Separate audio tracks in Streamlabs Desktop let you keep sources such as your microphone and desktop audio apart in a recording, so you can adjust them independently later. To set them up, switch Output Mode to Advanced, choose a multitrack-compatible recording format, and assign each source to its intended track.
Recording tracks and the audio your live audience hears are related, but they are not the same setting. Check the selected streaming track separately, then make a short test recording and inspect it in your editing software before relying on the layout for an important session.
Open Output settings
Open Streamlabs Desktop and go to Settings > Output. The output settings contain separate controls for streaming and recording. If the interface labels have changed in your installed version, look for the Output Mode selector and the Recording tab within Output rather than assuming a recording-track control is in the mixer itself.
The first check is whether Output Mode is set to Simple or Advanced. In Simple mode, you may not see the recording controls needed to choose audio tracks. Do not start changing mixer levels to solve that visibility problem; levels and track routing serve different purposes.
It is worth separating three things in your mind before you continue:
| Control | What it affects | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Output Mode | Which output settings are available | Advanced mode is selected |
| Recording tracks | Which audio channels are saved in the file | The intended tracks are enabled |
| Streaming audio track | Which selected track is sent to the live stream | Every source the audience should hear is routed to it |
The Streamlabs multi-track recording guide describes the recording setup and the separation between tracks for later editing. Read it alongside this walkthrough if your interface differs; follow the current controls shown in your own installation rather than treating an older screenshot as a guarantee of the exact layout.
For a channel that runs continually, the practical reason to configure this carefully is not just a cleaner editing timeline. If you occasionally replace a recorded segment, add narration, or prepare a new version of a devotional or study loop, separate sources can make it easier to adjust speech and background audio independently. A 24/7 channel may not need to edit every hour of output, but a test file made before you settle on a format can prevent a later surprise.
Switch to Advanced mode
In Output Mode, change Simple to Advanced. Open the Recording tab that appears within Output. Streamlabs documents choosing the number of recording audio tracks in this area; its guide says the recording feature supports up to six tracks. Treat six as the documented maximum, not a reason to enable every track. Use only the tracks you can identify and have a purpose for.
A useful starting plan is two tracks: one for the live mix, and another that isolates a source you expect to adjust, such as your microphone. If you want desktop audio and microphone audio each isolated, a third track can hold the live mix while the other two hold the separate sources. The key is to decide what each track means before routing sources, so that a track named only in your memory does not become an unexplained channel in the editor.
Advanced mode exposes more controls; it does not itself separate any sources. You still need to enable the desired recording tracks and assign mixer sources to them. Similarly, changing from Simple to Advanced does not promise a change to your live mix. Keep this configuration task focused on recording until you reach the streaming-track check later in the process.
If the goal is to send distinct material to viewers during a show, rather than preserve stems for editing, this is a different requirement. Streamlabs’ selective recording and audio routing documentation covers additional routing behaviours. Review the controls before building a more complicated setup, and test how they interact with your scenes and sources.
Choose the recording tracks
In the Recording tab, enable the number of audio tracks you intend to use. The Streamlabs guide documents up to six separate recording tracks. A track is an audio stream within the recording file; it is not a separate video recording. The purpose is to give you separate audio material to work with after importing the file into an editor.
Start with a short, explicit mapping. For example:
| Track | Intended contents | Why keep it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Complete mix intended for viewers | A reference for what the stream should sound like |
| 2 | Microphone | Adjust narration without changing background audio |
| 3 | Desktop or application audio | Adjust playback independently |
This is an example, not a required layout. If your channel uses a single prerecorded audio source and no live microphone, extra tracks may add little value. If you do not intend to edit the sources separately, the normal mixed recording may be sufficient. Use the smallest layout that answers a real editing need; fewer tracks are easier to name and check.
Do not assume that selecting a recording track makes the source audible to stream viewers. Recording track selection tells Streamlabs what to include in the file; the streaming output has its own selected track. Keep those intentions separate in your plan. A source can be routed to more than one recording track, but a source on an additional recording track alone may be absent from the audience mix.
If a channel combines live speech with long-form background material, the value of separation is concrete: you may lower a spoken introduction in the edit without lowering the underlying music or ambience. That only works if the sources entered the recording on separate tracks in the first place. It does not turn a completed mixed recording back into independent sources.
Select a multitrack-compatible format
Before recording, choose a container that supports multiple audio tracks. Streamlabs’ multi-track guide names MP4 and MKV, and warns that the default FLV format does not support multiple audio tracks. Another Streamlabs routing guide also lists TS along with MKV and MP4. Because the official pages do not give identical format lists, MKV or MP4 is the cautious choice shared by both sources; check the current documentation and your editor’s compatibility before settling on a workflow.
The central warning is simple: do not choose FLV for this multitrack recording. A file may be created successfully while still failing to preserve the separate audio layout you expected. The presence of a playable video is not proof that separate tracks were recorded.
Format choice also depends on where you plan to edit. An editor might accept one container but present its audio tracks differently from another, or require a particular import step. Check the format options in Streamlabs, then make a short sample and import it into the exact editing application you use. If a delivery or archive workflow requires a specific container, confirm that requirement before recording a long session.
Streamlabs’ guide to recording settings is useful background when you are also considering general recording output choices. Do not infer that every setting discussed for a conventional recording is suitable for a multitrack file. Preserve the key distinction: the format must retain multiple audio tracks, and the editor must be able to expose them for your intended work.
