Best Fortnite Sound Settings

Nailing down the perfect settings is the easiest way to up your game. Therefore, we should check out the best Fortnite sound settings!

Updated on Aug 03, 2023
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Best Fortnite Sound Settings

Sifting through all the best Fortnite settings is a tall order for any Fortnite Battle Royale player. With Epic Games including pages of settings to go through in the audio format alone! How can you be expected to know which settings are the best settings? You can’t, but we can. We’ve sorted through the best settings in Fortnite Battle Royale, so you don’t have to.

The Best Fortnite Sound Settings

We’re going to start by showing you the best Fortnite sound settings, then we’ll go in depth on explaining the importance of each of the best settings. Here are the best Fortnite sound settings:

Best Fortnite Sound Settings
Music VolumeLess than 25%
Sound Effects Volume
100%
Voice Chat Volume
0% or 75%
Cinematics Volume
Less than 25%
Sound Quality
High
3d Headphones
On
Background Audio
Off
Subtitles
Personal Preference
Visualize Sound Effects
On
Voice Chat
Personal Preference

The best part of sound settings is they’re equal across platforms. Regardless of whether you’re a Fortnite Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Fortnite mobile, or any other Xbox console player the best Fortnite settings are the same! If you play on one of these consoles you should check out the Best Controller Aim Settings.

Best Fortnite Settings - Volume Settings

Before we jump into the fun Fortnite audio settings like 3d headphones and visualize sound effects, let’s touch quickly on the reasoning behind our volume settings.

  • Music is at 25% or less because the loudness of music can shield the sound of enemy footsteps.
  • Sound Effects is the most important setting here. Turn sound effects up to 100% because these are the noises that indicate enemy positions.
  • Voice Chat Volume is optional because if you play solo there’s no need to have Fortnite Voice Chat on.
  • Cinematics are turned down like music, because you’ll want some cinematics to immerse yourself, but cinematics being too loud will disrupt enemy footsteps.

After this slight tweak to your sound settings we guarantee you’ll have a clearer sense of enemy positions. These settings are especially crucial if you wear a headset while playing Fortnite Battle Royale.

Best Fortnite Settings - Sound Quality

Upping your sound quality will guarantee crisper clearer sounds while gaming. However, some Fortnite players may not have the drivers for the optimal sound quality settings.


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If you are one of these Fortnite PC players we recommend checking out Driver Easy. Driver Easy is a free website that will simply update you to the most recent drivers.

Best Fortnite Settings - 3D Headphones

3D Headphones is the most crucial of the audio settings for Fortnite players who prefer gaming with a headset. 3D Headphones turns on directional hearing, allowing you to easily identify the location of enemy players by audio alone.


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Another group of players who should turn on directional hearing are Fortnite players who use surround sound speakers. While Surround sound speakers won’t give you the perfect directional hearing headphones will, they will still get the job done, especially when paired with 3D Headphones audio settings.

Best Fortnite Settings - Background Noise

Background Noise should be switched to off, because it can cover up the sound of enemy movements. A big theme in the audio settings for Fortnite Battle Royale is trying to optimize your settings to hear enemy footsteps. Disabling the Background Noise setting is one of the crucial steps to improving the rate at which you can hear opponents movement.

Best Fortnite Settings - Visualize Sound Effects

Visualize Sound Effects may not just be the best Fortnite sound setting, but the best Fortnite setting period. Visual Sound Effects give a visual indicator with the direction of enemy footsteps, shooting, chest locations, and so much more!


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Visualize Sound Effects essentially does the job of headphones with the 3D Headphones setting. A handful of Fortnite players have spoken negatively about Visual Sound Effects, because the visual effects can get overwhelming in a busy last circle, so some Fortnite players opt to disable Visualize Sound Effects.

Best Fortnite Settings - Background Audio

Fortnite Subtitles settings will depend on personal preference. We’ve come across players who swear by turning subtitles off because the visual dialog distracts them from gaming.


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However, other players have noted that they enjoy Fortnite’s dialog, and subtitles allow them to listen in easier. Did you know you can now change the look of your Fortnite subtitles? That’s right, you can change the color, opacity size, and more. Here is how to change your Fortnite subtitles look:

  1. Open the Fortnite Settings and select the Audio tab.
  2. Click the Options buttonbeside Subtitles.

After clicking options you’ll be given access to multiple subtitle settings.


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From here, you can adjust your subtitles to your preferred aesthetic.

