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Why the Xbox One (S) doesn't support HD Audio Codecs
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Ever wondered why Microsoft doesn't support HD Audio Bitstream/passthrough like DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, DTS:X, Dolby Atmos and Auro3D?

I didn't know about the following until I bought a Xbox One S some days ago but every time you navigate in the Dashboard and even in Apps (including the Blu-ray Player App) most clicks are accompanied with annoying audio sounds like pling, plong and wuush.
Even though much requested (see here: https://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/253802-home-settings/suggestions/6189620-enable-disable-system-sounds) you can't deactivate the System "feedback" sounds.
So what happens? The sound from the source will be decoded (Microsoft has licenses for all common audio codecs so that's not the issue) then it will mix the System sounds into it and then it will reencode to AC3 or DTS if you have Bitstream turned on. This has to be done in "real-time". The encoding of HD Audio like Dolby Atmos is more complicated so that could cause audio delays (it could also be a license issue because playback/decoding is not the same as encoding). The current "Bitstream" audio options are not actually "Bitstream" as in real audio passthrough to the Receiver.
Proper Audio Support has been brought up as an issue more than two years ago (see here: https://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/253802-home-xbox-guide-and-settings/suggestions/6029319-proper-hd-audio-support) but only since the Xbox One S announcement Microsoft (Albert Penello) has publicly acknowledged the issue.

In addition, I know some fans have asked for new audio functionality including bitstream support and we're evaluating that as a possible feature in a future update.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-inside-xbox-one-s-tech-interview


Possible scenarios for the future:
1) Under Settings/Display & Sound/Audio Output or similar you'll have the option to turn off System (feedback) sounds globally and apps like "Blu-ray Player" and "Media Player" will get updated to get a default or optional "do not disturb" mode which blocks notifications etc. This way any de- and reencoding of audio is avoided so proper audio passthrough is possible.
2) Same as 1) but without the global option to turn off system "feedback" sounds.
3) Everything stays the same and there won't be a update.

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8 years ago