Headset Sidetone: What Mic Monitoring Does and How to Set It

Sidetone feeds some of your microphone audio back into your headphones so you can hear yourself speaking. Turn it up just enough to judge your speaking volume, or turn it off if hearing yourself is distracting. It is not a microphone-quality upgrade, and hearing your voice locally does not prove that your game or call is receiving it.

Start with the headset you already own. A setting change is worth trying before replacing a headset because your voice sounds strange to you.

This guide is based on manufacturer and software support documentation, not hands-on measurements of headset delay or microphone quality. Controls vary by exact model, connection and platform.

Which control do you actually need?

SteelSeries describes sidetone as microphone audio routed back to the headset. Its separate ChatMix guidance concerns the balance between game playback and voice-chat playback. Turning a chat-balance wheel will not necessarily change your own voice.

If music becomes muffled only when an application starts using a Bluetooth microphone, that is a different problem. Start with our Windows Bluetooth headset sound guide, rather than assuming sidetone is responsible.

Who should use sidetone—and who should skip it?

Try it if you find yourself speaking louder with your headset on, or if you dislike feeling cut off from your own voice during a long call. A modest return level may make speaking feel more natural. SteelSeries describes this speaking-volume benefit in its Companion guidance.

Leave it off if your speaking volume is already comfortable and the extra voice feed bothers you. For solo gaming without voice chat, there is little reason to enable microphone monitoring just because the headset includes it.

Do not buy a premium headset solely because its feature list says “sidetone.” That label does not establish how loud, clear or delayed the return sounds. If this is a purchase requirement, look for adjustable monitoring on your actual platform and a return policy that lets you check it.

Set it with two separate checks

1. Check what the computer receives

Choose the intended microphone in the operating system and in your chat application. A headset microphone, webcam microphone and USB desk microphone can all appear in the same list; choosing the headphones as an output does not identify the input.

On Windows, open Settings → System → Sound, select the microphone under Input, then run its test and play back the recorded sample. Microsoft documents the test controls. Speak normally and adjust input volume only if the recording needs it.

In Discord on desktop or in a browser, check both devices under Voice & Video and use the mic test. Discord's voice guide explains this check. It is more useful for judging the app's input than listening only to a headset's local return. End the test before adjusting continuous monitoring.

Keep the same microphone position between tests. Otherwise, you may attribute a change from moving the boom closer to a software setting you just changed.

2. Set what you hear locally

Start with monitoring off and normal playback volume. Speak a few sentences, then raise sidetone gradually until your voice is easy to follow. There is no universal correct percentage: slider scales and headset implementations differ.

Keep the lowest setting that solves your problem. Recheck with your usual game or call audio playing; a level that seems obvious in silence may be less useful during a busy game.

Now repeat the recording check. Judge these two results separately: comfortable local monitoring and usable recorded speech. Do not raise microphone input gain merely to make sidetone louder if the recording already sounds loud enough.

Where to find SteelSeries controls

In SteelSeries GG → Engine, select the connected headset and look for Mic Sidetone. The manufacturer's Engine instructions show an Audio tab and a Save button. Follow the panel for your model; not every device exposes the same controls.

For a headset supported by Arctis Companion, connect it to the app, open device settings and find the sidetone slider in the Microphone card. Those are the steps in the official Companion instructions. App compatibility needs checking before assuming a setting can be changed from a phone.

Model suffixes matter too. SteelSeries documents a sidetone wheel on the original Nova 7P, with PC ChatMix handled through Sonar. Do not transfer that control layout to every 7, 7X or later-generation model.

For the wider purchase decision, our Nova 7 Gen 2 versus original Nova 7 comparison separates app convenience from reasons to keep a working headset. The Nova 7 Gen 2 versus Nova 5 guide covers the other trade-offs beyond microphone controls.

If you hear a delayed echo

Change one monitoring route at a time. First, close any mic test or recording application that is playing your input back. Then turn headset sidetone off temporarily. Note whether the delayed sound, immediate voice return, or both disappear.

A direct return and a software return can overlap. Focusrite documents this double-monitoring problem for audio interfaces: hearing the input directly and again through recording software creates a doubled or delayed sound. This is a useful diagnostic distinction, not a claim that every headset uses the same internal path.

On Windows, also check whether Listen to this device is enabled for the microphone in the classic Sound control panel's Recording properties. Focusrite's Windows troubleshooting identifies this as another possible delayed return. Turn it off for comparison if you deliberately enabled it, and retain only the monitoring route you intend to use.

If you hear yourself only during a particular call, compare with that call closed. Ask the other person to mute briefly as a diagnostic step; an echo returning from their end will not be fixed by buying a headset with a louder sidetone slider.

If monitoring is missing, quiet or noisy

Do not assume hearing room noise means your teammates hear the identical signal. SteelSeries explains that some headset sidetone paths bypass software processing. Check the app recording before changing noise suppression or replacing the microphone.

Likewise, a desk microphone needs a suitable monitoring route of its own. The headset's built-in sidetone should not be assumed to follow whichever input Windows selects. If you use an audio interface, direct monitoring can return its input without a software round trip. Consult the interface's routing instructions before adding another device.

What to check before buying

Use these questions to narrow the gaming headset guide:

• Can you adjust sidetone on the platform and connection you actually use?
• Can you change it without returning to a PC?
• Does the setting persist when you reconnect or switch devices?
• Which microphone is monitored: the headset boom, a built-in alternative, or an external input?
• Can you test the useful level range and return the headset if it does not suit you?

An existing headset with acceptable monitoring is enough. Pay extra for easier access to a control you use regularly, not for an unexplained microphone specification. For a new headset, check fit, platform compatibility and game/chat handling alongside sidetone; none of those is established by a monitoring checkbox.