Best SteelSeries Sonar Settings 2024 - Sound & Mic Settings

In this tutorial I show you the best SteelSeries Sonar settings for gaming. These settings will help you hear footsteps better, and make movies and music sound better. Additionally, Sonar can also be used to remove background noise from people you are talking with. Therefore making it easier to hear game sounds.
Although SteelSeries Sonar might seem overwhelming at first, it comes with plenty of presets that you can use. Each preset can then be adjusted to fine tune the audio settings to best match your headset. Additionally, SteelSeries Sonar allows you to use different sonar settings for gaming, media, and aux. While these can be set up to be used for anything, media is often used for movies and shows, while aux is used for music. By seperating these settings you can fine tune the immersive experience when watching a film or listening to music.
If you typically play FPS games then the Warzone 2 game configuration is a great option. I've found that the audio works well across multiple games, improving the clarity of footsteps. Additionally, for people that play Call of Duty games this is a great option.
While the preset configurations are good, to get the best SteelSeries Sonar settings you will want to make some changes. To hear footsteps better you can increase the voice level slightly. This can help isolate footstep sounds and other sounds made by opposing players.
The game audio settings also allows you to enable spatial audio. With spatial audio enabled you will get a more immersive experience, which does tend to be louder. With spatial audio enabled you may find it easier to identify where sounds are coming from. However, spatial audio isn't for everyone.
The SteelSeries Sonar chat settings allow you to adjust how people you're talking to will sound. In most cases you will want to use the Default configuration as everyone's mic is different. If you only talk to friends that all have good microphons then you can try using the Broadcast configration. This will often imrpove the sound of friends when chatting.
Another useful feature of SteelSeries Sonar is the ability to add noise reduction to your chat. This helps eliminate background noise coming from other people's microphones. Unfortunately, this can be difficult to get right if using game chat. However, when talking to friend's this can help eliminate distracting sounds. Ideally, you will want to use somewhat subtle noise reduction settings.
Additionally, you can also add a noise gate to your chat. A noise gate will only allow audio to be heard if it is over a specified volume. This eliminates background noises, such as electronic humming or fans.
Regarding the SteelSeries Sonar media settings, you will usually want something immersive. Because of this spatial audio will typically be enabled. For configuration the Movie: Immersive option is usually the best setting. Additionally, you can increase the bass, voice and treble slightly for a more enhanced sound.
For the aux settings you are adjusting how your music will sound. While you may prefer Sonar settings for your specific music genre, the punchy setting is a good option for most. You can then increase the bass, voice, and treble to your liking.
Using SteelSeries Sonar you can make your microphone sound better. While many of the presets are great, the deep voice and less nasal options give a great base to work with. Both options will improve how your voice sounds, with Deep Voice giving a more professional sound. If you're after the podcast or radio sound then you can also play with the broadcast configurations.
Once you have your microphone configuration you will then want to add noise cancellation. This will decrease the background noises that are heard. To do this you will want to enable the background and impact noise reduction filters. While the best settings for these vary for each microphone, using 0.40 for background, and 0.50 for impact is a good base line. This should remove a lot of the lower sounds from your audio, without reducing your vocals. Additionally, adding a noise gate to your microphone is a highly effective method to reduce background noise.
Once you have your SteelSeries Sonar settings set up you can then assign different applications to use different outputs. For example, you can set Chrome to use the Media output, ensuring that any content you watch has the correct audio settings.
►► SteelSeries Sonar: steelseries.co...
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► Discord Server: / discord
► Background Music
Stream Beats: www.streambeat...
Disclaimer: The advice provided in our tutorials and guides are based on our personal knowledge and experience. No advice given should be considered that of a professional and comes with no guarantee. We strongly recommend that you do your own research to ensure what you're doing is safe, and will accomplish the results that you're looking for.
#steelseries #sonar #settings

[@peet404]

This was an awesome video thank you so much. For almost all of my setups i didnt have spatial audio on now everything sounds so immersive and in my face, love it

[@ShaggyJ1000]

This was definitely helpful, I was so confused on how to use sonar. I am gonna keep messing around with it but thank you so much.

