How do I route flight sim audio to speakers and headphones?

To split flight simulator audio between speakers and headphones, assign the simulator’s main output to one device and its communications or ATC output to the other. If the simulator has only one output, route applications through Windows or put an external ATC client on the headset; Windows cannot divide one application into separate sound categories.

For a general PC flight-simulator setup, the cleanest arrangement is usually engine, cockpit and environmental sound through speakers, with ATC through a headset. The exact controls depend on whether those sounds come from one simulator process or from separate applications.

How do I put engine sounds on speakers and ATC in a headset?

Choose the speakers as the simulator’s main output and the headphones as its communications output.

1. Connect both devices before starting the simulator. Confirm that Windows lists the correct endpoints; monitor speakers may appear under an HDMI display name rather than as “Speakers”.
2. Set the Windows defaults. Make the speakers the default playback device and the headset the default communications device. This helps applications that honour Windows device roles, but explicit in-app selections take priority.
3. Open the simulator’s sound options. Where available, assign aircraft, cockpit and environmental audio to the main device, then assign communications or voices to the headset.
4. Configure external ATC separately. A VATSIM voice client can use the headset while the simulator remains on the speakers. Our VATSIM microphone and headset routing instructions cover the associated input and output settings.
5. Test each bus independently. Listen to engine sound first, then trigger an ATC transmission. Check the simulator’s master, voice and communications volume controls if one side remains silent.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 provide main-device and communications-device choices in their sound options, although the labels and menu layout can differ between releases. If voices remain silent after selecting the headset, use our MSFS ATC voice and output-device checks.

FSX relies more heavily on Windows playback devices and its voice playback selection. Set up the devices before launching FSX because this older simulator may not recognise a newly connected headset until it restarts. Our FSX voice playback troubleshooting explains the relevant device checks.

In X-Plane, Prepar3D and other simulators, inspect the sound settings for an explicit output-device or communications-device selector. If there is only one selector, the simulator cannot natively send engines to one device and built-in ATC to another.

How do I route all simulator sound through one device in Windows?

Windows per-app routing sends the simulator’s complete audio stream to a selected device without changing where other applications play.

1. Start the simulator and produce some sound. Windows may not list an application in the mixer until it has opened an audio stream.
2. Open the Windows volume mixer. In Windows 11 this is under the system sound settings; older Windows releases call the equivalent page “App volume and device preferences”.
3. Find the simulator. Select the speakers or headphones as its output device.
4. Restart if necessary. Some simulators cache their audio endpoint at launch and ignore a change made while running.

This method cannot separate engines, warnings and ATC when all three originate inside the same simulator. It can separate the simulator from a browser, music player or external ATC programme because those are different applications.

Why does the simulator ignore the selected audio output?

The usual cause is a cached, disconnected or incorrectly identified Windows audio endpoint rather than a faulty simulator installation.

• The device was connected after launch: close the simulator, connect the headset, confirm that Windows can play a test sound through it, then reopen the simulator.
• Both selectors say “Default”: choose the named physical devices instead. Windows can silently change its default when an HDMI monitor, USB headset or controller is connected.
• The wrong Bluetooth profile is active: many Bluetooth headsets expose separate stereo-headphone and hands-free communication endpoints. The hands-free profile can reduce quality or replace the stereo endpoint when its microphone activates.
• The app is missing from Volume Mixer: make it produce sound, reopen the mixer and check for a separate simulator or voice-client process.
• A sound category is muted: check the simulator’s master, cockpit, aircraft, voices and communications sliders. A correctly routed device still produces silence when its bus is at zero.
• Another application has exclusive control: if the device works everywhere except alongside another audio programme, disable exclusive control temporarily in the Windows playback-device properties and test again.

If aircraft switches, warnings or environmental sounds are also absent, work through our cockpit-sound and Windows routing checklist before changing drivers or reinstalling the simulator.

Can the same flight simulator audio play through both devices?

Duplicating identical simulator audio to speakers and headphones is different from splitting sound categories, and Windows does not provide reliable low-latency mirroring for every device combination.

Some sound drivers expose “Stereo Mix” with a “Listen to this device” option, but it may be unavailable and can add a noticeable echo. A hardware audio interface or mixer with separate speaker and headphone outputs is the cleaner choice when both listeners need synchronised sound.

On consoles, the operating system normally controls whether game audio uses HDMI, a controller headset or a USB headset. Arbitrary engine-versus-ATC routing is generally unavailable unless the simulator itself exposes separate outputs supported by that console.