Choosing the correct audio settings in Valorant can make a big difference in gameplay. Adjusting Valorant’s audio settings can affect the volume and quality of audio you experience in the game. Let’s dive into the best Valorant audio settings so you can level up your gameplay.
Best Valorant audio settings
Here are the best audio settings for Valorant.
- Overall Volume: 100%
- Sound Effects Volume: 100%
- Voice-over Volume: 60%
- Video Volume: 100%
- All Music Overall Volume: Disabled
- Menu and Lobby Music Volume: Disabled
- Agent Select Music Volume: 50%
- VOIP Ducks Music: Enabled
- Mute Music When Game Window Out Of Focus: Enabled
- Speaker Configuration: Stereo
- Enable HRTF: Enabled
Overall Volume controls all sounds in Valorant. Set this to 100%, and then use your headset or other external device to fine-tune the volume level to your liking. If you don’t have external volume controls, set this value to a number that feels comfortable for your ears.
Crank the Sound Effects Volume to the max so you don’t miss important audio cues like footsteps, abilities, and more.
Voice-over Volume is set to around 60% to still hear the announcer’s voice without drowning out sound effects or comms.
Video Volume affects the sounds played when previewing skins and items. Video Volume will not have any effect on gameplay, but you will want this all the way turned up.
Most competitive players prefer to disable All Music Overall Volume and Menu and Lobby Music Volume. Setting Agent Select Music Volume to around 50% can help alert you when it’s time to pick agents, but it won’t drown out teammate comms at the select screen.
VOIP Ducks Music turns down the music volume when teammates speak. This is useful so you don’t miss out on essential comms in-game.
Mute Music When Game Window Out Of Focus should be enabled so that Valorant’s music doesn’t play when switching to a different tab.
Check out the Valorant surround sound section below for a full breakdown of the Speaker Configuration and HRTF settings.
Best Valorant voice chat settings
Here are the best Voice Chat settings for Valorant.
- Output Device: Default System Device
- Input Device: Default System Device
- Incoming Volume: ~70%
- Mic Volume: ~70%
- Loopback Test: Disabled
- Mic Sensitivity Threshold: ~45%
- Party Voice Chat: On
- Party Voice During Custom Game: On
- Party Voice Activation Mode: Push To Talk
- Team Voice Chat: On
The Output Device and Input Device settings should display the microphone and speakers you wish to use to talk in-game and hear Valorant’s audio.
Set Incoming Volume to around 70% to hear teammate comms. Adjust this accordingly if your teammates sound too loud or quiet while in-game. Then, set Mic Volume to around 70%. Mic Volume may need adjusting depending on how loud your mic sounds in-game.
Keep Loopback Test disabled unless you are testing your mic to ensure it’s working.
Setting the Mic Sensitivity Threshold to about 45% helps balance the background noise and sensitivity of your microphone. Depending on the quality of your headset, you may need to ratchet this setting up or turn it down to customize your audio experience.
Party, Team, and Custom Game Voice Chat should always be on so you don’t miss crucial comms while in game. Disable these settings if you use a different voice chat app to communicate with your team.
We prefer Push To Talk for voice chat in Valorant. We suggest binding this function to an input that works for you so it’s always in reach.
Best Valorant voice-over settings
- Gameplay: Enabled
- Agent Flavor: Disabled
- Tactical Callout: Enabled
- Emotes: Enabled
- Announcer: Enabled
- VOIP Ducks Flavor VO: Enabled
It’s best to keep all Voice-over settings Enabled except for Agent Flavor. Agent Flavor is the banter between agents that occurs before rounds. Agent Flavor can increase game immersion but may also be distracting for more competitive players.
How to change Valorant sound settings
Changing Valorant sound settings is simple and can be accomplished in a few easy steps.
First, you will want to change your settings in the firing range. Avoid changing settings while in a match so that your teammates don’t accuse you of throwing while you scroll through the menus.
Load up Valorant and select Play from the main menu. Then select Practice to see the list of available practice modes. Choose the Shooting Test option and select Enter Range. From here, take as long as you need to tinker with the Valorant audio settings.
Once in the Range, press the ESC key and choose the Settings option to bring up the list of available settings. Choose the tab labeled Audio and select the Sounds, Voice Chat, or Voice-Over tabs, depending on the Valorant audio settings you want to change.
How to use Valorant surround sound
Valorant surround sound and directional audio can be achieved using a couple of different audio settings.
The first setting for surround sound in Valorant is setting the Speaker Configuration setting to Stereo. While you can select Mono Audio to output sound from a single channel, this is only recommended for single-speaker setups.
Stereo Audio is the right option for anyone using a headset or a speaker setup with two or more speakers. Stereo Audio splits Valorant’s audio into two separate channels so players can determine the direction of audio cues like footsteps or gunshots.
Next, enable HRTF to ensure the best possible surround sound for Valorant. HRTF stands for Head Related Transfer Function and the sound settings impact boils down to how your ear receives sound waves.
