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Quest Pro hissing noise/audio problems

laslen
Honored Guest

I noticed a thread on Reddit with a lot of people having the same issue I am. I have 2 Quest Pros, both make a static "hissing" noise whenever playing audio. It is not dependent on volume, both headsets are brand new. Tried factory reset, newest update, nothing fixes. It happens on every menu, game, or link.

 

Is this issue known by Meta? I could find no info here.

 

See also (for example):

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuestPro/comments/yfomnt/quest_pro_audio_hissing_noise_issue/ 

18 REPLIES 18

ducko_
Protege

I also have this on my Pro aswell as 2 different Q2s. I think it may be caused by electrical interference in certain regions power outets or a ground loop.

 

About a year ago, I encountered a very similar weird issue with my PC and some external studio speakers connected through an audio interface. I would get electrical noise/interference from the speakers and it would change depending on which colors were being displayed on my monitor and higher.

 

I did a bunch of research and troubleshooting and read that it could be cause by a ground loop. So I took an old power board and physically bent off the ground pin, connected my speakers to it and the PC and monitor into the other power board and the issue went away.

 

The issue I had with those speakers is the exact same as what I get with my quest. I just did some testing by googling different colored images in the quest browser and it even seems to change the noise with the colors displayed too.

 

Im not an electrican and still don't fully understand this phenomenon, especialy when it comes to how it could affect devices that have a battery. I'll try do some more research.

ducko_
Protege

So I've done some more testing, and also tried to make some recordings of the problems.

 

Most of the time it just sounds mostly like a static/hissing like this: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1spgX90XcCjdGwlT7TXdjYReKSF0fASyd/view?usp=sharing

 

However if you pay very close attention you will notice there is minor fluctuations in the noise depending on the movement and colors being displayed on the screen. This dynamic "electrical" noise is much more noticeable while the processor is under load playing a constant ambient noise at very low volumes.

 

To reproduce this open up a standalone game with a high contrast colourful environment then open the oculus browser through the menu while still in game. Load up a YouTube video with some ambient sounds (wind seems to work best) and set youtubes volume slider to the minimum without muting it, then adjust the volume bar on your quest while moving your head around the scene.

 

I found it very difficult to record this since I have to move the headset around while holding my phone right up to the speaker. I boosted the gain a lot in this so most of the sound is just fan noise from the quest which I included at the start so you can better differentiate it from the "electrical noise" that plays after the silence: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eAn7douxmGx7VOhIN3dKfBzjhHXnL7GA/view?usp=sharing

 

As discussed in the comments the comments its seems I'm not the only one with this issue and I have a couple theory's as to what is going on.

  1. Its a software issue. Given the nature of the issue and that some people have reported not having it, this is the most unlikely cause but I guess its possible other just don't notice it as much.

  2. Its cause by a faulty chip in the headset. You can find dozens of posts from over a year ago with quest 2 owners complaining about the issue. Given how widespread this seems to be and people (inculding myself) claiming to have it on multiple different headsets (both Pros and Q2s), it seems unlikely that this is the case.

  3. Its a problem that only effects certain regions based on their power outlets (ground loop?). Given the evidence, it seems that this is the most likely explanation (I go into further detail about ground loops and how this could affect things in my comment above). It still doesn't make sense to me how a ground loop could affect a standalone device with a battery that's not plugged in. More data is needed to determine if this is true. I am from AU and my charger had 2 prongs (no ground pin)

TinyAngryPanda
Retired Support

Hey there all. We'll definitely be keeping an eye out on this now, so thanks for bringing it to our attention! If all possible troubleshooting has been attempted with no luck, please reach out to our Support Team by clicking the link here so they can offer additional support.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jbrojv/does_anyone_else_have_a_quiet_white_noisestatic...
https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest2/comments/ocmy03/my_quest_2_is_doing_2_weird_things_its_making_...
https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/bwvd41/i_keep_getting_a_static_sound_coming_out_of_the...

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/ju9l1c/am_i_the_only_one_quest2_statichissingwhite_noi...

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/lrgq5f/annoying_white_noise_from_speakers_is_it_a/

https://forums.oculusvr.com/t5/Oculus-Quest-2-and-Quest/Oculus-Quest-2-Weird-Buzzing-Noise/td-p/8408...

https://forums.oculusvr.com/t5/Get-Help/Buzzing-sound/td-p/840782

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/lkcuqf/white_noise_when_speaker_is_playing_sound/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/oso3y9/white_noise_in_the_home_menu/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/xmsjln/chorus_quest_2_white_noise_hissing_and_leftrigh...

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/rf74fq/white_static_noise_issue/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/niadoz/anyone_else_notice_a_bit_of_white_noise_when_ju...

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jbtox1/oculus_quest_2_static_noise/

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/jgg6gc/is_anyone_else_hearing_a_strange_staticky_hissing/

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/mppk6r/why_does_the_oculus_quest_make_a_very_faint_hiss/

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/qqd7oh/ambient_noise_when_using_air_link/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/mnsfbf/so_does_everyones_quest_2_make_a_faint_noise/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest2/comments/jku9f7/quest_2_terrible_static_noise/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/lcjmut/new_static_noise_issue_with_built_in_speakers_o...

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jbs40t/do_your_quest_2_builtin_speakers_have_an_audibl...

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuestPro/comments/ywj7qx/quest_pro_electrical_noise_at_low_volumes/

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuestPro/comments/yfomnt/quest_pro_audio_hissing_noise_issue/ 

 

yeah... not many people experiencing this issue...

RonnyBullet
Expert Protege

We have two quest pro and four quest 2 at work and all of them have this regardless if we are using them at work or at home, today we tried to quest pros outside and had this hissing also, doesn’t seem to be caused be interference 😕

Charpie
Honored Guest

I returned my Quest Pro for now, haven't bought one back yet, but I had this very weird hissing noise in the menu, when hovering items etc.

The audio in game felt fine, i couldn't tell, but it was clear in the menu, everytime.

Artur.Kre
Honored Guest

I returned my unit because of this issue. I also had a yellow tint in the display in all borders and distortion. The controllers often had a huge offset somehow and the headset strap left a huge red spot on my forehead. DLNA connection was not possible. So my overall experience was a total failure

HDHNTER
Explorer

2 Pros here & one just started this loud electrical static noise in the Home environment & when apps are opened. You can hear changes in tone/volume when adjusting sliders or moving the cursor over user interface icons. Have tried rebooting & it's still there most of the time. If it has faded to quied, it will fire right back up as soon as the headset is placed on the charging dock.

Heya @HDHNTER. We have been noticing this and we do get how this can take away from the VR experience. We'll like for you to create a ticket on our Support Website. There you'll be able to look into some warranty options. We look forward to assisting you and getting you back into VR!

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