How to Hear Footsteps Better in Warzone (PC): Full Audio Setup

In Warzone the footsteps are in the mix. They're just hard to pick out. Two things bury them. First, direction gets lost: the game can produce 7.1 surround, but stereo headphones squash it to left and right, so an enemy behind you sounds like one in front of you. Second, quiet sounds get drowned out: steps sit far below gunfire, vehicles and ambience, and turning the volume up only makes the loud stuff louder.

This guide builds a complete fix. Warzone sends real 7.1 into Aura Mixer, Aura Mixer folds it into 3D sound matched to your ears, a loudness stage lifts quiet sounds without making gunfire louder, and an EQ brings the footstep frequencies forward. You can do it in one click with a Workshop pack, or by hand with full control over every value; both routes are covered.

What you need

• Aura Mixer 0.7.0 or newer (download).
• Premium for the full result: the measured Immersive 3D profiles, the profile test and Loudness Equalization are Premium. On Free you still get 7.1 folded to 3D with the Enhanced or Generic model, plus the footstep EQ (see step 5).
• VB-Audio Hi-Fi Cable (free): a virtual 7.1 audio device that carries the game's sound into Aura Mixer. Aura Mixer's first-run setup asks you to install it; if you skipped that, step 1 covers it.
• Any stereo headphones. No surround headset needed.
• Windows 11 or Windows 10 build 20348+ if you want to use the APP capture option in step 3.

How the signal flows

Because the game plays into the cable, its raw audio never reaches your headphones: you only hear the processed version.

Part 1: Get 7.1 out of Warzone

Step 1 (optional): Install the VB-Audio Hi-Fi Cable

Already installed it during Aura Mixer's first-run setup? Skip to step 2. You'll see Hi-Fi Cable Input (VB-Audio Hi-Fi Cable) among your Windows playback devices if it's there.

1. Download the Hi-Fi Cable from VB-Audio, run the installer and restart Windows.
2. That's it: the cable installs as a 7.1 device at 48 kHz, exactly what Warzone and Aura Mixer need. In Windows it shows up as Hi-Fi Cable Input (VB-Audio Hi-Fi Cable).

Step 2: Set up Warzone's audio

Everything below lives in Warzone under Settings ▸ Audio tab ▸ Audio sub-tab.

Audio Device section: send the game into the cable, in 7.1.

Global section: a clean mix to work with.

Functionality section: take away sounds that cover footsteps.

Part 2: Capture the game in Aura Mixer

Switch the menu bar toggle to Advanced; the SETUP, SPATIAL and FX tabs live there.

Step 3: Add a channel for Warzone

Open Channels in the menu bar ▸ Inputs ▸ Add channel, name it Warzone, and pick one of two capture types:

Press Add Channel.

Step 4: Point it at the game and switch to 7.1

SELECT the Warzone channel and open its SETUP tab:

1. Channel mode ▸ 7.1 Surround.
2. The source:
   • Option A (APP): Application Process ▸ cod.exe (Warzone runs inside Call of Duty's process). Not listed? Make sure the game is running and making sound, then click ↺. Tick Include child processes.
   • Option B (LOOP): Loopback Source ▸ Hi-Fi Cable Input (VB-Audio Hi-Fi Cable).
3. Check the capture badge: it should show the source delivering audio.

Part 3: Choose your route

Quick route: the Workshop pack below sets the spatial fold, EQ, Loudness Equalization and gate/compressor in one click. Apply it, then do step 6 (your HRTF profile) and continue at Part 5.

Manual route: skip the pack and follow Part 4, steps 5 to 9, for full control over every value.

To apply it: Workshop ▸ Browse ▸ search, Download ▸ My Library ▸ select it ▸ Apply… ▸ leave every stage ticked ▸ pick your Warzone channel ▸ confirm. A surround pack only lists channels in 7.1 mode, which is why step 4 comes first.

Part 4: Manual setup

Step 5: Fold 7.1 into 3D

Open the channel's SPATIAL tab:

1. Switch the mode to Binaural HRTF.
2. Model HRTF ▸ Immersive.
3. Under PER-CHANNEL LEVELS, click the number above the C fader and type 15, then do the same for LFE with 0. Leave the others at 100.

Why: the centre channel carries voices, UI sounds and your own gun, and LFE carries explosion rumble. Pulling them down lets the side and rear speakers, where footsteps around you live, stand out.

Step 6: Find the 3D profile that fits your ears

3D audio works by recreating how your head and ears filter sound, and every head is different. A profile that fits someone else can blur front and back for you. Aura Mixer has a short listening test that picks the best one:

1. Still on the SPATIAL tab, click Find my best profile under the Profile dropdown.
2. Follow the headphones check, set a comfortable volume, do the practice round, and choose Quick (~4 min) or Thorough (~7 min).
3. For each sound, point where you heard it and rate how sure you were. Being unsure is a useful answer; don't guess confidently.
4. On the result, press Apply for the recommended profile, for example Profile 16.

