Game and Discord volume on Mac
To balance game and Discord volume on Mac, give each app its own slider: with SoundDial you turn the game down, keep Discord where it is, and the system volume does not move.
The game drowns out your team, or a teammate's voice is suddenly louder than the explosions. The volume keys cannot help: they move the game, Discord, your music and every notification together.
What Discord gives you
Discord has its own controls, and they are worth knowing. Settings > Voice & Video has an output volume for Discord. Right-click a person in a voice channel for a volume slider for that one user. Attenuation, also under Voice & Video, lowers other apps while someone talks; Discord's help centre explains how to turn it off by moving its slider to 0%.
All of these change Discord's own sound. None of them gives the game a level of its own next to Discord, and a game's own volume is often in a menu that is awkward to reach mid-match.
Game against Discord, with SoundDial
- Press Control-Option-S or click SoundDial in the menu bar
- Drag the game down until voices sit clearly on top
- If a teammate is quiet, raise Discord above 100%, up to 200%
- Lower or mute the music and chat apps you don't need right now
Each app keeps its own level, so the system volume and your other apps stay where they were. A slider above 100% turns amber, and a soft limiter rounds off peaks instead of clipping them hard.
When the game drops in voice chat
Discord is on SoundDial's list of call apps. While Discord has the microphone open, which can be the whole time you are in a voice channel, “Lower other apps during calls” (on by default) plays other apps, the game included, at 30% of their volume, and Discord itself is never lowered. The menu shows “Call – others lowered” while it is active.
If you want the game at full level during voice chat, raise the level (up to 80%) or turn the setting off in SoundDial's Settings under Auto-Duck. Discord's Attenuation setting, where available, is separate and lives inside Discord: changing one does not change the other, so if the game still dips, check both.
Notification sounds
SoundDial works per app. Pings from Slack, Messages or a browser can be lowered or muted on their own, so they stop cutting through a match. Discord's own notification sounds come from the same app as the voices, so the Discord slider moves both; to quiet only those pings, use Discord's notification settings.
Save the mix
Save your gaming setup as a profile: it stores each app's volume, mute, EQ and balance, and brings them back with one click. Which device an app plays through is not part of a profile.
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FAQ
Does SoundDial change what my friends hear on Discord?
No. SoundDial sets how loud each app plays on your Mac. It does not read or record microphone audio and does not change what Discord sends.
Can I make one person in a call louder?
Use Discord's per-user volume for that (right-click the user). SoundDial treats Discord as one app with one slider.
Can I hear the game on speakers and Discord on headphones?
Yes. Choose Play Through in Discord's ⋯ menu in SoundDial and pick your headphones; the game keeps playing where it was.
Does it work with browser games?
Yes, per browser: SoundDial works per app, not per browser tab, so every tab of that browser shares one slider.
SoundDial: a volume slider and mute button for every app.
€14.99 one-time purchase · macOS 14.2+ · no subscription