A local multitrack recording saves separate audio sources in a file you can edit later. A platform VOD audio feed is a separate route for the saved replay; it does not automatically create editable local tracks, and platforms do not all handle audio tracks the same way.
In OBS, the practical starting point is to keep a complete mix on track 1, assign isolated sources to additional tracks, enable those tracks for recording and make a short test file. Twitch VOD routing is a distinct, optional setup described below; do not treat it as a substitute for local recording tracks.
Local recording and VOD are different jobs
Think of the mixer as a set of routes, not a machine that can unmix sound. For a local recording, you decide which OBS sources are written to which audio tracks in the file. An editor can then work with those tracks separately, subject to the way that editor and the file format expose them.
A VOD route instead determines what audio reaches a platform's saved replay. OBS documents a Twitch-specific VOD track that can differ from the live feed. That routing choice does not, by itself, preserve microphone, game and music as separate editable tracks in a local file. Configure and test each destination for the job you need.
For a live bhajan channel, for example, you might want a single, balanced programme mix for viewers and separate microphone and backing-track recordings for later adjustment. For a local news loop, you might want to keep a clean narration source apart from music or ambient sound. Those are local recording decisions. If your concern is what appears in a Twitch VOD, that is another route to configure.
OBS's multiple audio track recording guide explains how to assign sources and enable tracks for recording. Its Twitch VOD track guide describes the live/VOD distinction. Neither makes every platform behave alike, so check the current documentation and controls for the platform you actually use.
Decide what you need to separate
Before changing settings, write down the sources you can actually select in OBS and what you want to do with them later. Common sources include a microphone, a game or application, desktop audio, chat, music and a media file. The names depend on your setup; what matters is whether they enter OBS as distinct sources.
A useful plan is to start with a complete mix on track 1, then assign sources to additional tracks according to the edit you expect to make. If the microphone needs independent processing, it needs its own route. If game sound and music need separate edits, each must be captured separately before they reach the recording track.
| Need | Useful recording arrangement | Check before a long session |
|---|---|---|
| A file that plays normally in a standard player | Put the complete mix on track 1 | Confirm that track 1 contains everything viewers should hear |
| A later microphone level adjustment | Keep the microphone on a separate track as well as the complete mix | Confirm the mic is clear and not doubled in the editor |
| Independent game and music edits | Capture game and music as distinct OBS sources and route them separately | Make sure they did not arrive already combined |
| A Twitch replay without a particular source | Configure the Twitch VOD route separately from the local recording | Check a saved VOD at a point where that source was active |
The table is a routing plan, not a promise about every editor or container. Import a short sample into the application you intend to use and confirm that you can see and select the tracks you need before recording a long programme.
There is no benefit in making many tracks just because the controls allow it. Extra tracks can make a session harder to inspect and can leave you with an incomplete playback mix if you forget to assign a source. Start with the edits you expect to make, then add only the separation that supports them.
Check the source before routing it
OBS can assign an available source to multiple tracks, but that does not recover components that were mixed together before OBS received them. If a desktop audio source contains both a game and a music player, OBS sees that combined signal as one source. Sending it to more than one track makes additional copies of the same blend, not separate game and music tracks.
The same limitation can apply to console audio. Elgato notes that a console capture may deliver game audio as one combined signal, leaving no way to split its music and effects within OBS after capture. Check whether the game has a Streamer Mode or separate music and radio volume controls if you need to reduce a particular component. Those controls alter the incoming mix; they do not create a clean original track that was never captured.
For computer audio, look at how each application reaches OBS. If the microphone, game and music appear as independent mixer sources, you have a basis for separate routing. If they all appear under one desktop source, change the capture arrangement before setting track membership. A separate application audio capture or virtual audio device may be useful in some setups, but it is optional and should be chosen for a specific routing need rather than bought by default.
