Xbox One "'STEREO' Headset Adapter" clarity? Stereo or Simulated Surround ...

I have been taking part in the Xbox One update preview, which made it possible to finally experience Surround Sound with the Xbox One. With that I have been able to use my Turtle Beach DX12 and XP510's Dolby Digital Surround Sound features. Most headsets
that currently provide simulated surround sound have a "Surround Sound Processor" (http://www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/dolby-processor-accessories/ear-force-dss2/33) or
if a wireless headset like the XP510, a "RF Transmitter" (http://www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/transmitters-parts/rf-transmitter-for-xp510/434).
For those of us that own headsets, not currently designed for the Xbox One, we will carry on as usual, but now with the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter Xbox One Stereo-Headset-Adapter kaufen – Microsoft Store de-DE so
that we can use our headset microphones instead the Kinect mic. for game and party chat. This is a relief to problem we never should have dealt with, but I wonder, for the new headsets coming out such as the TB "XOSeven", "XOFour," and the newcomer "Polk audio
4 Shot," will this adapter titled with the word "Stereo" provide directly from the Xbox One to the Controller to the adapter "SIMULATED SURROUND SOUND"?

There's really been no effort by anyone to clarify this. Do a Bing or Google Search and all you see are questions with no answers from Microsoft.

Is this right? (Surround Sound travels from the Xbox One --> Controller --> "STEREO ADAPTER" --> Headset) = Simulated Surround Sound in the headsets designed for the One even though the adapter says, "STEREO" right there? Clarify
please. Stereo? or Simulated Surround Sound? Is it just going to produce 2 channel sound for these expensive headsets?

I get it. Stereo is technically true since there are only two speakers, but understand that the word "stereo" scares the crap out of most serious gamers, and competitive FPS'ers because we need immersion. We need to know that the footsteps coming through
the headset are coming from a specific direction not just left or right.

Up till now we have relied upon "RF Transmitters" and "Surround Sound Processors" to get the simulated surround sound (7.1 or 5.1) from the Xbox to the headset.

Will this "Stereo Headset Adapter" provide immersive simulated surround sound, or 2 channel "stereo" sound to the new headset systems?

Microsoft created the confusion with the title "Stereo..." instead of calling it the "Xbox One Audio and Chat adapter," so please make this distinction clear.

Thanks,



:)

 

Xbox One Stereo Chat Adapter Update?

I've heard earlier this year the Xbox One Stereo Adapter was supposed to be updated so surround sound or simulated surround sound headsets would work on the Xbox One. Does anyone know if this has happened yet, or should I keep off getting one until they
do?

 

Polk 4 Shot

Just because they're a stereo headset doesn't mean they can't do surround sound. I've had Astro A40s and a Sennheiser PC360. Both are stereo headsets, but the Astro mixamp converts the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal that comes out of the Xbox 360 optical into
Dolby headphone which is a simulated surround sound using a stereo headset. My Yamaha home cinema amp had a similar thing but proprietary to Yamaha called Silent Cinema. Both are surprisingly effective.

The question then becomes what sound format will the XBox One output to the controller? If it's one of these simulated surround sound options then you'll be fine with a stereo headset.

This is taken from a forum reply on Reddit:

Rumor is the XO Seven (and possibly the XO Four too) will "output" at 5.1 surround sound. I use "output" in quotation marks as no headset outputs at surround sound, it just mimics the experience. Case in point:

www.turtlebeach.com/.../index.php

Due to this, Polk is advertising the 4 Shot as your standard stereo headset that utilizes digital signal processing (DSP) to provide a surround sound like experience.

Sounds like both are using a simulated surround sound algorithm, I don't think the XO7 has multiple drivers.

 

Agreed. Simulated or the HFRT algorithms, if implemented well, work so well.

In fact I can't figure out if say a standard cell phone stereo earbuds with

Mic will work!

 

I am pretty sure it is as described and is in fact stereo, so not sure how that is confusing. I don't think they mention surround sound via the adapter, for other headsets that support surround sound they get their input from somewhere else. My Astro A40's
for example will get the feed directly from the Optical output with DD5.1 bit stream.

 

Here is link where it is clarified that it only supports stereo (but surround sound might come in the future, you never know)

www.reddit.com/.../cfmzi9g

 

Unless a headset has multiple drivers that cover each piece of a 7.1 component system, a "surround sound headset" receives a matrix based simulated surround signal that is either a DTS, Dolby, or similar codec. The older simulated surround sound wireless
headsets transmitted the matrixes audio signal via a separate RF frequency via an external module after the module received the original audio signal from the console.

