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Guru3D.com » News » Valve activates bluetooth in Steam Controller

Valve activates bluetooth in Steam Controller

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 05/14/2018 08:32 AM | source: | 22 comment(s)
Valve activates bluetooth in Steam Controller

Yeah, you didn't know it had it right? Valve released a beta version of the Steam Client, this update enabled Bluetooth Low Energy functionality for the Steam Controller. You can use it to connect the controller to devices without a USB port.


The Steam Client Beta includes the option to add Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) functionality to your Steam Controller. This feature will be required to enjoy the upcoming Steam Link app, but you may find it handy for other reasons, too. I’d like to describe what this BLE connection can and cannot do compared to the existing wireless solution, steps to update your controller to add BLE support, and how to switch between wireless modes once the update is installed. 

 

 

When is it a good idea to use Bluetooth?

You definitely want to use the BLE connection when 

  • Streaming games to your iOS and Android devices with the Steam Link app.
  • Connecting your Steam Controller to a tablet or laptop without a USB port.
  • You just can't find your Steam Controller Wireless Receiver.

Otherwise we suggesting sticking with the original protocol. It provides the fastest connection, with low-latency support for up to four controllers per receiver, and works across all major operating systems. The BLE connection is excellent, but the native wireless protocol was designed from the ground up to provide the best experience for a Steam Controller. This update adds Bluetooth support; the original wireless mode is still available. If you have successfully paired to your Wireless Receiver and connected to your device over BLE, your Steam Controller is capable of switching between these modes. 

More info here.



Valve activates bluetooth in Steam Controller




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Fox2232
Senior Member



Posts: 11741
Joined: 2012-07-20

#5546673 Posted on: 05/14/2018 06:33 PM
As I said before, what matters most is if both ends are up-to-spec. BT audio is very similar to analog audio cords: the quality is only as good as the worst component. The aptX-HD protocol, for example, supports up to 576Kbps @ 24-bit, but it's a proprietary technology. If both ends don't support that codec, you're not going to get that experience.

Even those mentioned Marshall headphones have AptX. That itself is not problem. Problem is that regardless to what device you connect those headphones to, they will present themselves as 3 devices.
One for playback and two 8kHz for communication. It is poor design.

So I looked for expensive ones, $700 headsets had same stupid problem.
So I looked for Gaming headsets since gamers kind of spend time on voice chat while playing. Cheapest BT headset which works properly costs $330 (SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless), but that's no longer something what you would wear outside for comfort of not having cable.

schmidtbag
Senior Member



Posts: 5751
Joined: 2012-11-10

#5546680 Posted on: 05/14/2018 07:02 PM
Even those mentioned Marshall headphones have AptX. That itself is not problem. Problem is that regardless to what device you connect those headphones to, they will present themselves as 3 devices.
One for playback and two 8kHz for communication. It is poor design.
But if the other end doesn't support aptX, it doesn't matter if the headphones have it, thereby resulting in worse quality.

I don't understand what the problem is with the 3 presented devices; to my understanding, they only activate when needed, so it's not like they're affecting the quality of the primary stereo playback. If you don't want them to activate, just simply disable them.
For example with car head units, there's one BT connection for stereo audio, one for mic+mono, and another for steering wheel input controls. The 2 audio connections cannot function simultaneously; one will override the other. But let's say you never want phone calls to be answered through your car's sound system, you can go in your phone's settings and disable the mic+mono device. It won't have any effect on your other devices, but now whenever you receive a call, it will be answered through the phone itself.

Fox2232
Senior Member



Posts: 11741
Joined: 2012-07-20

#5546687 Posted on: 05/14/2018 07:19 PM
But if the other end doesn't support aptX, it doesn't matter if the headphones have it, thereby resulting in worse quality.

I don't understand what the problem is with the 3 presented devices; to my understanding, they only activate when needed, so it's not like they're affecting the quality of the primary stereo playback. If you don't want them to activate, just simply disable them.
For example with car head units, there's one BT connection for stereo audio, one for mic+mono, and another for steering wheel input controls. The 2 audio connections cannot function simultaneously; one will override the other. But let's say you never want phone calls to be answered through your car's sound system, you can go in your phone's settings and disable the mic+mono device. It won't have any effect on your other devices, but now whenever you receive a call, it will be answered through the phone itself.
How do you want to use it for playing games on PC then? Have you noticed that there are competitive games on android with voice communication too?
It is design choice to disable 44kHz channel and enable 2x 8kHz channels instead. There is no physical limitation preventing device from keeping 44kHz playback and opening 2nd 8kHz channel for microphone.

With cellphone and wired headphones /w mic... You pick a call, audio is automatically paused, but in middle of call, you can unpause audio and continue listening to music.

With those flawed BT headsets, you can unpause music too, but it will go into 44kHz channel which is ignored. And apparently, last thing you want is to listen to music via 8kHz channel.

schmidtbag
Senior Member



Posts: 5751
Joined: 2012-11-10

#5546692 Posted on: 05/14/2018 07:33 PM
How do you want to use it for playing games on PC then? Have you noticed that there are competitive games on android with voice communication too?
It is design choice to disable 44kHz channel and enable 2x 8kHz channels instead. There is no physical limitation preventing device from keeping 44kHz playback and opening 2nd 8kHz channel for microphone.
Ah get what you're saying now. You want the high-quality stereo and the mic support simultaneously? In that case, I could definitely see how you're having issues. For whatever reason, I wasn't making the connection that this is what your goal was - I've never known anyone who attempted that (with BT) so it just never occurred to me.

I have a suggestion of what might work (though probably not): get a 2nd USB BT adapter for your PC, and have that connect to the headphone's mic, while the primary BT adapter connects to the stereo. I'm not confident that'll work though, since the mic might just disconnect the stereo output.

Haha another alternative would be to have 2 BT headphones, one for the mic and one for good audio quality. I don't see why that wouldn't work, but it sure isn't practical.

That is a pretty bizarre problem though - doesn't sound like that difficult of a problem to fix (EDIT: for the engineers, I mean - obviously nothing you can do about it).
With those flawed BT headsets, you can unpause music too, but it will go into 44kHz channel which is ignored. And apparently, last thing you want is to listen to music via 8kHz channel.
Yep I've had that happen to me.

0blivious
Senior Member



Posts: 3115
Joined: 2006-04-25

#5546733 Posted on: 05/14/2018 11:30 PM
Bluetooth, when working perfectly, "barely" works so I would be shocked if their own wireless wasn't already far superior.

To me, bluetooth is mainly useful for wireless phone connections. File transfers are good for small files. Using bluetooth wireless computer components leaves much to be desired. Music through bluetooth sounds worse (in car, though a wireless speaker or on headphones). It pretty much always sounds better and is far more reliable through a wire.

Still, I'm glad we have a fairly universally adopted standard so we can do this wireless stuff at all. Someday, we'll get something better. I hope.

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