Are you stuck thinking, “I want to start streaming games on YouTube or Twitch, but setting up the equipment and software seems difficult…”? In fact, you don’t need to buy tons of expensive equipment. We will explain step-by-step how to select equipment to ensure quality that viewers can comfortably enjoy, and how to set up the free standard distribution software “OBS Studio.”
Step 1: Prioritize sound quality! 3 basic equipment to get started
Even more than the image quality of the video, the ability to hear the audio is more directly linked to viewer disengagement.
- USB condenser microphone (or dynamic microphone): The microphone that comes with the headset tends to pick up snorting and scratchy sounds, so it is ideal to use a standalone microphone (around 10,000 yen from Fifine, Audio-Technica, etc.) and fix it to your mouth with a microphone arm. Dynamic microphones are advantageous for rooms with a lot of daily noise.
- Capture board (for PS5 or Switch): Choose an external USB model that supports 1080p/60fps pass-through. It is not necessary when distributing Steam games etc. on a single PC.
- Wired Earphones/Headphones: Always choose a wired connection over Bluetooth for streaming audio monitoring and lag-free gameplay.
Step 2: Check OBS Studio required settings
After installing OBS Studio from the official website, set the following parameters.
- Video settings: Both basic (canvas) resolution and output resolution are “1920x1080”, FPS common value is “60”.
- Output settings (delivery): Changed the output mode to “Details”. For the encoder, select “NVIDIA NVENC H.264 (or AMD HW H.264)” which performs GPU processing. Specify the rate control as “CBR” and the bit rate as “6000kbps to 8000kbps”.
Step 3: Audio balance adjustment to prevent streaming accidents
To prevent situations where the game sound is too loud and you can’t hear the voice or the microphone is broken, adjust the fader on the OBS audio mixer using the following guidelines.
- Microphone audio: Adjusted so that it falls within the “yellow upper limit (-10dB to -5dB)” of the meter when speaking normally.
- Game BGM/SE: Set to “green-yellow boundary (-20dB to -15dB)” one step lower than the microphone.
- Applying a filter: If you add “Noise Suppression (RNNoise)” and “Limiter (Threshold -2dB)” from the microphone properties, you can cut out the sound cracking due to sudden shouts and the noise of PC fans.
Finally, be sure to perform a 5-minute test with a private broadcast or “start recording”, and re-listen to the balance between your voice and the game sound on your smartphone, etc. before starting the actual broadcast!