Audio problems

Most audio problems come from one of:

• The wrong device is selected.
• The activation mode is wrong.
• Your firewall is dropping UDP voice packets.
• The codec settings do not match your network capacity.

Walk through the section that matches your symptom.

”Nobody can hear me”

1. Look at the mute and deafen icons at the bottom left of the window. Make sure neither is on.

2. Settings, Voice, Input device. Confirm the correct microphone is selected. System default is fine on most setups.

3. Microphone Volume slider: 100% is the safe default. Above that the app digitally amplifies; very high values can clip.

4. Click Calibrate below the threshold slider. Speak. The fill bar should move. If it does not, the operating system is not delivering audio. Check OS-level mic settings.

5. If the fill bar moves but does not cross the threshold line, either:

   • Lower the threshold.
   • Turn on Auto sensitivity.
   • Increase the microphone volume.

6. If you are in Push to Talk mode, confirm the PTT key is set. Click the recorder and press your key.

7. Try Continuous mode (no gate). If you can be heard in Continuous, the gate is too aggressive.

”I cannot hear anyone”

1. Deafen icon at the bottom left of the window: make sure it is off.
2. Settings, Voice, Output device. Confirm the right speakers or headphones are selected.
3. Speaker Volume: above 0. At 100% you hear at normal level.
4. Are other apps audible? If no, the OS volume mixer is muting the app.
5. On Windows: check the per-app volume in the OS mixer.

”Audio is choppy or stuttering”

The voice path is dropping packets.

1. Settings, Voice, Network. Turn on Force TCP. This sends voice over the already-established connection and avoids UDP drops.
2. Lower the bitrate to 32 kbps under Compression.
3. Increase Audio per packet to 40 or 60 ms. Bigger packets per second, fewer of them.
4. Switch to a wired Ethernet connection if you are on Wi-Fi.
5. If you are on a busy Wi-Fi (apartment building, coffee shop), try a different channel from your router admin page.

If the problem persists, look at Audio statistics in the panel (Expert mode). Sustained >2% packet loss means the underlying connection is the issue, not the app.

”My voice sounds robotic or distorted”

• The bitrate is too low for the activity (you are using extra-low bitrate for music). Bump bitrate.
• Auto-gain is over-amplifying because the mic is too quiet. Lower the Max Amplification in Audio Processing.
• The mic is clipping at the hardware level. Lower the OS-level mic level (not the app’s).

”I hear an echo”

You are picking up your own speakers in your mic.

• Use headphones. Most echo problems go away.
• Lower the speaker volume.
• Some headsets have an “echo cancellation” toggle in their utility. Turn it on.
• Make sure the mic is not pointed at the speakers.

”Voice cuts at the start of sentences”

The gate is closing too quickly between syllables.

• Settings, Voice, Expert, Hold Frames. Raise it. 10 to 20 is a good range.
• Gate Close Ratio: try a higher value (closer to 1).

”Voice cuts in the middle of speech”

The denoiser is being too aggressive.

• Try a different denoiser algorithm. RNNoise is the friendliest default. DeepFilterNet is cleaner but may chop fricatives in rare cases.
• Lower the attenuation limit in the algorithm’s advanced controls.

”Background noise leaks through”

• Switch to DeepFilterNet denoiser. Heavier but cleaner.
• Raise the VAD threshold slightly.
• Make sure Voice Activation mode is on. Continuous mode does not denoise.

”Mic test works but nobody hears me”

The mic works on the OS side but the app is not transmitting.

• Activation mode: confirm it is not stuck in PTT without a key.
• Whisper key is held by accident, so audio is going to a whisper target. Check whisper keys in Shortcuts.
• The server has denied Speak to your role in this channel. Try another channel.

”My friend hears themselves through me”

You are unmuted in a noisy room and the speakers are picking up the remote audio. Mute when you are not talking, or use headphones.

”Cannot pick a specific audio device”

• The device is offline or being exclusive-used by another app.
• The OS does not expose it to apps without permission. On Windows, grant microphone permission to the app under Privacy settings.
• On Linux PipeWire, the device may need to be made the default in pavucontrol.

Legacy backend

If audio is wonky on Linux specifically, try Settings, Voice, Expert, Legacy Audio Backend. Takes effect on the next voice toggle.

Still broken?

Open a bug report with:

• Your platform.
• Output of the Audio statistics panel (Expert mode).
• Whether the issue happens with another headset or another microphone.
• Debug logs (see Debug logging).