Gaming Gear Gaming Headsets

How to Use Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 Headsets with an Elgato Capture Card

Understanding how to use your new Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset with an Elgato game capture device can be a bit tricky, even for the most tech-savvy gamer. There are cables, settings and other things involved to make sure you get the best quality audio possible. Thankfully, we’ve done the hard work and have come up with this handy guide to teach you how to use your Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset with an Elgato capture card!

The one thing that makes connecting a PlayStation 4 headset to an Elgato difficult is that the PlayStation 4 has a software limitation whereby it disables HDMI audio when a headset is connected. This obviously means that no audio is going through your HDMI cable and into your Elgato. But don’t worry! We’ve got some handy workarounds for you.

First thing’s first, you’ve got to figure out what sort of connection your headset has. There are three types of connections: Analog, USB, and Optical. These three connection types will determine how to use your Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset with an Elgato capture device.

Analog Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 Headsets

Turtle Beach PX24 With Elgato

An Analog Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset can be one of the following: Recon 50P, Elite Pro, PX24, or Stealth 350 VR. Using an Analog PlayStation 4 headset with an Elgato is relatively easy, as they all use a single 4 pole, 3.5mm analog jack to plug directly into the controller.

In order to record game audio, you will need to get your hands on an Elgato Chat Link. This device splits the audio between your Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset and the Elgato game capture device.

  1. Plug the male analog jack of the Elgato Chat Link into the PS4 controller (this is the single tail of the Y-shape).
  2. Plug the male analog jack of your Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset into the female port on the Elgato Chat Link.
  3. Plug the other analog jack of the Elgato Chat Link into the female Audio In port on the Elgato device. If you are using the Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro, you will need to plug the Elgato Chat Link into the Line In port on your computer.
  4. In the Capture Settings of your Elgato program, set the Audio Input to Analog Audio.

Once you have completed the above steps, you will now be able to use your Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset with an Elgato Capture Device. Now all you need to do is record your awesome plays or start streaming!

Optical Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 Headsets

Turtle Beach Elite 800 with Elgato

An Optical Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset can be one of the following: Stealth 520, Elite 800, Stealth 400, and even the TAC.

One thing to keep in mind is that the new PS4 Slim does not have an Optical Out audio jack, meaning it only uses the USB part of the lead. While you can still use the above headsets for gaming, you won’t be able to record audio when using an Elgato. The standard PS4 and the PS4 Pro all have Optical Out audio connections, which means you will be able to record audio with an Elgato capture device by following the next few steps.

Setting up an Optical Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset is as simple as changing some settings in your PS4.

  1. Go to your PS4 Settings
  2. Select Devices
  3. Select Audio Devices
  4. Under the Output Device, change it to TV or AV Amplifier.

Doing this will send all the audio through the HDMI and Optical cable, as opposed to the USB cable. Keep in mind that this will send the chat audio over Optical, making it sound a little different to usual.

You will have to do the above steps each time you turn on your PS4 when you plan to record using your Elgato device.

USB-only Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 Headsets

Turtle Beach Stream Mic Elgato

A USB-only Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset/microphone can be one of the following: Recon 60P, P12, or the Stream Mic. Unfortunately, a USB-only headset and microphone will not work when using an Elgato capture device and there is currently no workaround unless Sony releases an update to the PlayStation 4.

To break it down into the barebones, USB-only headsets do not work with Elgato, Analog headsets work but require an Elgato Chat Link, and Optical headsets work by changing your PS4 Settings. Now that you’ve got your Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headset sorted with your Elgato, you can begin capturing your game footage complete with game audio! If you read this guide, you should now know how to use Turtle Beach PlayStation 4 headsets with an Elgato.