cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

How to mirror audio on two devices (soundcard and Rift)

maxpare79
Trustee
Ok here is a little guide on how to mirror your audio on two different devices (soundcard and Rift)

The trick is to put your sound card (in my case Realtek) as the default device, if you have the Rift set at the default device and try to mirror it to the soundcard it doesn't work, only the soundcard mirrored to the Rift. Don't ask me why...

So here you go

First open up your sound options and set your soundcard as the default device:
c70xq1il6la7.jpg

In my case it's the Realtek High Definition Audio

Then go to the Recording tab and right-click...Select Show Disabled Device. This will bring up the Stereo Mixer. Right-Click on it and enable it.

rw43bpmx7ta0.jpg
8whcno7mytc9.jpg

Once it is enable, go into the Properties of the stereo Mixer

z6giflau3w2j.jpg

In the Properties, go to the Listen tab and then check the box "Listen to this device" .
Under the "Playback through this device, select Headphones (Rift Audio) from the drop down menu

fv130d3w754i.jpg

Finally on the Advanced tab uncheck Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device

94l2myyqbomq.jpg

And that's it you are all set, you will now hear the sound from your speakers and your Rift!

You can adjust the listening levels in the Levels tab of the Stereo Mix properties, but raising the volume of your PC will still raise the volume of your Rift, you can just create a volume offset between the 2 devices.

It does create a tiny lag between the two device but the sound is still in sync with the image so don't worry about it

I am a spacesim/flightsim/racesim enthusiast first 🙂 I9 9900k@5.0, 32gb RAM/ 2080ti Former DK2, Gear VR,CV1 and Rift S owner
41 REPLIES 41

Stryker1000
Heroic Explorer
max ....can you get cyber to sticky this thread for future reference ?.

maxpare79
Trustee
I will ask him
I am a spacesim/flightsim/racesim enthusiast first 🙂 I9 9900k@5.0, 32gb RAM/ 2080ti Former DK2, Gear VR,CV1 and Rift S owner

RobHermans
Superstar
No harm in asking. 🙂 My guess is that he will say he doesn't like too many sticky threads.

I do have a suggestion which I might put to him though: create a separate category for FAQs. Threads asking questions which have already been answered are way too common on these forums, mainly because the search function isn't very powerful. Imo a category dedicated to helping new users to answer the most common questions will at least lessen the clutter in the General and Support categories.

Stryker1000
Heroic Explorer
seems a bit ironic that steam does support for these types of systems ...yet oculus home doesn't ...especially as oculus are trying to encourage us all to purchase their games through OH yet doesn't support this particular feature .

maxpare79
Trustee
I think it might have to do with the spatial audio in the Rift SDK, anyway they are working on a solution for it, so we will see it in a future update
I am a spacesim/flightsim/racesim enthusiast first 🙂 I9 9900k@5.0, 32gb RAM/ 2080ti Former DK2, Gear VR,CV1 and Rift S owner

nalex66
MVP
MVP
By any chance, have you tried going the other way--using the mixer to listen to the Rift audio when you're playing an Oculus Home game?

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3.


Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

Stryker1000
Heroic Explorer
I personaly havent ...cos I'm currently typing from work

maxpare79
Trustee
The mixer is set to listen to the Rift, it's the only way it will work at all. But once you start a game from Home, you won't get any sound through your speakers
I am a spacesim/flightsim/racesim enthusiast first 🙂 I9 9900k@5.0, 32gb RAM/ 2080ti Former DK2, Gear VR,CV1 and Rift S owner

Hicks613
Heroic Explorer
This seems to be specific to realtek.

I can't get this option to pop up on windows 10 anniversary.

Is Oculus going to allow this feature?  At the moment I'm using steamvr, and doing the alt tab method discussed on reddit.  This SOMETIMES works and gives the least amount of delay as far as I can tell.


  1. (If you haven't already) Setup SteamVR to mirror audio to 'Rift Speakers'.
  2. Close SteamVR.
  3. Change HMD settings in Oculus Home to use 'Windows Default' rather than 'Rift Speakers'
  4. Launch game via Oculus Home.
  5. Launch SteamVR.
  6. At this point I find my SteamVR home environment scene replaces the
    game, to fix this simply alt-tab back to the game to regain focus.


Anonymous
Not applicable
I want this feature in the worst way, and it doesn't make sense that it doesn't exist as an option in the home settings. There is nothing to gain by not allowing us to do this at all. It is actually counterproductive for people watching because they aren't getting the full sensory experience of watching and listening to what is being played by the person in the Rift. It is actually counterproductive for people watching because they aren't getting the full sensory experience of watching and listening to what is being played by the person in VR. Please add this oculus, it will make it much more enjoyable for a party scenario.