How to Balance Audio Like a Pro Using Sonar

The “best” audio mode depends on what you’re playing and how you’re playing it — but in most cases, you’ll want to choose a mode that gives you the clearest positional awareness without sacrificing overall immersion.

Competitive Shooters (e.g., CS2, Valorant, Apex Legends)

• Each of those games has a specially tuned preset; just select the right game from the dropdown

• These are made with audio engineers or developers; the goal is to tune up the audio cues you need for a positional advantage, such as footsteps, bomb plantings, consumable usage, etc.

• Stereo can give more precise left/right positioning, while spatial modes like Sonar’s Competitive Footsteps preset enhance directional cues and mid-high frequencies so you never miss an enemy sneaking up.

Open-World & Story-Driven Games (e.g., The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077)

• Immersive spatial audio is your friend here.

• These also have presets; rather than a competitive aspect, these will focus on the immersion and bring out the depth of the soundtrack and special effects, like sounds of explosions or sword clashes

• Wide soundstage modes help you feel like you’re inside the environment, letting ambient sounds and orchestral scores shine.

Streaming & Variety Gaming

• Use a balanced mix — keep game effects crisp but slightly under your voice for viewers.

• Sonar’s per-channel control means you can keep chat clear while letting the game’s atmosphere come through.

Pro Tip: With Sonar, you can save both a competitive and an immersive profile, switching between them instantly depending on the game you’re launching.

How Many dB is Good for Gaming?

There’s no one-size-fits-all number, but there are safe and effective ranges to aim for.

• Safe Listening: Keep your overall mix under 85 dB to protect your hearing during long sessions.

• Competitive Play: Set chat volume a few dB louder than your game audio so voices cut through without distortion (e.g., Chat at ~75 dB, Game at ~70 dB).

• Streaming: Match your mic output so it sits clearly above game audio for your audience — around -6 dB on your streaming software’s meter is a good baseline.

Sonar’s visual meters make it easy to see dB levels in real time, so you can make small adjustments instead of guessing.

How to Fix Sound Balance on PC

If your audio mix feels off — voices too quiet, explosions too loud, music overpowering everything — you can usually fix it in a few quick steps:

1. Check Your Windows Sound Settings

• Right-click the speaker icon → Sound settings.

• Make sure your playback and recording devices are correctly selected.

• Adjust the App Volume and Device Preferences to give certain apps priority in volume.

2. Use Sonar’s Independent Channel Controls

• Assign game, chat, and media to separate channels in Sonar.

• Use the sliders to raise or lower each channel without affecting the others.

3. Fine-Tune EQ and Gain

• Boost mid-high frequencies (2–4 kHz) for voice clarity.

• Reduce overly bass-heavy sounds that can mask important cues.

Tip: If you’re not sure what’s off, start with Sonar’s presets and tweak from there. It’s faster than building a mix entirely from scratch.

Common Audio Balance Mistakes to Avoid

Even with great tools like Sonar, it’s easy to slip into habits that hurt your audio mix. Keep an ear out for these pitfalls:

1. Cranking the Volume Instead of Adjusting the Mix

Turning everything up just makes everything louder — including the noises you don’t want. Fix the balance first, then fine-tune volume.

2. Overcompensating for Loud Teammates

Dropping game audio too much because someone's screaming in your ears can cost you key in-game cues. Instead, adjust their volume individually in your chat app.

3. Ignoring Frequency Overlap

If your game and chat share the same dominant frequencies, they’ll mask each other. Use EQ to carve out space—boost voices in the mids, let game audio live in the lows and highs.

4. Forgetting the Stream Mix

What sounds good in your headset might be muddy or unbalanced for viewers. Always do a quick test recording or monitor your stream output.

5. Never Saving Profiles

Manually rebalancing audio every session is a time-waster. Profiles let you return to your “perfect mix” instantly.

Your Ears Deserve This. 

Perfect audio balance is more than a “nice to have” — it’s a competitive edge, a streaming essential if I may, and the difference between chaotic noise and crystal-clear communication. 

With SteelSeries Sonar, you’re not just turning a volume knob; you’re taking full control of how every sound in your game, chat, and stream works together.