USB Headset w/Voice chat

I've been trying to get the voice chat to work with my logitech 350's ... but it seems to be refusing to accept changes to voice output or input in the dropdown... even with both set to the headset, voice comes out my normal soundcard, and no voice in.....

is this a normal bug? has anyone gotten it working with a usb headset? or is this just a feature that is still being worked on.
-----------------------------
On further testing, it's using the default windows audio settings permanitly... no matter what you change it to ingame it's won't change.

Yeah, the selection for the hardware in SL's preferences is broken. I don't know why they decided to release 112 as the first main grid voice viewer. 111 was much less buggy.

I've found that it seems rather inconsistant in this regard. Try to select the input using the preferences button on the login screen doesn't seem to work.

What worked for me was this:

Exit out of SL

Plug in your USB headset and check it's working properly in Windows and is the selected as both the recording and playback device in both the Audio and Voice tabs of Settings-Control Panel-Sounds and Audio Devices (in the Windows control panel)

Start SL and log in

Go to the Edit-Preferences-Voice Chat and try to select the USB device. It should now be selectable.

Sound volume button in the lower right hand corner opens tons of options! Try checking that out.

Also, I don't seem to see any difference between the communicate window and history.

Just a Windows specific note here about USB headsets:

If SL is running *before* you plug one in, SL will continue to use the default sound card and not your headset, so it's best to plug in your headset *before* launching SL.

Some manufacturers offer better switching than others. If you've got a Plantronics model, I believe a soundcard/headset switching application is buried somewhere on their website.

Yeah, or if you plug it in after you start SL, make sure it's the default device, and then disable and reenable voice.

SL really ought to notice when USB headsets are plugged and unplugged and switch the sound device it uses accordingly. Plenty of VOIP software already does this, such as Counterpath's i-Beam, x-Lite and Bria. It stands to reason that a lot of users will leave their headsets unplugged until they're required and this issue will escalate when voice finally hits the main grid.

it's not so much having it recognized, as i want voice only to be using it... teamspeak, skype, ventro, there... all of them the headset plays voice, my normal speakers everything else... it's quite nice because you can still hear people over top of music your listening to, or game effects (especially if your land in SL has a lot of spatial sound going).. or mute the speakers and keep using the headset, all without to much trouble or effort.... seems like SL will support it, if it didn't already at one time and they broke it... was just curious more if anyone had gotten it working or if it's something to be waiting patiently on.

I have the same headset (Logitech 350) and it works fine in SL for me. Usually I use my analog Plantronics though because it's a lot more comfortable.

SL does support routing the voice audio to a headset, and all other audio to your main speakers. I had my setup working that way last night. But, it was buggy.

Like others have said, I think some of the problem is that SL gets locked into a main audio device when it starts, and that can't be change. Adding to that problem, I've found that SL (or maybe even my headset) is able to modify the default windows audio config. So, I get stuck with the SL game audio in my ear until I exit SL, change the windows setup, and restart SL.

For instance, I use a Bluetooth headset device. I have three audio options: mainboard audio (winXP default output), Bluetooth SCO (no idea what SCO is), and Bluetooth A/V. For voice to work the way I want it to work, I have to enable my headset, then check that the winXP default is set correctly, then start SL, then enable voice. At that point, I get voice over the mains. Then, I go to SL prefs and set the voice output to Bluetooth A/V and I get nothing on voice (SL hears me because I get green waves, but I have no sound.) Finally, I switch to Bluetooth SCO and I get main SL audio on main speakers, and voice audio in my ear - perfect.

The bug is that anytime I try a one-on-one chat, voice moves back to the main speakers, and the voice preferences get borked (they can't be changed). But, if I exit one-on-one and use open voice chat, I can then change the prefs once again to have game audio on main speakers, and voice audio in the ear.

I know I wasn't consistent with my wording, but maybe it'll help in some way.

SL only checks hardware at startup, its not dynamic, any changes you make afterwards, are only recognised by the OS drivers. USB being one of the most dynamic as its 'hot swappable' device. Would be nice to have a 'refresh' function, but, would have limited viability, and therefore would probably appear as 'Wish List Item 1,000,001 to LL.

I just purchased the Microsoft LifeChat ZX-6000 wireless headset with USB. I have installed the thing twice and can't even get it to work. The cheap one that I have still works just fine but the wire is broken on it so I rarely have sound. Can someone tell me please if there is something that I should do that is not in the instructions.
Thank you!

What I am wondering, is if it has to be a usb only headset.

Would it be problematic if I just plugged in a standalone microphone jack into my sound card and had it output to my monitor's speakers?

If I can record my voice fine with this setup, would it matter when SL comes out with a voice client?

I can't tell if this is possible simply because I use a Linux based operating system and they haven't created a Linux version of First Look.

Standard Jack-plug into sound card headsets work just fine.

I have a Plantronics 310 headset which works perfectly without all this USB drama.

Yes, I know it's mono (there are very similar stereo models), but I want to hear what's going on around me in RL, and I really don't like the 'canned ear' effect of sets like that recommended by LL.

It's incredibly light, has a decent length of lead, the mic has excellent extraneous noise cancelling, and, best of all, it's dirt cheap. Also, like all Plantronics headsets it's well made and comfortable to wear.

I use a Genius headset, phones and mic.. it comes with a back of the head band, rather than over the head, which is great as it doesn't mess up my 'early morning, scare the neighbours' hair style... that is except when I scratch the back of my head, trying to decipher some of the typos and the mic is forced up my left nostril .