Xbox - Series S/X: Thread 01

[Cassius_Smoke]

It's obvious that MS was wounded by the PS4 having more power at launch and they've come out the gate with a real power house. I hope they can get some good footing this gen. That said, the PS5 seems to have the more interesting architecture. If I was a developer I'd be more interested in making a game for it and seeing what I can get out of it.

[Team Andromeda]

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. .

I don't think to have good soundboards with a separate dedicated processor helped that much with the Saturn and DC .
To be honest and serious for a moment. I haven't seen (or heard) a game change moment for console audio, since the OG XBox.

So We'll have to see

As a 'nerd' I've owned a few different external DACs/AMPs and soundcards over the years

I don't know that many PC gamers that even bother to buy a separate dedicated soundboard these days.

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).

I quite happy with my Plantronics RIG 800LX on the One and PC.

You can see the flags and rovers still up there

I don't think its possible from Earth and so then you have to trust the likes of NASA and their photo's LOL .

[Cassius_Smoke]

I don't think its possible from Earth and so then you have to trust the likes of NASA and their photo's LOL .

(please be joking...)

[Team Andromeda]

(please be joking...)

In part, but I don't think it's possible from earth to see flags Etc on the moon even with the most powerful telescope.

[Digfox]

I don't think to have good soundboards with a separate dedicated processor helped that much with the Saturn and DC . To be honest and serious for a moment. I haven't seen (or heard) a game change moment for console audio, since the OG XBox.

I think it's exciting because it's getting closer to individually mapped HRTF which is one of the next big things when it comes to improving surround audio. Audio seems to always play second fiddle to the graphics so it was nice to see Sony emphasis it as a pillar of their PS5 presentation.

I don't know that many PC gamers that even bother to buy a separate dedicated soundboard these days.

Whether you buy a sound card or not is a slight red herring. For example my Soundblaster X7 isn't that much of an improvement on the internal ZxR soundcard for gaming. And internal soundcards are often a better choice if you're just looking for a PC-centric hardware solution. You are right most PC gamers suffice with internal motherboard sound although internal soundcards have undoubtedly got better. My ASUS Strix Laptop has a seperate DAC and AMP that is stunning tbf and I was not expecting when I bought it. But there is a lot more choice now.

I quite happy with my Plantronics RIG 800LX on the One and PC.

That's cool. It's far easier to find solutions that work with single devices, although if you're looking for a multiplatform solution the 800LX is no good because it's only USB so can't change the surround processing or plug into another DAC/AMP. You're stuck with Plantronics dongle. Also by high-end microphones I mean stuff like the Antlion Modmic and above.

As I muse on this I think there's two separate elements here; 1. Microsoft locking out of audio standards is rubbish and 2. Sony's new hardware audio chip in PS5 sounds exciting. But I originally responded because I think to suggest that it's only resetera SDF or Sony DF pushing 'a newfound' interest in high-end audio is a bit conspiracy theory.

[Digfox]

In part, but I don't think it's possible from earth to see flags Etc on the moon even with the most powerful telescope.

Sorry off topic.

No I don't believe any earthbound telescope can see the 6 NASA landing sites. Although we have mapped the moon in hi-res photographs now. And other countries space agencies have taken hi-res images of the moon including all the various different space agencies left-over equipment on the moon.

[Atticus]

Still OT. If you think the moon landing was fake, just ask yourself: how many people were in on it, and how were they all silenced for all this time?

[Team Andromeda]

Sorry off topic.

No I don't believe any earthbound telescope can see the 6 NASA landing sites. Although we have mapped the moon in hi-res photographs now. And other countries space agencies have taken hi-res images of the moon including all the various different space agencies left-over equipment on the moon.

Mate, I'm not being serious I love it all on the Joe Rogan radio show and there is a lot of very dogy stuff from NASA
I'm not one of these who think the Moon landings were faked or the USA carried out 9/11, the only iffy one to me is JFK (but that's another thread)
I just say I don't think it's possible to see the landings on the moon from earth, even to this day

[Team Andromeda]

You are right most PC gamers suffice with internal motherboard sound although internal soundcards have undoubtedly got better.

True, but I know a few that or more than happy with the Realtek and focus more on the GFX cards. Not quite like the old Soundblaster days.

Microsoft locking out of audio standards is rubbish and 2. Sony's new hardware audio chip in PS5 sounds exciting

I sort of agree with you on the lock out, but we have to wait and see over the audio, I think most gamers care more about GFX mind

Audio seems to always play second fiddle to the graphics so it was nice to see Sony emphasis it as a pillar of their PS5 presentation

I not so sure about that. Sound hardware in some consoles were very powerful like the Snes, and most said the Saturn soundboard was the most powerful part of the machine (shame SEGA screwed up over compression) and the soundchip in the OG XBox was mighty. Last Gen was a bit poor mind and if not for Kinect then I doubt this gen with One, would have had the serious sound hardware it had.

