The Skyrim modding community has come up with a ton of excellent audio and music mods players can install for unparalleled audio immersion, and that goes a long way towards providing a better sense of immersion and fantasy. This goes double for players who are sick and tired of hearing the same Skyrim soundtrack over and over for years on end.
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Mods that are related to sound and music elevate the gaming experience to a whole new level, and take one out of the real world for a little while. There are several aspects that play a major role in absorbing players into the world of Skyrim, and sound is probably one of the most important. Skyrim's audio mod offerings are vast and expansive, and we have updated this list to include more options for those who want to create a much more vivid and dynamic sound space.
Updated January 29th, 2021 by Derek Draven: We have updated this list to include more music and audio mods that greatly compliment the Skyrim experience. Since audio is such an integral part of the gameplay experience, it's wise to stock up on the right selections in order to truly bring out the best the game has to offer.
These mods also liven things up for seasoned Skyrim players who like to pursue multiple playthroughs. It can become positively tedious to listen to Skyrim's vanilla soundtrack and sound effects for years on end, without change. By choosing the mods on this list, one can liven up the game and give it a fresh coat of audiophilic paint.
15 Enigma Series - All In One SSE
Dragon voices in Skyrim are a hit-or-miss affair. Some sound great, while others sound flat and uninspired, and that can be a real problem when it comes to squaring off against these incredible beasts. The Enigma Series AIO pack does a shine job on every unique dragon's voice line from the game.
The result are more dynamic, varied and powerful dragon voices that better fit the atmosphere of the game. The mod page contains sound bytes one can listen to before deciding whether to install.
14 Quieter Interiors
Caves and dungeons in Skyrim tend to be rather loud places. There's an assortment of booming low-end audio coming at the player from all directions, which is an attempt on the part of the developers to make it more creepy. In reality, it's rather distracting.
Quieter Interiors plays up the creep factor by reducing the volume of these sounds so they are less prominent. This has a much more atmospheric and immersive effect - not to mention a more ominous tone.
13 Lucidity Sound FX SSE
The PC version of Skyrim was cursed with a less-than-stellar soundtrack, including effects samples which were downgraded to a lower bitrate. As such, they can sound fuzzy and low quality in an attempt to save disk space.
If that's no issue, Lucidity Sound FX SSE is available for gamers who want the most pristine quality effects, straight from the source. This is a remastered and remixed collection of sounds designed with enhanced audio quality in mind, for a greater gameplay experience.
12 Fantasy Soundtrack Project SE
If one's goal is to replace the Skyrim soundtrack with a far more expansive offering, they'd be hard pressed to do better than Fantasy Soundtrack Project SE. This is one gargantuan audio mod that adds 12 full hours of new music into Skyrim.
235+ individual orchestral tracks heighten the fantasy feel of the game in a way, affecting everything from exploration to towns and castles. There are two versions - a Replacer, and a Non-Replacer version for those who would rather mix soundtracks together.
11 Celtic Music In Skyrim - SE
This is an oldie but a goodie mod that was ported to Special Edition in 2016, and it remains one of the best music mods out there. Celtic music fits naturally with the rustic Nord feel of the Skyrim game world, and fans of the genre will love how easily it integrates.
This mod features 79 beautiful Celtic and Viking-inspired music tracks that liven up the game's rather aged soundtrack in a big way. Couple with a few Lord of the Rings-style mods, and players can experience a level of immersion like never before.
10 Immersive Music
After playing through Skyrim a few times, one doubtlessly grows tired of hearing the same tunes over and over again. Immersive Music fixes that problem by injecting 16 hours of lore-friendly music into the game to keep the ears tickled.
It includes add-on tracks for outdoor exploration, furious battles, or skulking about in creepy dungeons. All tracks have been normalized and balanced for proper playback without any inconsistencies, making Immersive Music one of the best audio add-ons one can apply on top of the vanilla game.
