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Voice chat

Talk to people with your microphone, in nearby voice (people around you), in IMs and in group calls.

Setting up

  1. Open Me → Preferences → Sound & Media and scroll down. Make sure Voice Chat is Enabled and its volume isn't muted.
  2. Click Voice Input/Output devices. Choose your microphone under Input and your speakers or headset under Output (or Default System Device). Speak and watch the level meter; adjust Mic volume so it moves clearly but doesn't max out.
  3. Optional: Microphone Noise Suppression, Echo Cancellation and Automatic Gain Control clean up your microphone. Headphones avoid echo altogether.

Talking

  • Click Speak (the toolbar button or in the Conversations window) to talk.
  • By default you talk while holding the button. With Toggle speak on/off with toolbar button (Sound & Media), one click turns your microphone on and another turns it off.
  • The middle mouse button also works as push-to-talk. Change it in Me → Preferences → Controls.
  • A green dot above someone's head shows they're talking (turn it off with Show voice dot above avatars). The radar's voice column sorts people by how loud they are.

Hear voice from (Sound & Media) chooses whether voices sound like they come from where your camera is or from where your avatar is.

Private and group calls

Open an IM or group chat in the Conversations window and click Open voice connection. Disconnect from voice (right-click the conversation) ends the call. Switch off microphone when ending calls (Preferences → Privacy) turns your mic off afterwards.

Troubleshooting

Speak is greyed out

  • Voice is turned off for the parcel or region (the land owner decides). Try another place, such as a voice-enabled sandbox.
  • Voice Chat is not Enabled in Sound & Media.
  • You just logged in or teleported: give it a few seconds to connect.

Nobody can hear me

  • Check Input in Voice Input/Output devices and watch the level meter while you talk.
  • Check your computer isn't muting the microphone for Slipstream: on Windows in Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone, on Linux in your desktop's sound settings (or pavucontrol, Recording tab, while you're talking).
  • If you use the toggle mode, make sure the microphone is actually switched on.

I can't hear anyone

  • Check the Voice Chat volume and mute button, and Output in the device settings.
  • Make sure the people you expect to hear are in voice range and using voice (the green dot).

Still stuck? Send a bug report from Help → Report Bug; it attaches the relevant part of your log.

Linux

Voice used to stay off on Linux, with Speak greyed out; that was fixed in 1.0.0 Beta 8. If you're on an older version, update.