If you already have a channel workflow based on a local recording, it is sensible to test one representative scene rather than only a blank project. Include the sources that actually appear in the channel, such as narration, music, or application sound. For a continuously played archive, check a short segment that includes both quiet and active moments; the purpose is to confirm routing and track presence, not to establish a performance benchmark.
Assign audio sources to tracks
In the mixer, open Advanced Audio Settings using the settings gear. For each source, select the track or tracks where that source should be recorded. The exact choices should follow the mapping you made in the Recording tab. For instance, if the microphone belongs on Track 2 and desktop audio on Track 3, assign them accordingly, and include them on Track 1 as well if Track 1 is intended to preserve the complete mix.
A practical assignment table might look like this:
| Source | Track 1: audience mix | Track 2: microphone | Track 3: desktop audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microphone | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop audio | Yes | No | Yes |
That table illustrates one arrangement. If you want a different audience mix, change the source-to-track assignments to match it. Avoid relying on track names or numbers alone: the check is whether the correct source reaches each intended track. Keep a written mapping beside your project if you return to it after a long gap or hand it to someone else.
Watch for sources that can duplicate the same sound. Streamlabs’ documentation on advanced audio control setups discusses more involved control arrangements. In particular, Streamlabs advises disabling the general Desktop Audio source when using Application Audio Capture, otherwise computer audio may be captured more broadly and echoes can occur. If you choose application-specific capture, verify that the application and general desktop sources are not both recording the same output unintentionally.
You do not need an elaborate virtual-audio routing arrangement for the ordinary case of separating a microphone and desktop audio into recording tracks. More complex software routing can be useful when you have a specific source-routing requirement, but it adds another layer to diagnose. Make the simple mixer assignment work first, and only add routing tools if the sources cannot be separated through the controls you need.
For a 24/7 channel, avoid making a new routing change in the middle of a live session unless you understand which output it affects. Create a duplicate scene or use a planned test window if your workflow permits it, and note the prior settings so you can restore them. The audience mix is the part to protect; a recording layout that is convenient for editing is not useful if it inadvertently leaves intended programme audio out of the live track.
Check recording and live mix separately
The final check has two parts. First, confirm the live track: under Output > Streaming, identify the selected audio track for the stream. Streamlabs says streaming uses one audio track. Ensure all sources intended for the audience are assigned to that selected track. Do not assume the live audience hears sources simply because they are checked on other recording tracks.
Second, verify the recording itself. Make a brief test with each source active in turn: speak into the microphone, play desktop or application audio, and listen to the combined mix. Import the sample into the editing application and confirm that the expected separate tracks appear and contain the right sources. A channel’s live replay can help you judge the audience mix, but it does not by itself prove that the recording file contains the additional tracks you wanted.
Use the table as a troubleshooting guide:
| What you observe | What to check |
|---|---|
| The video plays, but the editor shows only one audio track | Confirm a multitrack-compatible format was selected, recording tracks were enabled, and sources were assigned to them |
| A separate track exists but is silent | Check whether the source was assigned to that track and active during the sample |
| A source appears twice or sounds echoed | Check for duplicate capture sources, particularly general Desktop Audio alongside Application Audio Capture |
| A source is in the file but not in the live stream | Check whether it was assigned to the selected streaming track |
| The live mix is correct but editing stems are missing | Review recording-track selection and per-source assignments, not only the streaming selection |
Change one thing at a time when troubleshooting, then record another short sample. If you alter the format, track checkboxes and source assignment all at once, it becomes difficult to tell which change solved the problem. Save the verified configuration or note it clearly before returning to normal operation.
A separate-track workflow is particularly useful when you edit introductions, spoken announcements or transitions for a channel. It is less important if the stream is simply a fixed, finished mix and you never adjust its sources. For creators running a guided meditation live stream, for example, a microphone track can make spoken guidance easier to balance against ambience, provided both are still present on the track selected for viewers.
The same discipline matters when you archive material for a continuous channel. If you are streaming a podcast archive continuously, decide whether the archive is already a finished mix or whether you expect to revise speech and beds later. Independent recording tracks cannot recover separation that was already lost in a single premixed source.
If the fragile part of your setup is keeping a computer running for an always-on broadcast rather than producing separate local edit tracks, StreamNeo can take an uploaded video and run it as a YouTube live stream while your computer is off. That addresses the continuous playback task; it does not replace the need to configure and verify local Streamlabs recording tracks when you want editable stems.
For related capture planning, keep the recording question distinct from streaming quality. A stream capped at 1080p rather than 4K is a separate output issue, not evidence that your recording tracks are misconfigured. Likewise, if a long-running YouTube stream goes out of sync, investigate timing and playback separately from which audio sources were assigned to recording tracks.
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FAQ
Why can I not see recording-track controls?
Check whether Output Mode is set to Advanced, then open the Recording tab under Settings > Output. Simple mode may not expose the controls needed for multitrack recording. The mixer’s Advanced Audio Settings are where you assign sources after enabling tracks.
How many audio tracks can Streamlabs Desktop record?
Streamlabs documents a maximum of six separate recording audio tracks. You do not need to use all of them: choose the tracks that match your editing plan and keep a clear mapping of what each contains.
Will selecting a recording track change what viewers hear?
Do not assume that it will. The stream uses its selected streaming audio track, while recording can include additional selected tracks; make sure every source intended for viewers is assigned to the streaming track as well as any recording tracks you need.
Which recording format should I use for separate tracks?
Streamlabs’ multitrack guide names MP4 and MKV and says FLV does not support multiple audio tracks; another Streamlabs routing guide also lists TS. Since the official lists differ, MP4 or MKV is the common-ground choice, followed by a test import into your own editor.