System audio captions
Caption any system audio in realtime
A microphone only hears the room. LiveSubs captions the audio playing on your PC: a remote guest on a Zoom, Teams or Meet call, a video, a stream you are re-broadcasting, or an interpreter feed. Show it on screen or push it straight into OBS, vMix and Resolume.
Setup
How to caption system audio live
No cables, no aux mixer, no re-mic. LiveSubs taps the audio already playing on your PC.
Install and start LiveSubs
Download the app and run it on the PC where the audio is playing, whether that is your call, your player or your stream.
Select a loopback device
Instead of a mic, pick a system-loopback (WASAPI) input. LiveSubs now hears exactly what your speakers hear, sent to the cloud to be transcribed.
Press Start and watch captions appear
Text is generated in realtime as the audio plays. Use the on-screen window as-is, or send the captions onward.
Route into your production tools
Enable NDI or Spout for a transparent caption layer in OBS or vMix, or send the raw text over OSC to Resolume, TouchDesigner or ProPresenter.
What you can caption
Audio a mic could never reach
A remote guest on a call
Caption a panelist or interviewee on a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet call, even when they are on the other side of the world and never near your mic.
A video or clip
Play back a recorded talk, a film, a training clip or a social video and caption its dialogue as it runs, with nothing to re-record.
A stream you re-broadcast
Add captions to an incoming feed, a webinar or a live stream you are relaying, without touching the source.
An interpreter feed
Caption a live interpreter or a secondary language channel routed through the PC, so the translated audio also becomes readable text on screen.
Why LiveSubs
What mic-only tools and Windows Live Captions can't do
Beyond the microphone
Most captioners only hear the mic in the room. LiveSubs captions any sound the PC is playing, which is the audio that actually needs subtitling.
Captions you can route
Windows Live Captions shows text in a fixed system overlay you cannot key, restyle or send anywhere. LiveSubs outputs NDI, Spout and OSC into real production software.
Transparent, keyable output
The caption layer is a transparent NDI or Spout frame with an outline, so it composites cleanly over your video instead of sitting in a grey OS bar.
Pay per minute
A flat $0.04/min, prepaid, with no subscription. Caption a two-hour call for pocket change and only pay for the minutes you run.
FAQ
Questions
How do I caption system audio instead of my microphone?
In LiveSubs, choose a system-loopback (WASAPI) device as the audio source instead of a mic, then press Start. The app captions whatever is playing on the PC, whether that is a call, a video or a stream, and the text is transcribed in the cloud in realtime.
Can I caption a remote guest on a Zoom, Teams or Meet call?
Yes, and this is the main reason people use it. A microphone in your room cannot reach a remote guest, but their voice plays out of your speakers, so a loopback source captures it. LiveSubs captions the whole call, both sides, and can key those captions into your OBS or vMix scene.
How is this different from Windows Live Captions?
Windows Live Captions shows text in a fixed on-screen bar you cannot restyle, key or route into other software. LiveSubs also shows captions on screen, but it can send them as a transparent NDI or Spout layer, or as OSC text, straight into OBS, vMix, Resolume and more, so they become part of your production rather than a locked OS overlay.
Can I caption a video or recorded clip playing on the PC?
Yes. Point LiveSubs at a loopback device and play the video. As the audio plays, the dialogue is captioned live. You can show those captions on screen or composite them over the video in OBS or vMix.
Do I need OBS or vMix to use it?
No. LiveSubs shows captions on screen on its own. The NDI, Spout and OSC outputs are there for when you want to push captions into production software, but they are optional.
Does it caption multiple languages?
Yes. The transcription engine handles many languages and produces captions in the language being spoken. Note that this is live captioning, not translation, so the captions match the spoken language rather than converting it.
Related: Live captions for OBS · Live captions for vMix · Web Captioner alternative
Caption the audio your mic can't hear
Download LiveSubs, pick a loopback source, and turn any call, video or stream on your PC into live captions on screen or in your scene.