Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Friday March 20 2020, @10:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the any-port-in-a-storm dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The Xbox Series X will be missing the optical S/PDIF audio output that was present on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 hardware lines.

[...] The removal will mainly impact players who use a small subset of high-end gaming headsets and audio systems that rely on the optical audio connection instead of audio sent over HDMI or Microsoft's wireless standard. Some users will be able to use S/PDIF passthrough output from their TV-set as a replacement, though. And Windows Central reports that wireless headset makers like Astro are already working on solutions to make existing Xbox One-compatible S/PDIF products work on the Series X.

Microsoft has also confirmed that the Series X will be missing the IR extension port that was present on the back of the Xbox One and the IR blaster that was present on the Xbox One S. Those features were only really useful in extremely limited circumstances, such as for Xbox users who wanted to use the system's TV remote control functions without plugging in a Kinect sensor.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by toddestan on Friday March 20 2020, @09:52PM (2 children)

    by toddestan (4982) on Friday March 20 2020, @09:52PM (#973646)

    One other advantage of S/PDIF is that eliminates ground loops. I had an annoying 60 Hz hum hooking up my PC to my receiver. Analog was bad, a digital copper link was better, but S/PDIF completely eliminated the hum as there is no electrical connection whatsoever.

    With that said, I would assume this isn't such a big deal with purposely built audio equipment designed with proper isolation. However, I've found PCs in general aren't so good about it.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday March 20 2020, @10:44PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Friday March 20 2020, @10:44PM (#973663)

    Okay, now that actually makes sense, thanks. Ditching copper doesn't reduce noise in the signal itself, but it eliminates noise introduced into the electronics as a side effect of the electrical interconnect provided by the copper.

    Of course you could theoretically electrically isolate the signal carrier from the rest of the system, but doing so effectively might be even more expensive than toslink

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 20 2020, @10:48PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 20 2020, @10:48PM (#973664)

    If you picked up a 60 Hz hum in your sound while using a copper digital connection, I can tell you that it is impossible for that 60 Hz interference to be due to the digital transmission. Clearly the analog part of that circuitry was getting the hum. As you say, it could be a ground loop. That would mean the cables weren't designed correctly or the amplifiers receiving the digital signal (digital signals are all analog of course until they are converted to digital ;-)) were also of crappy design. Done properly, there would be no detectable noise. Optical transmission is more "idiot proof" that way...