Xbox One to open headphone development to third-parties 'in the near future'

Microsoft has issued a statement regarding third-party headsets, following reports that third-parties were "locked out." It says it will be developing solutions for peripheral makers "in the near future."

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Microsoft confirmed this week that the Xbox One headset would be sold separately, which naturally led to the question of third-party peripherals as well. It seems the Xbox One is using proprietary tech that one third-party manufacturer said "locked out" other audio devices. Microsoft has now issued a new revised statement regarding its peripheral plans.

"The Wireless Controller has been redesigned to allow for higher data transfer speed between the controller and the console," a Microsoft representative told Game Informer. "This also required creating a new expansion port design for headsets and future controller add-on devices which is different from a standard audio plug input. Xbox plans to develop solutions in the near future to allow consumers to connect many brands of wired gaming headsets to the Wireless Controller for gaming and chat audio.”

That follows the comments from peripheral maker Astro that implied Microsoft's new tech would only allow the company itself to make headphones. The wording of this new statement sounds like Microsoft hasn't opened it up to third-party developers yet, but will be sometime soon.

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  • reply
    June 28, 2013 8:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Xbox One to open headphone development to third-parties 'in the near future'.

    Microsoft has issued a statement regarding third-party headsets, following reports that third-parties were "locked out." It says it will be developing solutions for peripheral makers "in the near future."

    • reply
      June 28, 2013 8:36 AM

      WHY ARE YOU GUYS GOING NON-STANDARD PORTS? Hooray the controller can transmit more data and faster, but really, just use a freaking standard audio plug. There is no reason you switched it to some USB micro format. You are still just sending AUDIO DATA to and from the headset.

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        June 28, 2013 8:57 AM

        What this wise man said. Go with a standard 3.5mm connector like the PS4.

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          June 28, 2013 9:03 AM

          I mean, it's shocking to me they switched away from even the 2.5mm port that there are a bajillion headsets out there from the 360 that could have worked if you were not including on in the box.

          It seems I go back and forth every three days due to their stupid ass public relations fails on if I'm going to go PS4 or keep my One preorder.

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            June 28, 2013 9:06 AM

            Same here, it's getting ridiculous. Their policies shift more than my stomach after some bad mexican food

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        June 28, 2013 9:06 AM

        Actually I remember specifically them stating that 5.1 headphones were the reason why. You can't do those with just a single stereo jack.

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          June 28, 2013 9:35 AM

          So, they are taking on people like Astro Gaming who make 5.1 headphones by having the signal sent to the controller?

          Ok, I might be on board with this setup if we are eliminating the need for mixamps in my home theater setup.

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            June 28, 2013 9:40 AM

            Ah, yes, that's exactly what they are doing: https://www.turtlebeach.com/sites/new-products-summer-2013/xbox-one

            Sending game audio to the controller, so a setup like the Astro that requires a mixamp and all that is now a thing of the past. See, fucking tell me this up front, not "oh we are not using a standard audio plug because we are giant cunts"...

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              June 28, 2013 10:03 AM

              The mixamp still does audio processing, not sure you can get around that. Unless the Xbox one has a Dolby Headphone encoder built in.

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        June 28, 2013 9:14 AM

        Liiiiiiiiiiiicensing fees!

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        June 28, 2013 9:28 AM

        I would almost rather have a $600 console and have all the peripherals normal cost. its so blatantly obviously theyre trying to get some money back through this revenue stream

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      June 28, 2013 9:41 AM

      I am really trying to find reasons to stick with Xbox Live and by consequence the One but this is yet another little detail/strike against Microsoft. I like everything I have heard about the PS4's hardware. Smaller. PS4 hard drive is user upgradeable while it doesn't look like you can even get access the drive inside the Xbox One. PS4 controller use standard connectors. PS4 has front facing USB ports for wired controllers. Slightly more powerful GPU. Region free. Earbud and mic comes standard while the One will rely upon Kinect. Factor in all this stuff plus the lower price of the PS4 and the PS4 just sounds like the better buy to me. I've pretty much decided that it's the system I will go with. The only thing that could keep me in the One's camp is my friends list on Xbox Live but I wonder how many of them will have switched to PSN come late 2014.

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