Parsec: The Client Can only Hear the Game Music.

I found a lack of information regarding this issue so I wanted to write something up in case anyone else is running into this.

Sound Issues

We ran into an issue where the client could hear the in-game music and some of the menu sound effects but couldn’t hear in-game sound effects or voices. Sometimes the client will hear a stray sound effect from the game but for the most part, can only hear the music/background noise.

It turns out the automatic echo canceling feature in the Host settings is the culprit here. If you turn this off, the client will be able to hear all the in-game sounds as well as their own voice echoing back at them via Discord. Which is super annoying…so we have to fix that.

That’s where Parsec’s manual solution for echo canceling comes to save the day. This involves installing a virtual audio cable and tweaking your sound device settings.

Here’s a quick rundown on how I’ve solved the intermittent/ client only hears the game music sound issues.

Turn off Echo Canceling in the Host Settings
Follow the instructions for Manual Echo Canceling from this link
If you’re hearing yourself through your speakers/headphones: open the volume mixer and mute your microphone output. The mic will still pick up what you say but you won’t hear yourself through your speakers/headphones.