No-microphone recording versus no-commentary recording: which one are you making?

Two different outputs

“No microphone” and “no commentary” sound like the same recording and are not. A no-microphone recording means your own voice is not on it; it can still carry commentary from somewhere else: a cohost’s voice, a chat reader, captions on screen. A no-commentary recording means the gameplay stands alone: the game’s own sound, nothing spoken over it, nothing written over it.

Decide which of the two you are making before you open OBS. The route you take sets what the file contains, and one of the routes cannot be undone afterwards.

The four routes

The routes combine. Your microphone on its own track plus the Broker in Desktop Audio is a normal setup; so is route 1 for the clean file and route 3 for the commentated one, recorded as two sessions.

Why Desktop Audio decides what you can undo

From the setup guide: he plays through the Windows default output device, so Desktop Audio captures him together with the game. There is no separate audio track yet. That one sentence is the whole difference between route 2 and route 3. A microphone can be its own track; the Broker’s voice is part of the same track as the game.

So if you want a commentated recording and a clean one of the same session, you need two recordings, not one file with a track removed. Two ways to get the clean one: record a session without starting the Broker, or press PAUSE for the stretch you want clean. PAUSE holds the Broker without ending the session: the line he is speaking stops and he neither looks nor speaks until you press RESUME, which continues the same session with a fresh look. A paused session spends no Signal Time.

Balance is decided before recording for the same reason. Adjust Broker volume in Settings → Voice & capture; adjust the game in the game. Afterwards they are one mix.

Where the current Founder Alpha fits, honestly

• Route 3, and the text of route 4. The Broker watches the game window you chose and speaks through your default audio output. For a stream or recording, one transparent OBS Browser source shows his avatar and spoken captions; his voice reaches OBS through Desktop Audio.
• No microphone needed, and none used. The app has no microphone input and no chat. Today he reacts to what he sees.
• Silence is part of the recording. He observes, remembers what happened in the session, and speaks when it is worth it. He holds during cutscenes, dialogue and menus, and when nothing is worth a line. A no-microphone recording with him is not wall-to-wall talk.
• Costs what playing costs. Streaming a session spends Signal Time exactly like playing without a stream, and a recording uses the same sources: the game, the OBS Browser overlay and Desktop Audio.

• Not a separate track. There is no separate audio track yet.
• Not a narrator you direct. You do not type to him and he does not wait to be asked. He can misunderstand a scene, repeat himself or speak at the wrong moment, and those lines stay in the file.
• Not your voice. If the recording needs you, route 2 still needs a microphone; the app does not carry one.
• Label it. What you record and publish is yours to manage; the Broker’s lines are AI-generated and should be labelled as such when published.

Pick by the output you want

1. 01The gameplay should stand alone.

   Route 1. Do not start a session, or press PAUSE for that stretch.

2. 02Your voice, removable later.

   Route 2, with the microphone on its own track in OBS.

3. 03A voice on the recording, without yours.

   Route 3. Start the session, add the Browser source from the app, check the Desktop Audio meter and make a short test recording before the real one; that is the app’s own advice.

4. 04Text rather than voice.

   Route 4: captions from the overlay. Remember that his voice and the game share Desktop Audio, so decide what the scene captures.

Signal Time is metered from the Broker’s managed AI work — every look at your game and every spoken line — rather than simply the elapsed time of your gameplay session. Your account shows usage and remaining balance. Founder Alpha is early-access software, sold to customers in the United States only.

Limits

• This is a description of routes, not a measurement: nothing about audio quality, loudness or viewer response is claimed.
• He does not hear you and does not read chat; the app has no microphone input and no chat.
• No guaranteed cadence: how often he speaks depends on the game, the moment and the service.
• Founder Alpha is early-access software; the commentary can be wrong, repeated or badly timed, and it is sold to customers in the United States only.