Watch the full setup (10:05) — subtitles in 23 languages, voice-over in 9
ZOOM TRANSLATION
Translate Zoom meetings live — both ways, nothing joins the call
VoxisLive runs next to Zoom on your Windows PC: you hear the meeting in your language, and with a free virtual microphone the others hear you in theirs. No bot, no Zoom app, no calendar access.
This is the Zoom version of Meeting mode, which runs two translations at once. Incoming: the audio Zoom plays is spoken back to you in your language. Outgoing: your microphone is translated and played into a virtual microphone that Zoom uses as your mic. Both run a few seconds behind the speaker, the span any simultaneous interpreter needs.
VoxisLive never connects to Zoom: it reads sound at the Windows audio layer, so nothing appears in the participant list, nothing is added to your Zoom account, and Zoom in a browser tab works the same way.
Set up two-way Zoom translation in five steps
About five minutes, once. After that, every call only needs Meeting mode started.
You'll need: VoxisLive (Meeting mode uses paid minutes after the one-time 15-minute Pro taste) · VB-CABLE (free, one-time) · Zoom Workplace for Windows · headphones
STEP 1
Install VB-CABLE (free, one-time)
VB-CABLE is a small free driver from VB-Audio that gives Windows a virtual microphone: VoxisLive plays your translated voice into it and Zoom picks it up like a headset. Download it from vb-audio.com/Cable, install it, then restart Zoom so the new device shows up. On Windows, Meeting mode does not start without a virtual microphone; on Linux the app creates its own.
STEP 2
Open Zoom Settings › Audio, set Speaker to your headphones
Click the Settings gear at the bottom left of the Zoom Workplace window, then Audio. Set Speaker to your headphones — never CABLE Input or CABLE In 16ch. Zoom keeps the device you pick, so set it again if you change headphones.
STEP 3
Set Microphone to “CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)”
On the same page, pick CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable) as the Microphone by hand — despite the name, it is the cable's microphone side; never CABLE Input. Set your real microphone back after the call. Only want to hear the others? Leave the microphone alone and go to step 5.
STEP 4
Choose “Original sound for musicians”, turn off automatic volume
Under Microphone modes, choose Original sound for musicians and leave its three boxes unticked; turn off Automatically adjust microphone volume. Zoom's noise removal can clip the start of the translated words — this lets them through, and a music-note icon shows at the top of the meeting while it is on. After the call, go back to Noise removal (default) and automatic volume.
STEP 5
Start VoxisLive in Meeting mode, then join and check
In VoxisLive, pick the Meeting scenario, choose your real microphone as its input, set the language you want to hear and the one the others should hear, and press Start. Join the Zoom call as usual, open the ^ next to Audio and confirm: microphone CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable), speaker your headphones.
IF THEY HEAR YOU TWICE
Turn off “Listen to this device”
If the others hear your own voice along with the translation, Windows is playing your microphone into the call. In the Windows Sound settings, open Recording › your microphone › Properties › Listen and untick Listen to this device.
Headphones, and the mistake that creates a third voice
Use headphones, or your real microphone picks up the meeting and sends it back. And if Zoom's Speaker points at the virtual cable VoxisLive feeds, the call loops back into the meeting and the others hear a third voice half a beat behind. The cable belongs in the Microphone slot only.
Meeting minutes are paid minutes. The daily free minutes cover one-way listening only; a new account's one-time 15-minute Pro taste includes Meeting mode. After that, every minute, both directions together, is billed against a paid balance — see pricing.
Where to go next
The same setup covers Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, with their own menus. Device missing? Work through the audio setup checklist and troubleshooting.
FAQ
Common questions
01Will other people in the Zoom call know I am using this?
Nothing joins the meeting, so nothing appears in the participant list and no platform notification fires. What they can notice is the outgoing direction itself: if you enable it, they hear a synthetic voice speaking your words a few seconds after you speak, instead of your own voice. That is audible by design. It is not a Zoom integration either: it never sees the participant list, the chat, the meeting title or the recording.
02Do I have to install a virtual microphone?
For Meeting mode on Windows, yes: its outgoing direction speaks into a virtual microphone, and the session will not start without one. Just hearing the other side in your language works with no extra driver in Video & Game mode. On Linux, the app creates its own virtual microphone.
03Can I use my free daily minutes for a Zoom meeting?
No. The free tier does not cover Meeting mode. Meetings run on a paid balance, and both directions belong to the same session. The one exception is the free plan's one-time Pro taste: 15 minutes, once, with Meeting mode included.
04Which Zoom settings do I actually change?
Three settings, all under Settings › Audio (the gear at the bottom left of the Zoom window, or the ^ next to the Audio button during a call). Speaker stays on your headphones. Microphone becomes CABLE Output (VB-Audio Virtual Cable) if you want the outgoing direction; otherwise leave it on your real microphone. For the outgoing direction, also choose Original sound for musicians under Microphone modes and turn off Automatically adjust microphone volume. After the call, put the microphone and those two settings back.
05The other participants say there is an extra voice echoing in the call. What is wrong?
Almost always Zoom's Speaker is pointed at the virtual cable. Then the cable carries sound in both directions and the call feeds itself. Set Speaker back to your headphones and leave the cable in the Microphone slot only.
06Does it work with Zoom in a browser, or only the desktop app?
Capture happens at the operating-system audio layer, so the application producing the sound does not matter — a browser tab is captured the same way the desktop app is. The outgoing direction still depends on being able to select the virtual microphone wherever the call is running.
07The other side hears my own voice together with the translation. What is wrong?
Most likely Windows “Listen to this device” is on for your microphone, so your untranslated voice is played into the call as well. Open the Windows sound settings, go to your microphone's Properties in the recording list, open the Listen tab and untick “Listen to this device”.