9 Silent Combat Music
For those who are sick and tired of that played out fight music kicking in every time one happen upon so much as a Skeever, they may want to download Silent Combat Music.
This simple mod removes the battle music trigger and keeps Skyrim's ambient music playing, even when combat is initiated. Yes, that heads-up alert is gone, but it does maintain immersion.
8 Immersive Sounds Compendium
This powerful mod packs in a ton of replacement sound effects that drastically overhaul Skyrim's foley, voice and magic effects with enhanced versions. Immersive Sounds Compendium was designed to enhance the impact of the game's major sound effects with an extra-special focus on realism.
Weapon swings sound proper, magic effects crackle and thunder with extra sizzle, and creature voices are more balanced. The best part is that it can be installed along with the next mod on our list for full audio immersion.
7 Sounds Of Skyrim - The Complete Edition
Welcome to the granddaddy of Skyrim sound overhaul mods. Sounds Of Skyrim - Complete Edition adds a massive amount of sound effects, voices and atmospheric tones to the world of Skyrim. Dungeons sound both frightening and foreboding, the wilderness comes alive with the sounds of birds, insects, and animals, and towns reverberate with playing children, laughing townsfolk and raindrops hitting the windows.
It's a beefy mod to be sure, but easily the most immersive audio mod on our list, and highly recommended for one's next playthrough.
6 SSE High-Quality Voices
Special Edition players will want to pick this mod up, especially if they're audiophiles at heart. SSE High-Quality Voices takes the higher quality NPC voices of the PS4 version of Skyrim and adapts it to the PC version by getting rid of Bethesda's XWM compression.
This eliminates muddy, low-quality voices that have been compressed for the sake of smaller file size, while upping their overall volume for a more even delivery. It includes all voice DLC content as well, making it great for those who want crystal clear conversations with the game's NPCs.
5 Thundering Shouts
Skyrim's Dragon Shouts didn't ship with quite the same "oomph!" that gamers witnessed in the debut game trailer so many years ago. Thundering Shouts aims to solve this problem by dropping the pitch of the Male and Female Dragon Shouts about 10%, while simultaneously enhancing their thunderous power.
It's no fun 'Fus Ro Dah'ing' one's enemies off the sides of cliffs unless they feel like a Dragonborn in the process, which is where this mod shines.
4 IHSS - Improved Horse Step Sounds
Nothing's more fun than riding nearly 90 degrees up the side of a mountain on the back of a horse. Why do it with unrealistic sound effects? Improved Horse Step Sounds is one of those mods that appears irrelevant, until it's installed.
It changes the sound of horse hoof impacts on various types of terrain such as gravel and grass, and integrates seamlessly with any mod that changes the in-game horses.
3 Improved Combat Sounds
If battle is a major focus of the Skyrim experience, players will want some good old fashioned sound effects to match. Improved Combat Sounds affects everything from weapon swings to impacts, wounds and archery effects.
There's a weight to the sound of each attack which reduces the tinny nature of vanilla effects in favor of more visceral replacements.
2 Illy's High-Quality Fire Audio
Fire in Skyrim is important to the overall atmosphere. Whether players are camping in the wilderness or kicking back at the Inn after a long day of dragon-slaying, a crackling fire can soothe the senses. Illy's High-Quality Fire Audio is a great sound mod that intensifies the sound of fire without going overboard.
Crackles are light and balanced, and a minor wind element is added into the sound mix for greater atmosphere. All that's needed are a couple of ghosts (or fish) stories to entertain the companions.
1 Immersive Dragon Sounds
It's safe to say players will be doing a fair bit of dragon-hunting during their Skyrim playthrough, and with so many encounters to be had, it pays to have a good sound mod that caters specifically to these beasts.
Immersive Dragon Sounds overhauls everything from attacks, to wing flapping and breathing to make dragons sound far more menacing. This adds a lot of impact to Dragon battles, especially when one comes in for a dive attack with the awesome power of its wings soaring past the player.