Use your phone as a mic in OBS

Viewers accept blurry video much sooner than bad audio. A flagship phone's microphone beats most cheap USB mics, and Micstream brings it into Windows as a normal microphone, in 32-bit float at 48 kHz. OBS gives it its own channel, filters and monitoring.

First, set up Micstream: install the Windows client and the phone app, and connect the phone. The setup guide covers it. If you stream from an Android phone, use USB. The delay is very low, and it can't break up mid-stream because someone started a download on your Wi-Fi.

Add the source

1. 1

   Add an Audio Input Capture source

   In the Sources panel, click + and choose it from the list.

2. 2

   Name it

   Something clear, like "Phone mic".

3. 3

   Set the Device to Micstream

   Pick it from the dropdown and click OK. It appears in the Audio Mixer immediately.

To use the mic in every scene, set it globally instead: open Settings→Audio→Global Audio Devices and choose Micstream for Mic/Auxiliary Audio.

Set your levels

Talk at your normal volume and watch the meter in the Audio Mixer. Aim for peaks around −12 to −6 dB. That leaves room for loud moments and keeps your voice well above the background noise. If you're too quiet, raise the volume on the phone (Micstream follows it) instead of boosting the signal in OBS.

Stereo or mono?

Micstream sends stereo on supported phones. For a single voice, mono is usually better: it keeps your voice in the center for every listener. Tick Mono for the source in Advanced Audio Properties. Keep stereo when you record a room or an instrument.

Filters

Right-click the source and choose Filters. OBS has everything you need:

• Noise Gate: mutes the mic between sentences, so keyboard and room noise disappear. Set the close threshold just above your room's background noise, and the open threshold a few dB higher.
• Compressor: makes quiet and loud moments more even. For voice, start with a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 and a threshold a few dB below your peaks.
• Limiter: goes last and catches sudden shouts.

The phone's audio arrives clean, so don't add filters just in case. Add them for problems you can actually hear. Micstream already removes background noise on your PC, so you usually don't need OBS's Noise Suppression filter as well.

Monitor what viewers hear

To hear your mic after the filters, open Advanced Audio Properties (the gear icon in the mixer) and set Audio Monitoring to Monitor and Output. Use headphones for this: with speakers, the sound goes straight back into the mic. When you're done, set it back to Monitor Off.

Fix audio/video sync

If your lips and voice don't match, the video is usually late: webcams add more delay than a fast mic. Record yourself clapping, measure the gap between sound and picture, and enter it as a positive Sync Offset (in milliseconds) in Advanced Audio Properties. This delays the mic to match the video. Over USB, the mic's own delay is so small that the offset is basically your camera's delay. Over Wi-Fi it changes with the network, so check it again before anything important, or use the cable.

Troubleshooting

Using Discord while you stream? See the Discord guide. Still choosing an app? See how Micstream compares to AudioRelay and WO Mic.

Not installed yet? Both downloads are free: