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Audio Isolation & Routing Guide

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TehPig edited this page Jun 8, 2026 · 3 revisions

Audio Routing & Isolation Guide

There are many methods and programs available to capture audio. One of the easiest and most common methods is using a virtual cable. This guide includes step-by-step setup instructions for three major platforms: Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Table of Contents

  1. Using Voicemeeter Mixer (Windows-only)
  2. Using VB-Audio Virtual Cable (Windows / macOS - Mixerless Setup)
  3. Linux: Using PipeWire / PulseAudio Virtual Sinks
  4. ⚠️ Crucial Warning for Discord voice calls

1. Using Voicemeeter Mixer (Windows-only)

Voicemeeter is a virtual audio mixer that routes different applications to different audio buses. There are 3 versions of Voicemeeter depending on the amount of mixing inputs and outputs you require:

How Routing Works: Voicemeeter UI vs. Windows Applications

To configure routing, it is important to distinguish between what you see inside the Voicemeeter Program and what you select inside your Windows Application settings:

  1. Inside the Voicemeeter Program:
    • "A" Buttons (A1/A2/A3...): Route the sound of that strip to a physical hardware output bus (like your headphones).
    • "B" Buttons (B1/B2/B3...): Route the sound of that strip to a virtual output bus (independent of physical outputs, meant for recording/streaming).
  2. Inside Windows / Application Settings:
    • To send audio IN to Voicemeeter: Applications select a playback device like Voicemeeter Input (or Voicemeeter In 1 through Voicemeeter In 5).
    • To capture audio OUT from Voicemeeter: Applications (like OBS or our RPC Visualizer) select a recording/capture device like Voicemeeter Out A1 through Voicemeeter Out B3.

Bus and Device Mappings

Voicemeeter Edition Hardware Output Buses (To Hear) Virtual Output Buses (To Capture) Recording Device Name in Windows
Voicemeeter (Regular) A B VoiceMeeter Output (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
Voicemeeter Banana A1, A2, A3 B1 Voicemeeter Out B1 (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
B2 Voicemeeter Out B2 (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
Voicemeeter Potato A1 through A5 B1 Voicemeeter Out B1 (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
B2 Voicemeeter Out B2 (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
B3 Voicemeeter Out B3 (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)

Installing the software

Click on the "Download" button once you get to the software's website. Keep in mind that this will download a compressed (ZIP) file with all the files required for the software to function.

!Pasted image 20260604195825.png

Example of the Download button in the software's website.

Configuration Steps

  1. Set your Windows Default Output Device to Voicemeeter Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO) through Windows' sound settings.
  2. In Voicemeeter, select your physical headphones/speakers under the A1 output hardware button (top-right).
  3. Ensure A (or A1 or A2) is turned ON for the Virtual Input strip. This sends your default system sounds and game audio to your physical headphones.

Tip

Always prefer WDM outputs over MME to have the lowest latency.

Routing Logic (Separating Music from System Sounds)

To capture only music in your visualizer while hearing everything together in your headphones, route your audio using one of the two methods below:

Method A: Direct Virtual Routing (For Banana / Potato — No Cables Needed)

Banana and Potato have multiple virtual inputs, allowing you to isolate the music completely inside Voicemeeter without installing extra virtual cables:

  1. Route System Sounds/Games/Discord:
    • Set your Windows default playback device to Voicemeeter Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO).
    • In the Voicemeeter program, go to the first virtual input strip (VAIO). Turn A1 ON (so you can hear it), but keep B1 and B2 OFF (so the visualizer blocks it).
  2. Route Music:
    • Open your Windows Sound settings -> Volume Mixer. Set your music player app (e.g., Spotify, Chrome) to output to Voicemeeter AUX Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO).
    • In the Voicemeeter program, go to the second virtual input strip (AUX). Turn A1 ON (so you can hear the music) and turn B2 ON (to send it to the virtual output).
  3. Bind the RPC Visualizer:
    • In the RPC settings dashboard under Visualizer Settings, set the Audio Device to Voicemeeter Out B2 (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO).

Method B: Cable Routing (For Regular Voicemeeter / Alternative)

Since regular Voicemeeter only has a single virtual input channel, you must use a virtual audio cable (downloadable from VB-Cable Website) to separate the sounds:

  1. Route System Sounds/Games/Discord:
    • Set your Windows default playback device to Voicemeeter Input (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO).
    • In the Voicemeeter program, go to the virtual input strip. Turn A ON (so you can hear it), but keep B OFF (so the visualizer blocks it).
  2. Route Music:
    • Open your Windows Sound settings -> Volume Mixer. Set your music player app (e.g., Spotify, Chrome) to output to CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable).
    • In the Voicemeeter program, set Hardware Input 1 (top-left dropdown) to CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable).
    • On the Hardware Input 1 strip, turn A ON (so you can hear the music) and turn B ON (to send it to the virtual output).
  3. Bind the RPC Visualizer:
    • In the RPC settings dashboard under Visualizer Settings, set the Audio Device to VoiceMeeter Output (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO) (which captures the B virtual bus).

2. Using VB-Audio Virtual Cable (Windows / macOS - Mixerless Setup)

This section is for users who want to isolate their music using only a virtual audio cable, without installing the full Voicemeeter mixer program. You can download the driver from the VB-Cable Website.

