Headset showing up as 2 things (input/output) but can only be selected once?

Question

I am trying to record my screen with desktop audio AND microphone audio in ffmpeg with my headset (connected through usb), but only my microphone seems to get recorded.

In device manager it clearly shows up as 2 different names (obviously also in sound settings) differentiating, how I would assume, audio and microphone input.

Now if i input "Kopfhörer (HyperX Virtual Surround Sound)" as a device, it can't be found, no matter what I try it only accepts "Kopfhörermikrofon (HyperX Virtual Surround Sound)" as a valid input, I tried to get around it with using Stereomix but that didn't work, nor does the amix command in ffmpeg as there is no desktop audio recorded in the first place.

Can you guys tell me what the actual problem is? is it an ffmpeg problem that can only read 1 input (the headset itself) once or is there something else?

Could I possibly register my headset as 2 different inputs/outputs to be functioning for my cause somehow or just route them through a virtual instance that still gives me the audio to hear but would still count as a separate output?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi,

Your headset appears as two separate devices, one for playback ("Kopfhörer') and one for recording ("Kopfhörermikrofon"), but FFmpeg can only capture from input devices, which is why it doesn’t recognize the playback source and shows errors. To record both desktop and microphone audio, you can use a virtual audio cable (like VB-Audio Cable) to route your headset’s playback through a virtual input, then select both the virtual input and your microphone in FFmpeg and combine them using amix. Alternatively, if your FFmpeg build supports it, use the WASAPI option to capture system playback directly from your headset without Stereo Mix. These methods let FFmpeg record both streams simultaneously, even though Windows treats your headset’s output and input as separate devices.

Kind regards,