Xbox Series X will have dedicated sound card

[BlackManINC]

 Now this is truly some juicy news for the next generation. I agree with the video maker that sound is just as important to the overall experience as the graphics, if not more in some cases. The sky is the limit now to what they can achieve with a dedicated sound card, can't wait. I will definitely be buying me a good home theater surround sound set up when the time comes. 

 

 

[minibois]

.... So?

My PC doesn't have a dedicated soundcard and everything sounds just fine. Is this video about the news XBOX having an audio processor or something?

Really, I don't see a big deal in this..

 

EDIT: just to be clear, most people use 3.5mm headsets connected to their controller (because that is what Sony/Microsoft forced upon console players), a simple speaker set or their TV speakers. Even those home theater users will have a receiver and will be using optical audio. The sound is already good from consoles, no need for a dedicated audio card. I would rather them upgrade all the other stuff.

[greenmax]

Dedicated sound card, which means what precisely because it could just mean a small daughter board, and not like a desktop sound card.

[RejZoR]

Oh great, Microsoft rediscovered what we already had 20 years ago. Congrats I guess. Now give us back hardware accelerated audio instead of this software audio garbage we have since Windows Vista release...

[BlackManINC]

Just now, minibois said:

.... So?

My PC doesn't have a dedicated soundcard and everything sounds just fine. Is this video about the news XBOX having an audio processor or something?

Really, I don't see a big deal in this..

Well of course your games may sound just fine without one. My games do, but that's only because I am using the sound enhancement software below. The sound would be absolute shit without it with the speakers I have. If you have really good speakers, a dedicated sound card will definitely make a difference. This is why I'm excited. 

 

Link: https://www.fxsound.com/

[BlackManINC]

5 minutes ago, Schnoz said:

I wonder how that will work. One big concern is keeping the cost reasonable. Tacking $50 onto the price for dedicated sound hardware would benefit relatively few people and probably hurt sales due to that price. I'm wondering if they are using just talking about a nice integrated sound card (haven't watced the video yet), or if AMD built the sound hardware onto their die.

 

4 minutes ago, greenmax said:

Dedicated sound card, which means what precisely because it could just mean a small daughter board, and not like a desktop sound card.

Its a dedicated sound card like you would have on a desktop PC according to the video. This would be the first time its ever done on the console. 

[SupaKomputa]

Nice to have but for me is meeeh. Having 7.1 surround capable pc for years, never have the motivation to buy 7.1 speakers.

Consoles depends on the exclusives, whatever hardware prowess xbox muster, playstation still offers better selections. 

[minibois]

Just now, BlackManINC said:

Well of course your games may sound just fine without one. My games do, but that's only because I am using the sound enhancement software below. The sound would be absolute shit without it with the speakers I have. If you have really good speakers, a dedicated sound card will definitely make a difference. This is why I'm excited. 

 

Link: https://www.fxsound.com/

You sound like an advertisement bot with that second sentence and that link.

 

How will a dedicated soundcard make a difference to:

1. most people (who use 3.5mm headsets or some simple speaker set)

and

2. people with home theater sets (who probably are already using the optical audio on a console and routing it through a receiver)

?

 

To me this sound like them saying "Yep, a network card. We got it." Like.. Cool? But what can a dedicated device do that the integrated CPU/SOC/whatever can't do already?

[greenmax]

Arent consoles used for different other then gaming now a days?

I see the kids on the ones I buy theres options now for a lot on the screens.

[BlackManINC]

7 minutes ago, minibois said:

You sound like an advertisement bot with that second sentence and that link.

 

How will a dedicated soundcard make a difference to:

1. most people (who use 3.5mm headsets or some simple speaker set)

and

2. people with home theater sets (who probably are already using the optical audio on a console and routing it through a receiver)

?

 

To me this sound like them saying "Yep, a network card. We got it." Like.. Cool? But what can a dedicated device do that the integrated CPU/SOC/whatever can't do already?

 

I personally have never used a sound card, but according to people that have, a good sound card will make a huge difference even if you have a good home theater set up using the optical ports. There is a good reason why they are used in the music industry. Really, the entire point in getting a sound card is specifically if you have decent speakers to begin with. A dedicated sound card won't make much of a difference with the speakers I have below for instance. The sound is shit without my sound enhancement software. 

 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VAHYTG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

7 minutes ago, greenmax said:

Arent consoles used for different other then gaming now a days?

I see the kids on the ones I buy theres options now for a lot on the screens.

Consoles these days have become more like PC's, so yes. 

