Your OBS mic chain, in every app.
knobs runs it from the Windows tray while OBS stays closed.
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Needs Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), OBS Studio 32.2 to 33 and a virtual cable such as VB-CABLE, which the installer can install. Known limits in the README
It shows what this page says. Your mic’s signal passes through OBS, and then OBS can stay closed. knobs runs the same filter chain, and its audio is bit-identical to OBS’s. It also runs VST plugins and NVIDIA’s noise removal. It uses 27 MB of memory against OBS’s 445 MB, and 0.94% of a CPU core against 7.08%: 16.5 times less memory and 7.5 times less CPU than keeping OBS open. The signal reaches every app: your OBS mic chain, in every app.
Download for Windows
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About these downloads
System requirements
- Windows
- 10 (version 1803 or later) or 11, 64-bit.
- OBS Studio
- 32.2 to 33, tested on 32.2.2 and 33.0.0-rc1.
- Virtual cable
- Such as VB-CABLE, which the installer can install.
knobs is for a 64-bit Windows PC. It doesn’t run on phones, macOS or Linux.
Older versions
Build from source (Visual Studio 2022 and CMake)
You need Visual Studio 2022 or newer with the Desktop development with C++ workload, and CMake 3.25 or newer. From a Developer PowerShell for VS:
git clone https://github.com/danielalyoshin/knobs.git
cd knobs
cmake --preset x64
cmake --build --preset releaseThen run build\. The README has the full instructions and the tests.
Set up in four steps
-
Step 1: Install OBS Studio
Any version from 32.2 to 33. You don’t need a virtual cable yet: knobs’s installer can install VB-CABLE for you in step 3.
-
Step 2: Tune your mic in OBS
Add filters to your mic, then close OBS. knobs reads them when OBS closes, so a mic you’ve already tuned is ready as it is. New to OBS? Go on to step 3 and choose I’m new to OBS in knobs’s setup. It shows you how.
-
Step 3: Get knobs running
Run the installer. knobs’s setup asks which mic and which cable to use, then knobs lives in the tray.
-
Step 4: Choose the cable in your apps
In your other apps, choose the cable as your mic. For VB-CABLE, that’s CABLE Output.
How it works
- Your mic: The mic in your OBS profile
-
OBS’s filters, run by knobs:
Your chain, in order, with your settings
- Virtual cable: Such as VB-CABLE
- Your other apps: With CABLE Output as their mic
- In the tray, from sign-in
- knobs starts with Windows and stays out of sight in the tray while it works. A notification says when something needs you.
- Read-only on OBS
- knobs never writes to OBS’s settings or its install. The install stays unlocked, so a running knobs never blocks an OBS update.
- No telemetry, no account
- knobs collects nothing. It goes online only if you turn on its update check, which asks GitHub for the latest version once a day. A VST plugin that goes online (to check its licence, say) does so whether it runs in knobs or in OBS.
Benchmarks against OBS
Same sound
For the same input, knobs’s output is bit-identical to OBS’s: not one bit of the audio differs. A test tool, knobs-compare, checks this against OBS itself.
| Input | knobs against OBS |
|---|---|
| Test signals | Bit-identical |
| A chain of every built-in audio filter in OBS | Bit-identical |
| VST plugins | Bit-identical |
| A recording of real voice | Bit-identical |
Same delay
From the mic to the cable, with both sending into the same cable.
A fraction of the footprint
knobs running a four-filter chain (3-Band Equalizer, Expander, Compressor, Limiter), against OBS minimized on the same PC. Memory is the working set: the RAM each one is using.
| knobs, running | OBS, minimized | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU, one core | 0.94% | 7.08% |
| Memory (working set) | 27 MB | 445 MB |
| Threads | 12 to 13 | 89 to 90 |
| GPU | None | 0.05% |
Questions
The sound
Does knobs change how my mic sounds?
No. knobs runs OBS’s own filter code, from your OBS install, with your settings. For the same input, its output is bit-identical to OBS’s: not one bit of the audio differs. NVIDIA’s noise removal behaves the same as it does in OBS.
Which filters does it run?
OBS’s built-in audio filters: Noise Suppression, Noise Gate, Expander, Upward Compressor, Compressor, Limiter, Gain, 3-Band Equalizer and Invert Polarity. Also VST 2 plugins, as OBS hosts them, and NVIDIA’s noise removal, which needs an NVIDIA RTX GPU and NVIDIA’s Audio Effects SDK, as it does in OBS.
Setting up
Does OBS have to stay open?
No. knobs runs your chain with OBS closed or open, so your other apps keep your mic while you stream. If OBS’s Audio Monitoring also plays your mic into knobs’s cable, knobs pauses while OBS is open instead, so the cable doesn’t get your mic twice. You can change this with Pause while OBS is open in knobs’s tray menu.
Which virtual cable do I need?
Any of them. A virtual cable is a sound device that exists only in software: knobs plays your mic into it, and your other apps choose it as their mic. knobs’s installer can install VB-CABLE for you. knobs recognizes VB-Audio’s cables and Virtual Audio Cable, and can use any other playback device too.
What if something doesn’t work?
Check Known limits in the README first. If your problem isn’t there, open an issue on GitHub and attach knobs’s log, from Open log folder in its tray menu. Look the log over first: it names your audio devices and folders on your PC.
The project
Does knobs collect anything?
No. knobs has no telemetry and no account. It goes online only if you turn on its update check, and your mic’s audio stays on your PC. A VST plugin that goes online (to check its licence, say) does so whether it runs in knobs or in OBS.
Is knobs made by the OBS Project?
No. knobs is an independent project, not affiliated with the OBS Project.
Is knobs free?
Yes. knobs is open source, under GPL-2.0-or-later, the same licence as libobs, OBS’s core library.
Get knobs
Checking GitHub for the latest release… Releases, their files and checksums are on GitHub.
Pre-release From github.com/
Couldn’t check for a release. This page couldn’t reach GitHub. The releases page on GitHub has every file.