Compressor and gate
Hardware strips include a combined compressor/gate. Set threshold and ratio to control mic peaks, then use the gate to mute keyboard and room noise between phrases.
Input strips
Hardware inputs and software VAIO
Each hardware strip maps to a physical device: USB mic, headset, interface line-in or onboard sound. Gain, mute, solo and bus buttons behave like a compact analog desk.
Software inputs use Voicemeeter Input (VAIO) virtual devices. Windows apps that play to Voicemeeter Input appear on a strip inside the mixer. Standard gives one VAIO. Banana adds a second (Voicemeeter Aux Input). Potato adds a third (Voicemeeter VAIO3).
Typical split: route games to VAIO, Discord to Aux, music or browser to VAIO3 on Potato so each source keeps its own fader and bus matrix.
Routing core
Buses A and B
Bus A routes toward hardware outputs. A1 is the main out and sets the master sample rate for the whole engine. Additional A buses (A2, A3 on Banana and Potato) drive extra physical devices such as headphones beside speakers.
Bus B routes toward virtual outputs. Apps that record from Voicemeeter Output or Voicemeeter Aux Output receive whatever you send to B1 or B2. OBS, Discord, Zoom and DAWs read these paths without re-wiring cables.
Potato adds a multilayer mixbus: up to 8 input layers cross into 8 output layers for dense dual-PC and broadcast desks. See the comparison table below for exact counts per edition.
Driver stack
Virtual I/O: WDM, KS, MME, DirectX, WaveRT and ASIO
Voicemeeter installs virtual playback and recording endpoints. Apps pick them like any Windows audio device. Inside the mixer, the same signal path can be exposed through several driver models depending on latency needs and app compatibility.
- WDM / KS
- Default for most Windows apps and the main hardware out A1. Kernel Streaming can reduce latency on supported interfaces.
- MME / DirectX / WaveRT
- Legacy and shared-mode paths for older programs or when a specific host expects a particular API.
- Virtual ASIO
- Voicemeeter ASIO presents multichannel I/O to DAWs and VST hosts. Buffer size follows A1 clocking. Banana and Potato expose wider channel maps than Standard.
- Sample rate and sync
- The engine runs at the A1 device rate, commonly 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz, up to 192 kHz when hardware supports it. Mismatch between app and bus rate causes pitch or crackle; the crackling guide walks through fixes.
Strip processing
Intellipan, Color Panel EQ and Audibility
Every input strip includes built-in tone and space tools before the fader hits the bus matrix.
- Intellipan combines 2D pan with a 3D binaural mode. Place voice or game audio in the stereo field or simulate distance for headphones.
- Color Panel EQ is a graphic equalizer with draggable bands. Cut mud, tame sibilance or match mic tone without opening a separate plugin host.
- Audibility applies speech-focused dynamics and filtering so quiet talkers stay intelligible on calls and streams.
Banana and Potato add extra FX on hardware strips (compressor, gate, limiter on Banana; parametric EQ, denoiser, C5 and more on Potato). Virtual input strips on Banana and Potato also carry a graphic EQ block.
Voicemeeter Banana
Banana: dynamics, recorder and automation
Strip limiter
A brickwall-style limiter sits on each strip output so hot game or alert audio cannot clip the bus feeding your stream mix.
8-channel recorder
Record up to eight bus or insert sources to disk as MP3, WAV, BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) or AIFF. Useful for podcast multitrack or post-stream edits in a DAW.
Chorus and extra routing
Banana includes a chorus effect on eligible strips and expands to five inputs and five outputs with three hardware A buses and two virtual B buses. Standard is bundled inside the Banana installer.
Network audio
VBAN: 8 in and 8 out streams
VB-Audio Network (VBAN) sends PCM audio over UDP on your LAN. Voicemeeter can transmit and receive multiple named streams without a physical cable between PCs.
