Discord Settings for EN Group Rides in Zwift

Brian Hagan

Discord is what we have been using to communicate with each other during group rides and races in Zwift.  There are a lot of new people joining in lately (awesome!), so I thought this may help make it a better experience for everyone.

Steps for getting on Discord with Endurance Nation

1)      Download the discord app on your iPhone or Android device

2)      It's best to use non-wireless headphones (just the good old fashioned apple headphones that come with the phone work great).

3)      Join the Sunday EN ABP Ride GroupMe @  https://groupme.com/join_group/29902223/JHEyw3 

4)      Go to the group me and request to be given an invite to the Endurance Nation Discord channel

5)      Select the invite once it is sent.  I  will look like this:

                               

6)      Open Discord. I believe clicking on the link already will take you there.  If you already have joined, this is where it will take you.

7)      Select the three bars in the upper right corner

     

8)      Select the EN logo

          

              

9)      Select Zwift Talk

                   

10)      It will take you here.  Select the three dots in the upper right corner and click “Voice Settings”

11)    It will take you here. Click on “Voice”.

 

12)   Until you verify with someone that your settings are good with “Voice Activity”, do NOT ride in a group ride with this setting.  Instead, select "Push to Talk".  This will require you to press “Push To Talk” for the group to hear you.

13)   To use voice activity, get on your trainer with your fan blowing and any other background noise you would normally have. For Input Mode, select Voice Activity.  Make sure the circle under “Sensitivity” is the right of any sound measures.  Make sure none of the background noise measures in the green.

 

The key here is to leave the sensitivity marker high enough that nothing is transmitted when you're not speaking. 

Make sure the bar is only yellow when you're not speaking. 

 

But still low enough so that it doesn't cut out your voice when you speak softly: 

  

Remember, we want to put the sensitivity marker right between your softest speaking voice and any other noise coming through. This will take some tweaking on your part!

14)   Now find someone to test it with and you should be good to go!  The best place to find someone to test is the GroupMe.

scott dinhofer

@Brian Hagan deserves a big "atta boy" for this post!!! I think we see a member of next year's WSM class coming forward!

Shaughn Simmons

@Brian Hagan aka Discord Master,

Ok for Android phones also or is this iPhone only?

Brian Hagan

@Shaughn Simmons yes. I am sure it looks a little different.  I know @maurice matthewsuses an android phone.  

Stephen Cogger

Thanks for this. I haven’t gotten on discourse yet, but I have a feeling this post will save me much time and aggravation when I do.

Bill Bejin

I just tried to go to the link to ask to be part of discord and groupme said the group cannot be joined.  Help please.  I would like to try and join this Sunday.

Brian Hagan

@William Bejinyou need to go to the groupme and request a fresh link.  They expire in 24 hours.  When you are ready, go to the groupme and request. 

Ed Baas

@Brian Hagan  thanks for this!

Bill Schleining

I've tried several times to get Discord to work. Maybe someone can see something in my settings (below) that I am missing?    I can hear everyone OK, but no one can hear me.  I'm using a headphone with mic that I know works (is OK for phone calls) plugged into an iPhone w/ iOS 11. I have tried both Push to Talk and Voice Activity (and tried different sensitivity settings on the slider).  But there are several settings that I have not seen any recommendations for-

The first is on the user setting screen- "In App Browser" is the default, the other option is "Safari"
Next one I found by clicking on the triangle/circles icon at bottom right when in the voice channel. That brings up a choice of Headphones or iPhone.

Anyone know if these more obscure settings matter, and if so what the preferred settings should be?

Otherwise I'll never be able to answer when people ask "where did that Bill guy go that fell behind after the start .

Alicia Chase

@Bill Schleining Neither of those settings should be an issue. The second one is  basically your control panel, and it’s asking whether you want to play music through your headphones or iPhone speaker. I do find the sensitivity on my iPad for Discord is pretty low. Is your phone sound on (the little slider on the left side of the phone)? And maybe try turning your phone volume all the way up? I’ve found that people can’t hear me if I have my volume set where I can comfortably hear music, I have to set it to max when using discord.

Gordon Cherwoniak

@Brian Hagan or to anyone else...

 Problem - I need an invite to the Endurance Nation Discord Channel.  I have no cell phone just an android pad and the link above does not appear to work on my computer web browser or pad.  I get a "Sorry, but this group is no longer joinable." message.

My discord username is G.Cherwoniak(teamEN) and with the # it's G.Cherwoniak(teamEN)#1604 - My email is cherwoniakg@gmail.com perhaps it's easier to search me out that way.  Not sure you can send a specific channel invite to my email so perhaps its better to do it within the app.  

Thanks in advance.

Brian Hagan

@Gordon Cherwoniakthe links go bad after 24 hours.  Go to the groupme and ask for a new invite when you are ready. 

Brian Hagan

@Bill Schleining - Are you still having this problem?  If so, try 2 things - 1) Send my a message via groupme so we can get on together and I can look at your settings 2) see if you can try another headset (preferably wired).  I had a headset that worked fine for calls, but not for discord.

Sheila Leard

Bump

I'm revisiting this topic to let new folks and myself learn the correct Discord settings. Following the instructions above to get this:

Thanks @Brian Hagan @Tim Sullivan

EugenePartridge

When I go to @ ; https://groupme.com/join_group/29902223/JHEyw3 , requesting to join ,I get a pop message saying

Not available. Not sure why I'm getting blocked out?

Coach Patrick

Eugene, what group do you want to join?

~ Coach P

EugenePartridge

Hi @coach Patrick? I did not know there was more than 1? Perhaps if you
have some knowledge of my speed, distance & fitness you might suggest to me
a best case scenario?
Thank You, Eugene🚴‍♀️

Ross Randolph

My first attempt with Discord was a fail; issue was going through Speakerphone on my iPhone.  Worked fine this past weekend on a group ride in Zwift when I plugged in mic-enabled headphones. 

My problem is that if I'm riding in Zwift, I'm not able to switch apps on my iPhone between Discord & Zwift to use the "push to talk" feature without my Zwift avatar thinking I'm taking a break.  If I switch an App to something other than Zwift, my watts & speed drop to zero even though I continue to pedal. 

Unless I'm missing something, it looks like the only option while riding Zwift is to use "Voice Activity" if you want to keep your place in the pack?

Brian Hagan

@Ross Randolph that is weird. I flip between amazon music, Discord and Zwift Companion and my guy just keeps on moving as long as I am pedaling.

I can set you up for voice activity. I just need to know you handle in Discord.

Alicia Chase

@Ross Randolph I agree, def weird. I’m not sure why your voice activity would make a difference. I have flaky WiFi, so whenever my avatar stops pedaling, it’s because something is competing with the WiFi. Sometimes I can play music or run Discord through WiFi, sometimes I have to use cell instead of WiFi for music or voice.