The idea that both removed what Phil Spencer essentially confirmed is a ~$1 to $2 item in a premium entertainment box is absurd. I understand maybe cutting from the series S to shave costs, but the Series X? Really?
My entire setup is thrown into disarray, and looking elsewhere on the web, I'm far from alone. I don't doubt Phil when he said that the number of people using it is relatively small percentage wise, but it seems that among enthusiasts and would-be early adopters, it was regularly used.
I have historically run optical to my PC sound card and use a Rog Swift in 1440p for both PC (display port) and xbox (hdmi 1.4). There is no optical out available on the monitor. My sound set up is ideal as I can easily have discord, youtube, music or whatnot on a second monitor while I'm on the xbox and I make routine use of the xbox app for chatting in game which allows me to use a quality audio-technica mic. By removing the optical out, I have to either have a dedicated headset for my xbox (my regular set is Sennheiser HD 650 so just doubling up is not practical), constantly swap inputs from PC to the controller (wear and tear on connections and aggravating) and also would force me to get a separate mic, get an HDMI audio extractor which limits throughput (making consistent 60hz+ at 1440p not possible) which reviews say are far from ideal, or run a full blown receiver which is overkill.
With the popularity of Astro mixamps and other optical focused setups, I'm really surprised by this move. It just sucks as there is no ideal solution, at least for me.
My entire setup is thrown into disarray, and looking elsewhere on the web, I'm far from alone. I don't doubt Phil when he said that the number of people using it is relatively small percentage wise, but it seems that among enthusiasts and would-be early adopters, it was regularly used.
I have historically run optical to my PC sound card and use a Rog Swift in 1440p for both PC (display port) and xbox (hdmi 1.4). There is no optical out available on the monitor. My sound set up is ideal as I can easily have discord, youtube, music or whatnot on a second monitor while I'm on the xbox and I make routine use of the xbox app for chatting in game which allows me to use a quality audio-technica mic. By removing the optical out, I have to either have a dedicated headset for my xbox (my regular set is Sennheiser HD 650 so just doubling up is not practical), constantly swap inputs from PC to the controller (wear and tear on connections and aggravating) and also would force me to get a separate mic, get an HDMI audio extractor which limits throughput (making consistent 60hz+ at 1440p not possible) which reviews say are far from ideal, or run a full blown receiver which is overkill.
With the popularity of Astro mixamps and other optical focused setups, I'm really surprised by this move. It just sucks as there is no ideal solution, at least for me.