[greenmax]

Just now, BlackManINC said:

Consoles these days have become more like PC's, so yes. 

It seems that way, they surely arent getting any cheaper.

 

More profit for the makers with the extra noise.

[BlackManINC]

Just now, greenmax said:

It seems that way, they surely arent getting any cheaper.

 

More profit for the makers with the extra noise.

I'm sure they will do their best to keep the price reasonable as always, but yeah, the more it can do for your buck, the better. 

[greenmax]

Just now, BlackManINC said:

I'm sure they will do their best to keep the price reasonable as always, but yeah, the more it can do for your buck, the better. 

Marketing feature

[BlackManINC]

11 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Nice to have but for me is meeeh. Having 7.1 surround capable pc for years, never have the motivation to buy 7.1 speakers.

Consoles depends on the exclusives, whatever hardware prowess xbox muster, playstation still offers better selections. 

We'll see who has the better games this time around. Microsoft has at least shown they are dedicated to it with the multitude of studios they recently bought up. 

[C2dan88]

Why are you getting hyped over this for?

 

By dedicated it is going to a sound processing chip added to the motherboard of the console. Just how PC motherboards have built in sound. Its not going to be (PCI-E) addon/external unit of console.

 

XBox One X = prebuilt mini itx PC  

[minibois]

2 minutes ago, BlackManINC said:

I personally have never used a sound card, but according to people that have, a good sound card will make a huge difference even if you have a good home theater set up using the optical ports. There is a good reason why they are used in the music industry. Really, the entire point in getting a sound card is specifically if you have decent speakers to begin with. A dedicated sound card won't make a difference with the speakers I have below for instance. The sound is shit without my sound enhancement software. 

So basically this will be a waste of 30-80 USD for 98% of the console's customers.

But I found it really difficult to imagine a home user - you know, who this console is for - will notice a difference between a good onboard optical audio and a dedicated card. I'm not convinced.

 

The whole "There is a good reason why they are used in the music industry" doesn't convince me either. The 'music industry' has audio setups that will be a tad bit better than what everyone at home will have.

 

I'm not convinced this is an important feature to a console. In general.

This is of course a rumor video, probably based on nothing, but I would find it a shame if Microsoft were actually wasting money on these devices in the new XBOX instead of using that for something else.

[BlackManINC]

1 minute ago, C2dan88 said:

Why are you getting hyped over this for?

 

By dedicated it is going to a sound processing chip added to the motherboard of the console. Just how PC motherboards have built in sound. Its not going to be (PCI-E) addon/external unit of console.

 

XBox One X = prebuilt mini itx PC  

That would be an integrated sound chip you are talking about, which won't be the case for the Xbox Series X according to the video. We'll know with more certainty as time goes along. 

[greenmax]

1 minute ago, BlackManINC said:

We'll know with more certainty as time goes along. 

Wasnt it mentioned, its a slip into slot sound card?

[BlackManINC]

1 minute ago, minibois said:

So basically this will be a waste of 30-80 USD for 98% of the console's customers.

But I found it really difficult to imagine a home user - you know, who this console is for - will notice a difference between a good onboard optical audio and a dedicated card. I'm not convinced.

 

The whole "There is a good reason why they are used in the music industry" doesn't convince me either. The 'music industry' has audio setups that will be a tad bit better than what everyone at home will have.

 

I'm not convinced this is an important feature to a console. In general.

This is of course a rumor video, probably based on nothing, but I would find it a shame if Microsoft were actually wasting money on these devices in the new XBOX instead of using that for something else.

Apparently this is not a rumor according to the link below. You say they could have spent their money on "something else", like what exactly? 

 

Link: https://wccftech.com/xbox-series-x-audio-hardware-acceleration/

[BlackManINC]

5 minutes ago, greenmax said:

Wasnt it mentioned, its a slip into slot sound card?

 Well the article says "dedicated hardware acceleration". I don't see what else this could be referring to besides an actual sound card, since that's what the term usually means for PC's for audio. If its "dedicated", then that by default means its not integrated into the motherboard. 

[C2dan88]

By "dedicated hardware acceleration" it means a dedicated sound chip for processing audio. The previous generation consoles used the CPU for the processing audio as mentioned in the video.

 

I cannot see it being a separate addon card.

[minibois]

1 minute ago, BlackManINC said:

Apparently this is not a rumor according to the link below. You say they could have spent their money on "something else", like what exactly? 

