Hearing footsteps and audio cues in battle royale games is critical to success. Your sound settings can make or break how easy it is to hear audio cues while playing Apex Legends. This guide will detail the best audio settings for Apex Legends, how to change them, audio settings pros use, and troubleshooting common audio problems.
Quick take
For the best Apex Legends audio settings, turn up Master and Sound Effects Volume to 100, and turn Music Volume down to 0. Enable Push To Talk for clear voice communications when playing with a squad. Invest in a good gaming headset to improve spatial audio and hear footsteps better.
Table of Contents
Best Apex Legends audio settings
These are the best audio settings to improve game sound and hear footsteps better in Apex Legends:
- Master Volume: 100
- Sound Effects Volume: 100
- Dialogue Volume: 30
- Music Volume: 0
- Lobby Music Volume: 15
- Sound In Background: Off
- Play Incoming Text Chat as Speech: Off
- Convert Incoming Voice to Chat Text: Off
The Master Volume setting should be set to the maximum value of 100 for most players. It’s best to have your audio cranked up in the settings menu, then control Apex Legend’s volume with external controls on your headset or keyboard.
Using external controls to adjust Apex’s overall volume provides the flexibility to make sounds louder or quieter depending on the game situation. Most players prefer to turn down their game volume during the beginning of the match to save their hearing, then turn up the volume during late-game situations where it’s crucial to catch every sound cue.
Sound Effects Volume determines the volume of footsteps, abilities, gunshots, and other critical audio cues in Apex Legends. Turning up Sound Effects Volume to the max value of 100 is the best way to ensure you hear all of Apex Legend’s audio cues.
Dialogue Volume controls the volume of character voice lines that occur during gameplay. Most of the character dialogue won’t affect gameplay, but a few voice lines can give you information about what is happening on the battlefield. For this reason, we set Dialogue Volume at 30, so it doesn’t drown out other sounds, but the valuable dialogue is still audible.
We recommend turning off Music Volume in most competitive games because it can hinder your ability to hear other important sounds. Turn the Music Volume up if you love Apex Legend’s soundtrack and want a more immersive experience.
Lobby Music Volume is self-explanatory; keeping this setting above 0 can help to alert you when a game is found so that you don’t miss the start of a match.
The Sound In Background setting is for PC players. When disabled, it mutes Apex Legends audio when switching to another tab or application. This setting won’t affect gameplay but is a nice quality-of-life setting for those who like to Alt+Tab while waiting for a game.
The Play Incoming Text Chat as Speech and Convert Incoming Voice to Text Chat settings are both accessibility options that can ensure players receive information from their teammates. Enabling these settings will come down to personal preference, and we recommend disabling them if they cause too much distraction or sound pollution in your game.
Best Apex Legends voice chat settings
- Voice Chat Record Mode: Push To Talk
- Open Mic Record Threshold: 1300
- Incoming Voice Chat Volume: 90%
The Push To Talk Voice Chat Record Mode only picks up the audio from your mic when you press a hotkey. Push To Talk is ideal for competitive games to ensure clear communication so that your background noise is not audible to teammates.
The Open Mic Record Threshold determines how sensitive your mic picks up sound. A lower value eliminates background noise; don’t set it so low that teammates cannot hear your voice.
Set your Incoming Voice Chat Volume to a level where you can hear teammates easily but without drowning out important audio cues. The ideal value for Incoming Voice Chat Volume will depend heavily on the settings and mics that your teammates are using.
How to change Apex Legends audio settings
Follow these steps to change your Apex Legends audio settings:
- Start up Apex Legends and use the ESC key in-game or from the main menu to access the settings menu.
- Navigate to the tab at the top of the settings menu labeled Audio. From here, you can adjust all audio and voice chat settings.
- Once you are satisfied with your new audio settings, hit Apply, and your new preferences will be saved.
To test your new audio settings, head to the Firing Range. In the Firing Range, players can use different weapons and activate abilities to see how their new audio settings perform. You can even invite another player into your Firing Range session to test how footsteps will sound with the best audio settings for Apex Legends.
How to hear footsteps better in Apex Legends
Hearing footsteps better in Apex Legends depends on your settings, gear, and ability to decipher different sounds. Understanding the difference between audio cues is vital for game awareness in Apex Legends.
First, go into your Apex Legends settings and ensure that Effects Volume is cranked up to 100. Adjusting your Effects Volume will increase the volume for sound effects like footsteps, gunshots, and abilities. We then recommend reducing the volume of other sounds, like music, so they don’t drown the sound of footsteps.
The footsteps you hear in Apex Legends will sound different based on the distance from you, whether they are above or below, what surface a player is traversing on, and any obstructions between the player and the footsteps. Taking the time to learn each footstep sound can help triangulate the position of enemy players.
Gaming headsets are a valuable tool to help you hear footsteps better in Apex Legends. A quality over-ear gaming headset will improve your spatial audio, making it easier for your ears to determine a sound’s direction. Check out our Apex Legends pro settings page for a directory of pro players and their gear.
What Apex Legends sound settings do pros use?
These are Apex Legends pro settings for several popular players we track at Setup.gg, including Selly, Hardecki, and Daltoosh:
| Audio Setting | Selly | Hardecki | Daltoosh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Volume | 38% | 45% | 45% |
| Voice Chat Record Mode | Push To Talk | Push To Talk | Push To Talk |
| Open Mic Record Threshold | 1071 | 3264 | 3264 |
| Incoming Voice Chat Volume | 0% | 100% | 100% |
| Sound Effects Volume | 40% | 100% | 100% |
| Dialogue Volume | 46% | 15% | 15% |
| Music Volume | 13% | 0% | 0% |
| Lobby Music Volume | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Sound In Background | Off | Off | Off |
Here are some takeaways from looking at the audio setting configurations above:
- All three players use Push To Talk, the best Voice Chat Record Mode for clear communication in Apex Legends.
- Selly sets his Incoming Voice Chat Volume to 0% so he can use a third-party application to chat with teammates.
- Hardecki and Daltoosh play with 100% Sound Effects Volume, which we recommend to hear more audio cues like footsteps.
Troubleshooting common Apex Legends audio problems
Apex Legends audio is not working.
Here are some fixes if your Apex Legends audio is not working:
- Check your audio output. Make sure you have the correct audio output selected for Apex Legends. Go to the Sound Settings on your PC and select the audio output device you want to hear Apex Legend’s audio from.
- Restart your computer. Some Apex Legends audio issues are fixed by exiting the game and restarting your computer. Make sure you close all running programs on your computer before you restart.
Glitchy Apex Legends audio on console
Here’s a fix if you experience glitchy audio on console after updating Apex Legends. Go to the sound settings on your console and change the audio output to Studio Uncompressed. This solution can fix audio problems caused by a recent Apex Legends update.
