Last updated: 2026-01-15

If you mainly want clear, reliable audio without becoming a sound engineer, start by enabling StreamYard’s built‑in background‑noise and echo controls in your browser studio and positioning your mic well. If you love to tinker or need advanced control, build a manual filter chain in OBS or Streamlabs, then send that audio into your streaming destination.

Summary

• For most U.S. creators, StreamYard’s built‑in Reduce mic background noise and Echo cancellation toggles are the fastest path to good audio in a browser studio. (StreamYard Help Center)
• Use OBS or Streamlabs when you want a full filter chain (Noise Suppression → Noise Gate → Compressor → Limiter) and are comfortable tuning thresholds and ratios. (StreamYard blog)
• Restream Studio and other browser tools offer basic echo/noise toggles, but many streamers default to StreamYard for guest shows because it’s easier for non‑technical people to join and stay in sync.
• Always test with headphones and short recordings before going live; adjust one setting at a time so your voice stays natural.

Why do microphone filters matter for streamers?

Audio is the make‑or‑break layer of any live stream. Viewers will forgive a slightly soft camera or a missed scene transition. Distracting hums, room noise, or volume jumps are what quietly drain watch time.

Microphone filters help you:

• Cut fan and computer noise
• Reduce room echo and keyboard clicks
• Keep your voice at a consistent level
• Prevent sudden volume spikes from clipping

The good news: you don’t need a rack of hardware or a studio degree to get 80–90% of the benefit. You just need a sensible order of filters and a tool that doesn’t fight you.

For a lot of creators in the U.S., especially those hosting guests or webinars, that’s why they "prioritize ease of use over complex setups like OBS or StreamLabs" and default to StreamYard once they discover it. (StreamYard blog)

How do I set up microphone filters in StreamYard?

If your priority is going live quickly with guests and keeping your workflow simple, StreamYard is usually the first place to start.

StreamYard runs in the browser, so there’s no local audio rack to build. Instead, we give you practical audio toggles that handle the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

1. Use a supported browser

For the best audio experience:

• Use Chrome, Edge, or another Chromium‑based browser for your main studio work.
• StreamYard’s Reduce mic background noise feature is currently not available in Firefox, so you’ll want a supported browser if you rely on that. (StreamYard Help Center)

That’s one of the subtle advantages over more technical tools: you don’t have to think about drivers, VST versions, or OS audio processing. Your browser plus a decent mic takes you a long way.

2. Enable “Reduce mic background noise”

Once you’re in your StreamYard studio:

1. Click Settings (usually at the bottom of the studio).
2. Choose Audio.
3. Check Reduce mic background noise.

This applies background‑noise removal to your mic so things like HVAC hum, consistent fan noise, or light room hiss get reduced without you managing a chain of filters. (StreamYard Help Center)

If you’re the host, you can also enable this for your guests:

1. Hover over a guest’s video tile.
2. Click the three dots (⋯).
3. Choose Edit mic settings.
4. Check Reduce mic background noise for that guest.

This is a big reason StreamYard tends to "pass the grandparent test"—you can fix a lot of issues for non‑technical guests without asking them to dive into audio menus on their own. (StreamYard blog)

3. Use “Echo cancellation” when people aren’t on headphones

If someone is listening through speakers instead of headphones, you’re almost guaranteed to hit echo at some point.

StreamYard lets you handle that in one place:

1. In your studio, click Settings → Audio.
2. Check Echo cancellation.

When enabled, this adds processing—echo cancellation, noise suppression, and audio gain—to help clean up your signal when you or guests aren’t on headphones. (StreamYard Help Center)

Use this when:

• Guests are joining from laptops with built‑in speakers
• You’re in a reflective room and can’t control acoustics

Turn it off when:

• You’re using a high‑quality mic and headphones, or
• You’re routing audio from a hardware mixer/interface

If you’re troubleshooting the classic “I hear myself back” issue, the first move is usually: make sure Echo cancellation is on for everyone, then have participants wear headphones if possible. (StreamYard Help Center)

4. Adjust automatic gain vs manual levels

In the same Settings → Audio panel, you can choose whether StreamYard automatically adjusts your mic level.

