Coming from OBS, the audio devices are a lot more customizable, the current implementation does not work with my setup. For example:
1. My audio device is stereo (Behiringer UMC202HD), but each channel, left and right, have 2 different microphones on it. In OBS and most other software, I can tell the audio source to only use the left or right channel. Then I can add 2 microphones in the software, one taking the left channel and one taking the right channel. The current implementation seems to mix the 2 MICs on a single "Channel".
2. Audio filters. I use several audio filters built into software to make the audio really sound good. Such as an EQ, Expander (to cut the MIC off when sound is low) and a compressor, to smooth out loud sounds.
3. Support for Advanced audio plugins through VST. This allows for advanced audio processing, such as reverb, fancier EQ and Compressors, etc. While similar to #2, its a more complex setup in most software, so they tend to provide the basics internally, with advanced setup in VST to allow basically unlimited options.
For a setup like mine, 1 is basically a show-stopper and 2 is pretty high up on the list. With 3 being a really nice to have. I could work-around the situation using virtual audio devices (such as Voice Meter Banana for example). But they have a limited number of virtual channel outputs and the flow of the signal makes it much tougher to keep the audio in sync.
You should also consider sending audio out on the virtual camera for those other apps to use. I've several scenes created in PolyPop with audio tracks for background and none of them are getting sent out to OBS, so it's just silent. When I added the PolyPop vCam to OBS, it created an audio track to go with it, but that track is always silent. I've set this up on four different machines now, and they all behave the same way.
Thanks for the detail! Super helpful in understanding your use cases. All suggestions added to our TODO list.