Play It Safe: Keep Microphones Off PS5

One of the standout features of the DualSense controller for the PS5 is its built-in microphone. It comes in handy for communicating in games if you don’t have a headset.

However, using this microphone comes with some drawbacks that you should know about. Let’s discuss them.

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Why You Shouldn’t Use Your PS5 Controller’s Microphone

By default, your DualSense’s microphone will activate whenever you’re playing a game that supports voice chat, as long as you don’t have any other microphones connected. However, when the controller microphone activates, it will also reduce the intensity of two otherkey DualSense features : adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.

As you likely know, adaptive triggers adjust the resistance of the L2 and R2 buttons depending on what you’re doing in a game. And haptic feedback is a more advanced version of the classic rumble feature that provides different feedback for various kinds of in-game actions.

In the PS5’s Settings menu underSettings > Accessories > Controllers , you can adjust both theVibration Intensity andTrigger Effect Intensity , which you might do tosave battery on your PS5 controller . However, when your DualSense’s built-in microphone is active, it will set both of them toWeak , regardless of the setting you’ve chosen here.

This is presumably to cut down on the microphone picking up the unnecessary background noise. Since the mic is inside the controller, other players would be able to hear some of the sounds from the vibrations and other mechanical feedback inside your controller. As a courtesy to others, it’s thus lowered.

While the people you’re chatting with will appreciate this, it makes for a worse experience on your end. You should thus use another mic when you have the option.

How to Automatically Mute Your PS5’s Microphone

Because of this, if you often play multiplayer games alone and don’t want to communicate with anyone, you could be weakening two of the PS5 controller’s best features without realizing it.

There’s also the risk that your PS5 controller mic could accidentally pick up conversations that you’d rather not share with people online.

To solve both of these issues, press the small button under the PlayStation button on your DualSense controller. This will mute your microphone, and it works independently of any mute option on your headset. You’ll see it turn orange to indicate that your mic is muted.

If you never use the controller mic anyway, it’s easy to mute your PS5 controller’s mic by default. Head toSettings > Sound > Microphone and changeMicrophone Status When Logged In toMute . You can also changeMicrophone Status When Starting Chat or Broadcast if you want to keep your mic muted when you join a party or start streaming.

You can change other mic settings here, like selecting your mic preference if you have more than one. Don’t forget that if you connect another microphone (whether wirelessly or a wired headset connect to your controller), the built-in mic will turn off and thus preserve your trigger and vibration settings. The physicalMute button on the controller also works for muting external microphones, and if you hold it for a moment, it will silence all output as well as the mic’s input.

Fully Enjoy the DualSense Controller

While the DualSense’s built-in microphone is handy in a pinch, leaving it enabled all the time will take away from some of the controller’s best features. Now you know how to steer clear of that issue.

If you were relying on the built-in mic because you don’t have a better one, there are some great headsets that offer a major upgrade.

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