MicMixer

MicMixer is a push-to-talk mixer for your voice, your music, and your voice changer. It routes all three into one virtual microphone and gives them separate rules. Apps like FiveM, Discord, and any voice chat that only accepts one microphone just see a single ordinary input; MicMixer decides what goes into it — your normal mic, a voice changer, music, or silence — and you can switch live, mid-session.

Download for Windows · Windows 10/11 x64 · self-contained, no .NET install · Apache-2.0

What it's for

• Music in games without holding the game's push-to-talk. In games and on servers that allow an open or voice-activated input, the game listens to the cable while MicMixer's own push-to-talk gates your voice. Music ignores push-to-talk keeps the track flowing. Walk through it in Play music in FiveM without holding push-to-talk.
• A voice changer on a key. Pick your real mic and a modified one (for example Voicemod's virtual device); hold the hotkey to switch to the modified voice, release to go back, with a configurable release delay.
• A separate mix for streaming or recording. The secondary output plays the full mic-plus-music mix — taken before the push-to-talk gate — on an extra device that OBS or Streamlabs can capture, so your stream hears everything while the game only hears what you let through the gate.

Quick setup

1. Install a virtual audio cable such as VB-CABLE.
2. In MicMixer, select your real mic and CABLE Input as the virtual output.
3. In FiveM, Discord, or your chat app, select CABLE Output as its microphone.
4. Click Enable. Use the linked guides below for push-to-talk and music rules.

Trust at a glance

• Official releases are built by GitHub Actions from the tagged source commit.
• Releases since v2026.7.5 include a .sha256 file for the Windows archive.
• The current Windows release is unsigned. Check the release notes for its authoritative signing status and see the code signing policy.

Guides

• Play music in FiveM without holding push-to-talk
• Mic and music as one Discord input

The rest of this document is the detailed reference.

Features

• Routes a normal microphone to a virtual audio cable such as VB-CABLE.
• Switches to a voice-modified microphone while a global hotkey is held.
• Supports setups without a modified microphone.
• Supports a configurable release delay before switching back to the normal mic.
• Provides push-to-talk for the complete outgoing mix, including music.
• Optionally lets music bypass push-to-talk, so the music keeps playing into the virtual cable while the voice stays gated.
• Provides a monitor-only preview mode that keeps music out of the virtual cable entirely while you listen to it in local monitoring.
• Displays input levels for the normal and modified microphones.
• Plays MP3 files and mixes them into the virtual microphone channel.
• Captures audio directly from an external application such as Spotify.
• Downloads audio from YouTube links and converts it to MP3.
• Provides optional local monitoring with independent output and volume controls.
• Provides an optional secondary output that plays the complete mix (mic + music) on an extra device — before the push-to-talk gate — for recording or streaming.
• Includes playlist search, multiple music folders, a queue, and transport controls.
• Provides a click-through status overlay with mic state, music animation, and an optional outgoing level meter.
• Serves the same overlay as a local web page for streaming software with browser source support, so viewers see the mic and music status even when only the game is captured.
• Uses a responsive, resizable window layout and remembers its size and state.
• Runs in the system tray and redirects additional launches to the existing instance.
• Can start automatically with Windows, hidden in the system tray.
• Writes rotating logs for troubleshooting.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11, x64.
• A microphone.
• A virtual audio cable; VB-CABLE is recommended.
• Optional: Voicemod or another voice modifier that exposes a microphone device.
• Internet access for the first media download. MicMixer downloads yt-dlp and ffmpeg to its local application-data directory and verifies the files using SHA-256.

Release archives are self-contained, so users normally do not need to install .NET separately.

Download

Download the versioned MicMixer-<version>-win-x64.zip archive from GitHub Releases, extract it, and run MicMixer.exe.

Alternatively, install MicMixer with Windows Package Manager:

winget install --id BenjiButten.MicMixer --exact

MicMixer is distributed outside Microsoft Store. Windows Defender SmartScreen may show Windows protected your PC for an unsigned or newly published build. Verify that the archive came from the official GitHub release and compare its SHA-256 hash with the attached .sha256 file before selecting More info → Run anyway. Windows 11 Smart App Control is a separate feature and may block unknown unsigned apps without offering that override. See INSTALLATION.txt for verification commands and details.

Release builds check GitHub for updates at most once every 12 hours while the main window is open. When a newer version is available, MicMixer can download, verify, install, and restart itself. You can also run a manual check from About → Check for updates. Installs in protected folders may trigger a UAC prompt, and Windows may show a security warning when a new build restarts. Installations made through winget are updated through winget instead of the built-in updater. Development builds do not perform update checks.

Code signing and privacy

Current releases are unsigned. We have applied to SignPath Foundation; approval and signing integration are pending. Each release states its actual signing status.

See the code signing policy for the signing scope, project roles, and build provenance. MicMixer's automatic update checks, user-initiated media downloads, local audio processing, settings, and logs are covered by the privacy policy.

