If footsteps keep disappearing under music, voice lines, or squad chat, start with the mix below. It keeps Apex’s useful combat sounds up front without pretending one headset preset works for everyone.
Set Master Volume and Sound Effects Volume to 100, Music Volume to 0, Dialogue Volume near 30, and Incoming Voice Chat around 70–90%. Use these as starting values, then set a safe listening level on your headset, console, or Windows volume control.
Quick answer
Best Apex Legends audio settings for 2026
Use these values as a competitive starting point, then lower your headset or system volume to a comfortable level:
- Master Volume: 100
- Sound Effects Volume: 100
- Dialogue Volume: 30
- Music Volume: 0
- Lobby Music Volume: 10–20
- Sound In Background: Off
- Play Incoming Text Chat as Speech: Off unless you use it for accessibility
- Convert Incoming Voice to Chat Text: Off unless you use it for accessibility
Master Volume and Sound Effects Volume control the combat mix. Keeping both at 100 gives footsteps, gunfire, doors, ziplines, and abilities as much room as the game allows. Set the final listening level with your headset, console, or Windows volume. There is no advantage in playing loud enough to hurt your ears.
Dialogue can stay around 30. Some character callouts are useful, but full-volume voice lines can cover quieter movement. Music at 0 removes another competing layer during fights. Lobby music does not affect a match, so 10–20 is enough if you still want an audio cue while waiting in the lobby.
Sound In Background only matters when Apex is not the active window on PC. Leave it off if you want the game muted while you Alt+Tab. The two text-to-speech options are accessibility tools rather than footstep boosts, so set them around how you communicate.
Best voice chat settings
- Voice Chat Record Mode: Push To Talk on PC when practical
- Open Mic Record Threshold: Tune it to your microphone and room
- Incoming Voice Chat Volume: Start at 70–90%
Push To Talk keeps keyboard noise and room audio out of comms, but it is only useful if the key is easy to reach during a fight. If you use Open Mic, raise the threshold until background noise stops triggering the mic, then check that normal speech still gets through. A fixed threshold such as 1300 will not suit every microphone.
Incoming voice chat should be loud enough for short calls without covering footsteps. Start near 80%, run a Firing Range test with a teammate, and adjust from there.
How to change Apex Legends audio settings
- Open Settings from the Apex Legends lobby or pause menu.
- Select the Audio tab.
- Enter the starting values above and apply the changes.
- Use the Firing Range to check footsteps, gunfire, abilities, and squad chat before playing a ranked match.
Change one control at a time during testing. If the whole game is too loud, lower your system or headset level instead of pulling down Sound Effects alone.
How to hear footsteps more clearly
Apex does not have a dedicated footstep slider. Footsteps sit under Sound Effects Volume with gunshots, abilities, doors, and other match sounds. Keep Sound Effects at 100, remove music from the mix, and pull dialogue or incoming chat down if either masks movement.
Stereo headphones are a good baseline because left-right positioning stays predictable. If Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos, a headset surround mode, or an EQ preset makes direction harder to judge, turn that processing off and compare plain stereo in the Firing Range. Do not stack several virtual-surround features at once.
Audio settings cannot make every footstep audible. Gunfire, abilities, map geometry, and other sounds can mask movement. Learning how surfaces, doors, ziplines, and vertical spaces sound is just as useful as changing a slider.
For the rest of your setup, compare our Apex Legends controller settings, Apex Legends sensitivity guide, and Apex pro settings directory.
Fixing missing, distorted, or one-sided audio
- Confirm the output device. In Windows, open Settings > System > Sound and make sure Apex is using the headset or speakers you expect. Console players should check the console’s audio output menu.
- Check the app mixer. Windows can mute or lower Apex separately from the main system volume.
- Test plain stereo. Temporarily disable spatial audio, virtual surround, and headset processing. Re-enable one feature at a time if stereo works.
- Restart the audio chain. Close Apex, reconnect the headset or controller, and restart the game. A full system restart is worth trying if the device still does not appear.
- Repair the game installation. Use your platform’s verify or repair option if audio files seem corrupted after an update.
Microsoft’s Windows audio troubleshooter covers device, driver, service, and output checks. If a problem began with the current Apex build, check the official Apex Legends: Marked patch notes and EA support channels for a known issue before changing every setting.
Sources and further reading
- EA: Apex Legends: Marked patch notes, published August 3, 2026.
- Microsoft Support: Fix sound or audio problems in Windows.