Alternatively, macOS users can also download and use BlackHole 2ch for the exact same purpose.

Windows Configuration

  1. Open Sound Settings -> Volume Mixer, locate your music player app, and set its Output Device to CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable).
  2. Open your Windows Sound Control Panel, head to the Recording tab, and double-click CABLE Output. Under the Listen tab, check the box for "Listen to this device" and select your physical headphones (so you can hear the music).
  3. In the RPC settings dashboard under Visualizer Settings, set the Audio Device to CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable).

macOS Configuration

  1. Route your music player app to CABLE Input (or BlackHole 2ch).
  2. Open the Audio MIDI Setup app (found in Applications > Utilities).
  3. Click the + button in the bottom-left corner and select Create Multi-Output Device.
  4. Check the box next to your Built-in Output (or headphones) and BlackHole 2ch (or CABLE Input). Set the Master Device to your headphones.
  5. Set your macOS system sound output to the newly created Multi-Output Device.
  6. In your RPC client dashboard under Visualizer Settings, set the Audio Device to BlackHole 2ch (or CABLE Output).

⚠️ macOS Security Protection (Gatekeeper Bypass)

Since the precompiled binaries downloaded from GitHub are unsigned, macOS Gatekeeper will block them on first launch with a warning like "T_Music_Bot-RPC_Intel cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified".

To bypass this protection:

  1. Open your macOS terminal and run: 
    chmod +x ~/Downloads/T_Music_Bot-RPC_Intel
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/T_Music_Bot-RPC_Intel
    (Replace T_Music_Bot-RPC_Intel with T_Music_Bot-RPC_Apple_Silicon if using Apple Silicon).
  2. Or go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the Security section, and click "Open Anyway" next to the blocked warning.

3. Linux: Using PipeWire / PulseAudio Virtual Sinks

Linux users can create virtual loopback sinks dynamically using standard terminal tools.

Configuration Steps

  1. Create a virtual null-sink named "VisualizerSink" by running: 
    pactl load-module module-null-sink sink_name=visualizer_sink sink_properties=device.description="VisualizerSink"
  2. Open pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control), head to the Playback tab, locate your music app, and change its output routing to VisualizerSink.
  3. To listen to the music in your own headphones at the same time, create a loopback link: 
    pactl load-module module-loopback source=visualizer_sink.monitor sink=YOUR_PHYSICAL_HEADPHONES_SINK_NAME
  4. Keep the RPC visualizer Audio Device option set to default (the app connects to the main system audio bridge).
  5. Open pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control), go to the Recording tab, find PipeWire ALSA [T_Music_Bot-RPC] (or ALSA Capture), and change its input source dropdown to Monitor of VisualizerSink.

Important

Why doesn't "VisualizerSink" show up in the app's device menu on Linux? The application uses a cross-platform audio library (cpal) which interacts with ALSA (the kernel-level sound system). Virtual sinks (like VisualizerSink) are created in PipeWire/PulseAudio (the user-level sound server). Since ALSA is lower-level, it only sees fixed system endpoints (like default, pipewire, and physical cards) rather than dynamic PipeWire sinks.

Fortunately, PipeWire is smart! Once you set the recording stream to Monitor of VisualizerSink in Pavucontrol, PipeWire remembers this choice. The next time you open the app, it will automatically route the virtual audio source to the visualizer without you needing to configure it again.

Tip

Quick Setup (Capture All System Audio without Isolation): If you just want the visualizer to react to all audio playing on your system, you can keep the visualizer bound to default or your main output device. Play some music, open pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control), head to the Recording tab, locate PipeWire ALSA [T_Music_Bot-RPC] (or ALSA Capture), and change the source dropdown from your physical microphone to the Monitor of [Your Output Device/Speakers] (e.g. Monitor of Sound Blaster PCI).

⚠️ Crucial Warning for Discord voice calls

Warning

The visualizer captures all audio passing through your selected capture device. If you route your default Discord client's output to the Virtual Cable while chatting, the visualizer will react and bounce to your friends' voices when they speak, which ruins the music visualizer.

How to Isolate the Bot's Music from Friends' Voices

If you want to chat with your friends on Discord and keep the visualizer reacting only to the music bot, use one of the following methods:

Method A: Multi-Instance Separation (Recommended)

You can connect to the voice channel twice to split the audio:

  1. Join the voice channel in your Discord Desktop App as your main account (to talk and listen to your friends normally). Ensure your desktop app output goes directly to your physical headphones.
  2. Open a Web Browser Tab (or a secondary Discord client), log into a secondary alt-account (or use a browser session), and join the same voice channel.
  3. Route your Browser Output to the Virtual Cable (via Windows Volume Mixer).
  4. In the browser voice channel, right-click and Mute (0% volume) all human participants, leaving only the Music Bot unmuted.
  5. Set your visualizer to capture the Virtual Cable.

Method B: Local Volume Adjustments

If you do not want to use a second account, you can route your main Discord app to the Virtual Cable, but you must manually right-click and mute or turn down to 0% every human friend in the voice channel, leaving only the bot active. Note: This means you will not be able to hear your friends talk at all.

Note

If you find something that could be outdated or not working while following the required steps, please open an Issue or a Pull Request to help update the guide.

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