Basic setup

1. Install VB-CABLE.
2. Restart Windows if requested by the VB-CABLE installer.
3. Start MicMixer.exe.
4. Select your physical microphone under Normal mic.
5. Select a modified microphone, such as Voicemod Virtual Audio Device, or choose No modded mic.
6. Select CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable) under Virtual cable output.
7. In your voice chat, game, or streaming app, select CABLE Output as the microphone.
8. Click Enable.

If the selected output does not look like a virtual cable, MicMixer displays a warning. Click Enable again to continue with another cable driver or an intentional non-cable output.

Hotkey and push-to-talk

Click Change under Global hotkey, then press the keyboard key or mouse button that should select the modified mic while routing is active:

• Hotkey held: the modified mic is routed.
• Hotkey released: the normal mic is routed.
• Release delay above 0 ms: the modified mic remains active until the delay ends.
• No modded mic: the hotkey is disabled unless push-to-talk is enabled.

Push-to-talk reverses the idle behavior: while the hotkey is not held, the virtual cable receives silence. Neither microphone audio nor music is sent.

• It also works with No modded mic, in which case the hotkey gates the normal mic.
• With a modified mic selected, holding the hotkey both opens the gate and selects it.
• The release delay applies to push-to-talk as well.
• Local music monitoring is not muted by push-to-talk.
• The tray icon and overlay turn red with a crossed-out mic while the outgoing mix is muted.
• With Music ignores push-to-talk enabled (music card), push-to-talk gates only the microphone: the music keeps flowing into the virtual cable as long as it plays. See Music routing.

Music sources

MicMixer can use its built-in MP3 library or capture audio from another application. In either mode, the audio is mixed into the same virtual microphone channel as your voice.

MP3 library

Add music by either:

• Pasting a YouTube link and clicking Download MP3.
• Opening a configured music folder and adding your own .mp3 files.

Only links to a single video are accepted. Pasting a YouTube search, playlist, or channel link is refused with an explanation rather than downloading everything behind it, and a video link that carries a mix or radio list downloads just that one video.

The first download installs local copies of yt-dlp and ffmpeg. The ffmpeg package is relatively large, so the first download may take longer. The tools are reused for subsequent downloads.

The library supports search, playback controls, a queue, and multiple music folders. When multiple folders are configured:

• Each track has a colored folder badge; hover over it to see the full path.
• Folder chips beside the search field filter the visible tracks.
• The download destination can be selected separately.
• Folders can be added or removed from the folder menu; at least one folder remains configured.

Music can play while routing or local monitoring provides an audio clock. If neither is active, playback pauses instead of appearing to play without advancing.

External application capture

Select the external-application source mode to capture audio from a running application such as Spotify and route it through MicMixer. Refresh the application list when a newly started app is not shown. Transport buttons send system media-key commands to the active media application.

External capture availability depends on the Windows process-loopback APIs and the selected application producing audio.

Local monitoring

Monitoring plays library music through your own headphones or speakers. It has a separate device and volume control and does not change the level sent to other people through the virtual microphone. Select a physical playback device rather than the virtual cable.

Music routing

Two toggles in the music card control how the music relates to push-to-talk and the virtual cable. Both apply immediately, also while routing runs, and both work in external capture mode as well.

• Music ignores push-to-talk: the music keeps flowing into the virtual cable as long as it plays, while push-to-talk still gates the microphone. Typical use: the game should hear the music continuously, but your voice only while you hold the hotkey. The toggle is only active while push-to-talk is enabled — without push-to-talk, playing music is always sent.
• Monitor only: preview mode. The music is never sent to the virtual cable; you hear it through local monitoring and can check a track or set its volume before anyone else hears it. The secondary output still receives the music, so streaming or recording software capturing that device hears what you hear. An amber hint below the toggle states exactly where the music goes while the mode is active. Monitor-only overrides the ignore-push-to-talk toggle.

The status panel and the overlay always reflect the outcome: when push-to-talk mutes the mic while music still flows, the status reads "Mic muted (push-to-talk) — music transmitting", and the overlay's music circle shows the current destination.

Secondary output

The Secondary output section routes the complete finished mix — microphone and music — to one extra playback device while routing is active. The branch has its own gates, independent of the cable's: with Ignore push-to-talk enabled (default) the secondary device keeps receiving mic + music even while the virtual cable receives silence. Disable that option to make the secondary microphone follow the same push-to-talk gate as the cable; the music then still flows whenever you can hear it — while it is sent to the cable or previewed in monitor-only mode — so a stream capturing the secondary device always hears the music you hear.

Typical use with streaming or recording software:

1. Enable Secondary output and select a playback device that you are not otherwise using (for example an unused HDMI output or a virtual device).
2. In your streaming software (for example, OBS Studio or Streamlabs Desktop), add an audio output capture source and select the same device.
3. Start routing in MicMixer. The software now records or streams the full mix, including everything you say while push-to-talk is released.

Warnings:

• The secondary device plays your own microphone. If you pick your normal speakers, everyone in the room hears your mic and you risk feedback into the microphone. Prefer a device you cannot hear, or headphones.
• The capture source includes everything on that device. Any other application playing audio to the same device ends up in the recording.
• The secondary output can never use the same device as Virtual cable output; MicMixer blocks that combination because the mix would play twice on the cable.
• If the saved secondary device is missing at startup, MicMixer leaves the selection empty and refuses to start the secondary output until you explicitly pick a device again — it never substitutes another output on its own.

