Troubleshoot Audio Issues

Audio is Not Loud Enough

When you convert analog audio to digital, usually through the use of an embedder, you may find that the audio is not coming through as loudly as it was before. This is usually because of a gain-staging issue that you can fix by increasing the input level on your embedder. Consult your embedder’s documentation for an explanation about increasing the input level.

If you continue to experience a lack of gain on your output stream, consider adding a limiter to your primary output bus. For more information on limiters and how to use them, please see this introduction to limiters (external site). 

Audio Artifacts on Facebook or YouTube

If you notice audible artifacting (unwanted noise coming from distortion, clipping, fuzz, etc.) in your social media broadcast, it could be because your encoder preset is set to exceed the limits set within Facebook and YouTube. This can be your total bitrate or the audio bitrate. You can adjust your bitrates by doing the following:

1. Navigate to Settings > Encoder Presets in Studio.
2. Click the preset you want to edit.
3. Click the edit icon .
4. Scroll down to Advanced Settings and make sure the following are true:
• Video Channels are set to 1 and do not exceed 4 Mbps.
• Audio Channels do not exceed 64 kbps per channel, regardless of how many are selected.
5. Scroll down to the Bandwidth Recommendation Calculator to see your total combined bitrate and make sure it does not exceed 5 Mbps, which is our recommended bitrate for social media. 
6. Stop and restart your stream in order for the changes to take effect.

If you are still noticing audio artifacts in your stream, try lowering your video bitrate or decreasing the number of audio channels you are using. 

Decoder Audio Issues

Audio Static

If you are using a de-embedder to convert digital audio signal to analog and all you can hear is static, it may be because of the AES settings on your de-embedder. AES audio output will come through as static in an analog system. To confirm this, plug a pair of headphones into the headphone jack on your decoder. If you can hear sound, then you will need to consult your de-embedder’s manual to adjust the output settings to ensure you're outputting analog audio instead of AES.

No Audio from Decoder Headphone Jack

If you are running an event at a remote venue, you can make sure your audio signal is reaching your decoder by using the headphone jack to monitor it. However, you may notice that no audio is coming through, especially if you are using an HDMI connection to your monitor. This may be because your monitor is being selected as the default audio device by the decoder. Here's how to change that:

1. If you have not already done so, log into the decoder interface.
2. Press Alt+F2 (Fn+F2 if you are using TeamViewer from a Mac) to bring up the command dialogue.
3. Type “gnome-control-center sound” and press the return key.
4. Select the “line-out” option.