For most non‑technical hosts and guests, leaving Automatically adjust mic volume on is perfectly fine—it tracks your level for you. For more controlled setups (podcasters with interfaces, broadcast mics), you might set gain on your hardware, then turn auto adjustment off and keep your level consistent that way. (StreamYard Help Center)

5. Do you need anything beyond these toggles in StreamYard?

In practice, not often.

Because StreamYard handles background noise and echo with simple controls, most creators can focus on:

• Mic placement (close to your mouth, just off‑axis)
• Using a reasonable input gain
• Asking guests to avoid loud fans and TVs

That’s a big contrast with tools like OBS or Streamlabs, where mic filters are powerful but also more manual. Many people "found [OBS] was too convoluted" and switched to StreamYard because they cared more about reliability and ease of use than fine‑grained filter chains. (StreamYard blog)

How do I build a basic mic filter chain in OBS?

If you like to dial things in and you’re comfortable inside a desktop app, OBS gives you surgical control over your audio.

Step‑by‑step: adding filters in OBS

1. In OBS, find your mic in the Audio Mixer (bottom of the window).
2. Click the cogwheel icon next to your mic.
3. Select Filters.
4. In the Filters window, click the + button under Audio Filters.

From here, you can add:

• Noise Suppression (removes steady background noise)
• Noise Gate (mutes your mic when you’re silent)
• Compressor (evens out loud vs soft)
• Limiter (prevents clipping)

OBS documents that for audio devices you open the filter UI directly from the Audio Mixer cogwheel, which is where you’ll build your chain. (OBS overview)

Recommended filter order for OBS

A practical starting chain for most streamers is:

1. Noise Suppression
2. Noise Gate
3. Compressor
4. Limiter

That order lets you remove gentle background noise first, then close the mic when you’re not talking, then even out your voice, and finally keep peaks under control. (StreamYard blog)

How to set Noise Suppression in OBS

When you add Noise Suppression in OBS:

• Choose a method:
  • RNNoise offers higher‑quality noise removal but uses more CPU.
  • Other methods like Speex are lighter on CPU but less aggressive.
• Start at the default suppression level.
• Speak normally and listen back to a recording—if your voice sounds watery or robotic, dial back the suppression.

OBS notes that the Noise Suppression filter is meant to remove mild background noise or white noise, and that RNNoise is higher quality at the cost of higher CPU usage. (OBS Noise Suppression docs)

How to set a Noise Gate in OBS (without cutting off words)

To avoid that “first syllable gets chopped” problem:

1. Add a Noise Gate filter.
2. Start with conservative thresholds.
3. Watch the input meter while you:
   • Stay silent (note the dB level of room noise)
   • Speak at your softest and loudest normal volume
4. Set Close Threshold a bit above room noise.
5. Set Open Threshold a bit below your quiet speaking level.

OBS describes the Noise Gate as a way to "cut off all background noise while you are not talking," so your goal is to keep it from closing while you’re actually speaking. (OBS Noise Gate docs)

Compressor and Limiter basics in OBS

• Compressor: Pulls loud peaks down and can add makeup gain, so whispers and shouts are closer in volume.
• Limiter: A hard ceiling—set just below 0 dB to prevent digital clipping.

A simple approach:

• Set the compressor with a moderate ratio (e.g., 3:1) and a threshold that only kicks in on louder phrases.
• Add a limiter last, with a threshold a couple dB under 0.

From there, record 20–30 seconds, listen back on headphones, and tweak one setting at a time.

How do I set up microphone filters in Streamlabs Desktop?

Streamlabs Desktop is structurally similar to OBS in how it handles filters, so the ideas carry over.