The secondary volume only affects the secondary device. Failures on the secondary device (for example unplugging it) close only the secondary branch; routing to the virtual cable continues.

Overlay indicator

The optional click-through overlay remains visible above borderless/windowed games without stealing focus or intercepting mouse input. The mic circle shows the same status colors and glyphs as the tray icon:

• Green with a mic: the normal microphone is heard.
• Blue with a modified-mic glyph: the modified microphone is heard.
• Red with a crossed-out mic: push-to-talk is muted.
• Gray (tray icon only): routing is stopped.

While music is active, a separate music circle appears to the left of the mic circle and tells where the music goes:

• Purple with a note and dancing equalizer bars: the music is sent into the mic channel.
• Amber with headphones: monitor-only preview — only you (and the secondary output) hear it.
• Gray with a crossed-out note and frozen bars: the music plays but push-to-talk currently blocks it from the cable.

The optional level rings wrap each circle: the mic ring shows the complete outgoing mix after the gates (exactly what the cable receives), and the music ring shows the music branch alone after the music volume — also during a monitor-only preview, so the level can be set before anyone else hears it. Exclusive fullscreen applications may prevent desktop overlays from being visible.

Stream overlay

When streaming software captures a game as an individual process, desktop overlays may not be part of the captured image, so viewers never see the overlay indicator. Enable Stream overlay in the routing settings and MicMixer serves the same overlay as a local web page (http://127.0.0.1:4573/ by default) that can be added as a browser source and layered on top of the game. The page mirrors the desktop overlay exactly — states, level rings, equalizer bars, and the hidden state while routing is stopped — and reconnects automatically when MicMixer restarts. See docs/stream-overlay.md for setup steps, URL parameters, and the wire protocol.

Local data

MicMixer stores settings, its default music folder, downloaded tools, and logs in:

%LocalAppData%\MicMixer

Important files and directories:

• settings.json: devices, hotkey, volumes, folders, window state, and other settings.
• Music\: the default MP3 library folder.
• tools\: downloaded yt-dlp and ffmpeg binaries.
• logs\micmixer-YYYYMMDD.log: runtime logs.
• startup-timeline.log: a basic startup timeline.

Runtime logs roll at 5 MB, rotate daily, and are retained for 14 days.

Troubleshooting

• If nobody can hear anything, confirm that MicMixer outputs to CABLE Input and that the receiving application uses CABLE Output as its microphone.
• If others cannot hear music, confirm that routing is active and disable noise suppression, echo cancellation, and automatic gain control in the receiving app.
• If local monitoring is silent, enable monitoring and select your headphones or speakers as the monitor device.
• If external application capture is silent, make sure the selected app is actively producing audio and refresh the application list.
• If a download fails, check the internet connection and inspect the logs under %LocalAppData%\MicMixer\logs.
• If an audio device was disconnected, refresh the device list and select it again.
• If the secondary output shows "device was not found", reconnect the device or select a new one explicitly; MicMixer intentionally never auto-picks a replacement secondary device.

Development

The application project is located in src/MicMixer and targets net10.0-windows.

Build and test locally:

dotnet build .\MicMixer.slnx
dotnet test .\MicMixer.slnx --no-build

Create a self-contained Windows x64 build:

dotnet publish .\src\MicMixer\MicMixer.csproj `
  -c Release `
  -r win-x64 `
  --self-contained true `
  -o .\artifacts\publish\win-x64

CI/CD

Pushes to main that change src/** run .github/workflows/release.yml. The workflow restores the complete solution, runs the full test suite, publishes a self-contained win-x64 build, optionally signs and verifies the executable, and creates a ZIP plus SHA-256 checksum. The release tag is created for the exact commit that was checked out and built. Documentation, tests, solution, and workflow-only pushes do not trigger an application release.

Update RELEASE_NOTES.md with user-visible changes alongside the app code. The workflow adds the version, commit, archive hash, and verified signing status when it creates the GitHub Release.

For changes that benefit from integration testing, feature branches can be combined on the optional next branch before next is merged to main. Small fixes can go directly through a feature branch to main. Only main publishes a release.

Run .github/workflows/build.yml manually on any branch to produce a candidate ZIP and SHA-256 file. Candidate builds run the same restore, test, and publish steps but do not create a tag or public release.

Support and acknowledgements

MicMixer is built and maintained by BenjiButten and released free of charge as open-source software. A special thank you goes to Pixlexi, who has contributed the use cases behind the app, hands-on testing, and valuable feedback throughout development.

If you enjoy MicMixer and would like to give something back, please consider gifting a sub to Pixlexi on Twitch.

Third-party components and their license information are listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt. That file, the project license, and the attribution NOTICE are included in published distributions.

License

MicMixer is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. Redistributions must also preserve the applicable attribution information from NOTICE as required by the license.

Published releases up to and including v2026.7.3 remain available under the MIT terms under which they were originally released. Source from the Apache-2.0 relicensing commit onward is licensed under Apache-2.0.