Windows TTS Audio Capture Methods for OBS

How to capture the (free) system Text to Speech audio in Windows with OBS

While free text-to-speech options are nice, they come with a few annoying limitations and challenges, which we will discuss below. Solutions will be provided.

Background

OBS Studio's browser source does not have the ability to capture system-level text-to-speech (TTS) audio. It is capable of capturing premium TTS options, such as those powered by Google Cloud, Speechify, or Elevenlabs, but it cannot do so using the free built-in-to-browser ones. This is a limitation all browsers face when dealing with free TTS. Furthermore, not all browsers even support text-to-speech. Opera, Firefox, and others may lack them.

OBS Studio has a limited set of system-level TTS options, with Chrome offer some Google-powered options, and Edge support Microsoft-supported ones, along support for Windows-installable TTS service pack add-ons. You can get a list of support text-to-speech languages that your browser supports at https://vdo.ninja/tts

How to capture the free TTS and get it into OBS Studio

Method 1: Default Audio Route

1. Set Virtual Cable as Windows default output
   - Sound Settings > Output > Virtual Cable
2. OBS:
   - Add Audio Input Capture
   - Source: Virtual Cable
   - Monitor: Monitor Only

Method 2: Windows 10 App Route

1. Sound Settings > App volume and device preferences
2. Find browser in list
3. Output: Virtual Cable
4. OBS setup same as Method 1

Method 3: Windows 11 App Route

1. Settings > System > Sound > Volume Mixer
2. Locate browser
3. Output: Virtual Cable
4. OBS setup same as Method 1

Method 4: Audio Router

1. Install Audio Router
2. Route browser to Virtual Cable
3. OBS setup same as Method 1

Method 5: Voicemeeter

1. Install Voicemeeter
2. Set as Windows default output
3. Route:
   - Hardware out > speakers
   - Virtual out > OBS
4. OBS captures Voicemeeter output

Testing

1. Play TTS
2. Check OBS meter
3. Verify system audio
4. Adjust levels if needed

Alternatives

If these options do now work for you, there are paid options available, using Google Cloud, Elevenlabs, and Speechify. You can also try to self-deploy your own self-hosted open-source project that offers TTS for free, but that is out of scope for this article.

Where is TTS used?

TTS is offered in Social Stream Ninja in several places, to read out messages from audiences. It is also offered by CAPTION.Ninja, which offers closed-captioning, transcription, and translation. Both offerings have premium and free TTS options.