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Hades 2 audio settings: how to balance music, voice acting, and effects

By Freedom251 Team · · 10 min read

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The most reliable Hades II mix is built with the four independent sliders, not a fixed percentage preset: set Master Volume for comfortable headroom, raise Voice until dialogue remains intelligible in combat, keep SFX close enough to preserve attack and warning cues, then fit Music around those priorities. Recheck after major updates, because Supergiant has changed dialogue, voiceover, ambience, and individual effect levels during development.

The best Hades II audio settings, in the right order

Hades II provides separate controls for Master Volume, Music Volume, SFX Volume, and Voice Volume. That separation lets you solve a specific problem instead of turning the whole game up or down. Start with a reset or the game’s defaults, then adjust one slider at a time in this order:

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  1. Master Volume: choose a comfortable overall level with enough headroom that loud attacks do not sound clipped or painful.
  2. Voice Volume: raise it until every word is clear during a busy conversation or loud encounter.
  3. SFX Volume: keep it near Voice so attacks, hits, warnings, and other combat information remain readable. Lower it slightly only if effects consistently cover speech.
  4. Music Volume: lower it until dialogue and combat cues are clear, then bring it back up gradually for the atmosphere you want.

There is no developer-published universal percentage mix. A setting that works with television speakers in a quiet room may fail with headphones during a loud encounter, so treat this sequence as a calibration method rather than an official numeric preset.

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What each Hades II slider actually controls

Control What it changes How to use it when balancing the mix
Master Volume The game’s overall output level Set this for comfortable listening and leave headroom for sudden combat peaks. Use your operating-system, television, receiver, or headset volume for final room-level loudness.
Voice Volume Character dialogue and voiceover Prioritize intelligibility. Raise it until speech is understandable without straining, including during a crowded fight.
SFX Volume Combat attacks, impacts, warnings, ambience, and other sound effects Keep it close to Voice because effects communicate timing and danger. Reduce it modestly only when effects repeatedly mask dialogue.
Music Volume The musical score Fit it around speech and gameplay cues. Music is normally the first slider to trim when the mix feels crowded.

Settings are organized with a separate accessibility section in the sequel’s options. The exact menu presentation can vary by platform or update, but look for the audio sliders in the settings menu and make sure you are changing the in-game controls rather than only the platform’s master output.

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Step-by-step: build a clear mix from the defaults

1. Reset after a major update

Begin from the current defaults, especially after a large patch. Supergiant’s updates have changed the relationship between music, dialogue, ambience, and effects. A personal preset created before an update may no longer produce the same balance because the underlying tracks have been remixed.

2. Set Master Volume for comfort and headroom

Choose a level you can listen to for a full run without fatigue. Do not use Master to compensate for quiet dialogue while leaving Music and SFX high; that raises every element together and can make loud hits distort or become uncomfortable. If your receiver, television, or headset has its own loudness control, use that for the final room-level adjustment after the in-game balance is set.

3. Calibrate Voice during real dialogue

Use a conversation in the Crossroads rather than a silent menu. Raise Voice until consonants and quieter lines are clear without concentration. Then test again while other sounds are active. If speech is clear but harsh, reduce Master slightly instead of burying Voice under Music; lowering the overall level preserves the intended relationship between dialogue and effects.

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4. Match SFX to the information you need in combat

Effects are not merely decoration. Attack sounds, impacts, warnings, and environmental cues help you read timing and respond to danger. Keep SFX near Voice as a starting point. If a particular attack overwhelms speech, move SFX down a small amount and listen again; do not mute effects wholesale just to make a conversation louder. A mix that preserves combat cues is more useful than one that makes dialogue prominent only in quiet rooms.

5. Fit Music around Voice and SFX

Lower Music until dialogue and combat cues stay distinct, then raise it gradually until the score supplies the atmosphere you want. This is usually the most effective first change when everything sounds busy. The goal is not to remove the score: Hades II’s completed soundtrack contains just under four hours of music created for the game, so the musical layer is a substantial part of the experience. It should support a scene without masking its information.

