This article discusses best practices for volume setting adjustments of the Vivox input device, also referred to as the capture device, recording device, or microphone.
Related article: Vivox: Best practice volume settings (output device/speaker)
Important General Advice
It is strongly recommended that developers keep the game's default voice chat input volume equal to the Vivox SDK's default input volume setting. The Vivox default input volume applies no amplification or attenuation to the microphone signal. Any volume setting higher than the Vivox default might cause distortion. It is of course reasonable for the game to allow players the option to set the microphone volume above Vivox's default, but it is never recommended that the game default is above Vivox's default.
Although somewhat counter-intuitive, when setting the range for volume option sliders, it is not recommended to map the settable range (0-100%) to the extreme lowest and highest volume values settable in the SDK. Please see the Suggested Ranges sections below for recommendations on clamping the allowable input volume range below the maximum to minimize the possibility of transmitting distorted audio.
SDK Specific Advice
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Unity and Unreal SDKs
The following guidance applies to all versions of Vivox for Unity (including both 16.x and 15.x packages) as well as to the Vivox Unreal plugin.
The settable volume range is from -50 to 50 inclusive, with 0 being the default (no adjustment to the signal). Each step away from 0 is equivalent to +/- 1 dB. A setting of -50 mutes the signal instead of attenuating by 50 dB.
Volume settings and their effects
| Value | Gain | Result |
| 0 | 0 dB (no change) | No amplification or attenuation is applied to the microphone signal received from the OS. The microphone data transmitted is at the same volume that was received by the SDK. |
| 50 | +50 dB | Amplify the signal by 50 dB. |
| -49 | -49 dB | Attenuate the signal by 49 dB. |
| -50 | -Infinity dB | Completely silence the signal. This is better done through muting commands. |
To offer users the ability to boost their microphones above what the OS setting is, you can provide some microphone volume settings over 0. Although the Vivox API supports up to +50 dB of amplification, this easily causes clipping. It is not recommended that you allow users to apply that much boost. For example, if the user sets the OS mic volume to 100%, and then applies +20 dB boost through the voice settings, they will probably be transmitting highly distorted speech.
Suggested ranges
| Range | Default | Result |
| [-50, 0] | 0 | No amplification or attenuation is applied to the microphone signal received from the OS. The microphone data transmitted is at or below the same volume that was received by the SDK. |
| [-50, 10] | 0 | A +10 dB boost is possible, which would correspond to a doubling in perceived loudness. |
| [-30, 20] | 0 | Clamped to the effective usable range. Attenuation below -30 dB is generally not noticeable (especially alongside other game audio) and amplification above +20 dB causes extreme distortion. |
Core SDK library
Volume range is from 0 to 100 inclusive, with 50 being the default (no adjustment to the signal). Each step away from 50 is equivalent to +/- 1 dB. A setting of 0 mutes the signal instead of attenuating by 50 dB.
Volume settings and their effects
| Value | Gain | Result |
| 50 | 0 dB (no change) | No amplification or attenuation is applied to the microphone signal received from the OS. The microphone data transmitted is at the same volume that was received by the SDK. |
| 100 | +50 dB | Amplify the signal by 50 dB. |
| 1 | -49 dB | Attenuate the signal by 49 dB. |
| 0 | -Infinity dB | Completely silence the signal. This is better done through muting commands. |
To offer users the ability to boost their microphones above what the OS setting is, you can provide some microphone volume settings over 50. Although the Vivox API supports up to +50 dB of amplification, this easily causes clipping. It is not recommended that you allow users to apply that much boost. For example, if the user sets the OS mic volume to 100%, and then applies +20 dB boost through the voice settings, they will probably be transmitting highly distorted speech.
Suggested ranges
| Range | Default | Result |
| [0, 50] | 50 | No amplification or attenuation is applied to the microphone signal received from the OS. The microphone data transmitted is at or below the same volume that was received by the SDK. |
| [0, 60] | 50 | A +10 dB boost is possible, which would correspond to a doubling in perceived loudness. |
| [20, 70] | 50 | Reduced to the effective usable range. Attenuation below -30 dB is generally not noticeable (especially alongside other game audio) and amplification above +20 dB causes extreme distortion. |
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