For Zoom, Teams & Google Meet

Install VB-Cable — step by step.

For your online clients to hear the music from Hypnotika, Windows needs a little helper called VB-Cable. It's a free virtual audio cable from the company VB-Audio — install it once, and it runs forever. You'll be through in about ten minutes.

What does VB-Cable actually do?

Picture an invisible cable connecting two audio ports inside your computer: on one end ("CABLE Input"), a program sends music in. On the other end ("CABLE Output"), another program receives that music and passes it on. Hypnotika sends the music into the cable, Zoom picks it up at the other end and sends it to your client. Done.

You're through with these five steps:

  1. Download VB-Cable

    Open VB-Audio's official download page: vb-audio.com/Cable/. Scroll down a bit until you see the blue "Download" button. Click it. Your browser downloads a ZIP file with a name like VBCABLE_Driver_Pack43.zip.

    🔒 https://vb-audio.com/Cable/ VB-CABLE Virtual Audio Device Download and install — donationware, free for personal use. ↓ Download
    Step 1 · "Download" button on vb-audio.com/Cable/

  2. Extract the ZIP file — important!

    Go to your downloads folder. Right-click the ZIP file and choose "Extract All...". Windows asks where to extract. Take the suggested folder or pick your own — whichever, just remember where. Click "Extract".

    Why this matters: If you double-click, Windows shows you the contents, but the files are still locked inside the ZIP. The installer wouldn't run from there. So always extract first.

    📁 Downloads 🗜️ VBCABLE_Driver_Pack43.zip Open Extract All... Pin to Quick access
    Step 2 · Right-click → "Extract All..."

  3. Find the correct installer file

    Inside the extracted folder you'll see several files. Look for the file called VBCABLE_Setup_x64.exe — that's the right one for almost all modern machines (64-bit Windows).

    Only if your Windows is ancient (Windows 7 32-bit or similar): in that case, take the file VBCABLE_Setup.exe (without the _x64). When in doubt, VBCABLE_Setup_x64.exe is almost always correct.

    📁 VBCABLE_Driver_Pack43 📄 License.txt 📄 VBCABLE_ControlPanel.exe 📄 VBCABLE_Setup.exe 📄 VBCABLE_Setup_x64.exe ← THIS ONE 📄 vbaudio_cable64_win7.inf 📄 vbaudio_cable64_win7.sys
    Step 3 · VBCABLE_Setup_x64.exe is the correct file

  4. Run as administrator

    Now an important detail: double-clicking isn't enough — the installation needs admin rights. Right-click the file and choose "Run as administrator". Windows will ask with a blue dialog whether you really want to — click "Yes".

    The actual installer window "VB-CABLE Driver Installer" appears. Click the button "Install Driver". Windows may still ask whether you want to install the driver — confirm. A second or two later you'll see "Driver Installation Completed" — done.

    VB-CABLE Driver Installer _ ☐ ✕ VB-Audio Virtual Audio Device (Donationware) Version: 1.0.3.8 (x64) Status: Driver not installed Install Driver
    Step 4 · Click "Install Driver"

  5. Restart your computer — don't skip this!

    This gets forgotten a lot and is the number-one cause of errors. After the driver install, Windows needs a full reboot so that the new audio channel is known system-wide. Save what you have open and restart.

    After restarting, open Hypnotika and go to Settings → Audio output. A new entry appears in the dropdown: "CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)". Select it.

Set up in Zoom

VB-Cable is installed. Now Zoom needs to use the other end of the cable as its microphone:

  1. Open Zoom → top right, gear icon → Settings
  2. Left side: Audio
  3. Under "Microphone": open dropdown → pick "CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)"
  4. The test meter should now move as soon as Hypnotika plays music

For Microsoft Teams and Google Meet it works the same way — in the audio settings, set the microphone to "CABLE Output".

Important: You won't hear yourself in headphones anymore

When you set Hypnotika to "CABLE Input", the music goes into Zoom — but not into your headphones, because you're sending the audio into an invisible cable, not to your speakers. Two solutions:

  1. Quick and easy: Windows "Control Panel → Sound" → "Recording" tab → right-click "CABLE Output" → "Properties" → "Listen" tab → check "Listen to this device" and pick your headphones below. Then you'll hear the music yourself.
  2. Professional: Use VoiceMeeter (also from VB-Audio, also free) — it lets you route freely to multiple outputs at once. More advanced, but it's the gold-standard setup.

Doesn't work — what now?

"CABLE Input" doesn't show up in Hypnotika's dropdown

99 % of the time: the machine wasn't restarted after install. Do a full reboot (not just log out). If the entry is still missing afterwards, check Windows "Sound settings" to see whether VB-Cable appears there. If not: run the installer again as administrator.

Client hears nothing in Zoom even though everything is set

Check Zoom's "Enable original sound for musicians" setting (Zoom → "Settings → Audio → Advanced"). Without it, Zoom filters music out as "noise". With the checkbox on, music comes through cleanly.

Windows shows a "Driver blocked" warning

Rare. If Windows blocks the install, go to "Settings → Update & Security → Windows Security → App & browser control" — the block can be lifted there. VB-Audio drivers are digitally signed and safe.

Uninstall VB-Cable

In the extracted VB-Cable folder there's a file called VBCABLE_Setup_x64.exe — the same one you installed with. Run it as administrator. Instead of "Install Driver" you'll see "Remove Driver". Click, restart, and the virtual cable is gone.

Thanks for your patience

VB-Cable isn't our product — we can't bundle its installer with ours for that reason. But it's the standard way to route audio between two programs on Windows, and has been reliably in use for many years. Once set up, you'll use it for all your future online sessions — with Hypnotika or any other program.

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