Okay, so I’ve been having some serious audio issues in Valorant lately. It’s been driving me nuts! One minute everything sounds fine, and the next, it’s like I’m listening through a tin can. Footsteps are muffled, gunshots sound distant, and it’s just a mess. So, I decided to do something and fix it myself.
Troubleshooting Time
First thing I did was the most obvious – I restarted the game. You know, the classic “turn it off and on again” trick. No luck. Still the same wonky audio.
Next, I checked my headphones. Maybe they were the problem? I plugged them into my phone and played some music. Crystal clear. So, it wasn’t the headphones.
Then, I went into the in-game audio settings. I messed around with everything – master volume, sound effects volume, music volume. I even tried switching between stereo and mono, just in case. Still nothing.
Digging Deeper
At this point, I was getting frustrated. So, I started searching on the web, checked some forums, and found I’m not the only one issue.
- Some people suggested updating my audio drivers. I went to my device manager and the updates center, checked for updates, and… nope, everything was up to date.
- Another suggestion was to verify the integrity of the game files. I went to my game center, found the option to do that, and waited for it to finish. Still no change.
- Then one person mentioned a recent Windows update could mess with the game, I think, maybe this is the reason.
The “Aha!” Moment
Finally, after what felt like hours, I stumbled upon a post where one guy said that disabling all enhancements for my audio device solved this issue. I right-clicked the speaker icon in my system tray, went to “Sounds,” then “Playback,” found my headphones, and clicked “Properties.”
Then, I go to the “Enhancements” tab and I found all kinds of stuff that I never use were checked, like bass boost, virtual surround sound, and loudness equalization, unchecked all of them. Clicked “Apply,” then “OK,” and relaunched Valorant.
And… it worked! The audio was back to normal. Crisp, clear, and I could actually hear where enemies were coming from. It was like a whole new world. I felt so relieved!
