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

x14Fourteen14x · Mar 15, 2014

I am beyond *** off right now.Why the F&*^% didnt they make the old headsets work with the xbox one ? What was the point of buying this stupid 30$ adaptor that makes my x42's sound like walmart earbuds.They sound like complete and utter crap on all games.What
is the point of having a 160$ headset if the quality of sound has been reduced to the worst imaginable.I dont know why they even sell this thing.Is it just for chat ? I am extremely dissapinted in this product.Theres no surround sound a I dont understand why
theres an option for dts digital or 51/7.1 in the sound options on the xbox one if it doesnt even work.I could deal with just stereo if I had ot but even that sound aboslutley horrible.Please explain why this is even marketed as an adaptor that works with
Turtle beaches and other expensive headsets ? Once again the quality is unbearable crap!!!!! Please tell me you can fix this with an update!!!! Im better off wearing the mic that came with my xbox around my neck and the x42's on my head.Oh thats right you
took out the F9*&^&% option to play chat through speakers.That makes sense because it was a good feature and when we have good features its best to remove then and go backwards in time.PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY i HAVE AN OPTICAL CABLE PLUGGED INTO THE BACK
OF MY XBOX WHEN THIS PIECE OF CRAP ADAPTOR OVERIDES MY HEADSETS SOUND AND RUINS THE QUALITY.WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE OPTICAL CABLE ?!?!?!?!? WHY IS IT ON THE XBOX IF THE ADAPTOR RENDERS IT USELESS ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?1?

x14Fourteen14x · Mar 15, 2014

OK so somehow it seems to have resolved itself after I played with different audio settings in the options but it would be helpful to people who make this purchase in the future if MS gave specific directions on how to allow the headset to control the volume
instead of the adaptor.The adapator makes the sound horrible IMO.At first it wasnt letting me adjust the volume with my turtle beaches but now that Ive changed some settings Im able to fix the volume in the headset instead of the adaptor.

Croaker-AD8CC239-5A42-465B-AFA8-23DEC66CB22E · Mar 15, 2014

Its a conspiracy. MSFT did not release simulated surround sound on purpose. It is a marketing strategy. Turtlebeach and Polk headsets are ready and capable of simulating surround sound as soon as the firmware is released. The Xbox headset will NOT properly
be able to simulate surround sound. So, to boost their sales they made it to their advantage by ensuring NO next gen controller headset has surround sound from the controller. The MSFT headset actually sounds pretty good and is way cheaper then the XO7
and Polk (I bought them all). Think i'm crazy? If you read different posts you will see people saying how they are buying the MSFT headsets since there is no controller surround sound and because they are cheaper.

Seipher · Mar 23, 2014

I am in agreement with Croaker. I feel this was a Microsoft business strategy more than their capability to make it work. Quite frustrating to the consumer as well.

Ron Jambo uk · Mar 23, 2014

Had the same issue on my earforce tango's the solution is to change the mix on the adapter to more game volume,it's automatically set to a 50/50 mix once you add more game volume by pressing the controller icon on the adapter it reverts back to the audio
you normally get out of the headset.

Max Farsa · Jul 12, 2014

Double Check: this does only affect the XO Seven and not the X42 right?

I mean, my X42 setup on xbox 360 is the same as on xbox one and I get audio from optical out on both. Works well no matter if the xbox one chat stereo adapter plugged in the controller or not. Surround sound comes from the Xbox ones optical out and and chat
(stereo) from controller. That cant be affecting surround right? Cant be a override to get the sound through the controller because the didn't exist when X42 was made?

SiMpLisTiC B · Jul 21, 2014

Personally I'm confused as hell... I don't have an amazing headset I have some venoms which was compatible with ps3 and Xbox 360 as I had both consoles and played cod on both. My question is if I buy this adaptor not only will it work but how will my actual
headset get the game sound as it still is unable to be connected to the Xbox in any way except the wire to chat? Sorry if I sound like a noob just got my xbox one and don't have £55 to spend on a new headset specially since I spent £80 on my current headset.
I just want to have a fun and pleasant gaming experience and actually be able to compete against all those with turtle beaches as cod has been taken over by headsets and amplify lol.

So once again just to be clear... How does the gaming sound process through to my headset when only connected by the mic wire

Swannyyy X · Dec 24, 2014

Is there a way around this yet?

Mister Quimby · Oct 31, 2018

Hey there Swannyyy X!

Please go ahead and create a new thread if you haven't already. This way you can receive support specifically tailored to you. Be sure to include the details of the issue as well as any troubleshooting steps that you have tried. Thanks in advance!

Natakris

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

TobyHoover

If your TB used the Optical Out for Surround you will have surround now. In in order to use chat with your TB you need the MS Stereo Adapter seen here:

www.microsoftstore.com/.../productID.298057900

Any Headset that uses the optical out worked from release day just no surround sound, you only got stereo until this latest update.

DangerousBard

GrowlingYapper the Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter is sold separately:

www.xbox.com/.../stereo-headset-adapter

Trial de Novo

I have the X41 and the Xbox stereo controller adapter. With the X41 base station connected to the Xbox via optical, I get decent game audio through the headset. I believe it's only stereo and not simulated surround sound. The chat function works with the
stereo controller adapter, but it has the same problem that everyone else has -- there's a lot of static on my voice which makes it useless for chat. I think that the chat audio coming from these headsets, including the Turtle Beach and Astros, is at a level
that's causing clipping, which is the cause of the static sound.

ReggieDunlop68

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.

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