robotspacer’s adventure corner

About

My Streaming Setup

Posted August 19, 2024

Occasionally people ask about my streaming setup, so I thought I’d share the full details here. I want to say this first though: if you’re thinking about streaming on Twitch, start with what you have. You can use your computer’s built-in web cam. You can use the mic built into the headphones that came with your phone. The quality of your equipment is not the most important thing. You can have a great time and be successful (if that’s what you’re after) using what you have available.

That said, I’ve put a lot of effort into improving my setup over time, and what I have works very well for me. I’ll start with a list of what I use, followed by details on how each one is useful.

Hardware

Software

Computers

You can stream from a Mac! This is especially true if you stream console games or retro games. You may come across information that says OBS doesn’t run as well on a Mac, but things have improved drastically in the past couple of years, and this is no longer the case. OBS runs incredibly well on a Mac with an Apple Silicon (M series) processor with macOS 13 or later and OBS Studio 30.0 or later. If you’re primarily streaming modern PC games you’ll certainly be better off with a Windows computer, of course.

The Mac Studio is a particularly nice streaming computer for my needs. It’s powerful and has a good number of ports. One important detail that’s not necessarily obvious is that each port has its own bus. That means the devices you connect aren’t competing for bandwidth, which is vital when you’re connecting capture cards and cameras. Some computers use a single bus for multiple ports, and if you use a USB hub to add ports they will always be on a single bus. That can result in problems like choppy frame rates for your game capture or camera capture.

On top on my Mac Studio I keep a tiny Intel NUC. Quite a few modern indie games are only available for Windows, so this gives me a way to play and stream those games.

The LG UltraFine 24" Monitor is a good monitor for a Mac that also works with Windows. It also has a built-in USB hub, which I use for connecting my keyboard. That allows me to switch between computers by swapping a single connection. The display is mounted on a Jarvis Single Monitor Arm. This gives me more desk space, which helps a lot, and allows me to easily switch between different setups. For example if I’m painting or building LEGO sets, I’ll move the display off to the side, above my other equipment.

Microphone

I started out using a Blue Yeti microphone. It’s a decent mic, but it captures a lot of background noise—I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to record multiple people with a single mic. I now use a Shure SM7B connected to a Cloudlifter CL-1 and a Universal Audio Volt 276. An audio interface like the Volt 276 is necessary to connect standard microphones with an XLR connector to a computer. The Cloudlifter is needed to boost the signal of this particular mic. The result sounds wonderful, but it’s a fairly expensive setup. If it’s in your price range, I’d absolutely recommend it. I also use an Elgato Wave Mic Arm to mount the mic to my desk and make it easy to move around.

The SM7B has built-in pop filters and shock isolation, so there’s no need to add these things externally. If your mic doesn’t have those built in, they’re worth adding, as they can prevent unpleasant noises. Pop filters will reduce popping sounds that are caused by saying certain consonant sounds, or plosives. Shock mounts keeps your mic from capturing loud rattling sounds if you bump your desk or mic stand—which will almost certainly happen occasionally while you’re streaming.

I haven’t used it personally, but I’ve seen the Elgato Wave:3 recommended as a much better alternative to the Yeti for most people. It’s a USB mic, so it connects directly to your computer, without the need for additional equipment.

Cameras

I started out streaming LEGO builds, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend money on a camera. So I used my iPhone as an overhead camera, along with Camo from Reincubate to enable it as a video source in OBS. I didn’t have a dedicated streaming computer, so I just used the built-in webcam on my laptop to capture my face. It worked fine, though it was a bit grainy and low quality.

I still use an iPhone for an overhead camera. The quality of the cameras in these phones is difficult to beat, and they’re easy to mount in various ways.

For my face camera, I upgraded to the Elgato Facecam after trying out a few different options. It’s a solid camera that was particularly good for the price when it was first released. I recently replaced it with an Elgato Facecam MK.2. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be worth the expense, but it absolutely was. The picture is significantly improved, particularly in low light.

One of the big reasons I like the Elgato Facecam is the software. It’s not required to use the camera, only to adjust the settings. You can make your adjustments and save them to the camera—the software doesn’t have to be running or even installed after that. That said, there’s no reason not to keep it installed, and it’s much nicer to use than software from some other companies, like Logitech.

You can improve the picture from any camera with good lighting. Our streaming space has an overhead light and a desk lamp, which is perfectly fine, but at night this amount of light can result in a low-quality, grainy image. I use an Elgato Key Light Air to brighten things up and give me more control over shadows. It’s relatively compact, and you can use their software to control the brightness and color.