MSFT added a feature that will allow one to connect the modules from their older simulated surround head sets to the optical port on the Xbox one and still allow them to receive the intended matrix surround signal, but this will not have an affect on any
headset connected to the controller via the stereo connector.

The stereo connector will receive the audio signal from the console via a 2.1 stereo version, so it doesn't matter whether the game has its audio formatted for 2, 5, 7, or more components, the audio received will not exceed a stereo configuration.

That being said, there system will transmit the non-simulated surround signal via WiFi direct, so the non matrixes surround, stereo signal, should sound better than the matrixes surround signal of older headsets if the physical components of each headset
are similar. The problem is that there aren't conclusive specs aside from driver size have been listed about the current Xbox One headsets vs. the older headsets, so the limited reviews about the headsets are anecdotal at best.

In conclusion, until MSFT allows for the system to transmit a similuated surround signal and headsets that are capable of interoperating and recreating theta signal to a good degree are available, there will not be any "surround audio" transited directly
to the controller via the system itealf. All simulated surround signals will need to be transmitted via an externally connected RF module, but the new stereo signals should sound good if the hardware in these headsets are even the same as the old ones due
to the high mb/s rating of the Wifi Direct signal when compared to the older bluetooth or similar signals.

I hope this helps your decision process, and until a simulated surround signal can be transmitted from the console and a capable headset is provided, I don't see how the TurtleBeach or Polk headsets will have better audio than MSFT's stereo headset.

 

It's truly helpful in a discussion if all participants actually read the initial post and proceed contextually. However, I'm not going to copy and paste the original post here but rather transition to what the initial post is driving at.

All options for surround sound headsets (the old 360 ones that use the Optical out on the One/ then the new "stereo" headsets using the headset adapter for the One) and how they work, etc. was already addressed in the original post.
This is not the point. Don't get distracted.

Whether the "Stereo" sound on the One headsets is comparable (in terms of immersion and positional audio)
to the old 360 surround sound headsets, was the point, the question, the drive behind the headset adapter query.

THE TRANSITION:

So let's talk about the point.

This was brought up and I appreciate it ...
www.reddit.com/.../cfmzi9g

... Here's the Microsoft representative's statement (in case you didn't bother to click the link), "For now, the adapter transmits only stereo audio. Keep in mind, when you're dealing with only two speakers, and we chose higher quality stereo vs a virtual
surround, since the advantage of surround isn't obvious until you get into very high-end discreet speaker headphones. We are discussing some sort of virtual surround, but I think the high quality Stereo sound (the Bass on our headset is amazing), plus great
chat, and the adapter for $80 is a pretty great product."

This *** me off and makes me wonder if Microsoft is paying attention to what's really going on out here in the gaming community. Minus the sentence fragment, and the untrue statement about virtual surround sound not being "obvious until you get into high-end
discreet speaker headphones," he's just trying to sell a Microsoft headset.

Any headset that uses a the RF Transmitter or Surround Sound Processor has an obvious advantage over regular Stereo sound no matter how fantastic the bass is. Stupid.

ALSO NOTICE that nearly every response to what Microsoft said in that was something to this affect, "Stereo? REALLY? You are going to give us what we want eventually though, RIGHT? Virtual Surround"?

"We chose higher quality stereo vs a virtual surround, since the advantage of surround isn't obvious until you get into very high-end discreet speaker headphones," said no gamer in the history of gaming in the universe.

If it's a matter of software, then drop it into the Xbox One, because settling for Stereo is a step backward when Surround is what the customer was already using. If the bass is so amazing then keep it AND give us Virtual Surround while your at it.

Thanks.

I'll close this with an illustration.

Ford decided that they would make an improvement upon their F-150's gas consumption in the 2015 model. "In 2014 it got an average of 19 mpg, but the 2015 is going to be better than anything on gas consumption. It will
truly astound," they tell us. So we wait with eager anticipation. We are excited because we drive to work in this truck, we haul our livestock trailers and construction supplies in this truck. IT GETS THE JOB DONE!

