Trying to use the mics on the deck

[Aphexamine]

hey there.

I love the steam deck. It runs mostly great but trying to be able to play and use the mic to chat with people has been an absolute nightmare.

So I have a 3.5mm headset. I dont have a bluetooth headset. I tried to use my 3.5mm headphones with the deck while talking. Nope. The mics get disabled when you plug something into the 3.5mm jack. Whats that? A fix you say? I booted into desktop mode, applied the "fix", and it still didnt work. So then I tried a USBC to 3.5mm jack and finally, i could use my headphones with the mic. Only problem, no power and about 3 hours of use. So, no worry, I will spend 50 bucks on a 3.5mm USBC charger hub. Belkin Rockstar boasts up to 60watts. So I plug it in and the power and headphones cut on and off constantly, but only when i touch any buttons. If I leave it turned on with everything plugged in, sound and power works fine. Its even charging but touch one button and the power light turns off and the headphones are turned off. But then leave it a second or two, and its working again.

I tried going into the firmware and changing it to "battery storage mode" this didnt work.
I just want to be able to chat while playing games with my deck. It has the hardware but for some reason valve must be blocking third party hardware from being used on it. Valve is forcing me to have to buy a bluetooth headset when i already have plenty of headsets.

Does anyone know of a solution? This is such an annoying problem.

[Aphexamine]

Originally posted by yokoshlomo:

Originally posted by Aphexamine:

hey there.

I will spend 50 bucks on a 3.5mm USBC charger hub.

Why not a BT headset for maybe even less? :D

Decent BT headphones for gaming are over 100 bucks easy. I was trying to not buy another pair of headphones as i already have two good pairs.

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by Aphexamine:

Originally posted by Škoda 14Tr:

try switching to DRD from XHCI in BIOS, rebooting and testing. Then switching it back for further testing. How does the belkin rockstar work when not plugged in into power?

it works fine. Audio and mic perfect.

I can give what you suggest a go. it wont brick my deck tho?

No, it won't.

[[?]legit]

Originally posted by Aphexamine:

Originally posted by yokoshlomo:

Why not a BT headset for maybe even less? :D

Decent BT headphones for gaming are over 100 bucks easy. I was trying to not buy another pair of headphones as i already have two good pairs.

Make sure that the bluetooth headset you're buying is compatible with linux, if you intend to use the wireless dongle with it. Gaming headsets are not supposed to be used over bluetooth.

[RolyGuacamole]

This is strange. Cuz I use my 3.5mm headset from turtle beach that’s $20 perfect on the deck.

[Aphexamine]

Originally posted by ?legit:

Originally posted by Aphexamine:

Decent BT headphones for gaming are over 100 bucks easy. I was trying to not buy another pair of headphones as i already have two good pairs.

Make sure that the bluetooth headset you're buying is compatible with linux, if you intend to use the wireless dongle with it. Gaming headsets are not supposed to be used over bluetooth.

Rig 600 HX. Has a dongle for the wifi, it uses bluetooth as well which doesnt need a dongle. Its made for xbox, switch etc etc. Advertised as good for steam deck as well. Can be used as bluetooth headset for mobile phones, apple, android etc etc.

[Aphexamine]

Originally posted by RolyGuacamole:

This is strange. Cuz I use my 3.5mm headset from turtle beach that’s $20 perfect on the deck.

yep my headphones work perfectly via 3.5mm jack however the mic disables. If you were paying attention its been established this is a LCD deck hardware issue.

[[?]legit]

Originally posted by Aphexamine:

Originally posted by ?legit:

Make sure that the bluetooth headset you're buying is compatible with linux, if you intend to use the wireless dongle with it. Gaming headsets are not supposed to be used over bluetooth.

Rig 600 HX. Has a dongle for the wifi, it uses bluetooth as well which doesnt need a dongle. Its made for xbox, switch etc etc. Advertised as good for steam deck as well. Can be used as bluetooth headset for mobile phones, apple, android etc etc.

It can, but you will experience very bad sound quality when used via bluetooth, when the mic is being used.