Best Fortnite Settings - Voice Chat

Whether you turn on Fortnite Voice Chat will depend on your gaming habits. If you like to communicate with friends through Fortnite Game Chat, you should keep Voice Chat on. However, if you play solo Voice Chat can be distracting, especially in Fortnite Creative Mode. Popular Fortnite Creative maps from articles like Best Fortnite Creative Codes and Best Fortnite Practice Course are often filled with Fortnite players who have extremely poor mic quality, which can be distracting and annoying.

Best Sound Settings Outside of Fortnite

Tweaking the settings inside the Fortnite settings menu is the best way to get the best Fortnite sound settings. However, there are non-Fortnite settings we can tweak to up your performance, especially if you play Fortnite PC. Another way to up your game if you’re on PC is to use the Best Fortnite Keybinds.

Setting Up Your Audio Device

So you just got some new Cloud II’s, but you can’t get them to work. Fortnite audio issues are rarely because of Fortnite, so let’s dive into Windows settings to set up your headset. Here is how to set up your headset in Windows:

  1. Search Sound Settings in your Windows Search Bar.
  2. Select and open Sound Control Panel.

From this window you can troubleshoot your Fortnite audio issues. Setting your headset as your default device is the most likely fix.

Update Your Audio Drivers

Another common reason for poor audio quality in Fortnite is your audio drivers. Updating your audio drivers is tough to guide you through, because every brand has a different audio driver update system.

Thankfully, you can go to Driver Easy to easily update your audio drivers. Once your drivers are updated, remember you’ll have to restart your PC, and open Fortnite again through the Epic Games Launcher.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

Another way to squeeze out some bonus audio performance in Fortnite Battle Royale is to disable hardware acceleration in other apps. Two major resource hogs on your PC are probably Google Chrome and Discord. Disabling hardware acceleration makes it so Discord and Google Chrome don’t have the opportunity to hog resources from Fortnite.

Let’s start with disabling hardware acceleration on Google Chrome:

  1. Open the Google Chrome Settings.
  2. On the left side expand the Advanced Drop Down Menu and select System.
  3. From here you can toggle Hardware Acceleration to Off.

With hardware acceleration toggled to off in Google Chrome you can enjoy better performance in Fortnite Battle Royale!


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If you’re the type to play YouTube videos or Netflix shows while gaming, you will notice the most enhancement to game performance with this method.

Our next app to turn off hardware acceleration is Discord:

  1. In Discord open the Discord User Settings.
  2. In the settings scroll down until you see the Voice & Video tab under App Settings.
  3. Disable Hardware Acceleration.
  4. Restart Discord.

After you restart Discord hardware acceleration will be disabled until you turn it back on.


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Fortnite players who game frequently with friends, and opt to use Discord over game chat will see the most in-game performance improvement from disabling hardware acceleration in Discord. Speaking of gaming with friends. Show your appreciation to your gaming buddies and learn How To Gift Fortnite Skins to your friends!

Close Background Apps

Oftentimes PC gamers have dozens of apps open and don’t even realize! When you close an application with the red “X” in Windows, the application doesn’t actually close. Instead, the application eats precious portions of your available RAM, negatively affecting your Fortnite gameplay. Here is how to close background applications in Windows:

  1. Press “CTRL” + “ALT” + “Delete” simultaneously.
  2. Select Task Manager from your options.
  3. Close any unnecessary apps, then select End Task to close the application.

With your pesky background apps closed fully, you’ll notice an improvement in your Fortnite game quality.


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If your Task Manager looks like the one pictured above, this is likely the reason for your Fortnite audio issues.

Turn On Windows Game Mode

The final way we are going to look to up your audio quality in Fortnite Battle Royale is to turn on Windows Game Mode. Windows Game Mode optimizes your PC’s resources for gaming, in turn making for better Fortnite gameplay.

  1. Select Gaming in your Windows Settings.
  2. On the left side select Game Mode from the available options.
  3. Toggle Game Mode to On.

Now that you’ve got Game Mode turned on, you’ll be able to show off your favorite Fortnite Superhero Skins with better audio quality.


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If you’re interested in updating your Fortnite settings further check out Best FPS Settings. In Best FPS Settings we look at methods to increase gameplay by digging through the Epic Games Launcher, Nvidia Control Panel, and Windows Device Manager so you can be assured you launch Fortnite with the best FPS. Another way to up your game is to study up on the Best Ways To Win Fortnite to fast track your way to your next Victory Royale.

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