Audio cuts out during gaming sessions on Zoom — anyone else facing this?

Hi Tahir,

This is a common issue when running Zoom alongside resource-intensive games. Since your USB headset works fine outside of Zoom, the problem is almost certainly related to how Zoom, your game, and Windows compete for audio and system resources. Here are the most likely causes and fixes:

1. Disable Zoom's Audio Processing Features

Zoom's built-in audio enhancements can conflict with gaming audio. In the Zoom desktop app:

• Go to Settings → Audio → Advanced
• Set "Suppress background noise" to Low (instead of Auto or High) — aggressive noise suppression can misinterpret game audio as noise and cut your mic.
• Uncheck "Echo cancellation" if you're using a headset (headsets don't produce echo).
• Disable "Automatically adjust microphone volume" under Settings → Audio — this can cause Zoom to lower your mic to near-zero when it detects loud game audio.

2. Prevent Windows from Adjusting Audio

Windows has a feature that reduces the volume of other apps during calls, and it can also interfere in the other direction:

• Right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar → Sound settings → More sound settings
• Go to the Communications tab
• Select "Do nothing" and click Apply.

3. Set Zoom's Audio Device Manually

Instead of letting Zoom auto-detect:

• In Settings → Audio, manually select your USB headset for both Speaker and Microphone (don't use "Same as System").
• This prevents Zoom from switching devices mid-session if Windows reassigns audio priority to the game.

4. Reduce CPU/Resource Competition

Games + Zoom on the same machine can cause CPU spikes that starve Zoom's audio processing:

• In Zoom Settings → Video, lower your video resolution or turn off video entirely during gaming sessions.
• In Zoom Settings → General, enable "Use hardware acceleration" for audio processing.
• In your game, consider capping your frame rate (e.g., 60fps) to free up CPU headroom for Zoom.

5. Update Your USB Audio Drivers

Even though the headset works outside Zoom, driver conflicts can surface under heavy load:

• Go to Device Manager → Sound, video and game controllers
• Right-click your USB headset → Update driver
• Also check the headset manufacturer's website for any firmware updates.

6. Check Windows Power Plan

If you're on a laptop or using a balanced power plan:

• Go to Settings → System → Power → Power mode and set it to Best performance
• A balanced/power-saver plan can throttle CPU during sustained load, causing audio dropouts.

Quick Test: Try a Zoom call without the game running for 30+ minutes to confirm the issue only happens during gaming. If audio is stable without the game, it's definitely a resource contention issue (fixes #4 and #6 above will help the most).

Hope this helps — let us know which fix works for you!