This distinction is also useful for a shop or study stream that runs for hours. If the recorded file may need a narration change but not a background music change, capture those sources separately at the outset. For broader ideas on preparing looping material, see how to run a 24/7 stream for a retail promotion and how to loop podcast episodes on a YouTube live stream. These are content-planning questions, while track separation depends on what OBS receives.
Route sources in OBS
First make sure the sources you intend to separate are visible and active in OBS's Audio Mixer. Speak into the microphone, play the application sound or trigger the media source and confirm the relevant meter responds. A moving meter is a useful first check, but it does not prove the source is assigned to the right recording track.
Open Advanced Audio Properties from the mixer gear menu; OBS also documents access through the Edit menu. Each audio source has track membership controls. Select track 1 for every source that belongs in the complete programme mix. Then select the additional track or tracks that should contain each source for editing. One source can be included on the full-mix track and its own isolated track.
For instance, a simple spoken presentation might put microphone and media audio together on track 1, while assigning the microphone to track 2 and media to track 3. The track numbers are a plan, not a requirement. Name your sources clearly in OBS, note what each track is meant to contain, and use the same arrangement consistently so you can recognise it when you reopen a project.
Do not confuse track membership with monitoring. Monitoring determines whether OBS sends a source to a monitoring device; track assignment determines where it is included in an output. If monitoring a source causes a duplicate or echo in your headphones or capture path, check which device OBS is monitoring to. Elgato's Twitch VOD routing guide advises using headphones that OBS does not itself capture when monitoring a separately routed source.
A separate source can still be too quiet, clipped or delayed. Set a sensible input level and listen to the combined programme mix as well as the isolated source. Do not rely on track routing to fix a level problem: an isolated microphone track with distorted input remains distorted, even if the live mix sounds acceptable after other sounds mask it.
Choose tracks for recording and streaming
Track membership and output selection are two steps. After assigning sources in Advanced Audio Properties, open Settings → Output and enable the tracks you want included in the recording. OBS's local multitrack guide uses track 1 for a complete mix and additional tracks for separated audio. Check the controls in your OBS version and output mode rather than assuming an unchecked track will appear simply because sources were assigned to it.
Keep the recording arrangement distinct from the stream arrangement in your notes. You may use a complete mix for the live audience while also saving separate audio tracks locally. A standard video player generally plays one audio track at a time, so a file with only isolated sources may sound incomplete when opened outside an editor. OBS specifically cautions about this behaviour; retaining the complete mix on track 1 gives you a usable default playback track.
Do a short recording and open it in the editing application you expect to use. Check that track 1 contains the whole mix, then solo or mute individual tracks to confirm they contain only the sources you intended. If the editor displays fewer tracks than expected, review the file import and application settings before changing your live routing. Compatibility varies, and the workflow has not been verified for every editor or container.
If you are troubleshooting a larger always-on setup, keep this work separate from decisions about how the broadcast itself is hosted. The guide to keeping a YouTube stream running when OBS crashes concerns continuity of the broadcast, not the audio tracks inside a local recording. A reliable stream and a useful multitrack file are different outcomes to check.
Test the mix and isolated tracks
Make a test that includes every source you plan to use. Speak into the microphone while the game, music or media is active. Include a quiet passage and a louder moment if those occur in normal use. A short sample lets you catch misrouting without waiting until a long session is finished.
Listen first to the complete mix on track 1. Does it contain every source, and is speech intelligible over the background? Then inspect each isolated track in your editor. A microphone track should not contain the game if the goal was independent editing; a music track should not quietly include desktop audio. If a source is missing, verify that its mixer meter moved, its track box is selected and the intended track is enabled for recording.
Check for double monitoring as well as missing audio. If a source is routed through multiple paths into headphones, you may hear an echo or a slight delay. Confirm the selected monitoring device and make sure it is not being captured as another source. Listen to the recording itself rather than judging only by what you heard live, because the monitored sound and saved track are not necessarily the same route.