The Key Light Air comes with a stand, and you can mount a camera on top of your monitor if you need to. Since I have an overhead camera, and prefer more control over positioning, I use an Elgato Master Mount L with various additions to mount everything. The Facecam is mounted on a Heavy Clamp that’s clamped to the Master Mount. For the overhead camera I have a Solid Arm attached higher up on the Master Mount, a short segment from the Flex Arm L for better positioning, then the Phone Grip. On the top of the Master Mount I attached the longest segment of the Flex Arm L, and then the Key Light Air. I was worried all of this would push the limits of this mounting system, but it has worked very well and it’s impressively sturdy.

Console Game Capture

I don’t stream console games very often, but my wife unsecretcrush does. We use an Elgato Capture HD60 S+ which has worked very well. It’s discontinued, but I’d trust any of their newer products to work just as well. It can capture anything with an HDMI output, as long it doesn’t have HDCP enabled, and it doesn’t require any software on your computer. (On some consoles, like the PlayStation 5, there’s a setting to turn off HDCP. You may have to switch this off and on if you go back and forth between streaming and watching certain content like Blu-ray movies.)

Other Accessories

I use an Elgato Stream Deck to control OBS and other software on my computer while I’m streaming. If you stream regularly, you’ll likely find it useful. Since I use an overhead camera that shows my desk, I wanted a keyboard that felt particularly appropriate for my stream. I put together a Drop ALT keyboard with biip MT3 Extended 2048 keycaps and Cherry Brown MX switches. It has a nice classic Mac vibe. I also like to keep my iPad handy for certain things, so I use a Twelve South HoverBar Duo to hold it up off the desk.

Most importantly, I have a good chair. I used to use a Herman Miller Aeron at my work desk, but eventually swapped it for a Herman Miller Embody. The Aeron is now my streaming chair. You don’t have to buy an expensive chair for streaming, but a good chair is absolutely worth the money if you’re spending a lot of time sitting every day. My wife uses a Herman Miller Sayl which is a great smaller and slightly cheaper option.

Streaming Software

The most important software in my setup is OSB Studio. It may take some time to learn how to use it, but it’s not too difficult and there are a lot of videos available online to help you out. It’s flexible, reliable, and updated regularly with new features.

When I started streaming, it was necessary to install additional software to capture audio on macOS. That’s no longer the case, but I still find Loopback from Rogue Amoeba incredibly useful. It simplifies some aspects of audio capture, and it allows me to adjust the volume of individual applications, so I can hear those adjustments in the same way my viewers will hear them. I can even mute specific apps, which is great when I switch between different games and want to keep one running in the background.

I mentioned it already, but Camo from Reincubate is a solid piece of software if you want to use an iPhone as a webcam. Elgato Stream Deck and Elgato Camera Hub are great companions to the Stream Deck and Facecam hardware.

Occasionally I’ve done co-streams with other people. VDO.Ninja is an impressive tool that my friend Silver-Streak introduced me to. It allows your co-host to share video and audio through their browser, so you can add it to OBS. Discord is also helpful. Often with friends we’ll use Discord to talk and share the game with each other, then VDO.Ninja to capture what viewers will see and hear.

Retro Game Software

If you play retro games, DOSBox-X is fantastic. In its default configuration, you can play MS-DOS games fairly easily, and it has menus that make common settings easier to adjust than the standard DOSBox. It has a built-in Roland MT-32 emulator, so you can change a few settings in a text file to get fantastic audio in many older adventure games. If you’re willing to put in a small amount of work, it can also run Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows 98. It even has a PC-98 mode.

I also use Mini vMac to play classic Mac games, RetroArch for various retro consoles, and ScummVM for old adventure games.

Browser Extensions

I often have Safari open for various things while I’m streaming. There are two extensions I find particularly useful. Noir lets you force web sites to display in dark mode even if they don’t support it on their own. This is nice because a bright white web page can have a harsh effect on your lighting. Wipr is a good content blocker to minimize distracting ads.

Twitch Chat Pronouns isn’t supported in Safari, but if you use another browser you may find it useful. You can also show pronouns in OBS without installing additional software.

Additional Mac Software

If you need a sound board app, Farrago is a nice option. Honestly, if you need anything audio-related on a Mac, stop by Rogue Amoeba and you’ll probably find what you need.

VLC is good to keep handy for playing back OBS recordings. Claquette is nice for capturing clips of games at high quality—I don’t use it for streaming, but I do use it to create emotes out of little animations in games.

I’ve also come to rely heavily on some software of my own that I’ve been working on! I’ll update this to include it once it’s released.