First, find out whether audio is missing or simply hidden

You finish a recording, open it in a video editor and discover that the microphone and gameplay cannot be adjusted separately. Or you play the file and hear only the game. These are different problems: OBS may have recorded one mixed track, multiple tracks that your player does not mix, or an empty track.

Before changing anything, make a 20-second test recording in which you speak and play a clearly audible game sound. Save the original file. Test it in an editor that supports multiple audio tracks; ordinary media players often play only one track at a time. The official OBS multitrack guide explains this distinction.

Set up a combined track and separate editing tracks

In OBS, open Settings → Output, switch Output Mode to Advanced, and inspect the Recording section. Enable the audio tracks you want to save. Then open Advanced Audio Properties from the mixer and assign each source to the right tracks.

Track	Microphone	Game audio	Purpose
1	Yes	Yes	Combined playback or stream mix
2	Yes	No	Voice-only editing
3	No	Yes	Game-only editing

This is an example, not a mandatory numbering scheme. The important part is that your recording settings enable those tracks and your sources are routed to them. For a livestream, verify which single audio track is selected for the stream: the recording tracks do not automatically become separate stream tracks.

Why an audio meter moving is not enough

A moving OBS meter confirms that a source is receiving sound, but does not prove it is included in the track you intend to record. Check the track checkboxes, mute state and monitoring mode. A source configured for monitoring only may not be sent to the recording output. If a microphone appears twice in your mixer, inspect whether it was added globally and again as a scene source; that can create doubled sound.

If the recording is silent only in one player, try selecting a different audio track in that player’s audio menu or opening the file in a multitrack editor before assuming the file is damaged. The OBS Audio Mixer Guide also recommends checking sound at the source, inside OBS and in a short playback test.

Choose a recording format you can recover

OBS recommends MKV for multitrack recording; you can remux to MP4 afterward when needed. Do not delete the original MKV until you have verified the remuxed file and your editing workflow. A file extension change alone does not create separate audio tracks.

A five-minute pre-recording checklist

1. Say a sentence while gameplay makes a sound.
2. Watch both source meters.
3. Confirm the intended recording tracks are enabled.
4. Check source-to-track assignments in Advanced Audio Properties.
5. Record 20 seconds, stop, then open the file in your actual editor.
6. Verify the combined mix and individual tracks before starting a long session.

If your problem is that OBS never receives PS5 audio in the first place, use our PS5 capture-card audio signal checklist. If your microphone is distorted or too quiet, follow our OBS microphone troubleshooting guide. You generally do not need to buy another microphone or capture card to fix track routing.