Troubleshooting

No Sound on Stream

Viewers cannot hear the game, or the wrong audio is going out. How to route clean game sound to TikTok with VB-Cable, and the quick checks that fix most audio problems.

Updated

If your viewers cannot hear the game, or they are hearing the wrong audio (your music, system sounds), it is an audio routing issue. Start with the quick checks, then confirm the VB-Cable setup.

Quick checks

  1. Is the source unmuted? In OBS, open the Audio Mixer and make sure your overlay Browser source is not muted and the level moves when the game makes sound.

  2. Is "Control audio via OBS" on? In the Browser source properties, Control audio via OBS must be checked. Without it, OBS cannot pass the game's sound through.

  3. Is a game actually playing sound? Some moments are silent. Trigger an event or start a round to confirm the game is producing audio in the first place.

Viewers hear nothing (VB-Cable routing)

If you followed the recommended setup, the game's sound travels: OBS game audio -> CABLE Input -> TikTok Live Studio (CABLE Output). If any link is missing, sound never reaches viewers. Check each one:

  1. VB-Cable installed. Install VB-Cable and reboot if it asks.

  2. OBS source monitoring. In the OBS Audio Mixer, click the gear on your overlay source -> Advanced Audio Properties -> set Audio Monitoring to Monitor and Output.

  3. OBS monitoring device. In Settings -> Audio -> Advanced, set Monitoring Device to CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable).

  4. TikTok Live Studio input. In its Audio mixer, set the audio source to CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable).

Full walkthrough with screenshots is in Connect to TikTok Live Studio.

Viewers hear the wrong audio (music, system sounds)

This means TikTok is capturing your whole system instead of just the game. The VB-Cable setup above fixes it by sending only the game's sound to TikTok. Once monitoring points at CABLE Input and TikTok listens to CABLE Output, your background music and other system sounds stay out of the broadcast.

After changing audio devices

Restart OBS and TikTok Live Studio after changing any audio device. Both apps read the device list at startup and may not pick up VB-Cable until relaunched.

Voice narration or music from Livecade is missing

Livecade's own sound (TTS voice, DJ Pad, DJ Music) plays through the overlay, so it follows the same route as game sound. If the game is audible but these are not, check that the feature is enabled in your stream settings and that the mixer is not muting it.