Virtuoso lack of sidetone (Weak)

[Lionbrow]

I'm guessing this would have to be fixed with a firmware update as I'd think the sidetone is done in headset. I have an open ticket and will report back.

[HoodRat]

Been watching this thread closely as I have struggled with sidetone issues on the Virtuoso headset. My previous HS70 works great but the virtuoso's have always been hit and miss.

The day before yesterday it was working perfectly, then yesterday I booted the PC up and i could barely tell the difference between sidetone being on or off. The I found that turning up the master volume on the Windows mixer bought sidetone back and it was louder than ever. I then adjusted game and discord volume down to reasonable levels to normalize things. it means that I cannot use the volume buttons on the headset itself as they adjust the master volume but it is a workaround for now.

 

I love my other corsair products, and I have a LOT, but I'm very close to looking elsewhere for the headset. I wonder if the HS80 has the same issues?

[ScottFaber]

Hello. I seem to be having the same issue. The sidetone is very weak. I got this headset yesterday and it is super weak. Has this issue been resolved as of yet?

[jacanuck]

 

On 2/15/2022 at 1:43 PM, ScottFaber said:

Hello. I seem to be having the same issue. The sidetone is very weak. I got this headset yesterday and it is super weak. Has this issue been resolved as of yet?

Negative 😞

[ForumParticipant]

bump +1

Having the same issue. Would appreciate being able to turn the sidetone volume up a lot higher.

[MrAngryEyz]

I give up waiting, I'm done with corsair, moving onto the A50s.  Thanks for wasting my money!

 

[K0uds]

Hey, I just bought the Virtuoso headset and discovered it had a sidetone option which my previous headset had. The problem is, even with sidetone set at max volume it is insanely quiet. I can only tell it's on if I put the microphone up to my mouth.

AFTER SOME RESEARCH : I discovered the volume of the sidetone is tied to the headset volume in volume mixer, if you turn up that and then adjust all your other apps you'll find the sidetone becomes much better. At least this fixed it for me ... Can be a clue for Corsair's dev team !

[Gooseface Killah]

Thanks KOuds, I was on the verge of buying another headset and this solution has worked really well for me. I have the volume control on the Virtuoso maxed out (100), then have adjusted all of the volume levels in Fortnite to be very low along with things like Windows system notifications in the volume mixer. The sidetone volume is now perfect. Obviously this needs fixing properly, but I'm now able to use the headset without this issue causing problems.

[Corsair Elito]

Hi all,

Low mic boost:

If you are experiencing a low microphone on your headset here are some steps to adjust your mic level. (This may also resolve low sidetone.)

1.      Ensure that your headset mic and level in iCUE is set to max.

2.      Ensure in your device setting in windows, that your mic is set to the highest quality and max level. (Along with mic monitoring level in playback settings is also set to max)

3.      If the level of the mic has become too loud. Adjust the mic level in iCUE.

4.      If you are still having low mic issue after the adjust the levels and quality: select your device in iCUE.

5.      Select your headset and navigate to device settings and adjust the mic boost slider. ( If you dont have this option, make sure your iCUE is up to date.)

6.      We would suggest incrementally adjust the boost by a single db until you reach your desired level.

Please note, it may take some trial and error of adjusting your windows and iCUE settings to reach optimal performance. If you are having issues with this process, please feel contact our support team or include any feedback on this thread.

 

[pendragn]

Thanks Corsair Elito...but that solution seems to be for boosting low pickup of the microphone, not the feedback of what the microphone picks up back into the output of the headset.

The solution of increasing the overall Windows volume slider does work...but then you have to down the volume on all other sources which might play through the headset.  The volume knob on the headset becomes useless in this case, as that controls the overall Windows volume level...destroying the sidetone.

The best solution would be to have a separate sidetone function that gives proper levels and allow all other functions to remain as they are.  The sidetone slider is already in the software, but as the output of that slider is linked to the overall Windows volume, it does not work as intended.

[Jaumejcb]

Bump for any Corsair employees around, Please hotfix Sidetone volume 😞 Corsair virtuoso xt is the best headset i ve used with only one fluke, Sidetone too low, and no way to make it louder past (max) which is not actually loud.

[Tommym92]

Bump, I'm having the same issue

[BrendanH117]

Bump, just got the Virtuoso XT and I love everything about it except the sidetone issue. I might have to return and return to my old Void Pros.

[jacanuck]

Sigh 😞 2 years in and nothing.

