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DocumentaryTube
Audio Sync

How to Sync Prerecorded Video Audio in OBS for YouTube Live

Use OBS Advanced Audio Properties to correct a measured, steady audio delay in a prerecorded Media Source—and distinguish fixed offset from drift before going live.

By DocumentaryTube Team 5 min read
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To correct a steady audio-video mismatch in OBS, add the prerecorded file as a Media Source, record a short test, then adjust that audio source’s Sync Offset (ms) under Edit → Advanced Audio Properties. Measure the difference in your own output; there is no universal offset value. If the mismatch grows over time, investigate timing or the playback path instead of applying one fixed delay.

Load the prerecorded file in OBS

  1. In the OBS scene where the video should play, use the Sources panel’s add button and choose Media Source. Create a new source or select an existing one, then browse to the local file in its properties. OBS documents local video formats including MP4, TS, MOV, FLV, MKV, AVI, GIF, and WebM, and audio formats including MP3, AAC, OGG, and WAV. Media Sources are available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. See the OBS Project’s Media Sources documentation.
  2. Check the source’s playback options. Loop restarts the file when it finishes; Restart playback when source becomes active restarts it when the source is in the current scene and visible. Set these according to whether the file is a one-time segment or meant to repeat.
  3. Make sure you are adjusting the audio belonging to the file you are hearing. If the same sound is also captured through a separate device or another OBS source, identify which path reaches the stream before changing offsets.

Measure the mismatch before changing the offset

Record a short test

Choose a segment with an obvious sound-and-picture event, such as a clap or a sharp action visible on screen and audible in the file. Record it in OBS and inspect the recording in a video player or editor. The recording-and-review method is also recommended in OBS community troubleshooting; it is a diagnostic step, not a prescribed millisecond setting (OBS forum discussion).

Identify which kind of mismatch you have

  • Audio is early by roughly the same amount throughout: a fixed audio delay may correct it.
  • Audio is already late: adding more audio delay moves it further in the wrong direction. Inspect whether the video needs a delay or whether another part of the playback or capture path is responsible.
  • The mismatch grows during playback: this is drift, not a single fixed offset. Check device timing, clocks, and where in the signal path the error begins.

Set the OBS audio sync offset

  1. In OBS, open Edit → Advanced Audio Properties.
  2. Find the row for the audio source that carries the prerecorded file and edit its Sync Offset (ms) value. This control is expressed in milliseconds; see the Focusrite OBS setup guide and the OBS forum discussion about audio delay.
  3. If the audio is early, test a positive delay; a forum user reports that positive values delay audio and negative values advance it. Since that direction is community guidance rather than a universal guarantee for every source and installed release, verify it with a fresh short recording.
  4. Change the value in small, measured increments, record again, and inspect the same event. Keep the value only if it improves sync across the test segment.

Do not copy a number from someone else’s setup as a preset. The needed correction depends on the file and signal path. A fixed offset can compensate for a stable difference, but it cannot reliably correct a mismatch that keeps increasing.

Check separate audio devices and capture paths

If you use Audio Input Capture or Audio Output Capture alongside the Media Source, check that the same device is not also captured globally in Settings → Audio. OBS warns that capturing a device both globally and as a source can cause echo. On Windows, the capture source properties include Use Device Timestamps, an option intended to prevent desynchronization by using device timing information. That setting is not documented as a general fix for audio embedded in a Media Source. See the OBS Project’s Audio Sources documentation.

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Verify the result on the stream path

Make a fresh OBS recording after your adjustment. A local recording helps confirm the timing of OBS’s output, but it does not prove that every viewer receives perfectly synchronized audio through YouTube Live. If the recording is aligned but the live stream is not, determine whether the problem appears in YouTube’s received stream or only in a viewer’s playback before changing OBS again. The sources available here do not establish a YouTube-specific ingest timing guarantee or a platform diagnostic procedure.

Troubleshoot when the offset does not work

The adjustment seems to have no effect

  • Confirm that the selected row in Advanced Audio Properties belongs to the audio you hear.
  • Record and inspect a short test after each change rather than relying only on monitoring.
  • Check the installed OBS release and include an OBS log if you seek support.

A GitHub issue opened on 2024-12-22 reports an offset-behavior problem in one specific macOS 14 setup involving OBS 30 and 31; a later comment dated 2025-07-13 describes a workaround in a distinct setup. This is evidence of an individual, version-specific report, not confirmation of a general defect or official fix (OBS Studio issue #11656).

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The audio becomes less synchronized as the video continues

Recheck whether the mismatch is accumulating drift. Compare an early event and a later event in the recording, then determine whether it occurs in OBS’s local recording or only farther downstream. Investigate the device or playback timing rather than continually increasing a fixed offset. The Windows Use Device Timestamps option applies to the documented Audio Input/Output Capture sources, not universally to embedded Media Source audio.

There is echo or more than one copy of the sound

Look for the same device being captured both in Settings → Audio and as an Audio Input/Output Capture source. Disable the duplicate route you do not need, then record a new test before recalibrating.

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