Why does my OBS recording show only one audio track in my editor?
Usually one of two things. Either OBS mixed every source onto each track, since every track box starts ticked. Or the editor only reads the first track of the file. Give each source its own named track in OBS and check the file in a media player. Then use an editor that keeps every track separate.
You recorded your game on one track and your microphone on another, so you could turn the game down later. Then the file lands in your editor as one track, or as six copies of the same mix. The recording is usually fine. The cause is a setup step in OBS or the editor itself. Both are quick to check.
Step 1: give each source its own track in OBS
Out of the box, OBS sends every audio source to every track. Six tracks that all carry the same mix are no better than one.
- Turn on the tracks you want to record. In Settings ▸ Output, set Output Mode to Advanced. On the Recording tab, tick each Audio Track you want in the file, for example 1, 2 and 3.
- Name each track. On the Audio tab of the same page, give each track a name such as Desktop, Mic or Discord. Those names are saved in the recording.
- Send each source to one track. Open Edit ▸ Advanced Audio Properties. Untick every track for each source except its own. For example, Desktop Audio goes on track 2 and your microphone on track 3.
- Keep a full mix on track 1. Leave track 1 ticked for every source as well. Track 1 is then everything mixed together for a quick edit. The tracks after it are the separate sources.
Step 2: check the file itself
Before blaming the editor, open the recording in a media player such as VLC and switch between its audio tracks. If each one plays a different source, the recording is right. If they all sound the same, go back to step 3 above.
Recording to MKV is the safer choice, because a crash does not lose the whole file. File ▸ Remux Recordings turns it into an MP4 afterwards with every track kept.
Step 3: use an editor that keeps the tracks
Some editors read only the first audio track of a file, or fold every track into one when you import it. If your recording checks out in a media player and still arrives as one track, that is the editor, not OBS.
In B/side, every audio track in an OBS recording comes in as its own track, named as it was in OBS. Each one can be muted, soloed or turned up and down on its own, from the first cut. Every track, separate and named, is part of Creator. On Free, a recording with more than two channels of sound cuts in with its first track. Download B/side for Mac or Windows and drop the recording in to start cutting.
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