One major thing players in PUBG forget about audio is that listening is a skill, just like recoil control, map rotations, or utility usage. You can have the most expensive studio headphones and top tier audio equipment, but if you still don't know how, what, or when to listen, you're going to miss important sounds that get you killed.

This guide covers the audio cues you should memorize, how footstep frequencies actually work, how to pick headphones that pair well with those frequencies, and the in-game settings, like HRTF, that will help you pinpoint enemies by sound alone.

Audio Cues Every Player Should Memorize

Audio cues are the most important thing every player should know by heart. Players with a lot of hours are able to hear certain in-game sounds and ascertain precise information just from those cues alone.

PUBG is full of unique sounds: the noise someone makes jumping from a second story, glass breaking, the sound of a shotgun reloading, all feeding you information instantly. Here are the ones I think most players should memorize, to the point where you start listening for them at work, at the grocery store, walking the dog, and are ready to react on a moment's notice.

Healing Sounds

When in a fight, hearing a player use a first aid kit or bandages signals they are weak. This is the perfect time to push and apply pressure since you know their health is low, but wait too long and you give them a better chance at survival.

Grenade Pins

If you're close enough to hear the pin of a grenade being pulled, that means run, or move to a different room, and quickly.

Vehicle Sounds

Every car has a distinct sound, but they all sound the same when silently rolling. If you can catch that silent-rolling sound and position yourself correctly, you improve your chances of defending against an incoming team.

Footsteps on Wood, Cement, and Dirt

Footstep sounds and frequencies change depending on the surface a player is running on. Learning each surface's unique sound is important for determining whether a player is inside a building, outside behind a building, or running full sprint in the open.

How to Hear Footsteps Better in PUBG

The grand question everyone asks is: how do I hear footsteps better in PUBG? Footsteps are arguably one of the harder things to hear, and that's by design. If footstep audio were too loud, it would be too easy to pin someone's position and get the jump on them. Make it too quiet, and every aggressive player has the advantage.

There's no single answer to "make footsteps easier to hear," but here's everything I've learned about how footsteps work, plus what's worked for me personally. As with most of my advice, your mileage may vary.

Headphones Matter More Than You Think

I'm a firm believer that having the right pair of headphones can make or break your hearing experience in PUBG. A headset that pairs well with the game's natural frequencies, has good sound isolation, and has a decent sound stage makes footsteps easier to hear at lower game volumes, saving your ears from needlessly relying on software to get a competitive edge.

Footstep Frequencies by Surface

Footsteps generate different audio frequencies depending on the surface a player is on. Understanding this is crucial to understanding why headphone choice matters so much.

Dirt — footsteps on dirt generate the highest frequencies, in the mid to high-mid range, with some slight bass. When a player is behind you, mids and bass are more prevalent.

Spectral analyzer showing PUBG dirt footstep frequencies peaking in the mid to high-mid range
Dirt footsteps captured in Spectralissime, peaking in the mid to high-mid range.

Cement — steps on cement sit in the high-mid to high range, with very little bass. When a player is behind you walking on cement, it's primarily high mids.

Spectral analyzer showing PUBG cement footstep frequencies sitting in the high-mid to high range
Cement footsteps sit higher in the spectrum, with almost no bass content.

Wood — footsteps on wood are pretty much all bass, with some high-mid frequencies mixed in. This is a good example of why headphones with too much bass can actually hurt your footstep detection: heavy bass has the potential to drown out the crucial mid-range frequencies that make footsteps audible.

Spectral analyzer showing PUBG wood footstep frequencies dominated by bass
Wood footsteps are almost entirely bass, which is why bass-heavy headphones can bury them.

Choosing Headphones by Frequency Response

Now that you know the frequencies to listen for, back to headphones. A majority of respondents on a recent poll I ran said they're using traditional gaming headsets over IEMs and studio headphones. Most gaming headsets, while they tend to have good sound isolation, are very heavy in bass frequencies, which can make it difficult to hear footstep audio sitting in the higher, mid-range frequencies.

Below are the categories worth knowing, and how each one tends to perform against PUBG's footstep frequencies. What you want to look for is which set or style of headphones matches PUBG's footstep frequencies the closest.

Gaming Headsets

For instance, the Razer BlackShark V3 has a very high low-end response, meaning a lot of bass. While it has decent mid to high-mid range, that bass can overshadow and drown out the mids, making footsteps harder to hear.

IEMs

IEMs are really the sweet spot for PUBG, thanks to a better sound stage and stronger sound isolation since they're earbuds. There are a ton of inexpensive options with a natural frequency response that pairs well with PUBG's footstep frequencies. I used a $20 pair for over a year and it worked wonders.

Since switching to IEMs, I've had to turn my overall PC audio down by 7 to 8 decibels, because the sound isolation works so well. It's been a life saver for my hearing, since I can hear more than most players at lower volumes. Even looking at the frequency response of the IEMs below, some almost mirror PUBG's footstep audio frequencies to a tee. There's a reason pros in PUBG and other competitive shooters prefer IEMs over traditional gaming or studio headphones.

Other IEMs That Are Great for PUBG

If you want more options at different price points, here are a few more IEMs worth looking at, broken down by budget.

