Starting a Podcast and setting up OBS on Mac OS with Zoom Audio

Published On: 2021-05-05, Reading Time: 3 minutes

I started a podcast at work a few months ago with some colleagues and wow have I learned a lot haha. It was really complex (even for someone that is technical) to get Zoom and OBS working out of the gate. I wanted to share this for other people (so they don’t have to struggle like I did). Note: It is relatively easy to just get your setup working as a solo streamer, but it gets complex with guests. This post is tailored to handling it with Zoom. I can include pictures if people need it.

Install/Have the following items:

Once those are installed do the following:

  1. Create a Restream account and copy the stream key to the
  2. Open Zoom and change the Microphone to point to SoundFlower 2ch
  3. Open Zoom and change the Speaker to point to Blackhole 2ch
  4. Open OBS (go through the wizard or click cancel)
    1. You may need to let OBS have some security permissions. If you encounter this -> just make sure you give it the accessibility permissions it requires
  5. The Audio Mixer will need the following 2 things:
    1. Desktop Audio
      1. OBS Menu > Preferences > Audio > Desktop Audio > Select Blackhole 2ch
        1. If you open Zoom you can test that the Audio Mixer makes noise now
      2. Note: You won’t be able to hear anything unless you add an audio monitor.
      3. To add an Audio monitor, click on the “cog/gear” next to Desktop Audio (under the Audio Mixer section)
        1. Click the “+” button > Audio Monitor > Select your headphones
    2. Default Mic/Aux
      1. Add an audio monitor, click on the “cog/gear” next to Default Mic/Aux (under the Audio Mixer section)
        1. Click the “+” button > Audio Monitor > SoundFlower 2ch
      2. You can test this if you open Zoom and see if you talk, will the Mic audio go up and down.
  6. If you want to setup screen sharing (optional)
    1. Open Zoom -> Start a screen share
    2. Open OBS -> Sources -> “+” > Window Capture > Name it > Select [zoom.us] Zoom Meeting (will be at the bottom)
  7. If you want to setup a Virtual Camera
    1. All you need to do is click “Start Virtual Camera”. That will allow you to show whatever you are sharing as a Camera for applications. So if you want to show yourself through OBS
      1. Sources > “+” > Video Capture Device > Select your webcam. Then hide all other sources (click the “eye” icon”) and next time you press “Start Virtual Camera” it will show you.
      2. Note: This is probably overkill for Zoom and probably just want to use your webcam as your source instead of the OBS Virtual Camera.
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