How to Set Up Separate Audio Tracks in OBS for VODs (August 2026)

I’ve lost count of how many times streamers ask me how to play music on stream without getting hit with a DMCA takedown. The answer is simpler than most people think: you learn how to set up separate audio tracks in OBS for VODs. Once you understand the multi-track audio system, you can play copyrighted music live while keeping your archived video clean, and you can even record each source on its own track for post-production editing. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the entire setup using OBS Studio, share the troubleshooting fixes I wish I’d known earlier, and cover the multi-PC NDI route that most tutorials skip.

What Is OBS Multi-Track Audio and Why You Need It?

OBS multi-track audio is a feature that lets you send different audio mixes to your live stream and your recorded VOD at the same time. Instead of broadcasting one fixed audio output, OBS Studio actually records up to six separate audio tracks simultaneously. Each track can carry a different combination of sources: your microphone, desktop audio, music players, alerts, Discord calls, and anything else you’ve added.

This matters because of how Twitch and YouTube handle archives. When you go live, your viewers hear everything in real time, including whatever music you’ve got playing on Spotify. But when your VOD gets archived, that same music stays in the recording and can trigger copyright detection. Multi-track recording gives you a way to split the audio sources so the music lives only in your live broadcast and disappears from the VOD file entirely.

The same feature is just as useful if you create content. Recording your microphone on track 1 and game audio on track 2 means you can edit your VODs in Premiere or DaVinci Resolve without ever re-recording a voiceover. I use this workflow for every podcast-style video I produce on my second channel.

How to Enable the Twitch VOD Track in OBS?

This is the part most guides get wrong or skip. The Twitch VOD track isn’t just an Advanced Audio Properties setting. It lives inside your Streaming output settings, and you have to switch your encoder mode to Advanced before it appears. Here’s the exact process I use every time I set up a new OBS profile.

Step 1: Open OBS Studio and click Settings in the bottom-right corner of the main window.

Step 2: Click the Output tab in the left sidebar, then change Output Mode from Simple to Advanced. The mode dropdown sits at the top of the page.

Step 3: Select the Streaming tab inside the Output section. You’ll see a checkbox labeled “Enable Custom Encoder Settings” near the top. Check that box to expose the track controls.

Step 4: Below the encoder settings, look for the Audio Track section. OBS shows six numbered checkboxes. Make sure Track 1 is always checked for your live feed. To enable the VOD track, also check Track 2.

Step 5: Click Apply, then OK to save. Your stream now sends audio to both tracks, and Twitch will use Track 2 for the archived VOD while your viewers hear Track 1.

If you’re streaming to YouTube instead of Twitch, you can still record all six tracks locally for editing. YouTube doesn’t have a dedicated “VOD track” feature like Twitch does, but you can record multi-track audio and then choose which track to export when you upload.

Configuring Advanced Audio Properties in OBS

Advanced Audio Properties is the panel that controls which track each source gets assigned to. To open it, click the small three-dot menu next to Audio Mixer in the main OBS dock, then choose Advanced Audio Properties. A new window pops up listing every audio source in your scene.

Each row shows six checkboxes under the Audio Tracks column, numbered 1 through 6. By default, OBS assigns every source to Track 1 only. To split your audio, you uncheck Track 1 for sources you want to remove from your live stream (or only on certain tracks) and check the boxes for the tracks you want them to appear in.

The six-track system is more powerful than most people realize. Track 1 is your standard live mix. Track 2 is your Twitch VOD mix. Tracks 3 through 6 are free for recording only and don’t get sent to Twitch. Many creators use Track 3 for clean microphone audio and Track 4 for game or alert audio so they can edit each element independently in post.

How to Assign Audio Sources to Different Tracks?

Now that you’ve opened Advanced Audio Properties, it’s time to assign your sources. I’ll walk you through a typical streamer setup: microphone on Tracks 1 and 2, desktop audio on Track 1 only, and music source on Track 1 only (so it stays in the live stream but gets excluded from the VOD when you do this right).

Step 1: In Advanced Audio Properties, find your Mic/Aux source. Check Track 1 and Track 2. Your voice will appear in both your live broadcast and your VOD.