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6. Change one slider at a time

Move a control in small increments, identify the specific problem you are solving, and stop when that problem is fixed. Changing Music, Voice, and SFX simultaneously makes it impossible to know which adjustment helped and often leads to an unnecessarily extreme preset.

Test the mix in two different scenes

Crossroads conversation: the speech test

Stand in a dialogue-heavy Crossroads conversation and listen for complete words, not just whether a voice is audible. Check softer lines, characters with lower or breathier delivery, and moments when music continues underneath speech. If you need to lean toward the speakers to understand a sentence, raise Voice or lower Music before changing Master.

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Loud encounter: the combat test

Enter a busy encounter and listen for three things at once: your attack feedback, warning sounds, and any voice line that matters during the action. If dialogue disappears only when combat starts, the problem is usually the relative Music/SFX/Voice balance rather than overall loudness. Keep SFX high enough to identify hits and warnings, then trim Music or make a small Voice adjustment.

Why both tests matter

A quiet room can hide masking. A setting that sounds excellent during a calm conversation may become unintelligible when several effects and a full musical passage arrive together. Conversely, a combat-first mix can make every quiet conversation feel unnaturally loud. Keep both scenes in your check whenever you revisit the settings.

Useful starting profiles without fake percentages

These are listening priorities, not official presets. Begin with the default position and apply the stated order until the described result is reached.

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Priority Voice SFX Music Best for
Dialogue-first Raise until every line is effortless to understand Keep near Voice, lowering slightly only if impacts cover speech Trim until it no longer masks dialogue Players who follow story conversations closely or play in noisy rooms
Balanced Clear in both Crossroads conversations and encounters Close to Voice for reliable combat feedback Present but behind speech and warnings Most players using headphones or television speakers
Music-first Still intelligible without strain High enough to retain attack and warning information Raise gradually after Voice and SFX pass the two-scene test Quiet-room sessions where the score is a central part of the experience

Use the profile that matches your room and purpose, then verify it in both test scenes. None of these profiles should be interpreted as a fixed slider percentage.

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Why Hades II updates can change your preferred settings

The audio mix has been revised during development and after launch. The v1.0 Launch Update adjusted music volume during character dialogue and changed Athena’s voiceover level, along with numerous sound-effect and ambient-audio updates. Post-Launch Patch 2 later adjusted the volume of several sound effects. Those changes mean a character, attack, or room can sound different even when your slider positions have not moved.

The Unseen Update also added more than 2,000 voice lines. More dialogue and different scene combinations increase the number of situations in which a previously comfortable mix may need a small correction. Supergiant’s completed-game announcement says the finished soundtrack is just under four hours of music created for Hades II, reinforcing why music can become the dominant layer in some areas even when the sliders have not changed.

After a major update, reset or note your current settings, run the Crossroads and combat tests again, and adjust from the new baseline. Do not assume that a setting recommended for an earlier build remains optimal.

Fixing dialogue that is hard to hear

If voices are too quiet everywhere

  • Confirm Voice Volume has not been lowered independently of Master.
  • Lower Music first if the speech is being masked rather than truly quiet.
  • Check the platform, television, receiver, or headset volume after setting the in-game mix.
  • Test another conversation and a combat scene to determine whether the issue affects all voices or only one scene.

If voices are clear in the Crossroads but disappear in combat

  • Trim Music until speech returns without removing the score completely.
  • Keep SFX near Voice for combat information, then lower SFX slightly only if repeated impacts cover every line.
  • Recheck Master for clipping or excessive loudness; raising it is not a substitute for correcting the relative sliders.

If one character’s voice is unusually loud or quiet

Check whether the behavior began after an update. The v1.0 Launch Update specifically adjusted Athena’s voiceover, so a character-specific difference can reflect a mix change rather than a faulty headset. Compare another character and another scene before changing your whole preset.

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Fixing quiet, distorted, or unbalanced game audio

Unexpectedly quiet output

Inspect all four in-game sliders and the platform’s volume first. A low operating-system or receiver level can make every slider appear ineffective, while a high Music setting can make speech seem quiet through masking. If the game remains abnormally quiet after those checks, follow the platform-specific Hades II troubleshooting steps in Supergiant Games’ technical-support guide.

