Game Louder Than Discord on Mac? How to Fix It

macOS has no built-in per-app volume mixer, so you can't natively turn your game down while keeping Discord loud. Try the game's own settings and Discord's per-user volume first. If that isn't enough, a menu-bar app that gives each app its own volume slider fixes it: game down to around 40 to 50%, voice chat at 100%.

Why this happens on Mac (and not on Windows)

If you've gamed on Windows, you know the Volume Mixer: every running app gets its own slider. You drop the game, raise Discord, done. macOS never shipped that. There's one output volume for everything, and no built-in way to set a level per app.

So when a game is mixed loud, its explosions, music and gunfire come through at the same output level as your friends' voices. Some games have a master volume slider, but not all go low enough, and some titles offer no useful control at all.

This is a gap in macOS, not a setting you can switch on.

The free workarounds (and their limits)

• Lower the game's own volume. Look in the game's audio or sound settings for master, music and effects sliders. This works if the sliders are fine-grained enough. Some games lump music and effects together, so you can't tame just the loud parts.
• Raise your friends in Discord. Right-click a user in the voice channel and adjust their user volume. It helps, but it only works on voices, not on the game that's actually too loud. More in Discord volume too loud or quiet on Mac.
• Use headphones with a volume knob. This changes the overall level only, not game versus voice.
• Lower the system volume and push everything else up in-app. Possible, but you end up adjusting several apps every session.

None of these give you what Windows users take for granted: a quick slider per app.

The direct fix: a volume slider for each app

SoundDial is a menu-bar per-app volume mixer for macOS. Each running app gets its own slider, similar to the Windows Volume Mixer. See per-app volume control on Mac for the details.

For the game-versus-voice problem:

1. Click the SoundDial icon in the menu bar while the game and Discord are both running
2. Find the game in the list and pull its slider down to around 40 to 50%
3. Leave Discord (or whatever voice app you use) at 100%
4. Adjust during play: lower the game further in a loud fight, raise it again in quieter moments

The game stays at the level you set no matter how loud its own mix is, and your friends stay clearly audible over it.

One thing to know: Discord counts as a call app. While it is using your microphone, SoundDial's auto-ducking (on by default) lowers other apps, the game included, to 30% of their level and restores them afterwards. If that makes the game too quiet, raise the duck level (up to 80%) or turn auto-ducking off in Settings > Auto-Duck.

Boost and mute for the rest of your setup

• Per-app boost. If a teammate's mic is quiet even at Discord's maximum, push Discord above 100%, up to 200%, so voices cut through without making the game louder.
• Per-app mute. Silence a music app or a browser with one click while the game and voice chat keep playing. SoundDial works per app, not per browser tab, so all tabs of a browser share one slider.

What to expect

A per-app mixer controls how loud each app plays on your Mac. It can't fix a game whose audio is badly mixed, and it can't rescue a teammate's broken microphone. Boosting adds gain, so pushing a quiet source far past 100% can sound harsh, just like turning any amplifier up too far. In most setups, a moderate cut to the game and a small boost to voice chat is all you need.

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac, needs macOS 14.2 or later and costs €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription.

Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.