You’re hosting a room, you want to play a track, set a mood or improvise a karaoke night — but everyone only hears your voice. That’s normal: by default, your microphone only picks up what comes in through the mic, not what your computer is playing. The solution is called Stereo Mix, and it’s already built into Windows.
What exactly is Stereo Mix?
Stereo Mix is a virtual recording device built into Windows. Instead of capturing outside sound the way a microphone does, it captures the audio stream your sound card is playing directly: music, video, a game, the browser.
In practice, if you select it as the source in your chat, the other participants will hear exactly what comes out of your speakers. It’s the simplest way to play music with no extra hardware.
Enabling Stereo Mix on Windows 11, step by step
Stereo Mix exists on most machines, but it’s disabled and hidden by default. Here’s how to bring it back.
- Right-click the sound icon in the taskbar, bottom right.
- Choose “Sound settings”, then scroll down to “More sound settings” (the old control panel opens).
- Go to the “Recording” tab.
- Right-click in the empty area of the list, then tick “Show Disabled Devices” and “Show Disconnected Devices”.
- “Stereo Mix” now appears in the list. Right-click it, then “Enable”.
- Right-click again → “Set as Default Device” if you want it used automatically.
All that’s left is to select “Stereo Mix” as the microphone in your browser or chat, and the music will come through.
“I don’t have Stereo Mix in the list”
This is common, and it’s not your fault: Stereo Mix depends on your sound card driver. Some manufacturers — especially on recent laptops and USB sound cards — simply don’t include it.
Two options in that case:
- Install the manufacturer’s driver (Realtek, for example) rather than the generic Windows one. The generic driver often hides this feature.
- Use a virtual audio cable: free tools like VB-Audio Virtual Cable or VoiceMeeter create a virtual input device that does exactly the same job, with the added ability to mix your voice and the music.
The real trap: nobody can hear you any more
This is the classic disappointment. By switching to Stereo Mix, you broadcast the computer’s sound… and only that. Your mic is no longer transmitted: the music plays, but you can’t talk over it.
To have both at once, you need to mix the two sources. The simplest method is VoiceMeeter: you plug your mic into one input, the music into another, and the app sends the mix to the chat. It’s the solution most music-room hosts use.
Set the volume, or it’ll clip
An often-overlooked point: Stereo Mix captures the sound at the level it comes out. If your music is at full volume, it will arrive distorted and unpleasant for others, even if they turn their own volume down.
- Set your player’s volume to around 60–70% rather than maximum.
- In the Stereo Mix properties, “Levels” tab, keep some headroom: don’t go up to 100.
- Ask someone in the room whether the sound is clear — you can’t judge it yourself, since you hear the source directly.
An important word on copyright
Playing music in a public room is not a harmless act legally. A commercial track is protected, and broadcasting it to a group of people is a public communication that, in principle, requires permission.
That’s why our terms of use forbid broadcasting protected works without authorisation. In practice, favour:
- your own creations;
- freely licensed music (Creative Commons, royalty-free music libraries);
- private rooms among friends rather than a public broadcast.
Responsibility for what you broadcast is yours: better to know it before you start your first playlist.
Over to you
Once Stereo Mix is set up, creating a musical mood in your room becomes a two-click affair. Join LibertiChat, create your room and test it: the mic and webcam stay optional, and you can happily host with sound alone.
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