Feel free to test this on your smartphone, play a song while you are in a phone call, the music quality on your bluetooth headset will be very bad. This is an inherent bluetooth restriction, once your mic is being used on your bluetooth headset, the sound quality will be bad.

I wouldn't buy an expensive headset only to use it over bluetooth, for gaming. That's why every wireless gaming headset comes with a dongle, which will fix the problem.

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by ?legit:

It can, but you will experience very bad sound quality when used via bluetooth, when the mic is being used.

Feel free to test this on your smartphone, play a song while you are in a phone call, the music quality on your bluetooth headset will be very bad. This is an inherent bluetooth restriction, once your mic is being used on your bluetooth headset, the sound quality will be bad.

I wouldn't buy an expensive headset only to use it over bluetooth, for gaming. That's why every wireless gaming headset comes with a dongle, which will fix the problem.

This guys isn't wrong. Linux audio is pretty much a labor of love. I am still surprise pipewire manage to come out at all.

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/-/merge_requests/227#note_728200

I am not joking when I can claim there are only 3 full time audio maintainers for all of Linux. Anything important added to Linux can only be review by 3 at most engineers. Sometimes the count goes down to two or one. The situation above happened due to the lack resources.

All other Linux audio engineers are adjacent to the core components.

[Aphexamine]

Originally posted by ?legit:

Originally posted by Aphexamine:

Rig 600 HX. Has a dongle for the wifi, it uses bluetooth as well which doesnt need a dongle. Its made for xbox, switch etc etc. Advertised as good for steam deck as well. Can be used as bluetooth headset for mobile phones, apple, android etc etc.

It can, but you will experience very bad sound quality when used via bluetooth, when the mic is being used.

Feel free to test this on your smartphone, play a song while you are in a phone call, the music quality on your bluetooth headset will be very bad. This is an inherent bluetooth restriction, once your mic is being used on your bluetooth headset, the sound quality will be bad.

I wouldn't buy an expensive headset only to use it over bluetooth, for gaming. That's why every wireless gaming headset comes with a dongle, which will fix the problem.

Right, this doesnt help. What is my solution then? I just want to be able to speak thru my steamdeck.

[Aphexamine]

Originally posted by deaddoof:

Originally posted by ?legit:

It can, but you will experience very bad sound quality when used via bluetooth, when the mic is being used.

Feel free to test this on your smartphone, play a song while you are in a phone call, the music quality on your bluetooth headset will be very bad. This is an inherent bluetooth restriction, once your mic is being used on your bluetooth headset, the sound quality will be bad.

I wouldn't buy an expensive headset only to use it over bluetooth, for gaming. That's why every wireless gaming headset comes with a dongle, which will fix the problem.

This guys isn't wrong. Linux audio is pretty much a labor of love. I am still surprise pipewire manage to come out at all.

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/-/merge_requests/227#note_728200

I am not joking when I can claim there are only 3 full time audio maintainers for all of Linux. Anything important added to Linux can only be review by 3 at most engineers. Sometimes the count goes down to two or one. The situation above happened due to the lack resources.

All other Linux audio engineers are adjacent to the core components.

Once again, doesnt help.

[Aphexamine]

For anyone who wants to contribute to my post, I am looking to be able to use a headset that I can also chat with on the steamdeck. It should be pretty straight forward, im not some IT genius I am just a gamer who wants to be able to chat with voice while I use my steamdeck.

[Aphexamine]

Options for headphones I am looking at:
HyperX Cloud Alpha
Turtle beach recon 500

Both of these are 3.5mm with mics. Will the mic work via 3.5mm? From what I have been told, plugging anything into the 3.5mm disables the mic.

Can someone just tell me a reliable pair of headphones that work with the steamdeck? I cannot use any dongles.

[Aphexamine]

Audio-Technica ATH-GL3 ?

[Aphexamine]

SOLVED.

I bought a pair of Rig 300 Pro HA and they work perfectly.

Someone needs to make a list of headphones that work with the steamdeck that are not USBC/Bluetooth and that keeps in mind the audio limitations of the device.

[RolyGuacamole]

im on the lcd also. my mic never disables. who knows