Phone call with headphones while gaming

[NCEric]

Hi, not sure if solution is hardware, or software so forgive me for posting under "General".

 

We recently got a gaming PC for my son's 5th grade graduation (really it's for the family as well).

He likes to talk on the phone to several friends whether he's on his iPad or on the new gaming PC.

He just places it on speaker phone and now everyone around him gets to hear not only him screaming, but also his friends screaming, and also the game audio.

For his iPad I understand that might be the best way for him to do that but at least with his iPad we can tell him to go to a different part of the house.

 

While he's on the gaming PC I'd like a solution where he could use his headset for both the phone call and computer audio.

This way that's two less things I need to listen to and I'd only be hearing my son screaming.

 

What are my options?... software, hardware or otherwise.

 

He does have one friend with a computer... so maybe there's a software solution there for just him.  What's the go-to nowadays?... used to use TeamSpeak back in the day.

 

His other friends would be restricted to phone calls though.  Not sure if there's a software solution for that or not, like some app he can make a real phone call with from his PC.

If no software solution what hardware solutions are there?

[SpookyCitrus]

Regardless of what you use your son is going to need a headset with a mic. If you don't want to hear his game audio or friends that is going to be a must.

 

Software wise.

Discord is the current voip program for gaming and chatting with friends. It works on both mobile and computer. It's likely what he's already using on his phone, most kids these days use it even if they aren't gamers. You can be in a call on either mobile or computer so even friends without a computer can use it too. If he is already using Discord he simply needs to just use it from the computer and not his phone. Then it will go through whatever audio output device is on the computer. So if he has a headset with microphone he will be able to listen and talk to his friends.

 

If discord isn't an option.

If they are using actual phone calls your kind of out of luck, not much he can do there. Maybe setup a google voice number so that he can be added to his friends calls through the computer and it can run through a headset. Again you'll need a headset if he doesn't already have one and you'll need to setup a google voice phone number for him.

 

Hardware wise.

There are some headsets out there that are wireless but can have a dual connection to bluetooth at the same time. They're just pretty expensive. I have the Steel Series Nova Pro Wireless and it can play audio from my computer via it's wireless audio hub while simultaneously being connected to my cellphone via bluetooth for phone calls. The downside is it's a $350 headset, and I think it's one of the more inexpensive options that has that feature.

[vanpuffelen]

30 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

Regardless of what you use your son is going to need a headset with a mic. If you don't want to hear his game audio or friends that is going to be a must.

 

Software wise.

Discord is the current voip program for gaming and chatting with friends. It works on both mobile and computer. It's likely what he's already using on his phone, most kids these days use it even if they aren't gamers. You can be in a call on either mobile or computer so even friends without a computer can use it too. If he is already using Discord he simply needs to just use it from the computer and not his phone. Then it will go through whatever audio output device is on the computer. So if he has a headset with microphone he will be able to listen and talk to his friends.

 

If discord isn't an option.

If they are using actual phone calls your kind of out of luck, not much he can do there. Maybe setup a google voice number so that he can be added to his friends calls through the computer and it can run through a headset. Again you'll need a headset if he doesn't already have one and you'll need to setup a google voice phone number for him.

 

Hardware wise.

There are some headsets out there that are wireless but can have a dual connection to bluetooth at the same time. They're just pretty expensive. I have the Steel Series Nova Pro Wireless and it can play audio from my computer via it's wireless audio hub while simultaneously being connected to my cellphone via bluetooth for phone calls. The downside is it's a $350 headset, and I think it's one of the more inexpensive options that has that feature.

If Discord isn't an option for them, WhatsApp's app is an option. It's a buggy mess, but it does work for (group) calls. I sometimes use it, simply because of that feature. Phone Link works too, doesn't matter if it's with an iOS or Android device (at least when connected to Windows 11).

[NCEric]

20 hours ago, vanpuffelen said:

WhatsApp's app is an option.

Interesting.  He can use WhatsApp on his PC to make a phone call to a real number?  I'll have to check that out.

In the mean time I figured I just need a 2 channel stereo mixer and a breakout cable.
His phone has a USB-C to female TRRS adapter.  Just need a breakout cable to separate the mic and the L/R.
His headphones are TRRS and came with a breakout cable.
I'll directly connect the mic portion of each breakout together so his headset mic will go into the phone.
The phone's L/R and the computer's L/R go into the mixer and out to his headphones.

Once everything is working I might make it tidy and use some hot glue or cable/zip ties.

[vanpuffelen]

On 8/2/2024 at 5:31 PM, NCEric said:

Interesting.  He can use WhatsApp on his PC to make a phone call to a real number?  I'll have to check that out.

In the mean time I figured I just need a 2 channel stereo mixer and a breakout cable.
His phone has a USB-C to female TRRS adapter.  Just need a breakout cable to separate the mic and the L/R.
His headphones are TRRS and came with a breakout cable.
I'll directly connect the mic portion of each breakout together so his headset mic will go into the phone.
The phone's L/R and the computer's L/R go into the mixer and out to his headphones.

Once everything is working I might make it tidy and use some hot glue or cable/zip ties.

All you really need is to link your phone with the WhatsApp app, similarly how you'd do that with the WhatsApp webapp. You just scan a QR Code with WhatsApp on your phone. It saves a lot of money, and all you really need is a microphone, which is most likely already integrated with your headphones. Note that you can't call with the WhatsApp webapp. You need that buggy app.

[Featherblade]

If you wanted to stick with the phone but don't want to buy extra hardware, you can connect the audio out from the phone to the microphone in on your son's PC, and then use voicemeeter to mix his game audio and the audio input from the phone, and send that out from his headphones.


https://vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/index.htm

[saintlouisbagels]

On 8/2/2024 at 11:31 AM, NCEric said:

Interesting.  He can use WhatsApp on his PC to make a phone call to a real number?  I'll have to check that out.

Goodness such a complicated solution.

Tell your son and his friends to download Discord, and then buy him a headset (headphones + microphone).

 

If you want to save a bit of money, I like using $19 Apple's USB-C EarPods for gaming when I'm too lazy to wear my nice headphones and pull down the microphone. It's $19 for decent headphone quality and great microphone quality.