Xbox - Series S/X: Thread 01

[Tobal]

Haha, the 360 one was terrible. Perfect Dark was awful. I loved Ridge 6 though, and to be honest I was blown away by being able to do stuff like download a demo of Quake 4 and connect my iPod over USB.

I may be alone in this, but i really liked PD's multiplayer, lots of modes, big team mode, visually exploding armour, vehicles and all the secondary fire's have cool meta's, like the shotgun having fake radar pings or there's was on you could turn it into a mine. Though the 3rd person wall cover can take a hike.

Amped 3 and Tiger woods got alot of play in this initial months to.

[Neon Ignition]

Speak of the devil - Xbox One X pricing has just caved in with most retailers axing it down to £250, rumbles of the S model tumblng next week too

[teddymeow]

I played shed loads of PDZ MP back in the day. Was even in a clan in the loosest sense of the word.

PGR3 was the reason I bought my 32" Sharp Aquos LCD TV - my first flat screen TV. Was a great set but had the weirdest shaped remote.

[nonny]

I think Hellblade 2 could easily be a system seller. We pretty much know Fable is in development but how far along is anyone's guess... Most likely a big 2021 title.

At launch a lot is going to hinge on Halo. It has to be spectacular after Halo 5 left people cold... It's basically going to be Halo, Forza and Hellblade 2 at launch together with all of the big 1st party Xbox releases on the current gen getting substantial upgrades.

For me that's enough to upgrade, but I think you're right saying no exclusives at launch will hurt them. I see that very much as being a problem they'll fix in 2021 when their new studios start bearing fruit.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I read some interesting discussions about sound. Currently sound uses between 15/20% of the processing power to produce. With Sony having a separate sound processor, this doesn't matter, but the Xbox is going to need to use some of those 12TF for sound meaning that the advantage they have may not actually be that great.

[CMcK]

The XsX will likely have a separate audio processor to at least include all of the functionality of the Shape audio hardware in the Xbox One. MS have briefly talked about 3d audio for this generation but haven't gone into any real detail.

[Team Andromeda]

I read some interesting discussions about sound. Currently sound uses between 15/20% of the processing power to produce. With Sony having a separate sound processor, this doesn't matter, but the Xbox is going to need to use some of those 12TF for sound meaning that the advantage they have may not actually be that great.

It did really help with the One X. I got to laugh how the SONY Defence Force on Restera now care about sound. No doubt Digital Foundry will start to care about it now too

[Cassius_Smoke]

I don't know what the VR situation is on PS5 but I'm interested in the sound if only for that.

[jamesy]

They've said the series X has dedicated audio hardware. I just hope the extra gpu power isn't just used for slightly higher resolutions. I can't really see much difference between 1800p and 4k tbh.(maybe its more noticable on an oled?) Would rather see extra graphical effects thrown in etc.

[Digfox]

It did really help with the One X. I got to laugh how the SONY Defence Force on Restera now care about sound. No doubt Digital Foundry will start to care about it now too

And the Americans didn't land on the moon?



Pushing the Resetera SDF aside, there has been an explosion in the range of high quality audio solutions over the last 10 years or so. Particularly around external DACs, AMPs and headphones that has definitely spilled into gaming (and PC content creation). John Linneman has made a point of being really happy that that audio is being pushed but also there needs to better better audio support and development in the console space.

The Xbox One doesn't allow USB audio and only has software solutions (Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos) for virtualisation which are barely supported. Sony too has a software solution which is locked to hardware but does allow USB audio which opens up a world of more universal standards. As someone who has tried to condense my audio DAC/AMP/Headphones and Mic into something that works across all boxes I do appreciate that Sony leads Nintendo and Microsoft in this area.

At the moment it's +1 to Sony because they have actually shown something on the audio side. Microsoft needs to do more that just sell licences to Astro so they can sell a new wireless $300 headsets to us. I'd certainly give up some resolution for better audio support that don't mean wires plugged into joypads. It's not 2005!

[CMcK]

MS and Sony will have collected data about how their systems are utilised so presumably Xbox owners aren’t using the optical out much. Most TVs have optical output those days which will pass through audio for people that need it. I suppose optical is limited to certain formats with HDMI required for later surround formats like Atmos.

