverb on my mixer since I found it sounded better post-compression)

Listening back to the recording, I'm very satisfied with the mix and also the sound of the guitar! Phew... IT ended up being a fun time livestreaming to my friends too, with this pandemic it's been a while since I played "in front of people".

In case you're interested, here's a link to the recording:
https://youtu.be/92Hx57sD1pQ

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

In Zoom you have to remember to 'Enable Original Sound' and 'Turn off automatic volume adjustment'.
That should take care of the "zoom horrendous audio gremlin" problem!

Make it better yes, take care of them, no.