Valu-Loop Tutorial.

1. Install and open Valu-Loop

1. Windows: download Valu-Loop and run Valu-Loop-Setup, then open it from the Start menu or your desktop.
2. Mac: open the DMG, drag Valu-Loop to Applications, and open it. Allow audio recording and Microphone when macOS asks.
3. Pick a look from the theme menu at the top: Lab Dark, Lab Light, or Follow System.

2. Name your destinations

Your sound outputs appear on the right. HDMI devices often have confusing names, and two monitors of the same model are numbered (1) and (2), so find out which is which first.

1. Click Test tone on a destination. It plays a 2-second tone on that device.
2. Check which recorder or monitor heard it.
3. Click Rename and give it a clear name, such as HDMI Recorder 1.
4. Repeat for each device you plan to use.
5. Click Hide on any output you never use. It moves to Hidden devices at the bottom, where Show brings it back.

The tone also moves the meter, so you can see it left the app.

3. Add your meeting app

Zoom, Teams, Webex, and Google Chrome (for Google Meet) are listed the first time you open Valu-Loop, switched off so nothing is captured until you choose. Remove any you don't use with the ×. For anything else, use the picker.

1. Click Add Source at the top right.
2. Look under Outputting Audio Now and click your app. A green dot marks each app outputting audio.
3. If the app isn't there yet, check Other Running Apps.

4. Connect it

1. Turn the source on with its switch.
2. Click the source card. Its border lights up.
3. Click HDMI Recorder 1, then HDMI Recorder 2, then your monitor. A wire appears each time.
4. Click empty space when you're done.

5. Check that sound is arriving

Play sound in the meeting and read the screen from left to right.

1. The source says Sending audio and its meter moves.
2. Each wire turns green with dots moving along it.
3. Each destination says Receiving audio and its meter moves.

6. Set up the meeting app

• Set the speaker in Zoom, Teams, or Chrome to your normal speakers, not a device you routed. Otherwise that device gets the sound twice.
• Zoom doesn't play your own microphone back to you. If you speak on the record, click Add Source, add your mic, and route it to the recorders.
• Look for any gold warning that says Windows or macOS has turned a destination down. Set that device to 100% in your sound settings.

Optional: send it to OBS

OBS can't pick Valu-Loop directly, because Valu-Loop sends to devices and doesn't create one. A free virtual cable bridges the two.

Both are free from their makers (VB-CABLE is donationware). On the BlackHole page, choose the 2ch version.

1. Install a virtual cable from the links above: VB-CABLE on Windows or BlackHole on Mac. It appears in Valu-Loop as a destination. Click Rescan if it doesn't show right away.
2. In Valu-Loop, wire your source to CABLE Input (on Mac, BlackHole).
3. In OBS, add an Audio Input Capture source and choose CABLE Output (on Mac, BlackHole).
4. Play some sound and check that the cable's meter moves in Valu-Loop and OBS's meter moves with it.

7. Make a test recording

Record a minute on each recorder, then play it back and listen before the job. Check that the sound is clean and lines up with the picture.

Tomorrow's job

Your routes, levels, names, and switches are saved. If tomorrow's meeting is in Chrome instead of Zoom, turn Zoom off and Chrome on. If Chrome already has wires, you're done. Keep Valu-Loop open during the job, because closing it stops the sound to every destination.