Standard supports four incoming and four outgoing VBAN streams. Banana and Potato raise that to eight in and eight out. Assign a stream to a strip or bus, set the target IP or hostname, and align sample rate with the remote desk.
Common pattern: game PC sends gameplay VBAN to a stream PC running OBS, while the stream PC returns monitor mix or talkback on another stream. Configure streams from the VBAN menu in the title bar.
Automation surface
Macro Buttons
Macro Buttons is a companion app for programmable keys. Each button runs a script that toggles bus assignments, mutes strips, recalls presets, launches WAV clips or adjusts faders.
Streamers use it as a sound board: stingers, BRB beds and scene changes without alt-tabbing. Radio-style desks map cart buttons to jingles. Scripts use Voicemeeter's text API over UDP, so one click can change several parameters at once.
Macro Buttons ships with Banana and Potato packages. Pair it with the guides when you wire your first mute or preset recall.
Voicemeeter Potato
Potato: parametric EQ, denoiser and multilayer 8x8
Potato targets heavier broadcast and production desks. It includes Standard and Banana capabilities and adds professional strip FX plus an 8-input by 8-output routing matrix with multilayer buses.
Parametric EQ
Hardware strips gain a full parametric EQ with multiple bands, Q control and precise frequency targeting. Surgical cuts beat broad graphic sweeps for room resonance and plosives.
Denoiser
Real-time noise reduction on mic strips lowers fan hum and steady background hiss before compression. Dial strength to taste; heavy settings can add artifacts on speech.
C5 multiband compressor
C5 splits the signal into bands and compresses each region independently. Tame harsh upper mids while keeping low-end punch on voice or music inserts.
JustVerb 3 and send/return
JustVerb 3 is a configurable reverb. Dedicated send and return paths let you share one reverb or delay across several strips while keeping dry voice on the main bus. Returns appear as their own mix points in the matrix.
Multilayer buses 8x8
Five hardware inputs plus three VAIO strips feed eight mix layers. Each layer maps to eight outputs including hardware A buses, virtual B buses and insert points. Potato uses an activation-code donation model; see the FAQ for licensing details.
Edition matrix
Standard vs Banana vs Potato
Concrete I/O and feature counts from the current product line (versions 1.1.2.2, 2.1.2.2 and 3.1.2.2). Install the edition that matches your desk size; larger packages include the smaller ones.
| Feature | Standard | Banana | Potato |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total I/O | 3 in / 3 out | 5 in / 5 out | 8 in / 8 out |
| Hardware inputs | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Software VAIO inputs | 1 (Voicemeeter Input) | 2 (Input + Aux) | 3 (Input + Aux + VAIO3) |
| Hardware A buses | A1, A2 | A1, A2, A3 | A1 through A5 |
| Virtual B buses | B1 | B1, B2 | B1 through B3 |
| Virtual driver APIs | WDM, KS, MME, DX, WaveRT, ASIO | Same stack, wider ASIO map | Same stack, full 8x8 ASIO |
| Strip FX | Intellipan, Color Panel EQ, Audibility | + Comp/gate, limiter, chorus; graphic EQ on VAIO | + PEQ, Denoiser, C5, JustVerb 3, send/return |
| VBAN streams | 4 in + 4 out | 8 in + 8 out | 8 in + 8 out |
| Multitrack recorder | No | 8-ch MP3, WAV, BWF, AIFF | 8-ch MP3, WAV, BWF, AIFF |
| Macro Buttons | Not included | Included | Included |
| Multilayer mixbus | No | No | 8x8 layers |
| Current version / size | 1.1.2.2 · ~21.9 MB | 2.1.2.2 · ~42 MB | 3.1.2.2 · ~71.6 MB |
Ready to install? Open the download console. Need help picking buses on day one? Start with routing basics or browse the full FAQ.
Next step
Get the edition that fits your desk
Standard for simple VOIP, Banana for streaming, Potato for multilayer broadcast routing.