 

Link: https://wccftech.com/xbox-series-x-audio-hardware-acceleration/

This is an article based on a single sentence from a second-hand source (not Microsoft themselves, but someone hosting an event where someone who worked on some games released on the Xbox will talk).

The entire article is based on this:

Quote

Attendees will dive deep into the audio design pipeline (Project Acoustics) and the relationship to dedicated hardware-acceleration on newer generation Xbox consoles.

It would be pretty easy for Microsoft to say "part of the main system chip will be dedicated to audio stuff". No mention of a dedicated soundcard was made. We don't know what 'dedicated hardware-acceleration' means.

6 minutes ago, BlackManINC said:

You say they could have spent their money on "something else", like what exactly? 

Things that will affect near 100% of their audience. Better videocard, better cooling, upgradability, better controller design with a built-in battery and maybe videogames? So much better goals, than 'improving audio' which no one has complained about for YEARS.

Do you know what 30-80 USD extra for videocard accomplishes for someone building a PC? Especially a 500 USD PC? Usually double the fps. Something that will keep up the longevity you should be able to expect from a console. And that is even at end consumer level, not even taking into account the sort of pricing a high-volume partner like Microsoft gets.

[greenmax]

I will take words from XBOX themselves over potential fake news outlets online.

[Kisai]

24 minutes ago, minibois said:

.... So?

My PC doesn't have a dedicated soundcard and everything sounds just fine. Is this video about the news XBOX having an audio processor or something?

Really, I don't see a big deal in this..

 

EDIT: just to be clear, most people use 3.5mm headsets connected to their controller (because that is what Sony/Microsoft forced upon console players), a simple speaker set or their TV speakers. Even those home theater users will have a receiver and will be using optical audio. The sound is already good from consoles, no need for a dedicated audio card. I would rather them upgrade all the other stuff.

We've had "APU" type devices in PC's going back to the 80's.

 

However, what people overlook what current "onboard audio" does, which is "everything in software" , around the time audio started to become an onboard feature, was the AC'97 codec, and that was then followed up with "Intel HD Audio". In both cases neither of these are anything special. If you connect your Radeon/Geforce card up to a HDMI monitor, there is also a "HDMI audio codec" invoked here too.

 

So the present problem is separating the "Audio" from the "DAC" portion. Yes you can in fact do a lot of audio stuff in software, but an 80's sound card was simply a "FM synth" and a 90's sound card was a simple DAC and a FM Synth, with later models having hard coded wavetable which sounded nicer, but eventually it all got thrown under the bus by Microsoft. 3D Positional audio was thrown out due to basically one audio card vendor (Creative Labs) having a monopoly on the tech, and other surround systems (eg Dolby, DTS, THX) also being weighed down with patents. Ultimately audio was just deemed good enough for a PC, and we've been stuck with that ever since.

 

The only difference between the HD Audio on my z87 board and my X-Fi card is that the noise floor is somuch lower on the X-Fi. There's some other aspects like ASIO that it supports, but ultimately to blow past the onboard audio support is not a simple feat.

 

For starters, any VST instrument has to be mixed in software, games don't use MIDI anymore basically because MIDI hardware doesn't exist anymore to play it on. So if you want to play a 90's DOS game with the original MIDI track you need to have a software midi synth, and a "good enough" midi synth might be a 2MB waveset, where as a "this sounds awesome" waveset might be 250MB. The processing power goes up steeply. Now add 3D positional audio into the mix. Now you're outstripping the processing power available in a software solution.

 

What it sounds like they're talking about is HRTF really in the article. Bringing back "surround sound" in a way that works better than EAX ever did (which was more of a reverb engine than anything.) Things have evolved in the home theater but have stalled on the PC and game console. Sure, yes they can be connected to a 7.1 home theater now, but you're mostly just getting a stereo mix with a heavy center channel from most games.

 

If you recall a while back, AMD started putting a dedicated ASIC for sound on their cards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_TrueAudio , with the current version also leveraging openCL.

 

 

[SupaKomputa]

3 minutes ago, BlackManINC said:

Apparently this is not a rumor according to the link below. You say they could have spent their money on "something else", like what exactly? 

 

Link: https://wccftech.com/xbox-series-x-audio-hardware-acceleration/

More ram or higher quality SSD would be better than a fancy audio for general users.

As far as i knew, motherboard sound processing have a dedicated chip for it, cheap mobo have cheap chip, higher end have better ones.

It's been "hardware accelerated" for a long time in the pc with or without add in cards.

Having another card in a console would just consume more space and cost more to make, i don't see the logic in that.