Having a great VR experience involves getting the best in audio and video. While the video element of the Meta Quest 3 VR headset is outstanding, the audio department seems to be plagued with issues. A lot of users have been reporting that the microphone of the Meta Quest 3 seems to be failing or simply refuses to work.
In a VR experience, having a working microphone is important, especially when talking with other people in various apps, games, or VR experiences. So, if you’re someone who is experiencing issues with the microphone on your Meta Quest 3, you can check out a few fixes that have been listed below.
How to Fix Microphone Issue on Your Meta Quest 3
Before we talk about the various fixes that you can follow to fix the microphone issue on your Meta Quest, it is best to ensure that the microphone slots on the Meta Quest 3 are clean and free from any type of dirt, dust, and any other particles. on and around it. Such things can cause the microphones on your Meta Quest 3 to not work. So, once you have cleaned that up, let’s look at the various fixes to solve this issue.
Reboot Your Meta Quest 3
A small bug can sometimes cause a few abnormal functioning of your Meta Quest 3 VR headset. In this case, if your microphone has stopped working, your first troubleshooting method is to simply reboot your Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
Rebooting the headset will help clear anything from the headset’s RAM, plus rebooting will also reboot the operating system as well as the hardware components of your Meta Quest 3. So, here are the steps on how you can restart your Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
- Ensure that your Meta Quest 3 headset is powered on.
- Now, press and hold the power button on the right side of your controller.
- Keep the button pressed until you see the Power Off screen.
- Simply select the Restart option on your screen.
- The Meta Quest 3 VR headset will now reboot.
Once the Meta Quest 3 VR headset has been rebooted, simply launch one of your games or apps that use the microphone and test it out. If the microphone is working, then you are good to go. If not, you can follow the next method.
Mute and Unmute The Microphone on Meta Quest 3
Another ideal solution to solve the microphones not working on your Meta Quest 3 is to mute and unmute the microphone. You can take a look at these steps to perform the task.
- Open up the Settings menu on your Meta Quest 3.
- Navigate over to System followed by Sound.
- In the Sound menu, you should see the Mute option, turn the Toggle on or off.
- Simply reboot your Meta Quets headset to see if the microphone issue has been fixed.
Is the Issue Happening With a Particular Game?
The issue with the microphone not working can sometimes be attributed to a particular game or app that might be having a bug. So, it is ideal to test out the microphone in other apps or games you can install for free on the Meta Quest headset.
If the problem doesn’t show up with other apps and games, you should re-install the particular app or game or check to see if updates are pending.
Install Pending Updates If Available
As it is known with a lot of software there could have been a certain update that might have triggered the microphones of the Meta Quest to not work. In this case, you can always check if any updates might be required to install. Here are the steps that you need to follow.
- Grab the controller for your Meta Quest controller.
- Now, press the Oculus button on the right controller for your Meta Quest.
- With the universal menu on your screen, navigate to the light side of the menu.
- The Quick Settings menu will now open.
- Choose Settings, followed by System.
- Finally, choose the Software Update option. The Meta Quest will now search for updates and then download them if there are any available.
Adjust Virtual Audio Drivers – (While Using Link or Airlink on your Meta Quest)
If you use the Meta Quest 3 with your Windows PC and have problems with the microphones, you can follow these steps to fix that issue when using the Meta Quest headset via Airlink or Link.
- On your Windows PC, you will have to download VB Cable.
- VB Cable is a virtual audio codec and driver that can be used for your Windows PC.
- You can download it to your PC using this link.
- Once the file has been downloaded, install it to your PC but, make sure not to interfere or mess with any settings.
- Open the Settings app on your PC and select the System option.
- Now choose Sound followed by Advanced.
- Click on All Sound Devices and choose the Microphone headset option. (You will see this when your Quest is connected to your PC via Link or Airlink).
- Double-click on Oculus Virtual Audio Device and select the Sound or Audio tab. Make sure to click on the Allow button to let the audio pass through the Oculus Audio Devices Driver.
- Ensure that Cable Input VB has been selected and check that it is the default option under the recording or input devices section.
- Make sure to tick mark the box that says Listen to this Device
- Now, launch the Oculus app on your Windows PC and click on the Settings icon or button.
- Select the beta tab and finally click on the Restart button
- Once the Oculus app and the Meta Quest restart, the issue will now be resolved.
Perform a Factory Reset
If none of the above fixes have worked out for you, your best bet is to perform a factory reset. Do note that when you perform a factory reset, all data that is stored on the device will be erased – just like every device that has been reset. So, make sure that you remember the account credentials for your Meta Quest as well as the other apps that you have installed. Also, if you have made any custom settings, be sure to note those down as well.
Follow these steps to perform a factory reset for your Meta Quest headset. There are two ways that you can follow to factory reset your Meta Quest headset.
Once the reset has been completed, continue with the en time setup and then test out the microphone to see if it is working or not. If the microphone doesn’t work, you will have to simply go ahead with contacting Meta’s customer support and talk to them about getting the microphone issue fixed or replaced. The microphone issue on these VR headsets seems to be a very common one and a lot of owners can be seen reporting about the microphone not working.
Closing Thoughts
This concludes the guide on how you can follow the various troubleshooting methods to fix the microphone issue on the Meta Quest 3. If you’re someone who has recently had this issue and was able to get it fixed, do share your experience and the method used to fix this issue.
This will help fellow Meta Quest users to have more troubleshooting options to solve the microphone not working issue.
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