Elite Series 2 Controller Causing Audio Stutter & System Lag – Confirmed Fix

Michael Wheatley1 · May 10, 2025 at 1:13 AM

After months of troubleshooting (changing HDMI cables, TVs, monitors, even repasting my Xbox), I’ve narrowed down a frustrating issue that others might be facing too:

The Xbox Elite Series 2 controller causes audio stutter, dashboard lag, and general system slowdown when used wirelessly with any headset—wired or wireless.

I tested with:

Xbox Wireless Headset

Wired headset into 3.5mm jack

Different audio setups, monitors, and more

Only fix:

Plug the controller in via USB-C. The second it’s wired, the lag and audio stutter vanish completely. Everything runs smooth.

Turns out, the controller wirelessly handles audio passthrough, even when you plug a wired headset into it, and that bottlenecks the Xbox system (confirmed on both Reddit and official forums). It’s a known issue but not widely talked about. A £150+ controller shouldn’t be doing this.

Hope this helps someone avoid the same headache.

:)

Farscape247

I have noticed considerable slowdown from boot time to some games stuttering and the new controller updates seam to cause more and more audio glitches and controller lag than before.

MmxZero89

Hi Nursemorph,

Thank you for your response.

I did the following test with gears 5 (Act 1 Chapter 2 beginning

1. Wired connection my Xbox One Elite Controller (1st gen) into Xbox. Audio stutter in game cut scene does not occur

2. Wired connection Xbox Series Controller into Xbox. Audio stutter in game cut scene does not occur

3. Wireless connection Xbox Series Controller into Xbox. Audio stutter happens. However, by moving the joystick (i.e. making it response and not being idle), the audio stutter stops and works normally until controller is left idle for like 10 sec (based on my rough calculation), the stutters comes back.

As such, the response provided by you matches against my issue.

The in-game cut scene i tested so far with this issue was:

1. Gears 5

2. Star Wars Fallen Order

Therefore, is there a way to file the report to Microsoft so that a firmware patch can be put through to fix this? I don't want other people who bought this headphone for in-game experience to be ruin by this.

Again, thank you so much for the help. At least there is a temporary work around for the time being instead of needing to sent for a replacement.

StuartATrueRed

There has been no confirmation if there is going to be an Elite Series 3 controller. So if you want the Elite controller, get the series 2 if you want one.

Hybrid Alien

There is audio lag and stuttering problems on the xbox one when playing blu rays also, i just hope Microsoft know about this problem and fix it

Buachaill Dona

Yep it's been confirmed to work with Scarlett.
https://www.cnet.com/news/e3-2019-xbox-elite-controller-series-2-brings-bluetooth-scarlett-compatibility/

Elite Series 2 Controller Causing Audio Stutter & System Lag – Confirmed Fix

Elite Series 2 Controller Causing Audio Stutter & System Lag – Confirmed Fix

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