Step 2: Find your Desktop Audio source. Check only Track 1. Desktop audio will play live but won’t be archived on Twitch when you set up the VOD track correctly.

Step 3: If you use a dedicated music source like Spotify through Application Audio Capture, check Track 1 only. The music plays for live viewers and gets stripped from the archived VOD.

Step 4: For alert sounds or follower notifications, decide where you want them. Most streamers put alerts on Tracks 1 and 2 so they show up in both versions.

Step 5: Click Close, then test your setup. Open Twitch’s Video Producer to preview the latest VOD and confirm the music is missing while your voice remains. If you still hear music in the VOD, double-check that the Twitch VOD Track is enabled in Settings.

Track 1 vs Track 2: Live Audio vs VOD Audio

Track 1 is your live audio. Everything checked under Track 1 goes out to your stream in real time. Track 2 is your VOD audio when Twitch’s VOD Track feature is turned on. Twitch archives Track 2 only, ignoring all the other tracks you record locally.

The biggest gotcha here is that Track 2 is only used by Twitch when the VOD Track option is turned on in your Streaming settings. If you forget to enable it, Twitch silently falls back to recording Track 1, and your music ends up in the VOD. That’s the most common forum complaint I see on r/Twitch, and it always comes back to this single checkbox.

Best Practices for OBS Audio Levels and Recording

Audio levels make or break your stream. I keep my microphone peaking between -12 dB and -6 dB during normal talking, and never let it cross 0 dB. Watch your Audio Mixer panel while you talk for a minute to find your natural range.

For local multi-track recording, set your recording format to MKV in Settings, then Output, then Recording. MKV handles multiple audio tracks without the corruption risk that MP4 has. After you stop recording, use File, then Remux Recordings to convert the MKV to MP4 if you need it for editing software.

Enable audio monitoring on Track 3 or Track 4 if you want to hear a specific source through your headphones without routing it to the stream. Right-click any audio source, choose Advanced Audio Properties, and set Monitoring to Monitor and Output. This is helpful for DJs and music streamers who want a clean cue mix.

Troubleshooting Common OBS VOD Track Issues

If your VOD track is missing or music still appears in archived videos, run through this checklist. These are the exact problems streamers post about on the OBS Project forums every week.

VOD track option not showing up: You haven’t changed Output Mode to Advanced. Go to Settings, then Output, and switch from Simple to Advanced mode.

Music still plays in the VOD: Your Twitch VOD Track isn’t enabled. Open Settings, Output, Streaming, then check “Enable Custom Encoder Settings” and verify Track 2 is selected.

Voice is missing from the VOD: Your microphone isn’t checked on Track 2. Open Advanced Audio Properties and confirm Mic/Aux has Track 2 selected.

Tracks recording locally but not on Twitch: Twitch only reads Track 2 when the VOD Track is enabled. Tracks 3 through 6 are local recording only and never reach Twitch.

Audio out of sync in the recording: Your recording bitrate is too low or you’re using a fragmented MP4. Switch to MKV, record, then remux to MP4 before editing.

Advanced: Multi-PC NDI Audio Routing for OBS

Multi-PC streamers hit a wall when they try to set up separate audio tracks because their audio sources live on different machines. The cleanest fix I’ve found is NDI. Install the OBS NDI plugin on both machines, add NDI as a source on your streaming PC, and the audio arrives as a regular OBS audio source you can assign to any track.

On the gaming PC, configure NDI Output under Tools in OBS. On the streaming PC, add an NDI Source and pick the gaming PC from the dropdown. The audio from the gaming PC now behaves like any other source, so you can put your Discord, game audio, and microphone on separate tracks in Advanced Audio Properties. This is the setup I run on my two-PC rig and it works flawlessly for both live streaming and VOD recording.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Now you know how to set up separate audio tracks in OBS for VODs the right way. The whole workflow boils down to switching to Advanced Output Mode, enabling the Twitch VOD Track on Track 2, and using Advanced Audio Properties to assign each source where it belongs. Spend twenty minutes testing this setup before your next stream, double-check your VOD preview in Twitch Video Producer, and you’ll never lose a recording to DMCA again. If you found this useful, check out our other OBS guides on Free Stream Hosting for more streaming tips.