Audio Devices

Audio devices in virtual reality and augmented reality include headphones, headset-mounted speakers and microphones. Headset designs can combine their own audio output and microphone input with connections for external headphones. Audio hardware reproduces the signal generated by an application. 3D audio processing, such as binaural rendering, generates spatial cues in that signal; SteamVR's audio settings also select the playback and recording devices used by a headset.

3D Audio Headphones

Spatial audio can be reproduced through ordinary stereo headphones. For example, the PlayStation VR2 manual describes 3D audio playback through both its included earphones and users' own analog or USB stereo headphones. The physical form of a headphone and the spatial rendering used by an application describe different parts of the audio system.

Arrangement	Physical design and documented XR example
In-ear earphones	Earpieces sit inside the ear. This differs from the pads of on-ear and over-ear headphones.
On-ear headphones	Pads rest on the ears. The HTC Vive Deluxe Audio Strap combines on-ear headphones with a replacement strap for the HTC Vive, with height and angle adjustment.
Over-ear headphones	Earcups enclose the ears and use a headband. PlayStation VR2 also supports compatible PS5 headphones in addition to headphones connected to the VR headset's jack.
Off-ear speakers	Speakers remain close to the ears without touching them. The Valve Index has adjustable off-ear speakers using balanced mode radiator (BMR) drivers.
Built-in near-ear audio	Apple Vision Pro has an audio pod next to each ear. Its audio can also be directed to separately paired headphones.

Headphone projects and accessories

Device page	Scope
HTC Vive Deluxe Audio Strap	A headset strap with integrated headphones. HTC's installation procedure replaces the original Vive strap and connects the accessory's audio cable inside the headset's cable compartment.
Oculus Rift Earphones	An accessory announced for Oculus Rift in October 2016. Oculus described passive noise isolation as a feature.
OSSIC X	A headphone project promoted through a Kickstarter campaign that ran from 23 February to 21 April 2016. The campaign described anatomical calibration as its intended approach to 3D audio.

Off-ear design

Valve audio engineer Emily Ridgway describes the Index ear speakers as a design developed for room-scale VR. Early speaker prototypes exposed problems with bass response, weight, sound leakage and sensitivity to placement. Valve worked with Tectonic on custom BMR drivers and used dummy-head measurements during integration with the headset. The account also reports qualitative feedback from colleagues and playtesters about off-ear listening and environmental sound leakage. These are the manufacturer's development observations and design goals.

Playback and localization research

A headphone's form alone does not specify the rendering applied to its signal. In a 1993 study, Wenzel and colleagues tested 16 normal-hearing adults inexperienced in psychoacoustic experiments. Participants judged noise-burst directions through Sennheiser HD430 headphones using another person's head-related transfer functions, or through loudspeakers in an anechoic room, keeping their heads still during each trial. On average, the headphone condition produced more front/back and up/down confusions, with substantial differences between listeners. This experiment concerned the tested rendering and listening conditions; it did not compare contemporary VR headset audio products.

Documented headset audio

The following examples describe the audio hardware in the named devices and configurations.

Headset or configuration	Output	Microphone input
Valve Index	Built-in 37.5 mm off-ear BMR speakers and an auxiliary 3.5 mm headphone output.	Dual microphone array.
PlayStation VR2 connected to PlayStation 5	Included stereo earphones or other headphones connected to the headset's headphone jack; USB headphones connect to the PS5 console.	Built-in microphone; the headset function button can be reassigned to mute it.
Apple Vision Pro (M5)	Built-in near-ear audio pods, with separately paired AirPods, Beats or supported Bluetooth headphones.	Six-microphone array with directional beamforming.
Microsoft HoloLens 2	Built-in spatial-sound speakers.	Microphone array specified as five channels.

Microphones and external connections

Microphones provide the recording input used for voice communication. The selected microphone, its input level and an application's mute state affect whether the application transmits the user's voice. Built-in microphone arrangements and external headphone connections differ between headsets, as the device table shows.

An audio connector's input and output capabilities need to be checked separately. Antlion Audio's April 2025 Meta Quest 3 guide describes connecting its ModMic USB 2 or ModMic Wireless receiver through USB-C, using a USB-A adapter. It identifies Quest 3's 3.5 mm jack as headphone output without microphone input. The guide documents software version v74.1020 and enabling an external-microphone setting before restarting the headset; these are the conditions of that dated setup, rather than a compatibility claim for every USB microphone or later software version.

Wireless headphone capabilities also depend on the particular headset and headphone combination. Apple's Vision Pro support documentation describes pairing in Bluetooth settings and lists selected AirPods and Beats models for its lossless and ultra-low-latency audio features. It states that ultra-low-latency audio on Vision Pro is unavailable in Japan.

Mounting and audio routing

Mechanical mounting is separate from audio routing. The Vive Deluxe Audio Strap requires its own strap connectors and cable routing. On Valve Index, the audio arms and speakers can be removed using a T6 Torx driver; pogo pins carry the audio signal, and Valve cautions that lateral force can damage them. The Index's external headphone jack is behind the face gasket. These procedures apply to the named headset hardware. Sony separately notes that headphone fit around the PlayStation VR2 headband depends on the headphone design and how it is worn.

For PC VR, playback and recording are separate audio-device selections. Valve's Index FAQ checks the active Windows output and SteamVR playback device for sound, then separately checks the Windows recording device and SteamVR recording selection for microphone input. In VRChat, the application must also select the intended recording device. Its PC support documentation states that a multichannel input device supplies only its first channel to VRChat, so a working interface's other channels may not provide the voice input the application uses.

Reviewed 13 October 2026. Physical audio arrangements, named headset interfaces, dated accessory and setup examples, application audio routing, and the cited localization study's original methods and results. About review dates.