Xbox One utilizes Skype and hardware improvements for better audio quality

Written by Brandon Hofer on August 29, 2013

Xbox One News: Major Nelson details what has gone into giving the Xbox One superior audio quality as it relates to the Xbox 360.

Xbox One is coming out later this year and among the many improvements the XBox One controller has over the Xbox 360 controller is audio quality. Major Nelson has posted some new details regarding what they have done to to ensure that Xbox One will have better quality audio when you are talking with friends:

“Thanks to integration with Skype’s audio codec, which has a proven track record of high-quality voice through billions of hours of use within Skype, as well as dedicated audio processing (for Xbox One conversations via Skype and multiplayer party chats), Xbox One offers higher quality voice chat with the Xbox One Chat Headset compared to Xbox 360—whether you’re chatting in-game or through party chat with Skype on Xbox One.

But the improvements don’t stop there. The Xbox One Wireless Controller’s new expansion port dramatically expands the data transfer rate between the controller and console. Combined with Skype’s audio codec, this enables crystal-clear digital audio with the Xbox One Chat Headset, both capturing and rendering speech at 24 KHz PCM, which is triple the rendering sample rate and a 50 percent capture rate improvement over Xbox 360 headsets. And, as we shared before, the Xbox One Chat Headset comes with every Xbox One console.

We think gamers will immediately notice the improvement here—whether it’s through crystal clear in-game chats over the Xbox One Chat Headset, through the sound of crisper conversations taking place over Skype or with your multiplayer party chat.”

Listen to it for yourself and tell us what you think. Are you picking up an XBox One at launch or will you be waiting to get one?

Xbox One Audio Sample

Xbox 360 Audio Sample