Hubs has audio issues on Oculus Quest using Oculus Browser. Suggest adding message: "Works best in Firefox Reality""

[markvandenbergen]

The hardware button to adjust audio the volume of the Quest headset does not work when within a Hub VR scene. So if you enter the scene with the headset volume down, there is no way to turn it up. You have to exit the hubs scene - turn up your headset volume, then re-enter the hubs scene. But it is not an obvious fix, so most people will just think it's a Hubs bug.

[markvandenbergen]

If you don't know about this bug (like me) you might wrongly think there is an issue with your video codec, or a bug in hubs audio playback on Oculus Quest.

[misslivirose]

When you say "exit the hubs scene" - do you mean getting out of the browser back to the main home screen (does this happen in both Oculus Browser and Firefox Reality on Oculus Quest?) or exiting immersive mode (while still in the browser's 2D mode)?

[markvandenbergen]

When you say "exit the hubs scene" - do you mean getting out of the browser back to the main home screen (does this happen in both Oculus Browser and Firefox Reality on Oculus Quest?) or exiting immersive mode (while still in the browser's 2D mode)?

Hi misslivirose - good questions.
On Oculus Quest, I am using the built in Oculus Browser.
By "exit the hubs scene" I mean "exiting immersive mode while still in the browser's 2D mode."

[markvandenbergen]

I just tested the scene in Firefox Reality, and the problem is not there.
Also I noticed that Oculus Browser has another audio bug - it always applies "pannernode" distance based audio, even if you set your video audio to "stereo".
For both these reasons I will use Firefox Reality in future.
It's a pity the default Oculus browser has these audio issues with Hubs, because that is the browser everyone will try first, and they will probably think it is a Hubs issue.

[markvandenbergen]

Maybe there could be a message and a link added to the existing message saying "Works best in Firefox Reality"

[blairmacintyre]

One problem is that Oculus browser is faster, so it supports more complex rooms, more avatars, etc. so, it's a tradeoff.

[christianprison]

We are organizinig a bigger event (Virtual Germany #4) on April 28th. Maybe one of the contributors would like to join us and see for him/herself what is the problem with the Quest? I dont remember it exactly but if I'm not totally wrong, the problem persisted even after switching to Firefox Reality. And I was on Quest 2 at least!

[goatchurchprime]

I've encountered this problem too. It could be related to an issue with Parties.

If you set up a Party with other people on the Quest and enter Hubs, Hubs does not capture the audio and turn off the Party audio, and you get an echo -- you hear the other person's voice twice.

Usually when you join a multiplayer networked game on the Quest with a Party set up, there's a message that says your Party audio has been turned off on account of the audio between players being done by the game (as it is with Hubs). Whatever this setting is, it should be turned on for Hubs (if it is accessible to a web-app like it is for a native app).

It is possible that there is a confusion in the system and the volume button is controlling the external Party audio and not the in-game audio. Same thing can happen on phones, where it can get confused as to whether the volume buttons control the speaker audio, the ringtone, or the music that was playing before you picked up the phone.

[brianpeiris]

Closing this issues since Firefox Reality has been retired. If that last comment from @goatchurchprime is still relevant, it should be opened as a new issue.