ProPresenter Livestream Audio: Board Audio In, Clean Mix Out

Your ProPresenter computer runs lyrics and graphics, and it’s also the machine sending the livestream. The stream mix comes in from your console, maybe an X32. Then someone plays a video, and that incoming stream audio can go right back out of ProPresenter into the console. That’s a loop, and it creates obvious problems.

The fix is to give ProPresenter two separate lanes. Channels 1 and 2 carry what ProPresenter plays out to the sound system. Channels 3 and 4 carry the stream mix coming in. Here’s the whole setup, from the channel count to the capture presets.

The Signal Flow in One Picture

1. ProPresenter plays a video or song on channels 1 and 2, which go out to your mixer.
2. The mixer builds the stream mix, including that video audio, and sends it back to the computer.
3. ProPresenter brings that mix in on channels 3 and 4 only.
4. The stream or recording listens to 3 and 4 only.

We want the audio coming out of ProPresenter to go to our mixer, and then we want that audio to come back in and go to our live stream.

Keep that picture in mind and every setting below makes sense. The loop only happens when the incoming mix also lands on channels 1 and 2, because 1 and 2 feed the sound system.

If you’re also sending graphics to the stream, that’s a separate job, covered in Create a Live Stream Output from ProPresenter 7. This guide is only about audio.

Why Computer Audio Always Lands on 1 and 2

Plug headphones into a laptop and you get two channels, left and right. Connect a multichannel interface like the X32 and the computer sees 32 channels in and 32 channels out.

But system audio plays out of output channels 1 and 2 by default. The computer’s audio engine collects sound from applications across the computer and sends all of it to 1 and 2, whatever interface you’ve selected.

Some programs let you select the connected audio interface directly, which gives you far more control over what goes to which channel. ProPresenter is one of them, and that’s what this whole setup relies on.

Step 1: Give ProPresenter Four Channels

Open ProPresenter Settings → Audio and change the channel count from two channels to four. That creates channels 3 and 4 inside ProPresenter for the stream audio.

The Audio tab controls where sound goes out of ProPresenter. It has three sections:

• Inspector (top) — where preview audio plays when you play a file in the inspector.
• Main (middle) — the main output for videos, music and any other sound from ProPresenter.
• SDI and NDI (bottom) — audio for an SDI output device such as a DeckLink Duo 2, or audio sent over NDI.

Step 2: Send Main Out on 1 and 2 Only

Main defaults to System Settings. That means it follows whatever output the Mac has selected under System Settings → Sound → Output. In the video, that was the MacBook Air speakers. Switch the Mac’s output to the X32’s USB interface and Main follows it there.

You can bypass that by choosing a device directly in ProPresenter, such as the laptop speakers or X-USB (the X32’s USB audio). The M32 is basically the same console for this. The hardware differs a little, but the software is the same.

Click Routing under Main to see the matrix:

• The ProPresenter channels on the left are the sources.
• The device channels across the top are the destinations.

With System Settings selected, you see 16 system-created device channels. Choose X-USB directly and there are 32 destinations. Choose the laptop speakers and there are only two, because the speakers only have two channels.

Now set it up:

1. In Main’s routing, click Clear in the top left to remove every check.
2. Route ProPresenter channels 1 and 2 to output channels 1 and 2.
3. Make sure nothing is checked for ProPresenter channels 3 and 4. The stream audio will arrive there, and it must not go back out to the sound system.

Just below the routing are a volume control and a delay. The video mentions delaying the sound by 1,500 milliseconds; 1,000 milliseconds is one second.

Step 3 (Optional): Keep Preview Audio Out of the Room

The Inspector section decides where preview audio plays. Right-click any video or audio file and choose Inspector to set new in and out points. When you click play there, the waveform bounces and the audio goes wherever this section points.

In the video, the Inspector was set to Main, so previews go wherever Main goes. You can separate them. Send Main to the interface feeding the sound system, and set the Inspector to the computer’s built-in speakers. I think that’s one of the most useful settings on this page.

Step 4: Bring the Stream Mix In on the Inputs Tab

The Audio tab is where sound leaves ProPresenter. The Inputs tab is where it comes in. To stream with ProPresenter you set up both a video input and an audio input. Cameras and capture cards on this tab are covered in Stream, Record, Display LIVE Video inputs with ProPresenter.

Don’t Link Audio to a Camera

You can link audio to a video input, but then the audio is only active when that camera is on the output. The audio source also switches whenever the camera switches. The transition is fairly seamless, but I don’t think it’s worth it.

If you have multiple cameras, or you want to use the mode feature (Step 6):

1. Disable the audio source on each camera input.
2. Create a new, separate audio input.
3. Select the device your stream mix arrives on.