[Hoppertron]

I don't have a Virtuoso XT to test this on (yet - prospective customer), but I've read this thread front-to-back and I don't think I've seen anyone try this yet, so can someone try it and see it if helps?

It sounds like everyone is looking at the Microphone levels under the Input device section of their Windows Sound settings (which is logical) but, counter-intuitively, some devices (like the KVM on my PC) actually provide Sidetone functionality through the Output device settings instead.  I'm wondering if the Virtuoso XT does the same thing and maybe that's why people are missing it? (Either that, or I've massively insulted the intelligence everyone on this thread 😅)

On a Windows PC, go to Settings > System > Sound.

Go to the Device Properties for your Output device (IMPORTANT: NOT the Input device - this is crucial), ensuring you have the Virtuoso headset selected in the dropdown...

Click the Additional device properties link on the far right-hand side...

In the properties window, go to the Levels tab.  Do you see a volume slider for Microphone there?  If so, set the Microphone volume to 100 and toggle the speaker button so that it look does not show a muted icon...

I currently have a cheap $30, 3.5mm headset with zero built-in sidetone functionality and this works like an absolute dream.

I really, really want to buy this headset but if something as fundamental as sidetone isn't working.....that's a bit of a dealbreaker!

 

[Gooseface Killah]

Hey Hoppertron.

I had a quick look at mine and it's only reporting a single playback device under sound settings, not two separate ones like your KVM device.

I quite like the headset having lived with it for a few months, but to be totally happy I had to do the following:

- Add an additional cushion wrap to the headband for comfort

- Switch out the default earcups for more comfortable / breathable ones

- Run FXSound to get decent audio quality, as the iCue EQ was not working for me

In terms of sidetone, I'm still having to use the headset on max volume and reduce the volume way down in Fortnite and in the Windows sound mixer. However having got used to this I'm pretty happy with the experience using the headset. Basically if you can be bothered to do all of these things then I think you'll like it, but obviously it's quite a lot for an expensive headset.

Good luck.

[Hoppertron]

Hey Gooseface,

Thanks for looking into it.  That's a damn shame.

Hopefully the devs sort it soon/eventually.  In my search for a headset from an upstanding company with good support, Corsair agents seem to care and be on the more proactive side when it comes to monitoring forums and Reddit for issues.  It would be nice to think they'll eventually come good.

Thanks for the other tips, especially about FXSound - I'd never heard of that before but sounds really useful.

[Gooseface Killah]

When I first unboxed the headset the sound was very flat, but after playing around with FXSound they actually sound great.

I also put on earcups which make them a bit more like open back headphones (Geekria Comfort Linen) and I wonder if this has helped with the sidetone issue, because they don't block out sound in the same way so I think the weak sidetone is not something I noticed as much (I hear a little more of my own voice because of the earcups). Obviously this won't suit everyone, but I think it helped and I don't mind about leaking noise.

It's weird, despite the issues I would probably get them again with a new setup - I'm pretty happy with the end result after faffing around.

It's a shame this issue is getting ignored though.

The only other thing that bugs me is that there is no power switch, so if you have them plugged in to charge then they are on / lit up the whole time. I have to unplug them and stop charging overnight so I can sleep.

 

 

[jacanuck]

On 7/29/2022 at 5:00 PM, Hoppertron said:

Hey Gooseface,

Thanks for looking into it.  That's a damn shame.

Hopefully the devs sort it soon/eventually.  In my search for a headset from an upstanding company with good support, Corsair agents seem to care and be on the more proactive side when it comes to monitoring forums and Reddit for issues.  It would be nice to think they'll eventually come good.

Thanks for the other tips, especially about FXSound - I'd never heard of that before but sounds really useful.

Unfortunately, Corsair agents haven't responded with any relevant information to this thread in 2+ years.  I'm not sure why you're signing into this thread to boast about how much they care.  This was a premium headset at a premium price and its implementation of sidetone is absolute trash, and was the only reason I even went with the headset to begin with.

[R051N]

 

 Hey guys, I know I'm late to the party. Just got myself a pair of Corsair Virtuoso SE at a great deal of 100US brand new 🙂

But, of course, aside from everything that I find perfect on these headphones, I am as well affected by the sidetone issue. 

I have read every possible forum I could find in regards to this and aside from maximizing the headsets and minimizing in volume mixer everything else, I did not find anything that would remotely make the sidetone reach a higher volume level. 

