Stream with OBS

The streamer's golden rule: what you hear and what your viewers hear are not the same thing. You want music in your ears; your stream can't have it (copyright). You want to talk to friends on Discord; your viewers shouldn't hear that private chat. Aura Mixer solves this with a second output bus — one mix for you, one for OBS.

What you'll need

• OBS — that's it. With an 🎥 Application (capture) bus, OBS grabs your stream mix directly, no virtual cable required. (Prefer a cable, or using a different recorder? See the cable alternative at the end.)
• Your input channels already set up (mic, game, music…). New here? Do the Quick Start first.

1. Create the Stream bus

Menu → Channels → OUTPUTS tab → + Add a bus named Stream. Open its SETUP tab and set Output type to 🎥 Application (capture). (Leave the device on any output you don't listen on — the bus plays there too, and you don't want to hear it twice.)

2. Route each source to the right mixes

Open the Routing matrix (menu → Routing). Every channel has a cell under Main L+R (you) and under Stream (OBS). Light the cells you want:

The trick is the Music and Discord rows: lit under Main L+R, dark under Stream. You hear them; your stream stays copyright-safe and private.

3. Trim the levels per mix

A channel can sit louder in your ears than on the stream. SELECT a channel → SENDS tab → drag its Stream send down a few dB. The send level is independent per bus, so you can make game audio sit quietly under your voice on the stream while staying punchy for you. (More on sends.)

4. Capture the bus in OBS

In OBS, add a source → Application Audio Capture → set its Window to "Aura Mixer — Stream". That's your clean stream mix, captured directly. Disable OBS's own Desktop Audio so you don't double-capture — the Stream bus is now your single source.

5. Hear exactly what your viewers hear

This is the payoff. In the monitor bar, set the MONITOR dropdown to Stream. Now your headphones play the exact mix going to OBS — no music, no private chat, levels as the audience gets them. Audit it, then switch MONITOR back to Main L+R for your full mix. No more "was my music too loud?" guesswork.

6. Save it as a scene

Menu → Scenes → save this whole setup to a slot named Streaming. One click restores it next time. (Scenes.)

Alternative: a virtual-cable bus

No Application Audio Capture (older OBS), or feeding a different recorder? Use a 🎧 Physical bus instead: install a virtual audio cable (VB-Audio, Voicemeeter, VAC) and point the Stream bus's device at the cable's input (e.g. CABLE Input), then point OBS's Audio Input Capture at the cable's output (e.g. CABLE Output). Everything else — routing, sends, monitoring — is identical.