Hey everyone,
New user here trying to see if I am capable of a project, considering my complete lack of electrical engineering knowledge! Hoping the good people here can help (and be gentle!)
I like to be thorough when explaining things, so apologies for the length of this post.
I can wield a soldering iron just fine, have repaired many a cable and understand (very) basic principles such as "don't touch the wires together while they're live".
With regard to actual electrical engineering, I'm.... lets just say, at level zero. I know what a resistor is. I think I understand what a capacitor is for, and I've heard of transistors. That's where I'm at! I can, however, follow a schematic and put components together.
What I want to achieve:
I play a VR game called Hyper Dash (if you're into VR gaming, I definitely recommend it!). The game is great, but the in game comms are horribly latent. I'd like to use external comms when I play, but still hear in game audio through the same headset. A lot of current players have strange setups involving earbuds underneath overear cans, etc, which I would like to avoid.
So, the devices involved will be:
However, the result isn't great. It works, but there is obviously horrendous attenuation and distortion when everything is connected.
Everything I refer to below is 3.5mm
The abomination I have created is as follows:
1 x TRRS female to 1x TRRS male & 1x TRS male.
Originally I did not have a seperate mic and tried using an all in one headset (like as comes with a phone), which is why I was using TRRS. Since splitting out the mic feed (as follows), I have jumpered the 2nd ring and sleeve of the TRRS elements of this cable. It is effectively a female to 2x male TRS splitter.
Here's how this setup currently is:
Phone ==> USB C to female TRRS converter (phone has no headphone jack).
TRRS Converter ==> 2x female to 1x male Mic/Headphone y-splitter to separate out the feeds.
M/H Y-Splitter (Mic Side) ==> has the lavalier mic connected via a small converter that came with the mic. I believe this is something to do with wiring standards (OMTP and CTIA?) as the mic will not work without.
M/H Y-Splitter (headphone side) ==> the male TRRS end of my homemade splitter above (though jumpered to be TRS).
Other male end (actual TRS) of homemade splitter ==> Quest 2 headphone socket.
Female end of my splitter (jumpered TRRS) ==> Headphones.
The biggest problem with this setup is that the audio coming from the phone (ie, my teammate's comms) loops back through the mic feed (even if the mic is unplugged), but ONLY if the Quest 2 is connected. The result is that my teammates are hearing echoes of themselves, unless my mic trigger threshold is super high.
From more reading, I think what I need is a mixer with an opamp (TL072??) to act as virtual ground, isolating the input signals? This may make me sound more knowledgeable than I am, but I geniunely barely understand these terms.
I can buy such a mixer, but they are more than I am willing to spend for this application, especially as I'm not even sure that this is the cause of the problem.
So, what I'm hoping someone here is able to do is tell me if this is even possible, whether it is likely to be beyond my skill level or not, what I need to know or find out (impedances of devices??) and some sort of schematic I could follow if possible. It's a big ask, I know.
As it is for VR gaming, (and I will not be wired to a PC), this needs to be as portable a solution as possible. My headset has a battery pack I can draw 5v from to also power the mixer if needed.
I have done a lot of reading, and found lots of schematics, but my lack of knowledge prevents me from knowing which, if any, are appropriate for my needs.
I don't really need any pots on the mixer itself, as I will control volume at each device.
Please also explain this to me like I am 5, and don't worry about being patronising or offending me if the situation warrants it!
Thankyou in advance!
New user here trying to see if I am capable of a project, considering my complete lack of electrical engineering knowledge! Hoping the good people here can help (and be gentle!)
I like to be thorough when explaining things, so apologies for the length of this post.
I can wield a soldering iron just fine, have repaired many a cable and understand (very) basic principles such as "don't touch the wires together while they're live".
With regard to actual electrical engineering, I'm.... lets just say, at level zero. I know what a resistor is. I think I understand what a capacitor is for, and I've heard of transistors. That's where I'm at! I can, however, follow a schematic and put components together.
What I want to achieve:
I play a VR game called Hyper Dash (if you're into VR gaming, I definitely recommend it!). The game is great, but the in game comms are horribly latent. I'd like to use external comms when I play, but still hear in game audio through the same headset. A lot of current players have strange setups involving earbuds underneath overear cans, etc, which I would like to avoid.
So, the devices involved will be:
- An Oculus/Meta Quest 2
- Android phone running the comms app
- A cheapo lavalier mic
- A Vive DAS (Digital Audio Strap) to act as headphones.
However, the result isn't great. It works, but there is obviously horrendous attenuation and distortion when everything is connected.
Everything I refer to below is 3.5mm
The abomination I have created is as follows:
1 x TRRS female to 1x TRRS male & 1x TRS male.
Originally I did not have a seperate mic and tried using an all in one headset (like as comes with a phone), which is why I was using TRRS. Since splitting out the mic feed (as follows), I have jumpered the 2nd ring and sleeve of the TRRS elements of this cable. It is effectively a female to 2x male TRS splitter.
Here's how this setup currently is:
Phone ==> USB C to female TRRS converter (phone has no headphone jack).
TRRS Converter ==> 2x female to 1x male Mic/Headphone y-splitter to separate out the feeds.
M/H Y-Splitter (Mic Side) ==> has the lavalier mic connected via a small converter that came with the mic. I believe this is something to do with wiring standards (OMTP and CTIA?) as the mic will not work without.
M/H Y-Splitter (headphone side) ==> the male TRRS end of my homemade splitter above (though jumpered to be TRS).
Other male end (actual TRS) of homemade splitter ==> Quest 2 headphone socket.
Female end of my splitter (jumpered TRRS) ==> Headphones.
The biggest problem with this setup is that the audio coming from the phone (ie, my teammate's comms) loops back through the mic feed (even if the mic is unplugged), but ONLY if the Quest 2 is connected. The result is that my teammates are hearing echoes of themselves, unless my mic trigger threshold is super high.
From more reading, I think what I need is a mixer with an opamp (TL072??) to act as virtual ground, isolating the input signals? This may make me sound more knowledgeable than I am, but I geniunely barely understand these terms.
I can buy such a mixer, but they are more than I am willing to spend for this application, especially as I'm not even sure that this is the cause of the problem.
So, what I'm hoping someone here is able to do is tell me if this is even possible, whether it is likely to be beyond my skill level or not, what I need to know or find out (impedances of devices??) and some sort of schematic I could follow if possible. It's a big ask, I know.
As it is for VR gaming, (and I will not be wired to a PC), this needs to be as portable a solution as possible. My headset has a battery pack I can draw 5v from to also power the mixer if needed.
I have done a lot of reading, and found lots of schematics, but my lack of knowledge prevents me from knowing which, if any, are appropriate for my needs.
I don't really need any pots on the mixer itself, as I will control volume at each device.
Please also explain this to me like I am 5, and don't worry about being patronising or offending me if the situation warrants it!
Thankyou in advance!
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