OBS Audio Out of Sync With Video: Find and Fix the Delay

CHECK THIS FIRST

Before you change a setting

Start recording, clap once on camera, keep recording for ten minutes and clap again. Play the file. If the gap between seeing and hearing the clap is the same both times, it is a fixed delay you can correct. If the gap is bigger at the end, the sound is drifting and one fixed number will not fix it.

Find the line that matches what you see

IF YOU SEEThe gap is the same at the start and the endLIKELY REASON

It is a fixed delay, and one Sync Offset can correct it.

TRY THIS

Set Sync Offset for the early source and record the claps again.

IF YOU SEEThe gap gets bigger during the recordingLIKELY REASON

The sound is drifting. A fixed Sync Offset can only be right at one moment.

TRY THIS

Switch Use Device Timestamps on the audio source and compare a second ten-minute recording.

IF YOU SEEOnly the capture card or camera is lateLIKELY REASON

That device adds its own delay, which your mic does not have.

TRY THIS

Try the device's Buffering setting, or delay the mic with Sync Offset to match the camera.

What to change, in order

Step 1. Open Edit → Advanced Audio Properties. You can also click the gear icon in the Audio Mixer dock.
Step 2. Find the source whose sound arrives early and write down its Sync Offset.
Step 3. Type the gap you measured into Sync Offset for that source only. The value is in milliseconds, and a positive number makes that source's sound later.
Step 4. Record the two claps again and play the file.
Step 5. If the gap grows during the recording and the source is an Audio Input Capture or Audio Output Capture on Windows, open the source's Properties and switch Use Device Timestamps, then record again. OBS describes this option as an attempt to use information from the audio device to prevent desync.
Step 6. If the late source is a capture card or webcam, open its Properties and look at Buffering. OBS says Disable can help if you are experiencing a delay.

How to restore your old settings

Type the Sync Offset you wrote down back in. If you switched Use Device Timestamps or Buffering, switch it back to what it was.

Steps checked against: OBS Project: Audio Sources ↗ · OBS Project: Multiple Audio Track Recording Guide ↗ · OBS Project: Video Capture Sources ↗

Can an OBS log show this?

A log cannot show this. A log cannot tell you how the stream looked or sounded, so it cannot show whether sound and picture line up. The OBS Log Analyzer, OBS Log Compare and the Repair Report ($9.99 one-time) all work from the numbers in a log, so they cannot help with this one. Use the clap recording.

Open the free Pre-Stream Checklist →

Common questions

01How do I know what OBS sync offset to use?+

Measure it in a recording. Open the file in a video editor and count the frames between the clap you see and the clap you hear. At 30 fps one frame is about 33 ms, and at 60 fps about 17 ms. Enter that number as the Sync Offset for the early source and record again.

02Why does the audio drift further out of sync over time?+

A gap that grows is not a fixed delay, so one Sync Offset cannot correct it. For Windows audio devices OBS has a Use Device Timestamps option, which it describes as an attempt to use information from the audio device to prevent desync. Switch it and compare two recordings.