Ways to Get Audio Into the Computer

There are many ways to do this. Whichever you use, select it as the source on that audio input:

• An audio interface that converts the XLR output of your mixer into a digital signal the computer understands
• The console’s own USB connection: X-USB on an X32 or M32
• An ATEM switcher over USB-C, bringing in audio from the switcher’s audio input or from a camera
• A Blackmagic UltraStudio Recorder 3G, with audio embedded in its HDMI or SDI input
• Dante Virtual Soundcard, bringing audio in over the network
• NDI audio

On the input you can also adjust the volume and change the delay to help the audio match the video.

Step 5: Route the Input to 3 and 4 Only

This step stops the loop. When I first created the input in the video, my microphone showed up on channels 3 and 4, but also on 1 and 2, even though nothing was playing from ProPresenter.

That’s not good. Channels 1 and 2 go to the sound system, and the sound system sends its mix back into the computer. That’s the feedback loop.

Click Routing on the audio input. The input’s channels are listed on the left, and ProPresenter’s four channels run across the top.

• Mono source (a single mic shows as one channel): send it to 3 and 4, and uncheck 1 and 2.
• Stereo source (such as NDI audio, with two channels): send them to 3 and 4, and uncheck 1 and 2.

Then watch the meters. The screen preview in my multiview has two sets: the left meters show audio leaving ProPresenter, and the right meters show audio arriving on 3 and 4. When I played a song, the left meters showed it going out on 1 and 2, and the input showed up on 3 and 4.

Step 6: Set the Input Mode

Click your audio input and look at the mode section across the top: Off, On, Auto Off and Auto On.

• Off means the input is off.
• On basically means always on.
• Auto Off turns the input off when a foreground video plays, and the stream gets its audio from that video.

Because this audio is a separate input that isn’t linked to a camera, it stays active no matter which camera is live. Whichever mode you choose, test it by playing a real video before Sunday. The capture routing in the next step decides what the stream actually hears.

Step 7: Send 3 and 4 to the Stream

Now tell the stream which channels to listen to. In the top right, click Live, open Capture Settings, and click Routing at the bottom.

ProPresenter has its four channels, and the stream or recording has two, left and right. Route 3 to left and 4 to right, and leave 1 and 2 unchecked.

Here’s why that choice matters:

• Select 1 and 2 and the stream hears only what’s leaving ProPresenter. When a video plays, that’s all the stream gets.
• Select 3 and 4 and the online audience hears the mix coming in for the stream, not ProPresenter’s direct output. ProPresenter’s playback still reaches the stream by going through your mixer and coming back in.

Then add your stream key and the rest of your streaming information.

Step 8: Save Presets So It Stays Right

When the audio routing and streaming settings are right, save them.

1. Set up your routing and streaming settings, then save them as a preset such as Stream Preset.
2. Change the destination to Disk, set up the audio routing for that too, and save it as Disk Recording.

Now you can switch between streaming and a test recording to disk without redoing the audio each time, and those settings are less likely to get changed. Still, understand what’s happening here, not just that it works. For recording with Capture, see Record Scratch Audio with Capture | ProPresenter 7.

Troubleshooting ProPresenter Stream Audio

Check these in order:

• Echo, doubling or feedback. The audio input is also routed to ProPresenter channels 1 and 2. Uncheck them in the input’s routing.
• The stream only hears videos and songs. Capture routing is set to 1 and 2. Switch it to 3 and 4.
• The stream is silent. Make sure the input’s mode isn’t Off, the correct device is selected, and the right-hand meters move on 3 and 4.
• Audio changes or drops when you switch cameras. Audio is linked to a camera input. Disable it on each camera and use a separate audio input.
• Videos don’t reach the console. Check that Main is set to the right device and that channels 1 and 2 are routed in Main’s routing.
• Previews play through the room. Point the Inspector at the built-in speakers.
• Audio and video don’t line up. Adjust the delay on the audio input.
• Settings are different from last week. Recall your saved stream preset.

Watch the Video

The video goes screen by screen through all of this. You can jump to the channel count and routing, bringing audio into ProPresenter, sending audio to the stream or capture presets.

Gear Mentioned in This Guide

Affiliate links — clicking them helps support what we do at no cost to you.

• Blackmagic DeckLink Duo 2 PCIe Capture Card — one of the SDI devices the SDI and NDI audio section can send audio to. Buy →

The Whole Thing in One Picture

• Settings → Audio: channel count set to 4.
• Main: routed to the sound system on 1 and 2 only. Nothing on 3 and 4.
• Inspector: optionally on the built-in speakers, so previews stay in the booth.
• Inputs: a separate audio input that isn’t linked to a camera, routed to 3 and 4 only.
• Capture Settings → Routing: 3 to left, 4 to right.
• Presets: one for streaming, one for disk recording.

Keep Going

• The graphics side of the same stream: ProPresenter stream output for live stream graphics and audio.
• Routing fixed but the mix still sounds thin? Read why church livestream audio sounds bad.
• Using the X32’s USB connection? See X32 multitrack recording over USB.

More training is on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CrazyAmazingDesigns.