2015 rolls around and we have saved our money in anticipation of the new Model of the F-150, ready to drop thousands on what will surely be BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAD! The Ford commercial comes on and announces that their
new F-150 has solved the household gasoline budget problem as it is equipped not with an overpowered V8 engine but bicycle pedals. We save our money and wait for something that will actually GET THE JOB DONE, better yet, we don't spend any money because 2014's
model still works just fine.

I really am speaking frickin' English.

 

Your question seemed to be about the clarity of using the word stereo on the adapter. Which in my opinion is the correct word, which isn't causing confusion as this is what it provides.

Sorry if that isn't what you were asking.

 

Based on a couple of information pieces (links below), I think the word "stereo" is mistakenly placed on the headset adapter. I don't have the exact facts and would also like to hear the official word from MS but think about this.. every surround sound
headset (except for ones with multiple speakers in the ear cups) use a stereo wiring. One wire for the Left speaker and one wire for the Right speaker. These wires come out from a surround sound processor (e.g. Astro Mixamp, TB DSS, etc) before they get
to speakers in the ear cups. The surround sound processor is what makes the headset a "surround sound" headset. These processors can do the same for ANY headset.

In the article linked from gamerawr, it states that MS is trying to negate the need for 3rd party audio processors by processing surround sound on the xbox one and feeding it to your headset via the headset adapter. Essentially taking place of a Mixamp,
DSS, what have you...

Also, Turtle Beach is labelling their XO series headsets specifically for Xbox One and uses "Cenematic Surround Sound" as a touted feature of these headsets... you know how they connect to the xbox one? Via the headset adapter (included).

I think it's perfectly feasible to have surround sound coming through the headset adapters. I just hope MS confirms that is the case.

Here's the links.

www.gamerawr.com/.../xbox-one-headsets-surround-sound-adapters-fact-fiction

www.turtlebeach.com/.../xbox-one

 

IRB, I'm really not trying to offend anyone here, but if my question was that simple then why would I use somewhere near 300 words to ask it? Therefore, there's more underlying my question than a textbook definition as things are never simple.

The word "stereo" applies to the majority of gaming headsets, but all of those headsets are capable of producing simulated surround sound due to the way they receive the translated signals from the Xbox. (Surround Sound Processors/ RF Transmitters. broken
record here.)

For Example,

Turtle Beach was convinced that their XO Seven headset would provide Surround Sound. Before they were forced to change it their website said of the XO Seven, “Be surrounded. Cinematic Surround Sound for your
games and entertainment.” The XO Seven is a Stereo Headset capable of producing simulated surround sound. But never once, even now, does Turtle Beach describe this headset with the word "stereo." This is because the word "stereo" can be misleading,
and would not sell. Yet, Microsoft uses the word "stereo" to describe the piece of hardware that the TB XO Seven is supposed to be paired with. The result is confusion because those two never reconcile.

Surround Sound TB XO Seven + Stereo Headset Adapter = ?

There's not a lot of clarity with that is there?

www.gamerawr.com/.../xbox-one-headsets-surround-sound-adapters-fact-fiction

 

Sorry, Eag1e, I didn't see your reply before I posted mine, but that's exactly what all of this is about. Why is Microsoft's response to the question of Virtual Surround for the new headsets, "it's possible"?

IT'S POSSIBLE?!?!?!

How about, "We'll get right on that."

 

"We chose higher quality stereo vs a virtual surround, since the advantage of surround isn't obvious until you get into very high-end discreet speaker headphones," said no gamer in the history of gaming in the universe.

And then there was Microsoft.

 

Sorry, I wasn't trying to annoy you either but after reading the initial thread it seemed to be the only question coming out of it was over the use of the Stereo.

I do agree that if they can pop in some code to enable Surround Sound then they should do, but not at the expense of other features as folks who "really" want surround sound might get a different solution and I don't want them slipping dashboard enhancements
to add it. When that happens, yeah the name will be a little odd.

I personally have A40's and use the optical output to enable my surround sound which I would continue to do, but giving more folks the option of surround sound would be great.

Accept my apology if any offense was taken *handshake*

 

no problem Natakris.

IRB, you can also plug the Astro A40s bypass the MixAmp and directly into the headset adapter since it comes with the 4 pole jack. I have the Astros but not the adapter (I use optical for sound and modded my own adapter from the headset that came with the
x1) and I would like to get one and do away with all the cabling and just have the one cable to the controller! But NOT IF that means I have to play in stereo sound.