Pro tip
Turning HRTF on in Valorant improves spatial audio quality, making it easier to determine the precise direction of sounds. This feature, added in Patch 2.06, is a vast improvement over the standard Stereo Audio in Valorant. We highly recommend anyone using Stereo Audio to enable HRTF for improved footstep and sound cue audio in Valorant.
How to hear footsteps in Valorant
Audio in Valorant is a vital tool that players should use to gain information while playing the game. Valorant has tons of audio clues like gunshots, footsteps, reloads, and abilities that players can hear to determine the location and actions of enemies. Combine surround sound with the best Valorant mouse settings and sens and the best Valorant crosshair you’ll be able to accurately spot and target enemies quickly.
Footsteps in Valorant will sound different based on distance, if they come from above or below, and if a player is walking versus crouching.
To hear footsteps better in Valorant, you first want to copy our sound settings above and confirm that Stereo Audio and HRTF are enabled. Ensure your volume is turned up to a level where you can easily hear quiet sounds, but loud sounds are not damaging your hearing.
A gaming headset is the most crucial piece of equipment you can own to hear footsteps better in Valorant. Even a budget gaming headset will sound leaps and bounds better than audio from a TV or monitor.
Gaming headsets offer different features from traditional headphones that improve gameplay. Most gaming headsets isolate low-frequency sounds like footsteps. Also, gaming headsets include an attached microphone to give your teammates the callouts necessary for high-level Valorant play.
Every professional Valorant player uses a gaming headset to improve their spatial audio awareness. Check out our Valorant players page for a list of professional Valorant players and the gear they use.
What Valorant sound settings do pros use?
Here are pro Valorant audio settings used by a few of the best players in the world:
TenZ
- Overall Volume: 100%
- Sound Effects Volume: 100%
- Voice-over Volume: ~40%
- Video Volume: 100%
- All Music Overall Volume: Disabled
- Menu and Lobby Music Volume: Disabled
- Agent Select Music Volume: ~80%
- VOIP Ducks Music: Enabled
- Mute Music When Game Window Out Of Focus: Disabled
- Speaker Configuration: Stereo
- Enable HRTF: Enabled
Stewie2K
- Overall Volume: ~80%
- Sound Effects Volume: 100%
- Voice-over Volume: ~80%
- Video Volume: Disabled
- All Music Overall Volume: ~50%
- Menu and Lobby Music Volume: Disabled
- Agent Select Music Volume: Disabled
- VOIP Ducks Music: Enabled
- Mute Music When Game Window Out Of Focus: Disabled
- Speaker Configuration: Stereo
- Enable HRTF: Enabled
Hiko
- Overall Volume: 100%
- Sound Effects Volume: 100%
- Voice-over Volume: 100%
- Video Volume: 100%
- All Music Overall Volume: 100%
- Menu and Lobby Music Volume: Disabled
- Agent Select Music Volume: Disabled
- VOIP Ducks Music: Enabled
- Mute Music When Game Window Out Of Focus: Disabled
- Speaker Configuration: Stereo
- Enable HRTF: Enabled
Our Valorant pro settings guide is a good resource if you’re wanting to view in one place the settings used by the most popular Valorant players.
Troubleshooting common Valorant audio problems
How do I change Audio Output for Valorant?
To change the audio output for Valorant, go into the Audio Settings and navigate to the Voice Chat tab. From there, select the Output Device setting. You should see a list of available devices for Audio Output. Select the device you want to hear from, and exit the settings menu.
If the steps above are not working, check that you have the correct output device selected on your PC. To change the output device in Windows 10, click on the sound icon in the taskbar. From there, click the drop-down menu that displays the currently available audio devices. Choose the device you want to hear audio from, and exit the settings menu.
How to fix Valorant voice chat not working?
To fix Valorant voice chat not working, ensure that the correct input and output audio devices are selected. Go into the Voice Chat tab of the Audio Settings and click on the drop-down menus for Input Device and Output Device. Make sure these settings match the audio devices you wish to use.
Check that the Input and Output Device settings you selected in the Valorant settings match your PC settings. To see these settings on Windows 10, click on the sound icon in the taskbar and then select the drop-down menus that display input and output audio devices. Choose the devices that match what you chose in the in-game Valorant settings.
If neither method fixes the problem and you still can’t hear voice chat in Valorant, try restarting your game client. Restarting your game can sometimes fix several issues, including voice chat not working.
How to fix Valorant audio not working?
The first thing you want to do if Valorant’s audio is not working is check that your Volume levels in the Sound Settings menu are enabled and turned up. If you use external volume controls on your headset or elsewhere, confirm these are unmuted and turned up.
Then, double-check that you have the correct Output Device selected in the Voice Chat settings (see above).
Once you confirm that your in-game settings are correct, check your output device settings on the PC. For Windows 10 users, click on the audio icon in the taskbar. Then, confirm that the audio output device shown is the same one you have selected in-game.
If you still have trouble hearing audio in Valorant, go into the sound settings on your PC and click on the Advanced Sound Options located at the bottom of the page. From there, find the tab where the Valorant settings are displayed and verify that the volume level is at 100 and that you selected the correct input and output devices.