[@Mbuee]

Since your videos are amazingly transparent, you should consider creating a video on how to combine sonar GG with OBS for people who are unaware of It and are also starting content-creating

[@Klomsey]

My microphone settings for my HyperX Quadcast: (This preset doesn't really work with headset mics, It's mainly for mics that is attached to a microphone arm) -8.0 dB, 26.0 Hz, 0.500, Peaking EQ -5.1 dB, 61.0 Hz, 2.607, Low Shelving 6.0 dB, 125.0 Hz, 0.707, Peaking EQ 2.5 dB, 250,0 Hz, 0.707, Peaking EQ -7.0 dB, 500.0 Hz, 0.707, Peaking EQ -7.0 dB, 1000 Hz//kHz, 0,707, Peaking EQ -7.0 dB, 2000 Hz//kHz, 0,707, Peaking EQ 2.5 dB, 4000 Hz//kHz 0.707, Peaking EQ 6.0 dB, 8000 Hz//kHz, 0.707, Peaking EQ 9.0 dB, 16000 Hz//kHz, 0,707, High Shelving Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation 50 Noise Gate Threshold -50 Compressor Level 1.00

[@Kris48204]

Thanks for the first time in my life I dont sound like i life in a fish bowl

[@Klomsey]

@@Kris48204 Glad it worked!

[@mooba-jack]

Thank you so much! Helped a lot with mic quality and the sound quality was amazing.

[@slurptech]

Glad I could help

[@mako104]

one of the best tutorials for setting up Steelseries GG, great work

[@rasmuskirkschwaner3098]

love this tutorial its the best one yet 100%

[@mercbendy3546]

Thanks so much

[@Ilov534]

amazing. thank you so much

[@TriggsterChris]

I can recommend to use the Broadcast Low Pitch if you have a female voice as the option he shows can get a little muffled and grainy Great video though can't wait to test my settings :D

[@thellama8807]

thanks

[@MrH-GB]

If I turn clearcast off on the mic you can hear my fan blowing onto the mic constantly, so I have to keep that on.

[@austorious]

thats why you use the background noise reduction and noise gate sliders..

[@general_fail4887]

oh wow the settings have actually improved my sound quality overall, thanks for that 👍

[@ShinigamiQS]

Can you do for gaming ? I can’t hear footsteps (I have nova pro )

[@groshoss]

ти рууски значит

[@gremo4u]

Can u help me with Steel Series Arctis Nova 5 Wireless? When im joining discord or talk anywhere, my sound is more quieter and it has more echo. Like its lower quality now, please.

[@gremo4u]

Can u help me with Steel Series Arctis Nova 5 Wireless? When im joining discord or talk anywhere, my sound is more quieter and it has more echo. Like its lower quality now, please.

[@Anthony-mv5vx]

Can you pls do a tutorial of the complete opposite I want my mic to be terrible (funny mic)

[@Dricon1997]

Moving apps to be routed to any other location will make said app disappear.

[@slurptech]

if you have issues you can just use the application settings to change your input and output

[@gremo4u]

Can u help me with Steel Series Arctis Nova 5 Wireless? When im joining discord or talk anywhere, my sound is more quieter and it has more echo. Like its lower quality now, please.

[@gremo4u]

Can u help me with Steel Series Arctis Nova 5 Wireless? When im joining discord or talk anywhere, my sound is more quieter and it has more echo. Like its lower quality now, please.

[@ellababesflores4593]

which mic setting should I use to maximize the noise cancel? There are many people in the house and still can detect noise

[@shissct5186]

Hello, I have made all the settings and I am much more satisfied with the sound I get, but my voice is cut off when it comes to the microphone, it cannot be detected clearly, I tried different things but the result is the same, I wonder why?

[@gremo4u]

do u fix this issue, can u give me solution?

[@austorious]

@@gremo4u higher noise gate threshold fixed it for me

[@TJV83]

Can I use sonar if I don’t have a pc??

[@armaniesingletary8979]

Sorry Steelseries presets are just buns

[@silentx9709]

TIME TO TAKE em back they are thrash going for the astro a50s or logitechs audio sound compressed on steel sries

[@JosueRomero777]

Can the microphone of headsets be equalized? I need help with that

[@Deaths_Reaper45]

omg, I had to mute the video and read subtitles. I just got the SteelSeries Arctis Pro and the high pitch from the start is so bad that it hurts my ears every time I hear "S" being used.

[@mergimkameraj6247]

your mic hurts damn hard when im listening on iems but on headset its good

[@h0cusf0cus]

putting discord in chat option i cant hear my firend talk? i can only hear myself

[@alifalah4598]

Thank you bro❤

[@Zirox]

thanks bro better then voicemeeter

[@sleepyhazard]

discord doesn't show for some reason in the "apps to be routed section"

[@drakera]

it doesnt seem to show the settings with windows 11.

[@IQof3.0]

how do I raise the volume of the rear speakers? I cant hear them

[@3vReanimated]

The surround is so junk on these with no option to turn them off. Everything just sounds so muddy and muffled in FPSs'. Every preset just sounds terrible.

