why cant I use good headsets on my X Box?

Freddy_twotimes · Jan 4, 2020

I've had such a frustrating time with headsets and my X box. My controller has a 3.5mm jack and I have found nice gaming headsets that will work with my X box controller. Particularly the Sennheiser game one headset with an open back. The X box controller
as far as I can tell has a terrible amplifier and will not even power good headphones. It sounds terrible. Anemic, no bass and cuts out because the headphones are severely under powered. I've looked for better options to power the headset like a DAC amp, but
since Im running HDMI through my AV receiver, it becomes a nightmare fast trying to get better quality sound using a high quality gaming headset with a mic. I think all of the X box branded gaming headsets sound terrible compared to many high quality headphones
for music. They are far from high fidelity and I just cant listen to them.

I hope the X box series X does a better job with this?? I have literally thousands of dollars invested in a 4k HDR TV and have no idea why audio for the X box using gaming headsets is restricted to a few low quality offerings? there is ZERO information available
about why some headphones with a MIc that plug in using a 3.5mm jack work and others don't. 3.5mm headset standards are split into two different types.
CTIA & OMTP. The first, known as American Headset Jack (AHJ) standard or sometimes CTIA,
is what X box uses and has the microphone connector point on the sleeve end, with the signalling (or ground) connector on the second ring. The OMTP standard reverses these two poles, which is why some smartphone headsets work for sound, but the Mic doesn't
work. It took a lot of reading and research to find this out and again, there is no help from Microsoft. It's like the audio over X box regarding online play that requires a mic to communicate with team mates is an afterthought.

I found a pair of King You earbuds that use the CTIA standard that work with the X box controller (Mic and sound) and I am able to use my home theater speakers simultaneously to fill in the sound because the earbuds sound so thin and anemic compared to high
end gaming headphones from companies like Sennheiser, but have to tape a cotton ball around the mic to keep my room noise from being heard in the headsets of those in my party. Why cant the X box support more and better, high fidelity options for PC compatible
wired gaming headphones??? I hope this changes with the X box series X. I can't imagine paying top dollar for such a powerful console that supports high frame rates, high resolution and HDR, only to be be forced into low quality sound gaming headsets, because
the controller cant power a decent set of headphones. ARGH

:)

Breaker1477

Astro A50 or Razer Kraken are awesome, at least for me

Mikeysoonerfan

While I use an optical headset, I havent had any issues for the most part with headsets through the controller. I know when I was using rechargeable batteries my LS30's would sometime pull to much power from the controller and would cut out a little. I'm
very picky about my headsets. All of my normal music headphones I have used have also worked through my controllers with a 3 pole inline mic. I dont use them though. Matter of fact the headset I use is not a licensed xbox headset, hence the optical since xbox
uses a different codec for USB headsets. I do have to run chat through my mixer which is on my controller but all game sounds come through the optical connection which also limits all delay. Which allows me to use it with rocksmith. Running through HDMI gives
it just a slight delay, enough to annoy me with rocksmith. There are plenty self amplified decent headsets that are licensed for xbox. (A40's or A50's even with 40mm drivers)You have to remember that a controller only uses 2 batteries so your talking maybe
3 volts at the max. With the 4 rumble motors sometimes that's just not enough voltage.

Clarkcjx

I wouldn't recommend using a wired headset in connection directly to your controller. The reason being there is the thing that the controller does not have a built-in amp or DAC. But also considering the sound is transmitted to your controller wirelessly,
then having to convert over to wired it can cause some minor latency issues. However, many wireless headsets are great for the Xbox One, such as Turtle Beaches I have used in the past which sound great.

NDE Kaos

I wear a hearing aid too as I am hard of hearing, I have been searching for a nice set of headphones and I'll definitely say my most recent ones are amazing. Astro a40 with m80 mixer. They fit over my ear with minimal distractions and discomfort. 👌

cko2003

If you can try the xbox one stealth 700 made by turtle beach. Theu are honestly extremely good and require 0 wires!

why cant I use good headsets on my X Box?