// Affordable
Moondrop CHU II Linsoul KZ ZS10 Linsoul Kiwi Ears Cadenza
// Mid-Tier
Linsoul SIMGOT EW300 Tipsy M1 BASN Bmaster Triple
// Professional
KZ ZAR Linsoul ZiiGaat Horizon Tipsy M3

Studio Headphones

Studio headphones are a bit of a mixed bag. They have amazing sound stages because they're built primarily for music, and some pair fairly well with PUBG. I'd suggest checking a model's natural frequency response before buying, since if it doesn't line up well, you'll need to do some EQ'ing.

// Tools I use
To compare frequency response charts for headphones before buying, I use squig.link, a site with a huge library of tested headphones and IEMs. To test in-game frequencies yourself, I use Spectralissime, a free spectral analyzer from VB-Audio, the creators of Voicemeeter.

Listening Is a Skill: Tips for Hearing Enemy Footsteps

Hearing footsteps isn't meant to be loud and easy to decipher, otherwise the game would be unbalanced. You need to be constantly on the lookout for these sounds and hear them through the noise of your own shooting, moving through cities, or running through terrain where your own footsteps might be drowning out surrounding audio.

Stop and Listen

When approaching a building or a hill, take that extra second to slow down and listen for audio cues. Usually when players hear footsteps running at them, they panic and move, giving their position away. Don't let your own footsteps drown out audio that could tip you off that a player is near.

Windows Loudness Equalizer

Loudness Equalizer is a Windows audio setting you can enable in your playback device settings. For some players it's a life saver, since it boosts quieter sounds like footsteps while making gunshots quieter at the same time.

The biggest downside is that it compresses the in-game audio, which can mess with your ability to judge distance on gunshots or footsteps. It's a trade-off you'd need to get accustomed to.

Footstep Render Distance

Footsteps in a walking or running position become audible to an enemy player at roughly 45 meters, just the right distance for a medium to close-range gunfight. Keep this in mind as you approach a building, run over terrain, or attempt to third-party a fight. Your footsteps could be giving your position away, especially against players with a decent audio setup who are already posted up and ready once they pick up on your cues.

Audio from crouch-walking or sprinting becomes audible to an enemy player at roughly 15 to 20 meters, letting you really close the gap on a player's position without giving yourself away too early.

// Range cheat sheet
Walking / running footsteps: audible at ~45m. Crouch-walking or sprinting: audible at ~15-20m. Use these ranges to judge when to slow down before pushing a building or rotating through open terrain.

Directional Audio and HRTF

Directional audio is important in PUBG, because if you can't tell where you're getting shot from, you're not going to fare well. The one setting I haven't been able to live without is in the PUBG audio settings, and it's called HRTF.

What Is HRTF?

HRTF stands for Head-Related Transfer Function, an in-game option that changes how the game engine handles directional audio. To me, this is the single most important audio setting for accurately pinpointing footstep and gunshot audio.

HRTF Off vs. HRTF On

With HRTF off, in-game sounds come in more of a blended, spatial stereo signal. Directional audio sounds blended to simulate its direction, but is often really only coming from the front, back, left, or right. Gauging the exact distance or direction of a player shooting at you, or the exact direction of their footsteps, can be challenging.

With HRTF on, audio is rendered proportionate to your character's head, so sounds are more spatial and give more accurate directional information. With HRTF enabled, I'm able to hear even the faintest car engines, pinpoint enemy footsteps, and gauge distance far more confidently.

I'd heavily suggest playing with HRTF on and taking the time to get used to it. A great way to test whether it's working for you is the Sound Labs test in the training grounds, which measures how well you can pinpoint directional audio. You can also test the difference in replay mode by placing the camera in a static spot and trying to pinpoint the location of gunshots.

Vertical Audio

Vertical audio can be incredibly difficult to decipher, but there's an easy trick that works in most cases. Since footsteps inside buildings tend to have a very bassy sound, you'll notice that bassy footstep sound gets significantly quieter the higher up an enemy is. It's not exact, but you can usually get a good read on what floor a player is on based on how loud and low their footsteps sound.

A Word on Audio Software

Software is a popular route a lot of players take, with some of the more popular options being SoundLock, PEACE Equalizer, and FXSound, all aimed at improving PUBG's audio.

I personally use Voicemeeter, primarily for streaming purposes and splitting up audio tracks, but I stay away from adjusting Voicemeeter's equalizer for the same reason I'd never use EQ software for PUBG, unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Boosting audio levels or the frequencies specific to footsteps or other in-game audio simply to get an advantage can be incredibly damaging to your ears, unless you know how to apply proper audio effect chains to keep decibels in check. In my opinion, it's just not worth it. Even Windows Loudness Equalizer has trade-offs: yes, it lessens gunshot audio and boosts quieter sounds, but because it compresses the audio, you lose some depth in directional audio and ambient sounds can become incredibly loud.

Final Thoughts

Listening in PUBG is a skill, the same way recoil control, rotations, and utility usage are skills. It won't feel natural overnight. Learn the audio cues, understand how footstep frequencies work, pick gear that actually pairs well with those frequencies, and spend time with HRTF on until pinpointing enemies by sound becomes second nature.