I got my 512GB unit yesterday and immediately noticed the problem. The ground noise is unnacceptably high and varies between menus, in-game, according to the chosen power options, etc.

I just ran a few comparative tests this morning using different headphones to see how bad it is:

- Hyperx Cloud II: the ground noise is very noticeable at all times. It’s even more prevalent in the Steam Library than in-game but it never goes away.

- Moondrop Quarks (IEM): the most noticeable of all, given the higher sensitivity. Unusable for anyone who cares even a little bit about clean audio.

- Sennheiser HD 598SR: my oldest and most-used pair, usually slightly sensitive. The SD’s ground noise is a little less intense VS the previous two but still very noticeable and not acceptable. Once again, menus somehow show it the worst.

- Sennheiser HD 560S: slightly less noticeable than with the 598. During gameplay in Prey (2017) I can almost forget about it, although it’s still there. Becomes noticeable yet again in menus.

- Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 250ohm: the only pair which completely hides the issue for me. Not noticeable in-game or in menus. It’s a studio pair with higher impedance and lower sensitivity but it is not representative of a typical consumer-oriented product that most people will be using to play portably.

I am somewhat hopeful that this issue can be mitigated through software. Maybe it’s a voltage control issue with the internal DAC or something of the sort. My LG G7 ThinQ smartphone had a dedicated Quad-DAC with purpose-built “audiophile” internals and it read some audio inputs completely wrong, creating lots of distortion with some headphones and none with others.

I need to know if they plan to address the problem. I am not about to keep an almost 600€ portable device which can’t play well with portable headphones and IEMs.

One final consideration is that I suspect they have the pre-amping on the internal DAC/ Amp way too high. The fact that my Beyerdynamic basically run perfectly and without any lack of volume points to the source gain being way too high for regular, sensitive headphones and IEMs. I really, really wouldn’t want to have to send this back.

Same issue. Notably, the static is most audible when using nicer headphones (Sennheiser HD 569), but barely noticeable when using earbuds (House of Marley Nesta earbuds). I remember another post saying something similar, like it happens with more sensitive headphones and can be fixed with a dac or something. No static if I plug into the usb-c port using an adapter. Weirdly, the static stops if I have certain UI elements selected, but then there’s a little burst of static when I use the joystick or dpad to move to another. This happens in the settings menu, and the little navigation bar at the top of the library screen. Maybe other places, haven’t tested everything.

I thought it were my headphones, can confirm the same issue on OLED 512 GB.

I have that with the LCD deck too.

I have a Steam Deck OLED LE and can confirm the same issue

I think it kind of disappears once I move into a game (tested on Celeste and couldn’t hear the static noise in-game) but in the steam UI it’s very apparent

Same here. Started a ticket with Valve.

It’s a widespread issue. Look up this sub and there’s a mega thread somewhere. We’re all hoping it’s software issue because if it’s hardware they’ll prob have to do a recall