IIRC the PS4 slim dropped the optical output too?

[Team Andromeda]

And the Americans didn't land on the moon?

Yep, the biggest lie and con in the world. We all know it never happened

Pushing the Resetera SDF aside, there has been an explosion in the range of high quality audio solutions over the last 10 years or so. Particularly around external DACs, AMPs and headphones that has definitely spilled into gaming (and PC content creation)

The One X had serious powerful sound hardware, did DF and or Restera care about its audio subsystem and it's eight co-processors?
Even some of the PC nerds don't bother with soundcards anymore, and are happy with the Motherboard standard for sound and you barley saw any comparison with the audio of games in any Digtial foundry comparsion (I bet that will change)

Yes flops don't count anymore, bring back Ken ....

[vanpeebles]

I haz soundcard.

[Digfox]

Yep, the biggest lie and con in the world. We all know it never happened

You can see the flags and rovers still up there

The One X had serious powerful sound hardware, did DF and or Restera care about its audio subsystem and it's eight co-processors?

My understanding it both the XBO and PS4 family just used the AMD APU to output some form of Dolby or Stereo via HDMI, Optical or via the Controller. That's one thing that should improve with this new generation.

Even some of the PC nerds don't bother with soundcards anymore, and are happy with the Motherboard standard for sound and you barley saw any comparison with the audio of games in any Digtial foundry comparsion (I bet that will change)

As a 'nerd' I've owned a few different external DACs/AMPs and soundcards over the years. It's more that an external DAC/AMP allows some features such as improved connectivity that a internal soundcard doesn't allow. I'd argue the arrival of Schiit, FIIO, Geshelli, JDS etc. is driven more by the audiophile market and the way people listening to their music/media has changed (as well as smaller companies rushing to fill a gap in the market). A lot of people just use those stereo setups for gaming.

You're reaffirmed what I'm trying to say though. The XBO can't even directly connect to those external headphone DAC/AMPs with anything other than via Optical - which is dissappearing with XSX. At the moment if you're into headphones, virtual surround, high-end microphones for voice comms or using standard wireless headphones it's much easier to do that on PC/PS4 (PS4 allows USB devices).

Sony's HRTF system and dedicated audio hardware looks like being one of the most interesting developments for console audio is a while. It's hard to say what Microsoft have at the moment because they haven't gone into as much detail.

But whatever machine, consoles being more open and allowing people to use the ever growing range of audio solutions isn't a bad thing.

[Digfox]

MS and Sony will have collected data about how their systems are utilised so presumably Xbox owners aren’t using the optical out much. Most TVs have optical output those days which will pass through audio for people that need it. I suppose optical is limited to certain formats with HDMI required for later surround formats like Atmos.

IIRC the PS4 slim dropped the optical output too?

Yep, there's probably some truth in that. I sense the lowest common denominator, in that most people do use HDMI audio through TV speakers or plug their headphones into the controller. Typically TV Optical out only passes through a stereo signal so you lose the Dolby or Surround encoding. Dolby Atmos (or Dolby Digital) on Xbox One works through Optical, HDMI or the controller.

That said in the PC space there are way more people getting into 'decent' audio. Along with streamers using quality USB microphones and the rise of Discord etc. there is a market for more choice. And I think that's also happening in the console space, albeit more slowly. So now you see far less of those garbage 7.1 style headsets coming out from the mainstream and the rise of good quality, often budget friendly stereo headsets like the Coolermaster MH751 or Kingston HyperX which are rebranded TacStar products. There's certainly a growing market for this stuff.

The other side of it, is that Microsoft makes money from licensing a proprietary connection from their consoles to Astro or Plantronics etc. Sony has traditionally forgone that and uses more open standards.

On PC and PS4 I can have a Soundblaster X7, DT 990 Pro's (or whatever headphones even if you need amping) and quality microphone all working seamlessly interconnected. Whereas on Xbox One if you want to use voice comms you have to plug in a set of low powered cans to the controller and lose all that external hardware. Or you can go an buy a proprietary Xbox Astro Mixamp. It sucks and the Xbox hasn't really evolved in this area since the 360 in 2005.