Steam Haptics Player

This project allows stereo audio to be streamed from a file to the haptics of a Steam controller (2026), practically allowing anything to be played on it's haptic motors.

No need to donate, though is greatly appreciated!

I also made Steam Controller Battery Monitor, since there currently isn't a convenient way to view the controller's exact battery percentage.

Download

Download the latest build here!

Usage

Supported device: Steam Controller (2026). Other controllers are unsupported.

Requirements: FFmpeg on PATH

Note For puck audio:

• When streaming audio via the Puck, you may encounter popping noises or other audio quality issues due to packet loss. Wired should normally be much cleaner.

---

On Windows

1. Open Powershell in the file directory where you have extracted the executable
2. (skip if already installed) Install FFmpeg with winget install ffmpeg
3. Run the program with .\steam-haptics-player.exe [AUDIO_FILE]
4. Profit!

OR

1. (skip if already installed) Install FFmpeg with winget install ffmpeg in powershell
2. Drag an audio file onto the executable.

On Linux

1. Right click inside the folder
2. Click "Open in Terminal"
3. (skip if already installed) Install FFmpeg with a package manager of your choice
4. Install libhid
   • Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install libhidapi-dev
   • Arch: sudo pacman -S hidapi
5. Type chmod +x steam-haptics-player to make the program executable
6. Run the program with ./steam-haptics-player [AUDIO_FILE]
7. Profit!

Usage from command prompt:

Usage: steam-haptics-singer.exe <file path>

Tips

• Try pressing the controller (while upright) down into a solid object, it will make the sound much louder

Troubleshooting

• ffmpeg not found
  • Install ffmpeg and ensure it is on your PATH (winget install ffmpeg on Windows).
• if anything else fails:
  • Try restart the program and controller, use another audio file to test,
  • Try connect the steam controller directly via USB and then try again.
  • No controller found on linux
    • Try running with sudo, if that works, you may need an appropriate udev rule for /dev/hidraw* devices

Compiling

Build (Linux / WSL)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libhidapi-dev ffmpeg
make

Build (Windows, MSYS2 UCRT64)

pacman -Syu

pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc \
          mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-hidapi \
          mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ffmpeg \
          mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-make \
          mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-pkgconf

make

Changelog

[v1.4.1] Fix for windows to actually show µ symbol instead of mojibake Support for SteamOS and Steam Machine's internal puck

[v1.4.0] (Thanks @iczero for your knowledge!), Add support for (and use) 16bit 8khz audio on wired, Use 8 bit µlaw for puck instead, for better audio quality, Simplify pcm setup immensely, Removed -s option as pcm setup is much faster

[v1.3.1] Compile statically (so i dont have to ship dll files)

[v1.3.0] Added progress bar, reworked how files are loaded

[v1.2.0] Fixed controller detection with puck (Thanks @CrazyCritic89)

[v1.1.0] Linux support, Checks for ffmpeg

[v1.0.0] Initial release!

maybe future stuff

• volume control
• looping music

I spent a lot of time and effort reverse engineering the Steam controller's firmware to find the HID commands needed to do this so i would appreciate the stars very much!

I was also heavily inspired to do this by CrazyCritic89's SteamHapticsSinger. I suggest checking it out if you wish to play MIDI files on the steam controller! (they honestly can sound better than this at times)

If you do happen to make a video with this, please do link back to this github repo so others can try too :steamhappy: