Your viewers might forgive a dropped frame or a moment of pixelation, but poor audio will send them clicking away faster than anything else. As streamers, we spend hours perfecting our overlays and optimising our bitrates while neglecting the audio that carries our personality to our audience. Great stream audio isn't about expensive equipment—it's about understanding the unique challenges of live broadcasting and applying the right techniques.
The Streaming Audio Challenge
Live streaming presents audio challenges that pre-recorded content doesn't face. You can't edit out that chair squeak or the garbage truck outside. You're often talking while gaming, with keyboard and mouse sounds nearby. And you need processing that works in real-time without adding noticeable delay.
The good news? With the right setup and settings, you can achieve broadcast-quality audio that rivals professional streamers—often without spending more than you already have.
Choosing the Right Microphone for Streaming
Streamers need microphones that reject background noise effectively while capturing clear, natural voice. This typically means dynamic microphones or condensers with tight cardioid patterns.
Dynamic mics naturally reject keyboard sounds, game audio bleed, and room noise. They're more forgiving in typical streaming environments.
Condenser mics capture more detail but pick up more room noise. Best in quieter, treated spaces.
Top Streaming Microphone Recommendations
- Elgato Wave:3 ($249): USB condenser designed for streaming with Clipguard anti-distortion technology
- HyperX QuadCast S ($249): RGB-equipped, four polar patterns, built-in shock mount
- Shure MV7 ($429): Dynamic with USB/XLR, excellent noise rejection, built-in DSP
- Rode PodMic ($169): XLR dynamic with broadcast quality, requires interface
- Razer Seiren V2 Pro ($249): Dynamic USB with 30mm capsule, built for streamers
Optimal Microphone Positioning
Proper microphone placement dramatically improves your audio quality without any equipment changes. Most streamers position their microphones too far away, requiring more gain and picking up more background noise.
The Ideal Position
- Distance: 10-15cm (4-6 inches) from your mouth
- Angle: Slightly off-axis (pointed at your mouth from a 30-45 degree angle)
- Height: At or slightly below mouth level to stay out of your eyeline and camera frame
- Direction: Position so the back of the mic faces your keyboard and noise sources
- Your microphone should be about one fist's distance from your mouth
- Closer = louder voice relative to background noise
- This lets you use lower gain, reducing electronic noise and room pickup
OBS Audio Settings
OBS Studio (and Streamlabs OBS) provides powerful audio processing that many streamers never properly configure. Here's how to optimise your settings:
Audio Output Settings
Navigate to Settings → Output → Audio:
- Audio Bitrate: 160 kbps minimum for voice, 320 kbps if bandwidth allows
- Sample Rate: Match your microphone (usually 48kHz)
Audio Mixer Filters
Right-click your microphone in the Audio Mixer and select "Filters." Add these in order:
- Noise Suppression: Use RNNoise for CPU-efficient AI noise removal
- Gain: Adjust if your levels are too low or high
- Noise Gate: Cuts audio below a threshold, eliminating noise during silence
- Compressor: Evens out volume differences between loud and soft speech
- Limiter: Prevents distortion from unexpected loud sounds
Recommended Filter Settings
Noise Gate:
- Close Threshold: -32 dB
- Open Threshold: -26 dB
- Attack Time: 25ms
- Hold Time: 200ms
- Release Time: 150ms
Compressor:
- Ratio: 4:1 to 6:1
- Threshold: -18 dB
- Attack: 3-6ms
- Release: 60-100ms
- Output Gain: Adjust so peaks hit around -6 dB
Record a local test file in OBS (Settings → Output → Recording) and review your audio. Speak at different volumes, make typical gaming sounds, and test your noise gate by staying silent. Adjust settings until speech sounds natural and background is minimal.
NVIDIA Broadcast and RTX Voice
If you have an NVIDIA RTX graphics card, NVIDIA Broadcast provides AI-powered noise removal that's remarkably effective. It runs on your GPU's tensor cores, so it doesn't impact CPU performance.
Setting Up NVIDIA Broadcast
- Download and install NVIDIA Broadcast from NVIDIA's website
- Select your physical microphone as the input
- Enable "Noise Removal" effect
- In OBS, select "NVIDIA Broadcast" as your microphone source
NVIDIA Broadcast can eliminate keyboard sounds, fan noise, and even roommates in the background. It's particularly effective for streamers in noisy environments or with less-than-ideal microphones.
Dealing with Common Streaming Audio Problems
Keyboard and Mouse Sounds
- Use a dynamic microphone positioned away from your keyboard
- Consider a quieter keyboard (rubber dome or silent switches)
- Position the mic so the back faces your keyboard (using cardioid rejection)
- Apply noise gate settings to cut sounds during pauses
Game Audio Bleed
- Use closed-back headphones—open-backs leak sound into your mic
- Keep game audio at reasonable levels
- Consider using a dynamic microphone with strong off-axis rejection
Voice Peaking and Distortion
- Position the microphone slightly off-axis to reduce plosives
- Use a compressor to tame sudden volume spikes
- Add a limiter as your final filter to catch unexpected peaks
- Consider microphones with built-in clipping protection (Elgato Wave series)
Thin or Hollow Sound
- Move closer to the microphone (proximity effect adds warmth)
- Add bass boost via EQ if your software supports it
- Check that noise suppression isn't removing too much
Audio Monitoring
Monitoring your audio lets you catch problems in real-time rather than hearing about them from chat. Options include:
Headphone monitoring: Enable audio monitoring in OBS (Edit → Advanced Audio Properties → Monitor and Output). This adds slight latency but lets you hear exactly what viewers hear.
Hardware monitoring: Some audio interfaces and USB microphones offer zero-latency monitoring. Check your microphone's software or interface settings.
Chat feedback: Ask trusted moderators or viewers to report audio issues. Sometimes problems are obvious to listeners but not to you.
Audio Setup Checklist
Before every stream, run through this quick checklist:
- Microphone is positioned correctly (one fist distance)
- Audio levels peak around -6 dB to -12 dB in OBS
- Noise gate activates properly when silent
- No audio bleed from headphones audible
- Background noise (AC, fans) is acceptable
- Test recording sounds natural and clear
Conclusion
Great stream audio comes from the combination of a decent microphone, proper positioning, and well-configured software processing. You don't need the most expensive equipment—you need to maximise what you have.
Start with positioning and OBS filters before buying new gear. Many audio problems that feel like equipment issues are actually technique or settings problems that cost nothing to fix.
Your viewers will notice the difference. Clear, consistent audio keeps people watching longer and makes your stream feel more professional, even if you're just starting out.
Ready to upgrade your streaming microphone? Check out our comparison tool filtered for streaming use, or read about reducing background noise for more tips.