Why do I lose Atmos surround sound when I plug a headset into my wired controller?

Hi Cornbuggy, my name is Rodrigo. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

I am sorry to hear that.

Have you installed the Dolby Access application?

You can search for it on the Microsoft Store on the console.

For more information: https://www.dolby.com/gaming/

So for the 1st time last night after powering up my XBOX one X console, I noticed that when I plugged my headset in to my controller ( post boot up) that the Dolby Atmos app immediately opened without me manually activating it and ran a new and different
series of connection protocols which allowed the Dolby Atmos surround feature to be enabled.

I will also note that I have not received any confirmation reply back from NACON or Dolby Atmos., and when I powered up my console today with my headset already plugged into my controller prior to boot up that the default sound system was finally correct
for the 1st time in many months at "Dolby Atmo surround" setting instead of the default "Windows Sonic". I will also be tracking this over the next few days to see if it continues to boot up in the atmos surround feature for my headset correctly and consistently.

Hi John,

I've pasted your most recent here and replied in green.

Thank you. And to be clear so that I can make sure I am understanding correctly, the behavior you're expecting is that when plugging in a mono headset it is for not just chat but to pass game and chat audio to the headset? No, ideally, only chat audio goes to headset, but I'm ok if game and chat come thru as long as the current game/chat balance slider is available. I move the slider all the way to chat so no game audio comes thru the headset.

or is the mono headset only meant to pass chat while the surround sound system continues to cast game and console audio and is switching the TV/Surround sound audio from its settings? Like I mentioned above, I'm flexible with how it's implemented. The main requirement is that if any headset is plugged into the controller, it does not automatically turn off audio out via HDMI to my TV/Surround. Plugging in a headset should still allow Dolby Digital, DTS, Atmos, etc. to flow thru HDMI via ARC, eARC, or direct to a receiver.

Thus when unplugging the surround sound system works as intended but does not work as intended when a mono headset is plugged in. I don't understand this comment. The Xbox does not work as expected when a headset is plugged in because surround sound is no longer passed out via HDMI. If no headset is plugged in, the Xbox will pass surround sound out via HDMI as I expect it to.

With the sony headset are you trying to pass all sound through the headset? or through the headset and the surround sound system? I don't use the Sony headset normally. I only tested it so I could provide you an additional data point and to demonstrate that the Xbox turns off HDMI audio out whenever ANY headset is plugged into the controller.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or comments.

Found out that I can hear game and chat if I plug my headset into the 3.5mm splitter (converts headset and mic 3.5mm 3 position into single 4 position). But then I lose surround sound and the audio through the chat adapter sounds horrible when compared to
it being plugged into the DSS. Not to mention the frequent popping noises from the chat adapter.

Why can I not chat using the single 3.5mm mic cable? Why does it have to be such a hassle?

Found out that I can hear game and chat if I plug my headset into the 3.5mm splitter (converts headset and mic 3.5mm 3 position into single 4 position). But then I lose surround sound and the audio through the chat adapter sounds horrible when compared to
it being plugged into the DSS. Not to mention the frequent popping noises from the chat adapter.

Why can I not chat using the single 3.5mm mic cable? Why does it have to be such a hassle?