Speaker feedback when using a mic.

[ChristopherTrimboli]

My setup is:
-Desktop Mic - blue yeti
-Speakers - 5.1 surround

I think maybe the mic is always on and the sound causes looping feedback... it sounds really bad and i had to unplug my mic.
DM me if you want a sound recording.

[avaer]

Couple of qs:

1. Does this repro with closed headphones? If it does: it's a straight up bug :P.
2. Does this repro in chrome with e.g. exokit-home (https://home.webmr.io/)? It would be interesting if Chrome's mic capture had a built-in feedback filter because we might be able to reuse that 🤔.

If it's only with speakers, then I think it's an artifact of there being no feedback filter in the microphone capture (yet). Basically the mic input is a raw data stream to network and back again, which is a straight up feedback loop.

Needs more research and thinking 🔬.

[avaer]

This might also have implications for the multiplayer server which streams the microphone data: https://github.com/webmixedreality/xrmp

[ChristopherTrimboli]

1. I'm scared to try with headphones but i'll go get some today and report back, rip my ears.
2. It does not happen in Chrome. Only with the actual Exokit browser.

It seems like a quick fix would be to turn off mic on default, use a push to talk feature.
It definitely seems like the mic is auto-turned on in the Exokit browser but not in chrome.

[avaer]

Hm, mic should be off by default on page load; there should be no voice pushed to the network unless the voice option is manually clicked. Could it be that there was a lingering second tab/exokit in which mic was enabled?

Regardless, 100% agree this needs PTT. Filed here.

[avaer]

Added push-to-talk in #71, but would love to get to the bottom of this one and why there was a feedback loop, especially since there wasn't in Chrome. 🤔

Did you have a chance to test with phones? (probably any would work)

[ChristopherTrimboli]

I just updated to the new build, i don't hear the same issue now. I have tried holding down the T button and it seems fine. The sound loop only got bad after 2 minutes+ of using Exokit so maybe it takes a while to really start screeching. For now though it seems fixed.

[avaer]

Hm that’s useful info. If it takes 2 minutes to “screech” this might be a different issue entirely — e.g. an audio buffer filling, perhaps due to mismatched sample rates: #73 Will see if I can reproduce a screech after a couple minutes of usage.

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On Mon, May 28, 2018 at 3:58 PM Chris Eddy ***@***.***> wrote: I just updated to the new build, i don't hear the same issue now. I have tried holding down the T button and it seems fine. The sound loop only got bad after 2 minutes+ of using Exokit so maybe it takes a while to really start screeching. For now though it seems fixed. — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#70 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AGmu6ez5XXVlu--S2Y6lWnUjixc95IsWks5t3FbugaJpZM4UPJbW> .

[avaer]

Actually from @ChrisEddy's recording this looks like not a feedback loop, but some sort of sample buffer mismatch, running out of samples, or similar.

This would probably be fixed via #73.