Why Can I Barely Hear My Friend on Discord?

Discord is a chat platform that allows you to chat with your friends via text or voice channels.

If you love texting, you can type your text message to chat with your friends on text channels. Likewise, you can make voice or video calls on voice channels with your friends. 

Voice channels are an integral part of the overall Discord experience. Voice channels will never work if you are all alone. You need someone to talk to or share your game with.

Nothing will work perfectly if you cannot hear your friends during the voice calls on Discord. So, why can you not hear your friend properly on Discord? Allow us to explain why!

Let us walk you through all the reasons and fixes to the problem when you cannot hear your friend on Discord well. We will help you how to troubleshoot this problem and fix it to amp up your Discord experience.

Reason #1: Low Output Volume

If you can barely hear your friends on Discord, the first thing you must look for is to check your output volumes on Discord and also on your device.

Here’s how to fix it on the Discord PC version:

1. Open Discord on your PC.
2. Click on the settings icon at the bottom left.
3. Select “Voice & Video” from the left navigation.
4. Drag the slider to the right for the “Output Volume” to increase the volume.
5. Exit the settings and see if the matter resolves.

While at it, you can check the system volume to rule it out behind your inability to hear your friend on Discord.

On your Windows computer, click the speaker icon at the bottom right. Now drag the slider to the right (to even 100% if you have to) to increase the volume.

Alternatively, mobile phone users can use side buttons to increase the volume or go to the device’s settings.

Reason #2: Wrong Output Device Selected

To hear people properly, you must select the correct communication device in your device settings and also on Discord.

If you are using a pair of headphones, for example, and it is not set as the output device, you will not be able to listen to people at all. 

So, go like this in your Discord PC version:

1. Open Discord on your PC.
2. Click the settings icon at the bottom left.
3. Click on “Voice & Video” in the left panel.
4. Select the correct device from the “Output Device” section.

Also, ensure the headphone’s output is set as the default communication device in your device’s sound settings.

Follow these steps on your PC:

1. Right-click on the speaker icon at the taskbar.
2. Click on “Sounds settings.”
3. Click the arrow icon next to the correct device.
4. If you see the “Set as default sound device” option, select the “Use as default for audio” option from the dropdown menu.

Reason #3: Hardware Incompatible With Latest Audio Subsystem on Discord

Whenever you cannot hear people on Discord, one of the reasons could be the incompatibility of your current audio subsystem with your hardware.

So, in these situations, the Legacy audio subsystem fixes this error and enables you to hear your friend’s audio without any hurdles.

To set to Discord legacy audio subsystems on the Discord desktop client, follow these steps:

1. Open Discord on your PC.
2. Click on the settings icon at the bottom left.
3. Select “Voice & Video” from the left panel.
4. Scroll down to the “Audio Subsystem” section.
5. Select “Legacy” from the dropdown menu.
6. Click “Okay” to confirm.

Reason #4: Minor Bugs or Glitches

Sometimes minor bugs or glitches can cause bloodcurdling problems to pop up. So, if you cannot hear someone properly on Discord, refresh your app to rule out these teeny bugs be the reason for this inconvenience.

On a Windows computer, you can use the shortcut keys “CTRL + R” on Discord to refresh it. Alternatively, you can close the app and shut it properly from the background like this:

1. Right-click on the Start icon.
2. Select “Task Manager” from the menu.
3. Select all Discord processes one by one and tap on “End task.”

You can close the app from the background and relaunch it on your mobile device. If this does not work, you can try updating the app.

Reason #5: Problems With Discord Servers

There might be a problem with the Discord app that is causing this issue to pop up. You can check the status of Discord servers from Downdetector.

Alternatively, you can try switching to the web version of Discord on your browser to see if you encounter the same issue there.

Reason #6: Problem With Your Friend’s Input Device

If you cannot find any issue with your output device as it works well for others, there must be some problem with your friend’s input device. 

You can ask your friend to plug in their input device, select the correct input device in Discord settings, and conduct Discord’s mic test.

Similarly, they can test their microphones in Windows to see if it is properly configured.

Final Thoughts

On Discord voice channels, you can talk to your friends and host watch parties to see your favorite shows on streaming services, anime, and live stream your game.

If you cannot hear one party properly, it will deteriorate your overall call experience. 

There can be various reasons behind your inability to hear your friend properly on Discord, from a problem with your output device to a problem with their microphone. Make sure you apply all our fixes. 

If the experience still does not improve, you can talk to Discord support for their assistance. Lastly, you can switch to other voice chatting platforms like Zoom or FaceTime as your last resort.