OBS audio filters and settings for your microphone

The short answer

Set your microphone’s level at the microphone or interface first. Then, on the microphone source in OBS, add the filters you need in this order: noise suppression, noise gate, compressor, and a limiter last. Start from OBS’s own default values below, and change them from what you hear and what the microphone test measures in your room.

The order matters because each filter works on what the one before it hands on. Suppression and the gate deal with the room before the compressor raises the quiet parts, and the limiter at the end catches any peak the others let through.

Set the level before any filter

OBS’s own advice is to start at the device: the gain knob on the microphone or interface, then your system’s input level, and the fader in OBS last. In OBS’s meter, speech should sit in the upper part of the yellow zone, which runs from -20 to -9 dB, and reach only the lower end of the red zone. A filter cannot fix a level that is far too quiet or already clipping: gain a quiet signal and you raise the room noise with it.

What each filter does, and OBS’s starting values

These are the default values OBS Studio 32.2.2 gives each filter when you add it.

Set the noise gate from your own room

OBS’s noise gate opens when a sample peak passes the open threshold. It closes when its decaying peak level falls below the close threshold, then waits for the hold time before fading out over the release time. Set Close above the room’s peaks and Open below your quietest words. An average noise level alone is too low a reference for Close.

The microphone test uses peaks from the quietest quarter of recent readings for the room and the loudest quarter for speech. Its starting guide puts Close 3 dB above the room peak, rounded up, and Open 10 dB below the speech peak, rounded down. It shows no suggestion unless Open is at least 3 dB above Close. These are our starting margins, not OBS defaults. Leave pauses during the test, then record in OBS and listen. If word starts get cut off, lower Open while keeping it above Close. If noise comes through between words, raise Close while keeping it below Open. If that leaves no usable gap, reduce the room noise or move closer. If sentence endings get clipped, lengthen the hold.

Using the compressor

Above the threshold, OBS’s compressor turns the level down by (1 − 1/ratio) of the amount it goes over. At the default 10:1 and −18 dB, a word that peaks at -8 dB is 10 dB over the threshold, so it is turned down by 9 dB and comes out at -17 dB. Quiet words below −18 dB are left alone.

That makes your voice more even but also quieter overall. Raise the output gain to bring it back up, while the loud words stay in the yellow zone. A lower ratio, such as 3:1 or 4:1, evens the voice out more gently.

Check it by recording

Filters are easy to overdo. Record a minute of your normal show, with quiet and loud talking, and listen back, as OBS advises before going live. Listen for cut-off word starts (the gate), a pumping or breathing sound in the background (too much compression), and a voice that sounds underwater (too much suppression).

Questions

Do I need all of these filters? No. In a quiet room with the level set well, many voices need only a limiter, or nothing. Add a filter when you can hear the problem it solves.

Should I use noise suppression and a noise gate together? They do different jobs: suppression lowers steady noise while you talk, and the gate silences the microphone between words. Use both only if you hear both problems.

Why does my voice cut in and out? The gate’s open threshold is too high for your quiet words, or its close threshold is too close to your speech. Lower them, or measure your room again with the microphone test.

What are the best OBS audio settings for streaming? Beyond the filters: a 48 kHz sample rate and 160 kbps audio are OBS’s defaults, and the platform pages list what each platform accepts. The OBS output settings guide covers the rest.