But it is interesting to see what SONY do and how it sounds

[Digfox]

Mate, I'm not being serious...

I was going to respond with the notsureifserious.gif

I not so sure about that. Sound hardware in some consoles were very powerful like the Snes, and most said the Saturn soundboard was the most powerful part of the machine (shame SEGA screwed up over compression) and the soundchip in the OG XBox was mighty. Last Gen was a bit poor mind and if not for Kinect then I doubt this gen with One, would have had the serious sound hardware it had.

But it is interesting to see what SONY do and how it sounds

Oh definitely in the past there was dramatic developments in audio, although in the last few generations of the consoles, audio developments seems to have taken a back seat. I still don't think you're correct on Xbox One (or PS4) in that they just used the AMD Jaguar APU for sound. There's no custom DAC or sound hardware in those two machines. The majority of the work and decoding is done in the APU.

[fishbowlhead]

Whatever happens power wise it will all benefit us. If MS REALLY pull out all the stops with exclusives then bam, more customers, benefits us. Sony will carry on doing the same as its a winning strategy.

Either way its going to be a really interesting generation with both parties putting in a lot of effort to gain business.

Win win.

[nonny]

I don't know where the misinformation came from but the Series X does have its own dedicated custom audio chip for Atmos etc... So this talk of it consuming other resources is incorrect.

As for the optical port removal. It'll annoy a few who have use for it but I've already seen Astro saying they are working with MS to support other solutions for backward compatibility of peripherals. I know the Astro A50s can use the usb port on PC so figure they might be looking at this for the new console?

[wakka]

As regards the removal of the optical port, to be honest the writing has been on the wall regarding that for years. I was reliant until fairly recently (~1 year ago or less) on using one because I had a very old amp. But over the past few years consoles started dropping it, and Blu-Rays started dropping support for optical-compatible sound formats, and it was clear that it was time to upgrade.

Whatever happens power wise it will all benefit us. If MS REALLY pull out all the stops with exclusives then bam, more customers, benefits us. Sony will carry on doing the same as its a winning strategy.

Either way its going to be a really interesting generation with both parties putting in a lot of effort to gain business.

Win win.

Agreed! It's going to be a fascinating fight between the two.

[CMcK]

https://semiaccurate.com/2013/09/03/xbox-ones-sound-block-is-much-more-than-audio/

Kinect meant a a fair bit of effort was put into the audio side of the One.

Hopefully the XsX has a more powerful full featured setup.

And if both consoles controllers had enough oomph to drive my big headphones so I don’t have to sit with a mini y cable connected to the headphone amp then the headphone cable coming in over the back of the couch that would be great. For battery manufacturers more than anyone I’d imagine!

[Digfox]

I don't know where the misinformation came from but the Series X does have its own dedicated custom audio chip for Atmos etc... So this talk of it consuming other resources is incorrect.

https://semiaccurate.com/2013/09/03/...re-than-audio/

Kinect specifics aside, I think this is where it comes down to your definition of 'custom' but certainly specifically with regards to games I'd understood Dolby Atmos for Headphone on PC and Xbox One is a software wrapper where the end result is upmixing which produces a sound like Dolby Atmos rather than being specific hardware encoded positional audio.

We aren't talking about Series X in this specific conversation (more about why everyone believes Sony leads with regards to PS5 audio). It feels clear that there will be a bigger leap in audio with XSX and PS5 (particularly where we know more about the latter atm). Digital Foundry made this very point when talking about the PS5. The leap in audio is going to be exponentially bigger for these new machines compared to previous generations.

As regards the removal of the optical port, to be honest the writing has been on the wall regarding that for years. I was reliant until fairly recently (~1 year ago or less) on using one because I had a very old amp. But over the past few years consoles started dropping it, and Blu-Rays started dropping support for optical-compatible sound formats, and it was clear that it was time to upgrade.

Tbh I was looking at this more from a headphone users perspective. I assume anyone with a decent 7.1/5.1 Surround Speaker setup uses HDMI to pass through the audio to their receiver. External headphone DACs and AMPs tend to use USB or Optical (I'm not aware of a headphone DAC/AMP that has HDMI for audio). So if Microsoft allow the use of USB for external DACs, AMPs or microphones then this becomes a non-issue.

As for the optical port removal. It'll annoy a few who have use for it but I've already seen Astro saying they are working with MS to support other solutions for backward compatibility of peripherals. I know the Astro A50s can use the usb port on PC so figure they might be looking at this for the new console?

Again might not be an issue just it'll come down to how MS will allow it to work.