Also check levels and duration. An isolated track can be present but too low to use, or it can stop when a media source changes. Scrub to a few points in the test file, including a transition, and confirm that the expected sources continue. If your channel uses a fixed loop, include the point where it returns to the beginning; if it contains speech, include a moment when the speaker pauses.
Keep the test file as a reference if it captures a known-good arrangement. A note listing the source-to-track mapping is often enough to make a later session easier to diagnose. Recheck after changing audio devices, replacing a capture source or updating a routing configuration, since those changes can alter what reaches OBS.
Optional: configure Twitch VOD audio
Use this branch only if you stream to Twitch and need its saved VOD to differ from the live mix. OBS documents a Twitch-specific route: by default, track 1 is the live feed and track 2 is the VOD feed, with tracks 3–6 available for editing separation. Check the current OBS guide and your installed version for the relevant controls; output settings can vary with output mode.
The broad setup is to connect your Twitch account in OBS under Settings → Stream, enable the Twitch VOD track in Output settings, and use Advanced Audio Properties to decide which sources belong in the live and VOD feeds. For example, you might include music in the live mix but leave it out of the VOD route. This is about whether a source is sent to that replay; it does not determine whether the same source appears on a local recording track.
To exclude music cleanly, it must be available as a distinct source or routed mix. If it has already been folded into Desktop Audio or combined with console sound, removing that combined source from the VOD feed removes all of it, not just music. Elgato describes separate capture or routing approaches for this reason. Treat any additional routing tool as a setup choice to verify, not a requirement for every streamer.
Make a test broadcast and inspect the resulting VOD where the source was playing. Do not assume the saved replay reflects your intended route merely because the boxes looked right in OBS. If it is wrong, confirm source membership, the selected VOD track and the source capture arrangement, then test again before relying on that configuration.
Routing can omit a source from a VOD when configured correctly; it does not establish that you have rights to transmit or publish that recording. Check the platform's current rules and your own permissions for the material you use. If your primary goal is a local edit, configure the local recording tracks independently even when Twitch VOD routing is enabled.
Choose a workflow that fits the channel
For a creator who only needs a finished live mix, ordinary single-track recording may be simpler than multitrack. For someone who edits narration, music or game audio separately, local multitrack recording offers more control, at the cost of checking more routes and confirming how the editor imports them. Twitch's VOD route answers a different need: varying the replay audio relative to the live feed.
No special purchase is required for the OBS track-assignment steps described here. Consider additional capture or audio equipment only when your current inputs cannot provide the sources you need separately. An interface cannot separate a game and music that have already been combined upstream; address the capture path first.
If you use a computer for an always-on broadcast, local recording also means leaving that workflow and its recording output available during the session. When the strain of keeping a local setup running is itself the problem, StreamNeo removes that particular burden by turning an uploaded video into a YouTube live stream that can run with your computer switched off. It does not change how audio tracks are captured or provide VOD routing, so decide the recording requirement separately.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
Does enabling a Twitch VOD track save separate local tracks?
No. The Twitch VOD route controls audio sent to the Twitch replay, while local multitrack recording is configured through OBS's recording track assignments and output settings. If you need editable local audio, enable and test those recording tracks separately.
Why do my game and music still appear together?
They may be arriving in OBS as a single combined source, such as Desktop Audio or a console capture. Track assignment can copy that blend to different tracks, but cannot recover the original components; capture them separately or use available in-game audio controls.
Why does my recording sound incomplete in a normal player?
Many standard players play one audio track at a time. If you saved only isolated sources, a player may not combine them into a finished mix. Keep a complete mix on track 1 and confirm the isolated tracks in your editing application.
Can I remove music from a Twitch VOD but keep it in the live stream?
OBS's Twitch VOD routing can send a different mix to the replay, provided the music is a distinct source or route that can be excluded. Test a saved VOD before relying on it, and check current platform rules and permissions for any music you transmit.