Xbox Series X loses XBox One's S / PDIF optical audio output, Ars Technica

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/ S / PDIF connections like this one that have worked since the Xbox 2020 won’t be compatible with the upcoming Xbox Series X.

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

The digital audio port was visible on images of a prototype casing for the Xbox Series X that leaked in January

. That port was missing from some ( but not all ) of the updated images of the Series X shown in promotional materials Microsoft released earlier this week . (Windows Central) and IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey have now confirmed with Microsoft that the S / PDIF output will indeed be absent from retail Series X units.

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.

That kind of use case will get even less common on the Series X, since the system lacks the “pass-through” HDMI inputs that helped enable some of the Xbox One’s more robust media features. The Series X will still support HDMI-CEC functions to send TV control signals to compatible sets directly.                   

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