[@marcodomonte8847]

i hope you can help, but i feel like my chat mix doesnt work at all. my mix chat would be all the way and peoples mics continue to be extremely loud

[@zealouspumpkin6796]

Hello, I recently installed this software and I like the sound quality it adds to my mic, but I've noticed that in Fortnite, I used to set Voice Chat at 60-70% before and it was fine, now with Sonar, I have to set it at 3% because otherwise they sound WAYYY too loud, would I have to set "Chat" in the mixer down to lower the volume? Were you able to fix this issue?

[@Gcl-nh2jk]

Can u make me for Fortnite please ?

[@QuocNguyen-s4v]

Thank you so much, i never had this experience before, i found it no difference between my arctic 7+ with my old headphones but thanks to this video, it's obviously different from each other.

[@reuseht]

i only have the flat config on the chat tab T_T help

[@guy_in_an_apartment_4454]

if i unplug th headset and connect to a playstation will the settings still work

[@AdrianoUiterwaal]

Would like to know this too (with Xbox)

[@zealouspumpkin6796]

Ever since I started using Sonar, my voice chat volume in Fortnite is crazy high, to the point I have to set it at 3% because otherwise is WAYY too loud, without the sonar software, my voice chat used to be at 60-70% to put it in perspective. How do I fix this? Would I need to set the "Chat" volume slider down in the mixer? Is the "Chat" option for Voice chat in Game?

[@Divotdiariesgolf]

i tired both settings on discord but doesn't seem to let me route it, any help

[@creechavo]

Can someone tell me if I can use any 3.5mm jack on Arctis Nova Pro wired or does it need the proprietary 5pole to 4 pole 3.55 jack for the mic to work? Because I've bought on that came with 4 pole on both ends and no mic functionality with those. Wondering if my mic is Dead on arrival.

[@Xeiranis]

Took me a while to figure this one out myself so might be a month late but this worked for me to get mic over a 3.5mm cable. On the DAC go the Line Out setting and change it from Speakers to Stream and and it will show 3 sliders, turn down the Main and Aux there, leave mic where you want it, it should be transmitting your mic via the cable after that. Hope that helps.

[@limpbr]

My chat and microphone dont works in 96khz Only game and midia

[@Drakoviche]

I was wondering is there a way to add other voice effects like maybe a de esser for live streaming?

[@abdulazizmohammed8102]

I use your settings for media and aux and its look like im in the bathroom and there is echo sound

[@tiimaaxx]

I cant use my mic on my pc via bluetooth. When I do my sounds becomes really bad quality. And if I plug the mic in with the jack my mic just doesnt work... I have the arctis 9x. Any help?

[@lordcripplus4485]

the settings keeps resetting something wrong with the app ?

[@lesyos7265]

guys dont use aux connect ur headset with a usb cable or if u dont have buy an adapter, sound and mic quality will be better

[@FLO-38]

My mic is way too quiet and everything ist set to 100% but it ist still wasy too quiet please someone help me

[@sameverill2287]

I have to update my sonar settings everytime I go onto my PC as it keeps changing from [Game] / [Chat] to my monitor...

[@mesharialhazani9476]

In GG Go to settings > sonar > backup device switch > chat > exclude your monitor from the list

[@bayouballa2420]

Go to settings and go to the sonar section, then go to I think it’s back up devices and change those which you will easily figure out once you get there. I did this and it haven’t changed since and I don’t have to turn on streamer mode.

[@darkozz_tv8969]

I did like you but I don't have the sounds in my headphones

[@tarinvernon7007]

why does mic test not work and when i try to assing discord it dissapears from the assigned list and goes back to unassigned

[@KarmaShocked]

Sounds really good what mic are you using?

[@lz7037]

when i do all of that dose it work for my ps5 too?

[@CozmoGOTY]

no

[@МихаилТихонов-ф2ч]

What would be the best preset for single player games, like story immersive ones? Or media would be enough? Thanks!

[@gorgonzola1761]

My friends always complain about background noise from my side. Will these settings help?

[@slurptech]

@@gorgonzola1761 they should, yes. You can also try using the smart filter thing to remove background noise. I turned it off in the video but it’s not bad.

[@Chillgame167]

Are there plugins for streamdeck+?

[@caydepascal6375]

dunno if you read your comments but is there a way to get apple music to play through aux? having trouble getting that to work

[@slurptech]

I'm not familiar with the apple music app, however, there are a few other options. If there is an output setting in apple music then you can select the SteelSeries Sonar Aux output there. Another option is to make the Aux output your default output for Windows. Finally, you can open the sound settings and go to the mixer. Here you might be able to set the output device for apple music. Hope this helps!

