Looking at the Oculus Quest 2 headset, you would naturally assume that everything you need is self-contained. One of the first things that you’ll wonder, however, is you communicate using the device or whether or not you will need to purchase accessories.
The Oculus Quest 2 comes with its own built-in mic. It also comes with external speakers, so you will be able to both hear and communicate in-game. Most multiplayer games utilize the Oculus Quest 2 chat system, or the developer can choose to create their own.
If you’re wondering where the mic is located, it’s near the bottom of the headset, located close to your mouth, which makes a lot of sense. The closer to your mouth it is, the more clear and concise you will sound while chatting.
Is the Mic Any Good?
The Oculus Quest mic is great for what it needs to do. Is it the best in the world? Not by a long shot. The Oculus Quest 2 price point is extremely generous, which means that the company had to fling as much money into the premier effects of the virtual reality experience.
However, they didn’t exactly load up on the other features. You’ll find that the built-in microphone and the built-in speakers are adequate and nice. Unfortunately, they aren’t going to blow anyone away with the sound quality.
It’s easy to turn on and easy to use; however, when it comes to the speakers, there is a significant level of the sound leak. So that means that your in-game audio may pick up some of the background sounds from your game as well.
Sometimes this circulation of sound can cause problems, especially when you’re actively trying to communicate. You can either turn your game down or grab yourself some wired headphones or try to use the device’s “experimental” Bluetooth feature with your own personal headset.
Does the Mic Work with the Link Cable?
Not only does it work with the link cable, but the overall experience is improved. You get a little more leeway into how you want to set up your viewing, hearing, and speaking experience.
The link cable is a high-speed, fiber optic cable that allows you to hook your Oculus Quest 2 to your PC. It makes sense that the mics and speakers would work with it because it would severely limit the types of games you could play without the feature.
An important thing to note when connecting your Oculus device to your PC with the link cable is that your PC’s built-in mic may take over and be set as your main mic by default. You will need to check your PC’s audio settings and set your audio input as Headset Microphone (Oculus Virtual Audio Device). Additionally, you’ll want to check your Oculus desktop app to see if your Audio is set to your Oculus microphone. To do this, go to Devices -> Select Oculus Quest 2 & Touch -> set Audio to Quest 2 microphone.
Can You Mute the Oculus Quest 2 Mic?
You can mute the mic if you need to. Over the course of playing a game, you may not want to talk, or you may need to have a private conversation at home without the entire gaming world hearing about your problems.
In order to mute:
- Navigate to the Oculus Quest 2’s Quick Actions Menu
- Locate the Quest 2’s Home Interface
- Toggle the Mic ON/OFF
If you’re in the middle of a game and don’t want to jump off in order to get to the Home INterface Menu, most games offer in-game access for settings so that you can turn the mic on in-game.
Of course, turning it off in the middle of a game won’t turn it off across the board. If you jump to another game, the mic will be back on according to your system settings, rather than the game you just muted the mic on.
Can You Use Your Own Headset?
The Oculus Quest 2 is compatible with other headsets as well. There is a caveat, however, (isn’t there always?). While you can plug any headset into the 3.5mm jack on the side of the Oculus Quest 2 headset, Bluetooth may not be willing to cooperate.
Bluetooth is in what gamers would probably consider a “beta” phase of operability. From Oculus Quest, it’s in the experimental phase. So if you are able to sync a pair of Bluetooth headphones with your headset, it may not be everything that you expect it to be.
Fortunately, there’s a way around it. But it does mean that you will have to shell out a few more dollars. You can purchase a 3.5mm Aux jack to Bluetooth adapter to get around the issue and avoid activating the “experimental” Bluetooth feature in the Oculus Quest 2 settings.
Honestly, until the Oculus Quest 2 experimental Bluetooth feature reaches the point where it is live and no longer experimental, you can get by with the built-in mic and speakers. They really aren’t bad at all.
There is something to be said about the immersive experience of noise-canceling, truly wireless headphones, however, so we do get it. As of now, the experience may not be worth the trouble, but definitely worth a try.
Fortunately, the Oculus Quest 2 allows you to use your own headset because there’s something to be said about the next tier of virtual reality immersion that you can take part in with your own headphones, especially if they are noise-canceling.
Does the Oculus Quest 2 Mic Record Audio?
This is actually a recent addition to the Oculus Quest 2’s feature set, in addition to the other Oculus devices as well. You can activate the mic’s recording capabilities to record in-game audio, and now, you can cast it as well.
While it’s not necessarily an exciting feature, casting your own audio to another device, spectator mode is allegedly on the way as well, for web browsers (its already available for standard devices), giving you the ability to not only record your own audio and video but cast it to your web browser as well, at https://www.oculus.com/casting.
According to Facebook, this is going to be a developer option, however, so you won’t be able to put everything you do on the Oculus Quest 2 onto your web browser, only if it’s built-in to the game by the developers.
Final Thoughts
The Oculus Quest 2 didn’t pull any punches on the hardware development, and the device you receive in the mail is capable of going all of the ways on its own. Everything that you need—outside of a game, of course—comes with the headset.
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