How To Use Bluetooth Headphones On Discord Mobile

The voice chat and call features are some of the most popular features on Discord. Yet you can’t always use your speakers because you may not want to be overheard. You may also not want to disturb the people around you or may wish to hear better if you are in a noisy place or out in public. These reasons make the ability to use headphones extremely important and their failure to work properly can be deeply troubling. Nonetheless, it can be easily fixed.

Can you use Bluetooth headphones on Discord Mobile?

Yes, you can use both wired and Bluetooth headphones on Discord be it on your phone, tablet, laptop, or PC. Often it’s seamless and works without a hitch. You just pair your headphones to your phone and you’re good to go. Sometimes, these headphones act up and this may force you to do a little troubleshooting. This should start with checking the headphones and the device for issues before moving on to the app’s settings.

Why aren’t your headphones working on Discord?

There are many reasons headphones may fail to work. Given all the complicated technical details that need to be synchronized for Discord calls and voice channels to work correctly on all your devices, it’s a wonder that the app doesn’t glitch all the time. 

Discord actually gained market share by offering better sound quality than Skype and Teamspeak, which ruled the roost in 2015. Despite the superiority of Discord to many of its competitors, there are sometimes issues with its sound. The causes aren’t always clear cut but they’re not unfixable.   

Steps to using Bluetooth Headphones on Discord Mobile

While voice issues on Discord may be caused by bugs in the software following an update, it’s best to first make sure that none of the problems you’re experiencing are self-inflicted.

1. Check headset first

The first thing to always do is check if the headphones themselves are actually working. Check them for damage and battery level. 

Your Bluetooth might also be off, you, may have muted the volume, or the headset might experiencing some other kind of glitch.  Skipping this simple step might cause you a lot of unnecessary anguish. You can easily check this by playing an audio or video file on your phone or opening a random Youtube video.

Once you’ve confirmed that the headphones work on other services, it’s time to look for other potential sources of trouble.

2. Check your icons

Most phones show a headset icon on the status bar at the top of the screen once a headset is connected. If yours does this, it’s an easy way to check if the headset is actually connected. Also, when you join a Discord voice channel, you’ll see the speaker, headset, and microphone icons at the bottom of the screen. You need to check that they’re not crossed off. In a Discord voice chat, a green ring around a user’s icon means that there’s voice activity– that particular user is transmitting sound. 

You also need to check your Bluetooth icon. Your Bluetooth needs to be turned on in order for Bluetooth devices to work. If your Bluetooth is on, you should check the list of connected devices and confirm that the headset is actually connected.

3. Check voice settings

The voice settings on your device are another potential cause of easily fixable trouble that you need to check when you have problems with Discord audio. When you join a voice chat, tap on the speaker icon, it shows the available output options. 

4. Try disabling Automatic Gain Control

Automatic gain control is a system used to maintain the consistency of audio signals. It amplifies sounds that are too soft and reduces sounds that are too loud to maintain a consistent volume. 

Let’s say, for example, that you’re in a room with 10 people. When speaking with someone ten feet away, you will naturally raise your voice and then naturally lower it to almost a whisper when speaking to the person right next to you. This is a form of automatic gain control You intuitively lower and raise your voice depending on how far the person you’re speaking to is. 

Discord does the same thing but with complicated software. Since callers are often in widely separate geographic locations, the strength of their signals varies and the app has to modulate this and create a consistent output. But the system isn’t perfect. Users have complained of their voices being lowered to mere whispers for no particular reason.

It can be influenced by things like background noise, for example. If you are on a call with someone and a baby starts screaming right next to them for example, the audio output will be modulated and you may not be able to hear anything other than the baby’s screams. If your microphone already has automatic gain control, disabling it on the app might improve your audio.

How to configure your microphone and headset in Discord Mobile

1. Go to App settings > Voice and video
2. Check your volume slider to ensure it isn’t too low.

3. Check your input mode. Push to talk means you have to press a button on the screen to start talking. Voice activity automatically detects and transmits your voice.

4. If you have voice activity enabled, you should check the sensitivity of the microphone. A green bar means Discord is transmitting your voice.

5. Playing with the other settings like gain control, noise suppression, and echo cancellation will help with other audio issues like clarity and background noise.