How To Setup Ableton With OBS No Latency (Mac & Windows)

Want to stream or record Ableton with no latency using OBS, and be able to hear your audio?

In this article, I'm going to show you exactly how you can setup Ableton (& most other DAWs), with OBS (Mac & Windows) so you don't have any latency, and can hear your DAW audio at the same time.

You in mush? I'm in…

How To Setup Ableton OBS No Latency (Mac Guide)

First off, please make sure you have OBS, Ableton, and BlackHole installed. You will need to install BlackHole 16ch. So, get that and run the .dmg setup.

If you're on BigSur and OBS doesn't work, check out our StreamLabs tutorial for streaming on Mac.

Step 1 – Change Your Audio MIDI Setup

Open “audio MIDI setup”, and create a new multi-output device. To do this, press the “+”.

Step 2 – Choose BlackHole 16ch for Sound Card.

Choose “BlackHole 16ch” as master device, & select your sound-card, or built-in output.

Step 3 – Setup Audio Output Capture

Open OBS, go to the sources menu, and add a new audio output capture. Choose “BlackHole 16ch”.

Step 4 – Choose The Multi-Output Device You Set Up

Open Ableton and change your sound card to “Multi-Output Device”

Step 5 – Test Your Audio

Test your audio, you should have it coming through in OBS now.

Step 6 – Add A Display Capture

Add another source for screen recording, by clicking “+”, “Display Capture”.

Step 7 – Resize Your Output Source

Right click the screen recording, and select “Resize To Output Source”.

Step 8 – Start Recording!

Start recording!

How To Setup Ableton With OBS No Latency (Windows Guide)

If you're on Windows, this method is slightly different. It's also a lot easier to set this up than it is on Mac funnily enough – usually Mac is easier all round.

To start with this you will need OBS, Ableton and Reastream installed.

Step 1

Open Ableton, and place Reastream on your master output. Then, choose “Local Broadcast”.

Step 2

Open OBS, and create a new “Audio Input Capture” and select your desired sound card.

Step 3

In OBS, create a new “Display Output Capture”, hitting the “+” in the “Sources section.

Step 4

Right click your screen recording and select “Resize To Output Source”, to ensure it fits.

Step 5

Right click your “Audio Input Capture”, then hit “Filters”.

Step 6

Click the “+” in the bottom right, and select “VST2.xxx Plugin”. Select “Reastream” from the menu.

Step 7

Click “Open Plugin Interface”, then select “Receive Audio/MIDI” from the drop down menu.

Step 8

Click the “+” in the bottom right and select gain. Repeat, and set both gains to -30db. Then put them above the VST.

Step 9

Add an “Audio Input Capture” to record your microphone. This is the same process as Step 2 & 3.

Step 10

Start recording. You now have audio from Ableton with no latency in OBS, on Windows.

Bonus: Limiting & Microphone Setup in OBS

When recording in OBS, you might also want to setup a microphone to record your voice, or set a limiter up to prevent your audio from clipping and causing nasty distortion to your viewers.

Setting Up A Limiter in OBS

Here's how to set up a limiter in OBS:

Step 1: Right click your “Audio Input Capture” and select “Filters”

Step 2: Click the “+” at the bottom right, and select limiter.

Step 3: Set your limiter to -1db to prevent clipping.

Setting Up A Microphone in OBS

Here's how to set up a Microphone in OBS:

Step 1: Add a new “Audio Input Capture” by selecting the “+” in the “Sources” tab.

Step 2: Choose your microphone source. This can be an input from your sound card or a USB mic.

Step 3: Make sure phantom power is on for a condenser microphone, and ensure your gain in up.

Step 4: Click the cog icon in the right hand corner, and make sure you click “downmix to mono”

Step 5: Hit record and start recording your beautiful voice!

Stop Double Mic Pickup

When you open OBS and Ableton, and you're using Reastream, they'll both pick up the mic you're using.

To avoid this, do this:

Step 1: Right click your audio input capture, and select “Filters”.

Step 2: Click the “+” and add a Gain filter, and move it down to -30db.

Step 3: Put the gain above your Reastream VST2.XXX filter.

Step 4: If you still have audio coming through, add another Gain filter and do the same.

OBS Keeps Crashing on Mac (Workaround)

If you have a Mac that's on BigSur, you'll have probably found that OBS just crashes and won't open again. There isn't much information online about how to fix this, and it was really frustrating when it happened to me.

Luckily I spent 3hrs figuring out a workaround and I'm sharing it here.

Don't use OBS. The bug isn't fixed yet, and won't be for a while.

Instead you'll want to use StreamLabs + OBS.

StreamLabs is a program that has OBS integrated inside it, and the layout is almost exactly identical to OBS' layout. And, luckily for you, it works on BigSur absolutely no issues, + is easier to setup (in my opinion).