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Do keep in mind that it doesn't increase or lower the absolute volume level - it just changes the volume ratio between these two "devices". With all that in mind, what ChatMix Dial does is simply adjust the volume ratio between what it sees as two separate playback devices. The OS doesn't care about whether both sounds are played through the same physical device. By doing so, you essentially convinced your OS that you use one device for voice playback and a different one for playback of other sounds. All you have to do is make the SteelSeries Arctis 5 Game your default playback device to then fire up your voice chat app of choice (Discord, TeamSpeak, Skype, etc.), go to its audio settings, and select the SteelSeries Arctis 5 Chat as the preferred playback device.
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One of them is called the SteelSeries Arctis 5 Chat and the other the SteelSeries Arctis 5 Game. When you connect the Arctis 5 to your PC via USB, it adds two separate devices to the list of playback devices in the Control Panel. What sorcery is being used, how does this thing manage to do what it does? It's actually quite simple.
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If you use the USB-to-3.5-mm adapter or a regular audio cable, the lighting system won't work because it won't have anything powering it. The only way to get the RGB LEDs to work is to connect the headset with the device via USB. I can't believe I'm going to say this about an RGB system, but it almost looks classy. The colors look beautiful and the whole system isn't too in-your-face. Even though I'm still not sold on the whole concept of adding RGB LEDs to a headset, a device you can't see while using it, you'll definitely like the way the RGB LEDs have been implemented on the Arctis 5 if you're into such shenanigans. It can even slowly blend from one color to another in an endless cycle. Both the company's logo and the entire outer edge of the earcup light up in any color you select in the software. This is where SteelSeries decided to implement a bit of RGB action. But that's not the main reason you'll like it. The outer side of the ear cups is covered in a fine layer of rubber and feels very nice to the touch.
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