USB DAC's and Xbox One?

Legellan

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Has anyone here tried plugging in USB DAC's for headphones and see if they work for Surround 7.1?

The reason I'm asking is I'm looking at the Logitech G433's or HyperX Cloud 2 headphones since my Turtle Beach X11's (may they rest in peace) broke.

Both the HyperX and G433's come with a USB DAC for surround sound on the PC but do those USB DAC's provide surround sound if plugged in to a USB port on the X1?

I'm also looking at the Turtle Beach Stealth 600's but I would need to buy the MS Wireless adapter to use them on PC.

Here's my use cases. Surround sound on my xbox and tv for games and movies. I'm okay with Stereo sound on PC if it gives it to me on Xbox. I'd rather have the surround sound there for movies.

I don't want to spend more than CAD$120. The TB Stealth 600's are at the top of the budget there.

EDIT: I'm aware of Windows Sonic and plugging a 3.5mm jack into the controller. The reason I kind of don't want to use this is i need to have the controller on to watch a movie. Yes I'm aware my X11's are wired but they have a like a 16ft cable so it's more than long enough and is powered by the hub.

Thanks everyone.
 
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Drew Neilson

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I don't know anything about DACs but I wanted to suggest that if you find one that is compatible with Xbox One and/or Windows 10, you should find out if you can make your Xbox and/or your PC do Windows Sonic for Headphones or Dolby Atmos for Headphones surround sound virtualization processing and output it via that DAC. You'd be using your PC's and your Xbox's surround sound virtualization technology INSTEAD of your DAC's surround sound virtualization technology and you might find it to be better (or worse).
You no longer need a DAC to do surround sound virtualization over headphones. Try disabling the headphone's built-in virtualization tech and let the operating system do it (on Windows 10 and Xbox One, that is).
 

Drew Neilson

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Actually, you might find that Windows Sonic for Headphones and/or Dolby Atmos for Headphones are better than a USB DAC's virtual 7.1 channels because both Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos offer *more* than 7.1 virtual channels.
 

Legellan

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will give it a try once I decide on the headphone to buy. just not thrilled about having to plug the headset into my xboz controller to get sound. wish I could connect direct to the Xbox and save the batteries in the controller.
 

Drew Neilson

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I was actually suggesting that if you find USB DACs that are compatible with Xbox One, find out if you can disable their internal surround sound virtualization processing, and have your Xbox One do the virtualization processing while outputting the sound through the DAC. I have limited knowledge of this, but it should be possible to do this with DACs that use your Xbox's optical audio out port; people have discussed this online. If Xbox One supports USB DACs, it might be possible to do this in that situation as well.
 

Drew Neilson

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Another thing to think about: are there any DACs (USB or HDMI) that not only output audio to a headset, but also accept input from that headset's microphone? Headsets have microphones while headphones do not, and microphones can be great for adult multiplayer gaming. If I recall correctly, headsets have 3.5 mm TRRS (tip, ring, ring, sphere) plugs while headphones have 3.5 mm TRS (tip, ring, sphere) plugs. The extra ring in TRRS headset connections is for microphone input, which headphones don't have. It might also transport remote control signals (next song, previous song, ect.) but I'm not positive about that.
I'm not sure that TRRS headset plugs are 100% compatible with TRS headphone jacks because the tips, rings, and spheres won't completely match. The audio jack on the Xbox One controller is a TRRS headset jack.
Also, there are two TRRS standards so if you have a headset, you should try to find out what standard it uses in order to ensure compatibility with the devices you connect it to. The two standards are AHJ and OMTP. I honestly don't know which standard the Xbox One controller uses. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#TRRS_standards
 

Drew Neilson

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Actually, I'm not 100% certain that AHJ and OMTP are the names of the standards but I do recall seeing those names as I did my own Internet research on this subject. You'll have to do your own research as I'm only vaguely familiar with this topic. The Wikipedia page that I provided a link to--including the table that the link takes you directly to--should be very helpful.
 

Drew Neilson

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Also, I *assume* that the Xbox One controller's headset jack is TRRS, otherwise I don't think that any connected headset's microphone would work. I don't know what standard it uses.
 

Kieran Jeffery

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USB DACs don't work on Xbox One. It just hasn't got the drivers. You'll need ether an HDMI audio extractor or a SPDIF to RCA or something similar. Alternatively get an Astro Mix amp or a Turtle Beach Elite Pro Tactical Audio Controller.
 

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