Since we are doing more virtual riding, having a good audio setup with Discord does seems to make it more enjoyable and easier to chat.
However, it is tricky to do all the troubleshooting and testing while actually doing an event or race. I’m thinking of setting up some testing sessions so we can test and try out your Discord setups e.g. make sure there isn’t too much fan noise, make sure the audio comes through clearly etc. This would be both for experienced Discord users and people who need a bit of help setting it up the first time.
To be honest, I’m not sure if mine is working great either. Also I’m thinking this might be a good place to post the various setups to get some ideas of what works best.
I’ll start: I run discord on a PC with a USB swan neck microphone with a manual mute button. This sits on a height adjustable table in front of my trainer bike, out the way of the fans. I leave the auto voice pickup on and use the manual mute button to cut my voice off when I’m not speaking. I use Bluetooth ear buds for the speakers. Seems to work okay but feedback if it isn’t work be valuable
I’m hoping we can have 1 on 1 sessions or small groups. Not sure if we software within the club that can do that kind of thing or we can use something off the shelf e.g. calendly or similar.
I’m happy with by Discord setup and have no need to test
My Discord setup seems fine but would like to test it
I would like to setup Discord fresh and need some suggestions
I seem to have a decent set-up… Have not had any negative feedback on it though.
I hook up thru a laptop that is running Zwift as well. Laptop is a fairly new (2-3yrs old?) gaming laptop, plenty of RAM and a video card which means there is a lot of resources for graphics and sound at the same time. I run the video thru HDMI cable on my TV.
I do use wired headphones with mic though…to prevent any interference with Bluetooth devices.
Not sure if fan noise is an issue… that would be something for others to answer.
Oliver, from our last race together, you came thru crystal clear. I didn’t hear any fan noise on your end.
Let us know if we do any testing.
Kevin
I’m new to Zwift (like less than a week) but I have a lot of experience in COD (Call of Duty).
If you have a GTX or RTX video card, you can run Nvidia Broadcast (free). It has good algorithyms to filter out fan noise / AC noise / Chip eating etc.
I believe Discord also has noise filtering, but I usually run xbox chat with my COD friends.
I’d like to do group rides with WCC, I submitted an application, but I believe I need it to be level 5 on Zwift for it to allow me to join a club. I just hit Level 4, not sure when Level 5 is.
I’d be interested in testing, as my gaming laptop that I use for zwift I never set up voice for it.
I’m not sure many people are running zwift on gaming devices @Petee but nice idea for Nvidia broadcast. I think most people are using cellphones for Discord (doesn’t work for me though with my sweaty fingers!).
I guess the trick is if multiple people are quiet, having issues or just working hard you might not get feedback on the audio quality. Appreciate the feedback that mine seems to be clear @Bopper. Sorry, I can’t recall what yours is like (I guess it was either good or I couldn’t hear anything )
