VoiceMeeter / Documentation / Getting started

Getting started with VoiceMeeter

A first install has one goal: proven audio in, proven audio out. Everything else — patchbay, multiple buses, streams — is built on that. This page gets you to a working signal path and then checks the four settings that cause most of the "it installed but it doesn't work" reports.

Before you start

• Windows only. VoiceMeeter runs on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11, 32-bit and 64-bit. There is no macOS or Linux build.
• An administrator account. The installer registers kernel-mode virtual audio drivers. A standard user account cannot complete it.
• One audio path at a time. If you already run another virtual audio tool — a virtual cable set, a voice changer with its own driver, an aggressive noise suppressor — disable it first. Two virtual device stacks fighting over the same default device is the most confusing failure to debug.
• Know your real output. The name Windows shows for your speakers or headset, on the device you actually listen through. You will need to pick it inside VoiceMeeter.

Install

1. Download the installer Get VoicemeeterSetup_v2310.zip from voicemeeter.xyz/download. It is about 84 MB. The same package installs all three editions; you choose which engine you run afterwards.
2. Unzip it Right-click the archive, Extract All. Windows handles the zip natively. Do not run the setup from inside the compressed folder viewer — Windows will fail to write driver files from a temporary path.
3. Run the setup as administrator Right-click the extracted executable and choose Run as administrator. Elevation is not optional: the VAIO devices are drivers, and Windows blocks driver installation from an unelevated process without telling you clearly.
4. Reboot when it finishes The installer can return before the device graph settles. Windows only enumerates the new endpoints cleanly after a restart. Skipping this single step is the most common cause of "the device is listed but silent".

Confirm the devices exist

Open Settings → System → Sound → More sound settings and look at both tabs.

Match the sample rate — before anything else

Every endpoint in the chain must agree on a sample rate, and 48000 Hz is the safe choice for everything modern. A mismatch is what "crackling", "robotic audio" and "half speed playback" usually turn out to be.

1. Sound settings → Playback → VoiceMeeter Input → Properties → Advanced → Default Format → 48000 Hz, 2 channel.
2. Do the same on the Recording tab for VoiceMeeter Output.
3. Do the same for your real output device — the speakers or headset you will assign to A1.
4. Inside VoiceMeeter open Menu → System Settings / Options and confirm the engine sample rate matches. If you change it there, restart the audio engine from the same menu.

44.1 kHz is fine if your entire setup is 44.1 kHz — a music production rig, or a device that refuses 48 kHz. What is not fine is mixing the two.

Assign A1 — the step that makes sound

VoiceMeeter starts with no hardware output selected. Until A1 is set, the mixer runs, the meters move, and nothing reaches your ears.

1. Open VoiceMeeter.
2. Click the A1 button in the top right of the window.
3. Pick your real speakers or headset from the device list. Prefer a WDM entry over MME; WDM has lower latency and fewer dropouts. On Potato, KS and ASIO are also available.
4. Set A2 and A3 the same way if you use them (Banana and Potato). A2 is typically a second pair of headphones or a capture card.

First signal path

Start with the two strips that matter: one physical input and the virtual input.

• Hardware input 1 — click the strip's device selector and choose your microphone. Send the strip to A1 so you hear yourself, and to B1 so call applications can read it.
• Virtual input (VAIO) — the strip that receives VoiceMeeter Input. Send it to A1. Everything Windows plays now comes out of your headphones through the mixer.
• Play a track in any media player. The VAIO strip meter should move. If the meter moves but you hear nothing, A1 is unset or pointed at the wrong device. If the meter does not move, Windows is not playing to VoiceMeeter Input.

Post-install checklist

Next

• Choose the right edition — Editions compared.
• Route separate applications to separate outputs — Audio routing.
• Something is still wrong — Troubleshooting.