Weird thing is that it is not necessarily tied to the Windows volume per say, I think it read the Windows volume and the headset firmware adjusts as needed since, if you cut off the iCUE volume in the Windows Volume Mixer, the sidetone still works. Even if you turn Windows volume all the way down(to 0) and blow into headset mic, you can still hear a bit of sidetone. As opposed to completely turning off the mic. 

I have searched for the before mentioned config files and found something in: C:\Users\<youruser>\AppData\Roaming\Corsair\CUE4\config.cuecfg I think this is where the PIDs are for the various Corsair devices. Might be interesting to swap PIDs between devices(like putting the PID from one headset to another to check whether firmware will change according to PID). PID=product id. Composed of Vendor ID, Serial Number and Model number. 

The other thing I found, still in this path but in the Profile folder, you can see files for each profile you have. Most recent edited file is the most recently used. I found here the Sidetone level but it was already set to 100. Trying to set higher than that did not work. 

I think what is left to do is to manually check a firmware file if anyone has one received from Corsair Support. Maybe someone from this forum can pm me with a firmware file if they can 🙂

 

Regards,

Sorin

[Gooseface Killah]

Hey R051N. 

The only other thing you might want to look into is using Voicemeeter Banana as a software audio mixer and doing the sidetone yourself. You can take your mic input and route it to two destinations -  one can be your headphones (sidetone) as A1, and the other would be their virtual output as B1. You would then set their virtual output (Voicemeeter Vaio) as your default input in sound settings. You'd then disable sidetone in iCue.

I stumbled across this as I wanted to use a Streamdeck as a soundboard and merge  the audio with my mic. 

I'm not currently using it in this way but I'm pretty sure it would work, and the software is free to install. 

Good luck, hope you find a solution that works for you. 

[R051N]

1 hour ago, Gooseface Killah said:

Hey R051N. 

The only other thing you might want to look into is using Voicemeeter Banana as a software audio mixer and doing the sidetone yourself. You can take your mic input and route it to two destinations -  one can be your headphones (sidetone) as A1, and the other would be their virtual output as B1. You would then set their virtual output (Voicemeeter Vaio) as your default input in sound settings. You'd then disable sidetone in iCue.

I stumbled across this as I wanted to use a Streamdeck as a soundboard and merge  the audio with my mic. 

I'm not currently using it in this way but I'm pretty sure it would work, and the software is free to install. 

Good luck, hope you find a solution that works for you. 

Hey Gooseface, 

 

Thanks for the tip. 

I'm curious to see whether this works without delay as the alternative would be the Windows "Listen to this device feature" but that has delay 😔

[R051N]

19 minutes ago, R051N said:

Hey Gooseface, 

 

Thanks for the tip. 

I'm curious to see whether this works without delay as the alternative would be the Windows "Listen to this device feature" but that has delay 😔

Tried it. Has delay. It's messing with my head to hear myself delayed a bit 🙂

probably it would have less delay if it were via cable or aux but via wireless it has delay unfortunately.

[Gooseface Killah]

Ah ok, I guess any latency is going to be quite noticeable. Thanks for letting us know.

If you can deal with leaking sound I'd really recommend changing the earcups. I think sidetone is way more noticeable when the cups isolate your ears. I've actually been playing without much sidetone and not really noticed because I can hear my voice ok anyway with the new earcups. Depends on your gaming environment as to whether this is feasible, but it's working quite well for me. I'm using the Geekria Comfort Linen ones. I also find them way more comfortable.

Would love Corsair to pay attention and fix this properly in firmware though.

 

[R051N]

1 hour ago, Gooseface Killah said:

Ah ok, I guess any latency is going to be quite noticeable. Thanks for letting us know.

If you can deal with leaking sound I'd really recommend changing the earcups. I think sidetone is way more noticeable when the cups isolate your ears. I've actually been playing without much sidetone and not really noticed because I can hear my voice ok anyway with the new earcups. Depends on your gaming environment as to whether this is feasible, but it's working quite well for me. I'm using the Geekria Comfort Linen ones. I also find them way more comfortable.

Would love Corsair to pay attention and fix this properly in firmware though.

 

Hey Gooseface, 

I actually have tried this and am using mesh earcups. Local retailer Padforce. There is a slight difference but not enough for the volume with which I play COD Warzone alongside Discord for. I am using the Headphones at around 50%+ volume(Windows volume) and at that level, when the battle heats up, it gets weird when you don't hear yourself talking to your teamates. When I don't play COD but use the headphones normally, I can hear myself at an acceptable volume but that is not the main purpose for these headphones for me.

 

Thank you nonetheless for the suggestion.