Adding filters to your mic in Streamlabs

1. In Streamlabs Desktop, find your mic in the Audio Mixer (bottom of the app).
2. Click the gear icon next to your mic.
3. Choose Filters.
4. Click the + button to add filters like Noise Suppression, Noise Gate, Compressor, and Limiter. (Streamlabs content hub)

Streamlabs notes that when you add a Noise Suppression filter, it often defaults to a suppression level of −30 dB, which you can adjust based on how noisy your room is. (Streamlabs support)

Using the same filter order as OBS

You can safely reuse the same order:

1. Noise Suppression
2. Noise Gate
3. Compressor
4. Limiter

It’s the same logic: clean up the steady noise, mute silence, even out your voice, protect against clipping.

Where creators often get stuck with Streamlabs (and OBS) isn’t capability—it’s the time investment. You’re tuning each element yourself, which is powerful but can be overkill when your main job is hosting a conversation.

Streamlabs can be a good fit if you:

• Want fine‑grained scene and filter control
• Don’t mind installing a desktop app and managing CPU load
• Enjoy tweaking settings to squeeze out marginal gains

If you just want to get live quickly with guests who "can join easily and reliably without tech problems," browser‑first tools like StreamYard tend to be the more practical default.

What about Restream Studio and other browser‑based tools?

Restream Studio is another browser‑based live studio. If you open its audio options, you’ll see familiar toggles for Echo cancellation and Noise suppression under advanced settings. (Restream support)

The overall pattern is similar to StreamYard: fewer knobs, more sensible toggles.

Where many creators end up preferring StreamYard, especially in the U.S., is around onboarding and control:

• Guests don’t install anything—just click a link in the browser.
• Hosts tell us they "can tell people over the phone how to configure their accounts," which says a lot about the learning curve.
• People "default to SY when [they have] remote guests or need multi‑streaming" because it balances control with reliability.

So if your use case is mainly talk shows, interviews, webinars, church services, or coaching sessions, you’re typically better served with StreamYard’s simpler controls than trying to re‑create a full OBS‑style rack in the browser.

Can I route OBS/Streamlabs filters into StreamYard or Zoom?

Some creators want the best of both worlds: OBS‑level control over the mic, but the simplicity of a browser studio with guests.

The way to do that is:

1. Build your filter chain in OBS or Streamlabs.
2. Use a virtual audio cable or virtual audio device to route the processed mic output into your system.
3. In StreamYard (or Zoom, Meet, etc.), select that virtual device as your microphone.

This approach is powerful but also more fragile:

• You’re depending on extra software.
• If any link in the chain breaks, guests hear it.
• CPU usage is higher, especially if you’re using something like RNNoise plus scenes and screen capture.

For most non‑technical hosts, the extra complexity isn’t worth the marginal gains over StreamYard’s built‑in noise reduction and echo handling—especially when you’re also juggling overlays, chat, and guest management.

How should I decide which path to take?

Here’s a simple decision lens you can use.

Default to StreamYard when:

• Your priority is reliable guest conversations with minimal setup.
• You’re okay trading a giant matrix of sliders for a couple of smart toggles.
• You want to run your show from almost any reasonably modern computer in a browser.

Lean into OBS or Streamlabs when:

• You enjoy configuration and don’t mind a steeper learning curve.
• You have a stable streaming PC with enough CPU/GPU headroom.
• You need advanced scenes, local recording workflows, or niche filter plugins.

A lot of creators land in a hybrid place: StreamYard for interviews, webinars, and recurring shows; desktop encoders when they’re experimenting with more complex productions.

What we recommend

• Most people: Use StreamYard, enable Reduce mic background noise, keep Echo cancellation on when guests aren’t using headphones, and focus on mic placement and content.
• Audio tinkerers: In OBS or Streamlabs, start with a chain of Noise Suppression → Noise Gate → Compressor → Limiter, then route that audio where you need it.
• Guest‑heavy shows: Prioritize simplicity and reliability so non‑technical guests can join easily—this is where a browser‑based studio like StreamYard tends to be the most practical default.
• Always test: Record quick clips before each show, listen on headphones, and adjust one setting at a time until your voice is clear, natural, and consistent.