[Steam Deck OLED] Severely decreased audio quality at low volumes

[nadiaholmquist]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 1705108172
• SteamOS version: 3.5.13
• Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
• Opted into SteamOS beta?: Yes
• Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

This issue also happens in the stable versions of Steam/SteamOS.

When the volume is set quite low, very obvious noise in the sound can be heard, and at the lowest volume you can set the sound almost entirely devolves into static. As you increase the volume, this issue gradually disappears. It happens both with the speakers and with headphones, though it's most obvious when using headphones.

It sounds almost as if the bit depth is getting crushed the lower the volume is, and at the lowest volume there's so little resolution left that the sound can hardly be reproduced.

For me personally this effect is obvious enough at a comfortable listening volume with my headphones that it makes me not want to use the headphone jack of the Deck.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Set the volume to the lowest one where you can still hear anything
2. Do something that makes sound -- A good test is the Steam Big Picture UI sounds, as their fade-out makes the static very obvious
3. You should notice that the sound is of very poor quality and very noisy
4. Gradually increase the volume, while doing so you will notice that the sound starts to sound higher quality