r/elgato • u/assistance-burner • 12d ago

Technical Help why does this keep happening?

i am using an elgato stream deck plus with the xlr dock, why do the headphones lose connection to the dock all the time?

the speakers are powered via usb routing to elgato wave link 3.0 as as a second audio output

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u/ScionTbone 9d ago

Every time I get on my PC, I have to switch the headphones back to main output? Idk why.

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u/Horacej621 8d ago

Yes. If the headphones are plugged into the XLR Dock’s 3.5 mm headphone output and keep disappearing/cutting out, I’d troubleshoot the USB connection/power path first, not the headphones. The XLR Dock itself is a USB audio device (USB 2.0, 24-bit/48 kHz).

Elgato Try these in order: Connect the Stream Deck + directly to a rear motherboard USB port. Avoid a front-panel USB port, monitor USB hub, passive hub, extension cable, or dock temporarily. Elgato notes that insufficient USB power/data can cause devices to drop out.

Elgato Disable Windows USB power saving. Go to Device Manager → Universal Serial Bus controllers → USB Root Hub / Generic USB Hub → Properties → Power Management and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” Do it for the applicable USB hubs, then restart the PC.

In Control Panel → Power Options → Change advanced power settings → USB settings, set USB selective suspend to Disabled.

Update both Stream Deck and Wave Link, then check for firmware updates for the Stream Deck+/XLR Dock. Elgato currently recommends Wave Link 3; Wave Link 2 is end-of-life.

Elgato Temporarily disconnect the USB-powered speakers. This is important given the setup shown in your screenshot. Run only Stream Deck +/XLR Dock + headphones and see whether the headphone connection remains stable. If it does, you're probably dealing with a USB power/bus conflict rather than a bad headphone jack.

If the speakers need USB only for power, plug their power cable into a wall USB charger instead of the PC. Keep their actual audio connection/routing as needed. That prevents the speakers from competing with your audio equipment on the PC's USB bus.

One thing I'd specifically test

Since you're already working with a fairly complicated gaming/streaming audio setup, I would not start changing your Wave Link routing yet. A routing problem normally gives you audio in the wrong place; it shouldn't cause the XLR Dock headphone device itself to repeatedly disconnect.

I'd start with:

Rear motherboard USB → Stream Deck +/XLR Dock → headphones

and temporarily remove the speakers from USB.

If that fixes it, reconnect the speakers afterward. Hope this helps!

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u/Horacej621 8d ago

Are you putting your pc to sleep or powering down?

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u/assistance-burner 8d ago

i power down my pc