The winning profile gets a ★ in the Profile dropdown. More detail: Finding your best HRTF profile.

Step 7: Apply the footstep EQ

Open the EQ tab. Apply the Warzone footstep curve from the tab's PRESET ▾, or enter the 12 bands by hand from the exact values.

The curve cuts sub rumble and low-mid mud and lifts the band around 3 kHz, where the scuff of a boot lives. It's headphone-agnostic: your headphone correction comes separately, in step 10.

Step 8: Add Loudness Equalization before the EQ

1. Open the FX tab. You'll see IN, Gain, Gate, EQ, Comp, OUT.
2. Click the Gain node to select it, then + NODE ▾ ▸ Dynamics ▸ Loudness Equalization. A new node always lands right after the selected one, so it sits before the EQ.
3. Pin a dock panel to it with ⇅ and set it up. Start with Default:

• Default is tuned for fast, dynamic shooters like Warzone and is what the Workshop pack sets: footsteps clearly lifted, gunfire kept natural.
• Max footsteps pulls quiet sounds up harder and clamps loud ones sooner, for the loudest possible steps at the cost of a flatter, more compressed mix.

The panel's own compressor (KNEE and RATIO, on the right) is what keeps gunfire and explosions from spiking. That's why the channel's regular compressor gets switched off in step 9: this one already does the job.

Step 9: Switch the gate and compressor off

The channel's own Gate and Compressor sit in the dock on the left. Switch both OFF:

• Gate: it mutes anything below a threshold, which is exactly where distant footsteps live.
• Compressor: Loudness Equalization has its own compressor that already tames gunfire (step 8). Two compressors in a row squash the mix and flatten the quiet cues.

On the FX tab the chain now reads Gain → Loudness Equalization → EQ, with Gate and Comp bypassed.

Part 5: Route it to your headphones

Step 10: Send the channel to your headphones

1. Channels ▸ select Warzone ▸ under Routing, make sure Main L+R is ON (new channels start routed there).
2. Check that Main L+R plays to your headphones (the bus's SETUP tab ▸ Output Destination).
3. Add a headphone-correction EQ on Main L+R, not on the Warzone channel. The footstep EQ is tuned for the game; the correction evens out your specific headphones. See Output EQ.

Step 11: Check it works

Load into a match or the firing range:

• The channel's meter shows eight bars, and the side and rear bars move when sound comes from beside or behind you.
• On the SPATIAL tab, flip ON / OFF while someone walks around you: with it on, steps sit clearly in front of, beside or behind you.
• On the FX tab, flip Loudness Equalization ON / OFF: with it on, distant steps come up while gunfire stays at the same level.

What each stage does

Exact values (current Workshop tuning), to set it up by hand

SPATIAL: Binaural HRTF

Model Immersive, Profile: your test result (the pack uses Reference B). Per-channel levels: FL 100 · FR 100 · C 15 · LFE 0 · BL 100 · BR 100 · SL 100 · SR 100.

FX: Loudness Equalization (before the EQ)

Control	Value	Control	Value
STRENGTH	70 %	TARGET	−18 dB
ATTACK	15 ms	RELEASE	400 ms
RMS WIN	1.20 s	MAX BST	22 dB
BED REJ	80 %	AIR	45 %
KNEE	−10 dB	RATIO	6:1
BOOST QUIET	On	LIMIT PEAKS	On
MONO ANALYSIS	On

EQ: 12 bell bands (Black Ops 7 tuning)

The EQ is the one stage that changes with each Call of Duty release. These are the values at the time of writing; the Workshop pack always carries the latest curve (take just the EQ from it via the EQ tab's PRESET ▾).

Band	Frequency	Gain	Q
1	20 Hz	−7.7 dB	1.1
2	36 Hz	−1.1 dB	2.5
3	57 Hz	+1.5 dB	2.9
4	108 Hz	+4.0 dB	1.7
5	145 Hz	+1.7 dB	2.1
6	254 Hz	−3.2 dB	0.7
7	973 Hz	−1.4 dB	1.1
8	1660 Hz	+1.0 dB	2.5
9	2220 Hz	+1.6 dB	3.3
10	3090 Hz	+7.2 dB	0.9
11	4010 Hz	−3.0 dB	4.5
12	7450 Hz	+1.1 dB	4.5

Gate and Compressor

Both off on this channel.

Make it yours

• Loudness: try Max footsteps from step 8 if steps still aren't loud enough for you. Every control is explained in Loudness Equalization.
• Profile: not sure about the test result? Run it again & combine on the result screen pools both runs into a steadier answer.
• Headphones: a correction EQ for your exact model on Main L+R makes the footstep EQ land the way it was tuned.

If something's off