Meta reveals details about Quest 3's upcoming microphone improvements
There have been many complaints about the microphones of Quest 3. As promised, Meta will improve the quality with a software update.
Meta's VP of VR Mark Rabkin discussed the upcoming enhancements on Twitter. Among the improvements are noise-cancelling algorithms that will make plosives and fricatives sound better.
Y'all spoke, we listened! Better behavior on don/doff muting, better audio quality by using our mic array differently, EQ, and better gain management (including working with devs who were adding more gain than we expected). More to come on this!
- Mark Rabkin (@mrabkin) January 23, 2024
It's also some advanced noise-cancelling algorithms with our mic array to make plosives/fricatives sound a lot better!
AdAd— Mark Rabkin (@mrabkin) January 24, 2024
Rabkin also called out that silicone covers from third-party manufacturers can cause problems, as they may cover the hidden microphones in the vent near bottom center of the front faceplate.
The microphone quality has so far been a weakness of the Quest 3
The microphone quality of the Quest 3 was one of the main criticisms of the headset. The popping sounds, which also plagued the Quest Pro but not the Quest 2, were found to be particularly annoying. And these were not the only problems with the microphone that users reported.
In October 2023, shortly after the launch of the device, Mark Rabkin took to Twitter and promised an update to remedy the situation. This now appears to be within reach, although it is not yet known exactly when the update will be released.
The quality of the microphone is particularly important in the context of social VR, a use case that is important to Meta. That's why many users were surprised that these kinds of issues slipped through quality control.
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