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Game Audio and Voice Chat Come Out of the Same Device

Last verified August 2026Tested against Windows 11, Windows 10Well documented

You do not need extra software for this — Windows already keeps a second default specifically for voice apps. Open mmsys.cpl, set your headset as the Default Communication Device on the Playback tab, and leave your speakers as the Default Device. Voice apps ask Windows for the communication device by name, so Discord follows the headset while the game keeps playing through the speakers.

Start here

  1. Check whether the app can choose its own output
  2. Set the headset as the Default Communication Device

Most guides to this problem send people straight to third-party audio routers, which is a shame, because the split is built into Windows and has been for years. Microsoft's own example is exactly this scenario: with a headset and speakers connected, the system assigns the console role to the speakers and the communications role to the headset, so an application can tell the difference between a device meant for calls and one meant for everything else. The reason nobody finds it is that the modern Settings app does not show it — only the old Sound control panel does.

Symptoms

  • Voice chat and game audio both come out of the same headset or speakers
  • You want teammates in your headset and game sound on speakers, and cannot see how
  • Switching device in Windows Settings moves everything at once
  • Game audio drops in volume whenever someone speaks
  • One app follows the change and another ignores it

Why this happens

Both roles are pointed at the same device

Windows keeps a default device and a separate default communication device. If they are both set to the same hardware, every application lands in the same place — which is the default state and looks like the feature does not exist.

Set the headset as the Default Communication Device

Windows never chose the roles for you

Microsoft is explicit that the system performs automatic role detection when a device is connected but does not decide which device handles communications — that has to be set by the user. So the split exists but stays unused until someone assigns it.

Set the headset as the Default Communication Device

The application picks its own output device

Some apps let you choose an output directly and then ignore the Windows role entirely. When one app follows your change and another does not, this is usually why.

Check whether the app can choose its own output · Route an individual app in the Volume Mixer

Ducking is lowering the game when someone talks

This is a separate behaviour that often gets blamed on routing. When a communication stream opens, Windows raises a ducking event and by default lowers or mutes everything else.

Stop Windows lowering game audio when someone speaks

Fixes

1.Check whether the app can choose its own output

about 3 min

The simplest route when it is available, and it survives Windows updates and device changes better than anything else. Discord and most voice apps expose an output device list directly.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11

  1. Open the voice app's audio settings — in Discord this is User Settings → Voice & Video.
  2. Find the Output Device list.
  3. Select your headset by name rather than leaving it on Default.
  4. Use the app's own test or playback button to confirm the sound comes out of the right device.
  5. Leave Windows' default output on your speakers so the game is unaffected.

2.Set the headset as the Default Communication Device

about 5 min

The built-in mechanism, and the one that works for every voice app at once rather than app by app. Microsoft designed the communications role for exactly this split, and voice apps request it by name.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11

  1. Press Windows+R, type mmsys.cpl and press Enter. The modern Settings app does not expose this, so the classic panel is the only way in.
  2. Stay on the Playback tab.
  3. Right-click your speakers and choose Set as Default Device.
  4. Right-click your headset and choose Set as Default Communication Device — not Set as Default Device, which would move everything.
  5. Check the labels: speakers should read Default Device and the headset Default Communication Device.
  6. Click OK, then restart the voice app so it re-asks Windows for its device.
  7. If you also want your microphone consistent, do the same on the Recording tab.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft

3.Stop Windows lowering game audio when someone speaks

about 3 min

Fixes the complaint that is usually mistaken for a routing problem. Ducking is deliberate behaviour and Windows exposes a setting for it in the same window.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11

  1. In mmsys.cpl, open the Communications tab.
  2. Under what Windows should do when it detects communications activity, choose Do nothing.
  3. Click OK and test with a voice call running alongside the game.
  4. If an application still lowers your audio after this, that application is handling ducking itself rather than leaving it to Windows — check its own settings.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft

4.Route an individual app in the Volume Mixer

about 8 min

The fallback for an application that ignores both the communications role and offers no output setting of its own. It works per application, so it is precise but has to be repeated for each one.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10

  1. Start the application and play some sound from it, otherwise it will not appear in the list.
  2. Right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar and choose Open volume mixer.
  3. Expand the application's entry and set its Output device to the hardware you want.
  4. Repeat for the game if you want it pinned explicitly rather than following the default.
  5. Re-check this after a feature update — per-app routing is not covered in Microsoft's support documentation and these assignments do not always survive.

Source: Microsoft

If none of this worked

If one device produces no sound at all, this is not a routing question — treat it as a missing or disabled output first. If your microphone is the problem rather than playback, the same two-role split applies on the Recording tab and is worth reading about separately. And if you want the same audio on two devices at once rather than split between them, that is a different feature entirely and the role system will not do it.

Common questions

Why can I not do this in the Settings app?
Because Settings only shows one output device. The communications role is exposed in the classic Sound control panel, mmsys.cpl, which is why the feature is so widely missed and why so many guides jump straight to third-party tools.
Will every app respect the communication device?
Only apps that ask for it. Microsoft's design has VoIP and calling applications request the communications endpoint explicitly, so Discord, Teams and similar apps follow it. An app that just asks for the default output will not, and that is what the Volume Mixer step is for.
Do I need Voicemeeter or a similar audio router?
Not for this. Third-party routers are worth it when you need mixing, virtual devices, or per-stream control for broadcasting. Splitting voice chat from game audio is built into Windows and needs no extra software.
Why does my game get quiet when a teammate talks?
That is ducking, not routing. Windows lowers non-communication audio by default when a communication stream opens, and the Communications tab lets you turn it off.

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Related problems

Sources

  • Using a Communication DeviceOfficial

    Microsoft · Documentation · checked Aug 16, 2026

    • The multimedia control panel Mmsys.cpl provides a Default Communication Device option for audio rendering on the Playback tab and audio capture on the Recording tab
    • The eCommunications role lets an application distinguish a device chosen by the user for handling calls from a device used as a multimedia device
    • Communication applications such as VoIP applications request the communication endpoint by passing eCommunications to IMMDeviceEnumerator::GetDefaultAudioEndpoint
    • Windows performs automatic device role detection when a new device is connected but does not itself set which device is used for communications — the user must do that
    • If a user has a headset and a speaker connected, the system assigns the eConsole role to the speaker and the eCommunications role to the headset
    • When a communication stream opens, the audio system generates ducking events and by default the operating system mutes or lowers the volume of non-communication streams
    • A media application can replace the default ducking behaviour and handle these events itself
  • Fix sound or audio problems in WindowsOfficial

    Microsoft · Support page · checked Aug 16, 2026

    • The output device is chosen at Start > Settings > System > Sound in the Output section
    • Selecting the arrow next to the taskbar speaker icon opens a list of audio devices connected to the computer