When will 5.1 via Optical Audio be available for Xbox One?

I agree with you guys, YamaMX I posted my chat with support today on your other thread.

Very noncommittal for 5.1 for March, but I THINK they guaranteed that it is coming?

 

major Nelson is useless unless you are giving him a credit card #

 

I'm really having difficulty understanding this. I wish somebody at Microsoft would just come out and clear the air. I have a pair of Astro A50's. Love them on my 360, haven't hooked them up to Xbox One yet because there is no chat cable adapter yet.

My question is, if I hook up my Astro's to the Xbox One am I getting 5.1 channel sound. some people say yes, some say no. I'm just not sure.

 

No. It appears that the Astro A50 connects via optical, which simply cannot carry uncompressed 5.1/7.1 audio. That is the only surround sound the One currently outputs, other than DTS (which I don't believe the Astro supports).

To be clear, the Xbox One does not currently output Dolby Digital 5.1 at all, whether optical or HDMI. It generally isn't an issue when using HDMI because the uncompressed 5.1/7.1 the One does output is superior and supported by most HDMI receivers. I understand
how it is a problem for those who must use optical, which can only carry the compressed DD5.1 bitstream. However, I suspect that it is not as simple to add DD output as some folks believe. Due to the design of the One OS and its ability to do split screen
(snap), seamless switching, etc., the various audio sources (game, TV, dashboard, etc.--some of which themselves must first be decoded from DD) are mixed together. Encoding/compressing that mix to a Dolby Digital bitstream in real time will take both processing
power and time, which to some degree (depending on whether the One has a dedicated DD encoder/decoder chip) may negatively affect game performance and cause a delay between the video and audio for which compensation would have to be made. I have seen posts
here complaining of audio/ video delay when the One is set to output DTS, and this may explain why. I would think MS is aware and working on a solution, but I understand the frustration.

 

MS has done a terrible job of communicating to XBO owners. Absolutely horrendous. 3 months and NOTHING on this topic. NOT A PEEP!!!...So disrespectful. If it weren't for the exclusives, Gears in particular, this brick would have been sold/returned LONG ago.

 

Yeah, there is no excuse. The support for 5.1 out the optical out was promised. It's been 3 months and still no word. You're right MS has done a terrible job communicating with it's customers.

 

Bought my xbox at launch and still have barely used it because the dd 5.1 isnt there and no support for chat for 3 months. Horrible. Really
[Mod Removed] I bought it. Always hated the playstation and been an avid xbox supporter, especially since i live in washington and have been in the building servicing equipment where there designed. Shamefully, I am now a playstation owner.
It sucks that I have to buy from overseas to get what should have been an absolute given to have at launch. The xbox went from first to worst in FPS because of this.

 

STILL NOTHING?

Is there anyone that can give a serious answer?

Is there a Microsoft represantative or something equal to answer our questions? This forums does nothing but bad marketing to Microsoft.

At least give us some answers!

 

Dear Microsoft,

Yet another day passes without an announcement as to when proper industry standard Dolby Digital surround sound will be available.

We were promised that this would be updated post launch. It's been 3 months since the launch of this console. It's great that you've finally announced the chat cable adapter but you also need to let us know when Dolby Digital will be available.

The chat adapter issue and DD support should never have been issues to begin with. This is a major fail but I guess there are a lot of major failures with the Xbox One aren't there.

I feel like some of the other gamers posting here, proper surround through my headset is a must. I want to play Titanfall but I don't want to buy it without proper surround audio.

So, once MS finally solves this issue I'll be down for the game. Until then I'm waiting.

 

My question was supposedly "escalated" to a support manager....still no email or message...

 

I'm obviously only speculating here, but I think the reason behind this (and many other) shortcomings on the X1 compared to features on the 360 is the fact that the Xbox One that was announced at E3 last year is quite a bit different than the system that
was launched in November. Due to consumer backlash, a lot of the ways the system was built to function had to be overhauled in a very short amount of time. I would imagine that in doing so, focus had to be pulled away from developing other aspects of the firmware
that could have supported more features or made to function in a more intuitive manner. I'm not making excuses... I just think Microsoft put themselves in a really bad position and are trying to play "catch up" now.

Regardless, I would try not to take out your (justified) frustrations on the people working customer support. I think those people are doing the best they can right now dealing with a new console and the technical issues that come with it. I don't think
it's odd or worth getting irate about at all that the person answering the phone doesn't know when a specific feature is going to be added in which update, and it's really unfair to be rude to them for not being given that information.

Again, I totally understand the frustration of the system lacking features that the previous gen has, but early adoption always comes with downsides... especially in this era. And to the person that seemed so shocked and disappointed that there aren't a
ton of great exclusives for either console yet... is this your first time buying a console at launch? Because I've been buying launch consoles for generations (even though every gen I say I'm going to wait) and the first few months are ALWAYS pretty dry.

In short, I feel your disappointment. I'm disappointed too. But try to be patient and not direct your anger at the wrong people.

 

I agree with you on customer service folks, my experience was they were very nice and tried. They have to make a living too. The problem is they are third party and there is no way to interact/communicate directly with M$. Same with the "ambassadors"
here.

I disagree with the Dolby 5.1 issue - its old tech and this is a licensing ($) decision by M$ pure and simple. No other reason it is taking over 3 updates. And it goes beyond gaming, many of us bought into the entertainment console BS and can't watch movies/video
in surround. And to announce this on November 21? Really?

 

Totally agree with you on that one, clearly a licensing issue. I love how they announced the omission just days before launch.

If it doesn't arrive in the march update I'll be really ticked off. Pretty much every single headset uses DD encoding via optical out. I don't want to buy their crappy stereo headset in time for Titanfall!

 

The lack of Dolby Digital isn't just annoying for those with surround sound headsets - it's also annoying if you want to watch BDs/DVDs using the Xbox One and have an older optical-only AV receiver. Not having an HDMI AV receiver means I have to use optical,
which means that if I watch discs using my Xbox One I don't get Dolby Digital. Sure, the Xbox One does support DTS, but not every disc uses DTS...

I will get a new receiver at some point, but I don't want to have to get one just because the Xbox One doesn't support a common standard such as Dolby Digital.

This, plus the other issues with media playback (no 3D BD support, BD judder issues, no 50Hz for PAL DVDs, etc.) means I am *still* using my PS3 for media rather than my "All In One" Xbox One.

 

Just arrived at the forum, sorry for the dumb question... I'm only a casual gamer, but I have a nice TV and 5.1 speaker system, not headphones. At the time, I don't have an AV receiver, so this means that I can only use optical out from the Xbox to my sound
system (HDMI to TV, but TV doesn't pass 5.1 signal through). If I play a Blu-Ray disc with 5.1, will the Xbox not output it to my speakers? Thanks!