guide · obs
OBS noise suppression on Mac: how to clean up your microphone
Published
OBS Studio has noise suppression built in, and on a Mac it takes a minute to set up. Here is how, which settings to use, and what to do when you need the same clean mic outside OBS.
1. Add the Noise Suppression filter
Your mic appears in OBS’s Audio Mixer, either as Mic/Aux or as an Audio Input Capture source you added. Click its menu (the three dots or gear icon next to it) and choose Filters. Under Audio Filters, click + and add Noise Suppression.
2. Pick the method
There are two methods on a Mac. RNNoise is the default and sounds better, at the cost of more CPU. Speex uses less and has a Suppression Level slider; OBS warns that pushing it further can distort your voice too. Start with RNNoise, and switch to Speex only if OBS is short of CPU while you record or stream (OBS’s guide).
3. Add a noise gate for the pauses
A Noise Gate filter, added the same way, mutes the mic while you aren’t talking. It suits a steady background and a mic close to your mouth. If the start or end of your words gets cut off, lower the close threshold. Put the gate after Noise Suppression in the filter list, so it judges the cleaned sound.
The catch: it only cleans OBS
Filters live inside OBS. Your call app, Discord, and a voice memo still hear the raw mic, so if you stream a call or record outside OBS, you need a separate fix in each app.
4. Clean the mic before OBS hears it
Aurio is a noise cancelling microphone for your Mac. It installs “Aurio Microphone”, which removes background noise on your Mac in real time. Choose it as your OBS mic, and also in Zoom, Discord or anything else, and they all get the same clean sound. A strength slider sets how hard it works. With Aurio doing the cleanup you can usually leave OBS’s Noise Suppression filter off, rather than running two noise removers in a row. Hear what it does to real noise.