Distortion or clipping

Lower Master slightly and listen again before raising individual channels. Loudness that is comfortable in a menu can clip when several combat effects coincide. Preserve headroom rather than pushing Voice or SFX to compensate for a low external output level.

Only certain effects sound wrong

Compare the affected sound in another encounter and check the patch history. Post-Launch Patch 2 adjusted several effect levels, so an individual attack or ambient sound may have changed independently of music and dialogue. If the behavior persists across scenes and platforms, use the developer’s current technical-support guidance rather than assuming a global slider problem.

Out-of-date drivers or platform audio problems

Supergiant’s technical-support guidance recommends keeping audio drivers current and provides platform-specific Hades II troubleshooting. Update drivers through your platform or hardware manufacturer, restart the game, and retest both the Crossroads and combat scenes. If only the game is affected, compare its output with another application to separate an in-game mix issue from a system-level one.

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Headphones, television speakers, and room noise

The same slider positions do not translate perfectly between playback systems. Headphones often reveal quiet ambience and fine effects that television speakers blur, while a noisy room can make consonants disappear even when the measured output is unchanged. Calibrate with the device you normally use, at the time and seating position where you play.

  • Headphones: start at a comfortable Master level, then avoid raising it to solve masking that Music or SFX adjustments would fix.
  • Television speakers: prioritize clear Voice and keep enough SFX for attack feedback; small speakers may make dense music feel more dominant.
  • Soundbars or receivers: set the in-game balance first, then use the receiver’s volume for room loudness. Avoid applying a second aggressive dialogue or bass enhancement until you have retested the unprocessed mix.
  • Noisy rooms: use the dialogue-first approach, but keep SFX close enough to Voice that warnings remain audible.

These are practical listening choices, not hardware recommendations. No title-specific headset, speaker, or soundtrack product is required to balance Hades II’s audio.

Accessibility and listening comfort

Because Hades II places settings in a separate accessibility section, explore that area if you need additional options beyond the four volume controls. Regardless of the device, set a sustainable Master level and take fatigue seriously: lowering the overall output slightly is preferable to running an individual channel so high that impacts become harsh.

For players who cannot rely on loudness alone, the two-scene method is especially useful. Confirm that speech is intelligible in the Crossroads, then verify that the most important combat warnings and attack feedback remain distinct. A mix that is merely louder is not necessarily a mix that communicates better.

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A quick decision tree for common complaints

  • “I cannot understand dialogue in every scene.” Check Voice and external volume, then lower Music and retest.
  • “Dialogue is fine until a fight starts.” Trim Music, then make a small SFX reduction only if impacts still cover speech.
  • “Combat feels flat after lowering everything.” Restore SFX toward Voice; effects carry timing and hit feedback.
  • “The mix changed after an update.” Reset to defaults and repeat both scene tests because Supergiant has revised dialogue, voiceover, ambience, and effects.
  • “Everything is loud but unpleasant.” Lower Master to restore headroom instead of pushing or cutting individual channels at random.
  • “One sound is wrong while the rest is normal.” Compare scenes and check whether a patch changed that voice or effect before rebuilding the entire mix.

How to keep a stable personal preset

  1. Write down your current slider positions before installing a major update.
  2. After the update, start from defaults or your notes and run the Crossroads speech test.
  3. Run a loud encounter and identify the first specific problem: masking, missing combat cues, harshness, or clipping.
  4. Move only the slider that addresses that problem, using small increments.
  5. Save the new positions only after both scenes sound clear at your normal playback device and room volume.

This approach preserves the score’s presence while keeping the information you need from voices and effects. It also avoids chasing a percentage recipe that Supergiant has never published and that could become obsolete after the next mix adjustment.

Bottom line

Set Master for comfort, Voice for intelligibility, SFX close to Voice for combat information, and Music last so it supports rather than masks the other layers. Test the result in one Crossroads conversation and one loud encounter, change one control at a time, and recalibrate after major patches. That method remains dependable even as Hades II’s dialogue, soundtrack, ambience, and effect mix continue to evolve.

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