Xbox One lacks optical Dolby 5.1, post-launch patch promised

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The Xbox One will not support Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound via its optical out port at launch.

Optical out is the red fiber-optic port most commonly used by surround sound home cinemas or headphone systems for true 5.1-channel audio. At launch, Xbox One's optical port will only output stereo sound.

Microsoft director of product planning Albert Penello confirmed via a post on NeoGAF, "Dolby Digital is coming post launch."

He went on, "This was a [software] scheduling issue pure and simple, and I know people are disappointed, but we will have it.

"Anyone with an HDMI receiver should be fine, as we pass the uncompressed 5.1 and 7.1 through HDMI as well as DTS. Even if you have a Dolby only HDMI receiver (which I'm not sure exists), you will still get 5.1 or 7.1 sound since those receivers should accept uncompressed surround," he said.

This means that 5.1 audio received from a device into the Xbox One's HDMI In port will be passed unaffected through to the HDMI Out port.

"For the Dolby only headsets, my understanding is that these will work but you will only get stereo audio since we only pass Stereo and DTS through the optical port," Penello added.

Penello went on to clarify that the console's HDMI In Audio setting defaults to stereo, but can be switch to 5.1 audio via a 'beta' setting in Xbox One's setup menus.

"We default HDMI-IN audio to be converted to Stereo," said Penello. "However, we do have a feature you can access in TV settings/Troubleshooting that enables Surround Sound in 'beta' form.

"If you check the box, and you get Surround, you're golden. We found some inconsistencies in [set-top boxes] during testing and decided to disable it by default to insure a good initial setup experience for people."

In our Xbox One review, we called it "a platform that has laid foundations that it can build on for a whole generation", while calling the new Kinect sensor "the single most impressive element of the Xbox One system at launch".

Xbox One launches in US and Europe on Friday.

Posted:
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/439649/xbox-one-lacks-optical-dolby-51-post-launch-patch-promised/

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"Xbox One lacks optical Dolby 5.1, post-launch patch promised" :: Login/Create an Account :: 45 comments

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SurvivalOfTheFittestPosted:

This patch should be released soon anyway

RantPosted:

I wonder if they're releasing the patch anytime soon.

KatsumiPosted:

It's not really the lack of Doubly 5.1 support that annoys me. It's the fact that Microsoft broke their promise that gets me a little frustrated on this matter

fexPosted:

When I was playing on the Xbone at EGX we had 5.1 SS

TywinPosted:

Dominating Its sad iv been gaming since the first Xbox and I don`t know what this is. I may or may not be affected by this, but if I am. I will never know...


You won't really know what it is until it is going.
It could possible effect your audio experience depending on the type of headset you use.

TywinPosted:

Urf This is how the community should behave. Now if something like this would happen to the PS4, there would be swarms of children making stupid posts. Sad that they are lacking something this simple though.


If it was something simple, it would be added.
Dolby is digital surround sound, as in a sound card.

CokesPosted:

Oh well, not like a decision changer for people.

FrogPosted:

Urf This is how the community should behave. Now if something like this would happen to the PS4, there would be swarms of children making stupid posts. Sad that they are lacking something this simple though.


Yeah, it really should of been sorted out before it was released... Also, your statement about the PS4 community is not true, there are immature fans of both consoles.

BRSPosted:

Katsumi This doesn't really effect me seeming that i will not be getting an Xbox One anytime soon, hopefully they add it eventually though


Issue comes with headsets, which use optical. There are gonna be a lot of expensive headsets which are useless at launch, no chat support until adapters are released and now no Dolby Digital surround support.

BRSPosted:

OK most people will be using HDMI and it won't be an issue, but stories like this really make it sound like these consoles were rushed out the door.
Guess they had to make the Christmas season.. or else!!


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