OBS Filters Explained: Which One Should You Use?
OBS filters change the sound or picture of a source. Choose a filter for a specific problem rather than adding a long stack because another creator uses one.
Audio filters work on sound. Effect filters change the appearance of a camera, image, or other visual source.
Add a filter
For a camera or visual source, right-click it in Sources and select Filters. For a microphone, use its Audio Mixer menu and choose Filters.
Click + in the appropriate filter list, choose the filter, and give it a recognizable name. Use its visibility control to compare the result with the original.
Choose an audio filter
| What you want to change | Filter to consider |
|---|---|
| Mild steady room noise | Noise Suppression |
| Sound between sentences | Expander or Noise Gate |
| A quiet source | Gain, after checking the original input level |
| Large differences in loudness | Compressor |
| Peaks near the end of an audio chain | Limiter |
| Background sound that should reduce when you speak | Compressor configured for ducking |
These filters are not interchangeable. A gate does not clean noise out of speech, and a limiter does not repair audio already distorted at the microphone.
Choose a visual filter
Crop/Pad changes the visible edges. Color Correction adjusts the picture's appearance. Chroma Key removes a selected background color, while Luma Key works from brightness. Image Mask/Blend uses an image to control visibility or blending.
A filter can help a well-lit camera picture, but it cannot recreate detail the camera never captured. Start with focus, exposure, framing, and lighting before applying strong corrections.
Pay attention to order and reuse
Filters process a signal in sequence. For audio, putting gain before a threshold-based filter can change when that filter responds. A limiter is generally placed last in the intended audio filter chain.
If you reuse the same source across scenes, its source-level filters are shared too. Do not assume changing its filter in another scene creates an independent camera treatment.
Test one change at a time
For picture changes, record movement rather than judging one still frame. For audio, include normal speech, quiet speech, and your loudest expected voice.
Keep a useful filter only if it improves the actual recording or output. Unnecessary processing can make the result less natural and increase the work OBS needs to do.