Topic: General Xbox Series X|S Thread

@andiX Headsets use the Xbox port on the controller so perhaps you need an adapter? My headset is Astro A40 TR HEADSET + MIXAMP M80 for Xbox. I bought it for... Fortnite 😝 but now I use it more for Sea of Thieves. It's great and it comes with an Xbox plug.

Welcome! 😁

@Banjo- Are you able to compare both the MixAmp M80 and MixAmp Pro? The Pro has a sound card build within the MixAmp so surely that has superior sound quality over the M80? I’m just curious as I’m looking at buying another Astro A40 + MixAmp since my gen 1’s optical port was too damaged to use, it’s been a few years now and I’m just using Apple earphones these days.

@MaccaMUFC Yes, I checked both models. The MIXAMP M80 is better in spite of not having a sound card. Why? Because the audio fed by Xbox is superior.

@Captain_Chao5 I've had the £1 deal twice and the last one i got cost me 1 month of ultimate, £10.99. Mine runs out in April. Gonna try it again, but not too confident this time. As good as MS have been with these cheap deals, they cant do it forever, but I hope so. Just make sure you leave at least a month before resubbing.

@Banjo- You mean the audio from Windows Sonic/Dolby Atmos? I’ve still got the Astro A40 headset which still works fine, so it would be no different me using the Apple earphones would it as Windows Sonic/Dolby Atmos works with anything. Honestly using the Apple earphones makes the sounds louder and clearer compared to using the A40 without MixAmp. I just remember how good using the A40 with MixAmp Pro was compared to Windows Sonic/Dolby Atmos.

does anyone know if xbox store gift cards only work on an account based on the country you bought the card from (like playstation cards) or are they region free?

@GarbonZoni Thanks for the tip!

Are people getting excited for atomic heart? I'm not the biggest bioschock fan( and this looks very familiar) but I might give it a go since it's on GP.

@NintendoByNature I have never played the BioShock series (altough I bought all games on Steam a while ago). FPS is not really my style anymore but I will at minimum give it a try

@jdv95 Nope, same as PlayStation - gift cards are not region free

@Balta666 same, over the years I've lost interest in FPS, but I do like halo. I might make some space and DL it tonight.

So PSVR2...
Got to give Sony credit but basically cashing in the Quest/2 library (and the titles its currently missing) has addressed the "there are no VR games" image form last time.

I hope MS sees it and do something. I get their fear after Kinect 2 but they could just not make their own headset and set a minimum requirement for third-party ones. (inside-out tracking, controllers etc)

I wouldn't mind them ignoring VR if we had plenty of new games to play but so far their purchasing spree hasn't started paying off yet. If Starfield and Redfall had hit their launch dates what would this have been an almost silent first half of 23 (or is this just some play for the Activision deal)

I ordered the Astro A40 TR + Mixamp Pro the other day from Lime Pro Gaming for £159.99 which I thought was a great price as it’s usually no cheaper than £199.99 when its in a sale elsewhere. Despite me never using the site before and reading mixed reviews from other customers, it came well packed with original packaging so I knew it was brand new and not been refurbished or anything. It only took a couple of days to be delivered, even with free delivery.

I was excited to set it up and start playing with an Astro headset again since I had a great experience with the gen 1 version years ago. However after updating the firmware and connecting it to my Series X I immediately noticed that it didn’t sound as good and as loud as my old gen 1 A40. I’ve switched between Dolby Atmos and using Astro’s own EQ settings via the Astro Command Centre but while Dolby Atmos is enabled it sounds exactly the same as when I was using my Apple earphones while connected to the controller. So I switched to use Astro’s EQ settings using the Dolby processor on the mix amp but it sounded even worse without Dolby Atmos. This is not what I expect from a headset that costs £249.99 at its usual price.

I’ve seen from forums people saying that the audio quality is a downgrade due to it using USB rather than an optical port which my gen 1 had. I’ve tried the optical port with the new headset while it was connected to my tv as the Series X doesn’t have one but again the sound was awful. Another thing that I noticed was missing from the audio settings on the Series X is that bitstream is no longer an option with only uncompressed stereo, Dolby digital and DTS being the only options. I always used bitstream out with my gen 1’s but I have no idea how to get my new gen 4’s to sound just like the gen 1’s. I miss the simplicity of just connecting my gen 1’s and just start playing, these days they expect you to mess about with audio settings and adjusting EQ bars to get the best out of the headset.

Here is a great chat with Michael Pachter - who even talks about CMA blocking and what that could mean for 'UK' customers as its a 'regional' case - not going to 'stop' a deal go through...

It's an hour long chat - but worth watching to see/hear what's likely to happen and/or potential outcomes, the timelines etc - even what 'could' happen if things don't go as 'expected' but MS still completes the deal...

Does anyone else have an issue with games randomly not having sound? I generally get an hour on a week night to play after everyone's in bed so I went to boot up the system (fine, with sound) went to Wo Long - no sound - so I quit out and closed the app restarted - no sound - went to setting and shut the console down turned it back on again no sound on Wo Long tried Hogwarts no sound, Sonic Mania no sound. Tried Cuphead & Sonic 2 both fine. I even turned it all off removed all the cables and restarted, those games still didn't have sound.

@Decoy_Snake sometimes I have a few seconds without sound when booting from quick resume but never permanent like that

@Balta666 its happened a few times then works fine just wondering if anyone else has had the same

So when you buy digital games, do you get points that can be used towards future digital purchases and if so, how? I'm sure this has been talked about to death, but I haven't been an Xbox owner for very long.

@NintendoByNature You need to sign up to Rewards on Xbox so that you can 'earn' points through various methods. I think you can sign up on the console or just search Microsoft Rewards, sign up with your MS/Xbox account and then you'll earn points on purchases...

@BAMozzy cool, I'll have to get on that.