Cannot get stereo audio no matter what

[kmcw]

I've enabled original sound for musicians (and yes, clicked the button at the top to actually turn it on), enabled Stereo in the audio settings. Even went to my account settings to enable and force stereo audio for clients. I've recorded the meeting onto the computer. And sound is mixed down to mono... The music I'm playing is stereo, the microphone device is sending stereo, but Zoom is outputting and recording a mixed down to mono version which sounds hollow because the L and R channels of the source are out of phase and when they're simply added they cancel each other out. How do I get Zoom to actually record and send stereo audio?

[bstrelko]

Which audio device (please include both hardware and driver details + OS info) is being used as the desired stereo microphone/input?

Is this the only source of stereo audio, or is stereo audio also coming in via content-sharing, far-end participants, etc?

This info will help to inform next steps for troubleshooting.

[kmcw]

Thank you for replying. I'm running Windows 11 and the microphone device is Yamaha AG06 USB audio mixer. This is the only source

[storyhub]

Unfortunately, I can see that Zoom does NOT RECORD STEREO for local or cloud for either the mic or the screen shared audio. The recorded audio is a mono m4a file. The stereo selections are only for the streamed audio during the meeting. However, there is a work around. You will need to install OBS Studio and NDI. You can route your audio (and your video) thru OBS Studio, output the audio (and video) using NDI. Zoom supports NDI and it can be selected in the audio and video settings. Then make 2 separate recordings using OBS Studio and Zoom. Then combine and sync the 2 in a non-linear editing application such as Premiere Pro. Although this sounds a bit complicated it is doable.

[bstrelko]

Good eye, this is confirmed here: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0063292

The OBS/NDI route is an ultra-specific example of recording the stereo audio alongside the Zoom meeting - any method that accomplishes this will work (external recorder, Voicemeeter, DAW with shared drivers). NLE editing still required - what a bummer!

 @kmcw , please be sure to submit a 'feature request' (I love how development oversights get classified as such) to Zoom so we can get more traction toward stereo recording in the future.

[kmcw]

Hi and thank you for this. However what I'm observing is that I'm not getting stereo audio even during the meeting. I have my headphones plugged into my phone in order to check and the sound is still mono (the two channels merged together and played through both sides). I can tell because there's a huge difference in how it sounds due to the phase cancellation I mentioned.

[storyhub]

If you have stereo on for "Original Sound for Musicians" and are routing the audio input from your equipment through Zoom's mic input you should have stereo out on Zoom. Give me a diagram of the equipment and how you have connected it to the computer and a screenshot showing audio configuration in Zoom. I do a stereo audio broadcast every Sunday using Zoom and it does send stereo over Zoom. I am an electrical engineer with special skills in audio production and do audio for broadcast, the motion picture industry, and for live productions. If you would like one-on-one assistance message me.

[kmcw]

Thank you for the message. I connect my Yamaha AG06 via its own USB cable and it definitely transmits stereo sound (which I can confirm in OBS). I select the Yamaha input device as the Zoom microphone. In Zoom settings, I set Audio to Original Sound with Stereo ticked. I start a meeting and turn on the Original sound (from the top left button). I join the meeting from my phone and put on my Beyerdynamic headphones. I play music through the Yamaha mixer and on my phone I can hear the audio distorted in the exact same way that happens when I merge the L and R channels of the music (e.g. by opening the file in Adobe Audacity and converting to Mono). This happens because L and R are out of phase with each other. It's not coming from the mixer, because as I said OBS is picking up proper stereo when using the exact same input device as Zoom. Zoom seems to be merging the channels even when Stereo is enabled.

Perhaps it's the Zoom client on my phone that's the issue. I don't see an option to enable stereo on my phone that's joining the meeting, even though I enabled it in the host account's settings as per Enabling stereo audio - Zoom Support

[storyhub]

So one of the reason I asked for a diagram is that you have missed describing a critical connection which would be obvious  in a diagram - the connection between OBS Studio and Zoom. There are a number of ways to do this and some have a mono selection. So please describe in detail how you connected audio out from OBS to Mic in on Zoom or did you connect AG06 audio directly to Zoom using just Windows. There is obviously a mono configuration in this area.

[kmcw]

I stated "I select the Yamaha input device as the Zoom microphone", i.e. I select the Yamaha device directly in Zoom, not going through OBS. I only tried it in OBS just as a test comparison to ensure that the Yamaha is actually feeding stereo to the computer. Sorry if that wasn't clear and I wasn't sure what you mean by a diagram, hence I described in words.

[storyhub]

OK I read your mixer manual - try the following:

Plug in one mic only to channel 2

Be sure nothing else is plugged in - no speakers, aux inputs, etc.

Plugin your Beyerdynamic headphones into the headphone jack on the mixer (18 in the manual)

set channel 2 gains so you can hear the mic

Which ear do you hear the mic in - L, R, or both?

from the manual

Input Channels Mono (MIC/LINE): 2 (this may be your issue - if it is there may be ways to compensate)

Audio has so many hardware and software buttons, balance controls, driver selections, etc. it becomes very difficult to diagnose without seeing actual settings and actions. If you still feel that the issue is unresolved you may want to arrange a one-on-one zoom meeting via private message so I can help you find what is missing from your story, since there are a lot of possibilities.

[kmcw]

Hi and thank you for trying to help, really appreciate it. However the issue I'm having is with stereo music played via an mp3 player connected to the stereo Line inputs on the mixer. The music fed into the mixer and coming out of the mixer is definitely stereo (I've confirmed that). The audio file played is such that L and R are different and out of phase so that if you merge the two channels they partially cancel each other out. I'm hearing this cancellation in Zoom, but not anywhere else (not OBS, not my headphone, not my speakers).

[storyhub]

Ok, that is new info I didn't have before. However, if you would still like one-on-one assistance it is available. Just let me know. Did you try connecting OBS Studio to Zoom using NDI or the virtual camera or a third party virtual cable?