I am looking for Hardware recommendations for using Discord with Zwift.
Should I run it on a PC or can I run it on my iPhone?
What Headset is recommended? Separate microphone or built into the Headset? I will be using it with PTT (push to talk) selected for Audio.
Thank You
If you like having the Zwift sounds on (swooshing sounds and birds chirping and Ride Ons riding on and such), you might need to run Discord on a separate device from the one running Zwift. My laptop won’t play sounds from both Zwift and Discord at the same time–but that may vary by computer.
For headphones, I’m a big fan of bone-conduction headphones, but there are caveats for uses like this. If you have a very noisy trainer or fan, bone-conduction may not be idea as it leaves your ears open (although bone-cond headphones typically come with soft earplugs for this purpose). My trainer (Saris H3) and fan are pretty quiet, so my bone-cond headphones are typically plenty loud enough.
PTT with Discord is a pain, at least for me. The ‘function’ button on my favorite headphones (Shockz) can’t be mapped to the PTT function, so I have to hit the PTT button on my phone screen. Unfortunately, Discord likes to black out the screen after a delay (and I can’t seem to make that stop), so hitting PTT is often ‘waking up the screen then hitting PTT’ which is a pain. My team’s group rides are often social (lower speed, less heavy breathing), so we often just leave mics open and it works okay.
I don’t know if there are headphones that can map the Discord PTT function to their buttons. I’d assume so?
I am also interested in recommendations/advice here. Specifically how do folks deal with wind from fans? The microphone on my earbuds picks up so much wind noise that when I try pickup phone calls people cannot hear me. Maybe the discord app filters out background noise better? Thanks
use push to talk and/or get a better mic
PTT won’t help with fan noise when the mic is open. A headset that has a boom mic with a foam baffle/wind cover on it might help.
1 Like
I use discord on my PC running Zwift. Using Nvidia RTX voice will limit all background noise, I use a Blue yeti microphone mounted just above my monitors close to my mouth.
If you don’t have a good setup then push to talk is your only option.
2 Likes
I use an older pair of bluetooth headphones by Jaybird, their Bluebuds (not sure they even still make them). They are connected with a cord, unlike the new models that all seem to resemble airpods now. The mic is on the cord and it hangs down close to my mouth, that with the built in noise cancelling and adjustable sensitivity set up pretty high so the fan doesn’t interfere too much in Discord seems to work ok.
Other teammates use the bone conducting style and those work great too.
1 Like
Thank you folks for all the suggestions!
@Gerrie_Delport_ODZ : Nvidia RTX suggestion is brilliant, I’ll try that one first since it means I don’t have to purchase anything new (plus other than wind noise issue, I like my existing earbuds). According to Google, Nvidia RTX will work with GTX cards as well (which is good, since my PC has a GTX 1070).
@Mike_Rowe1 : I’ve been interested in Shokz bone-conducting earbuds for riding outside; I didn’t know that the mic on those would fair any better with the 20MPH wind blowing on my face than my current earbuds. Good to know! If the Nvidia RTX solution does not work out I will explore this next.
I use Shokz, and the folks I ride with don’t tell me that my fan noise is a problem. (As I posted above, only problem with bone-conduction is your own volume levels for hearing. If your fan noise is loud, you might find you need some foam ear plugs with bone-cond headphones.)
1 Like
Thanks @Tom_J … yeah, my problem it is not so much that my fan or trainer is loud volume-wise, the issue is wind blowing across the microphone because the fan is pointed at my torso/head. The wind sounds much louder to folks on the call than it does to me in the room, if that makes sense. Which is why I am hopeful that Nvidia RTX will be able to filter that out…
1 Like
adjust the sensitivity up in discord too, that will help. I have mine at about 60 - 70% so it blocks out the constant fan noise and I don’t have to use push to talk.
2 Likes
Right, that makes sense. I usually don’t have to use earplugs with my Shokz–only if someone else on the Discord doesn’t have a good mic. But my fan is quiet too. So even with good wind speeds, the noise level in my room is good. I do think a better mic is your key. Good luck 
1 Like
Nvidia RTX works really well for me too. It has recommendations for configuring discord when using it.
1 Like