[@boof1865]

Why does my music sound go to shit when I open any game? I want to be able to play games and listen to music but it just distorts both game and music audio

[@boof1865]

Also in discord the game volume is shit

[@kahrl720]

ligma

[@MichaelScofield-bz8kc]

also make sure discord is using the steel series sonar mic instead of the default input audio device!!!

[@Gooseydude]

how do you fix steelseries gg not opening? i jsut got a apex pro tkl but i cant open the software

[@xxbig_lxx2747]

Open as administrator?

[@Gooseydude]

@@xxbig_lxx2747 lil late bro

[@fredchuck]

tysm aux helped a lot

[@benrikolte3611]

I hear my own voice like eco when I'm using this app. Why? How to confi mic so that this doesn't happen. When I turn off the app it's fine I don't hear my own voice in the headsets.

[@AnonyMous-sk4tc]

sidetone maybe? try turning it off in the engine (sonar) and choose the headset you are currently using.

[@lucastrautner8749]

I Play with the Gaming Mode (sonar) i doesnt Show me the Mode on the Game Buttom can Someone help me

[@xFactorProGaming]

found any solution?

[@dugout404]

Can you do for gaming best setting

[@slurptech]

for the gaming one i tend to use the one shown in the video. I use it for most FPS games (with spatial audio turned off) I only really change it for Fortnite and Valorant.

[@juxa001]

@@slurptech Why is the spatial audio turned off?

[@Qorvx]

can u share link from sonar ?

[@Tony-nh1rd]

I have to change the game settings to the headset every time I turn my computer on….idk what I’m doing wrong

[@Klinxfn]

Same is happening to me

[@Tony-nh1rd]

@@Klinxfn it was working yesterday for me I changed some settings but I honestly have no idea what worked and what was wrong ….im gonna look for maybe an update ?

[@jaujagenz]

Toggle streamer mode in the top right hand corner and it should save all your output and input settings every time you shutdown… well that’s what worked for me 😊

[@Tony-nh1rd]

@@jaujagenz thanks I’ll try it today hopefully it works

[@bayouballa2420]

Did you figure this out yet? If not I got some help for you.

[@SharkQTV]

yo what can i do if my headphones doesnt work even tho my settings are good?

[@pill5180]

thank you very much for the tips

[@montsepine]

you know at the end when you show like the headset apps and mic apps, i don't know why but i only see the headset apps, but for the microphone even when i join a discord call i dont get the microphone app thingy, anyone knows why ? :(

[@slurptech]

Sometimes you need to change it in the app itself, so try switching your audio devices in the discord settings

[@montsepine]

@@slurptech thank you, i'll try that

[@jordanstobbs842]

Why do you turn off Spatial Audio ?

[@DCDALLASDFWDC]

thank you

[@smilelife7874]

I don’t work for me?

[@Felix_Nhaideah]

te amo hermano gracias

[@marcinekbambino]

Japierdole nie da się wysiedzieć tak napierdala XD Polecam Polscy friends

[@ninthydra9980]

I'm having an issue where no noise is coming from sonar, despite all settings looking good to go and being configured properly, what do I do? Pls help, I bought 2 of these nova pro headsets for me and my gf and i'm getting nowhere with sonar.

[@slurptech]

Hey, so I don’t have a SteelSeries headset myself but I believe the headset should work without the software. Make sure the audio isn’t turned down on the device or cable itself. Also, open the sound settings on your PC and try selecting the device itself. Another option is if it’s a USB headset then try using a different port.

[@ninthydra9980]

@slurptech Hey, thanks for such a speedy reply, the only fix I've found so far is just to disable sonar and use it without sonar, however this now leads to me being unable to access the full capability of the headset including surround sound, which is immensely disappointing for the price of the headset since I can hardly use half of its functionality as of now. Also it is the wireless edition, so sadly I may be out of options.

[@Thmslw]

Make sure that the adjustable thing that follows with the headset is to the right side, that was my prob once. Other than that just enter sonar and press the auto-set default device things, and make sure that when you press the cogwheels besides Game, Media etc that Headphones are selected. Otherwise I don't know

[@mathias974773]

yo man I just bought mine yesterday, I connected the controler box with USB-C to USB-C, I launched steel series and configured it and I got no sound either. But when I looked on the controler box, I was only connected with bluetooth but the 2.4GZ thing was not connected and when I did it everything went okay. Did you already try this ?

[@maryant3282]

THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS HELPED OUT A LOT.