OBS recorded your voice but not the app? Check the saved audio tracks
A recording can contain more than one audio track while an ordinary player lets you hear only one. Before deciding that OBS lost a source, identify which tracks were written and which one the player or editor is using.
This guide starts after you have identified the intended microphone and app-audio sources. If the source itself is absent from OBS, use the Mac app-audio capture checklist first. A source that was never captured cannot be recovered by assigning an empty recording track afterward.
Download the recording-track assignment matrix. It provides a clearly labelled example and blank planning rows. It does not configure OBS or inspect a recording.
Separate three questions
First, does the source reach OBS? Second, which recording tracks receive it? Third, which track does the receiving application expose? Keep those questions separate when a file appears to contain the microphone but no demonstration audio.
The OBS multiple-audio-track guide describes assigning sources in Advanced Audio Properties and enabling the wanted tracks in Output settings. Its example uses track 1 for a combined listening mix and other tracks for separated sources. It also warns that ordinary video playback typically uses one audio track at a time.
That is a useful starting pattern, not a requirement that every production use those numbers. Write down the actual mapping rather than calling a track microphone because it happens to be numbered 2.
| Source | Combined review track, example 1 | Separate track, example | Expected check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microphone | Included | 2 | Harmless spoken phrase is present |
| Demonstration app | Included | 3 | Authorised app sound is present |
| Optional extra source | Decide deliberately | Record the chosen number | Presence or exclusion matches the brief |
The numbers above are illustrative. Do not send this table as evidence of your own settings. Replace it with the source names and assignments visible in your session.
Check assignments and recording settings together
A useful configuration review names the scene or collection, source identities, recording mode, selected format and enabled tracks. In Advanced Audio Properties, inspect each intended source's track assignments. Then inspect the recording tracks enabled in Output settings. A checkmark in only one place is not a complete recording plan.
Keep live monitoring separate from recording. Hearing a source through your headphones does not, by itself, establish that the file receives it. Avoid adding another copy of the same app source just because the first playback sounds incomplete; that can make the next diagnosis harder.
The OBS formats guide distinguishes containers and codec compatibility. Choose a format your intended editor can handle, and test that combination. Its current table includes Hybrid MOV on macOS as well as other containers. An older recommendation that assumes every Mac uses the same default may not match your installation.
Verify a short saved sample
Before the important recording, make a short authorised sample with sources that are easy to distinguish. For example, leave a moment containing only the microphone, then a moment containing only an app sound you are allowed to record. Keep sensitive conversations and copyrighted playback out of the test.
- Write the expected source-to-track mapping in the matrix.
- Record the short sample using the intended scene and output configuration.
- Locate the actual file rather than judging only the OBS meters.
- Open it in the intended editor and inspect every expected audio track or stream.
- Listen to each separated source and the combined review mix independently.
- Note missing, duplicated or unexpectedly combined content before changing one assignment.
If the editor exposes only one track, check its import options and supported format. If necessary, consult its own documentation before converting the file. Preserve the original, then inspect every expected track in any derived file too. A different extension is not an acceptance result.
Give the editor a map they can use
Deliver the actual track map with the filename and OBS version. State which track is the review mix, which tracks are intended for editing, and whether an extra source should remain absent. Ask the editor to confirm they can select and hear the separated sources before recording a long follow-up session.
If only the combined mix exists, do not promise to unmix it into the original isolated tracks. Record that limitation and decide whether the combined file meets the brief. For remote interviews recorded by Zoom itself, the participant-file handoff guide covers a different file-producing workflow.
SoundBuddy maintains a preferred default microphone where supported; it does not assign OBS recording tracks. No OBS session, import, remux or audio separation was performed for this guide. Stop when the saved sample and the recipient's editor both match the agreed map, rather than when the meters merely move.