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I gotta give it to Sony. The headphone jack as standard on the DS4 was a genius idea

H

hwy_61

Banned
Seriously. I love the fact that I could plug in any headset into this thing. And the fact that you can access the volume settings by long pressing the PS button is fantastic. Today, one of my coworkers asked me what was cool about the PS4. As I went down the list of features, this of all things is what stuck out to him. Not the graphics, not the instant game collection, or the Facebook sharing. It was the headphone jack. Its criminal that nowhere on the PS4 box does it mention that this is a thing! I really hope going forward, the other companies copy this.


Actually, now that i think of it, I guess you could credit Nintendo for doing it first, but that's only on the Gamepad, which is not that practical if you're just looking to have a regular sized controller in your hands.


EDIT: I took out the part about double tapping the PS button to get to the volume setting. I could have swore I did this very thing a while ago.
 
For the Wii U you could just put headphones on the gamepad and put it to the side while using the pro controller.
 
I need to use the feature more. You can get all the audio from games fed to your headphones, right?

I really think the OS altogether is a godsend. I didn't need to play ACIV on the PS4 for instance. It didn't run at a higher frame rate or even look much better and I have a PS3. But just being able to get in and out of the game so quickly with basically no fuss - that's what it made if so much better on PS4.
 
Yeah I'm really glad Sony and Nintendo did this. It's a very nice feature, especially with some good quality headphones. I wish the DS4 would've had a volume dial on it or something similar like the Gamepad does, but it's not that big a deal.
 
Agreed. I actually have an XBone, I'm using the stereo headset adapter. It's so much better than having a headphone cable stretched across the floor, especially if you have a set of phones with a short cable. Sony baking the feature in as standard was a great call and I wish MS would have done it as well (maybe in a future version of the controller?).
 
I agree, absolutely amazing. No need for expensive gaming headphones that'll only work with one product when you can now use your expensive music listening headphones.
 
Inorigo said:
I need to use the feature more. You can get all the audio from games fed to your headphones, right?

I really think the OS altogether is a godsend. I didn't need to play ACIV on the PS4 for instance. It didn't run at a higher frame rate or even look much better and I have a PS3. But just being able to get in and out of the game so quickly with basically no fuss - that's what it made if so much better on PS4.
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I believe so, yes. I think I've done it with BF4 while my gf was asleep next to me.
 
It is amazing but it is something of the times.

Wii U has it.

My Roku 3 remote has it.

Xbox 360/1 has it w/ the proprietary caveat. edit: and no full audio.

Sony, when you decide to have my money and make a media remote, don't forget to include bluetooth audio over a 3.5mm jack as well.
 
Semi-related question does it kill the battery life faster?

I'm on the fence about which headphones to buy between the Sony playstation gold and official Xbox stereo headset... I know it kills the battery on the XB1 controller quite quickly... I'm wondering if it does the same on the PS4 because in that case I might spend a bit extra and opt for the Sony gold due to there wireless
 
I definitely agree.

Now all that Sony needs to do is to fix the battery life on this thing, & it'll be the perfect controller.
 
Sirim said:
Doesn't the 360 have a proprietary jack or some kind of blockage so you can't plug in any headset?
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The 360 has a 2.5mm jack on every controller. However it can only be used for chat not for game audio.
Biker19 said:
I definitely agree.

Now all that Sony needs to do is to fix the battery life on this thing and remove the LED, & it'll be the perfect controller.
Click to expand...
Fifty.
 
rothbart said:
Your first point seems to negate your second point.

Being restrictive isn't a great concept unless (in this case) you make Microsoft-specific accessories.
Click to expand...

I was just talking about the concept of having a jack in general. Sony's implementation is superior, no question.
 
hwy_61 said:
Actually, now that i think of it, I guess you could credit Nintendo for doing it first, but that's only on the Gamepad, which is not that practical if you're just looking to have a regular sized controller in your hands.
Click to expand...
Is just a metter of getting used to the Gamepad size after that you don't even think about it. People played Soul Calibur competitively with the DC pad and Halo with the Duke. Those 2 are far worse than the Gamepad in ergonomics.

On topic: NIntendo had the headphone jack and the speakers in the controller before Sony. Another neat touch the Gamepad has besides the headphone jack, is that the volume slider is in the controller. And the TV remote also XD
 
ShinUltramanJ said:
Doesn't the quality take a nosedive coming from the controller? Hate to say it but I've yet to really try it.
Click to expand...

You're not going to want to power a set of power hungry headphones with it, but it sounds pretty good with a set of "portable" headphones (sennheiser px 100, portapros).
 
Refreshment.01 said:
Is just a metter of getting used to the Gamepad size after that you don't even think about it. People played Soul Calibur competitively with the DC pad and Halo with the Duke. Those 2 are far worse than the Gamepad in ergonomics.

On topic: NIntendo had the headphone jack and the speakers in the controller before Sony. Another neat touch the Gamepad has besides the headphone jack, is that the volume slider is in the controller. And the TV remote XD
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but Pro Controller>>>>>>>>>>>>>Gamepad.
 
dark10x said:
The 360 didn't allow you to pipe audio through the jack...it was only for voice chat.

The 3DO allowed full audio like ps4 back in 93, though.
Click to expand...


Came to post about the 3do controller. The system really was way ahead of its time. ;-)

Seroiusly though, i hope itbecomes standard. Even though i have an ok sound system, i lovebeing able to play with headphones via the controller on my ps4 and wii u.
 
It's something so basic that adds a lot. Just plug in and listen. I would have been surprised if controllers didn't have it.

DizzyCaffeine said:
It's great, but I wish there was a way to change the volume on the controller.
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Should probably have had a slider or button volume control. Heck, even use the touch pad.
 
hwy_61 said:
Seriously. I love the fact that I could plug in any headset into this thing. And the fact that you just double tap the PS button to access the controller settings from any game is fantastic. Today, one of my coworkers asked me what was cool about the PS4. As I went down the list of features, this of all things is what stuck out to him. Not the graphics, not the instant game collection, or the Facebook sharing. It was the headphone jack. Its criminal that nowhere on the PS4 box does it mention that this is a thing! I really hope going forward, the other companies copy this.


Actually, now that i think of it, I guess you could credit Nintendo for doing it first, but that's only on the Gamepad, which is not that practical if you're just looking to have a regular sized controller in your hands.
Click to expand...

You listed facebook sharing as something cool about the ps4?
 
hwy_61 said:
I'm sorry but Pro Controller>>>>>>>>>>>>>Gamepad.
Click to expand...
Yes you should be sorry. Touch screen, mic, headphone jack, camera, TV remote, motion sensors, IR leds, stereo speakers, NFC reader, notification light, remote play. And similar battery life to the DS4 speaks other wise about the Gamepad in relation to the pro controller.

Having to get used to 400 grams instead of 200 or so is more than a worthwhile trade off.
 
hwy_61 said:
And the fact that you just double tap the PS button to access the controller settings from any game is fantastic.
Click to expand...

Mindblown.gif

I never knew I could do this, pretty amazing!
 
Stratostar said:
Talk about hyperbole. If you really consider this "genius," I don't know what to tell you.
Click to expand...


It's a great idea, what's the problem with OPs opinion? You get full audio and/or chat audio, without any need to buy some proprietary adapter, on any pair of headphones you have leading around the house... It's pretty awesome....
 
I just bought both Alien Isolation and The Evil Within for the PS4. When I bought it a few days ago I also picked up Wolfenstein:TNO and Far Cry 4. I think I am pretty set for a while. Also pondering MGS: Ground Zeroes for 7 bucks...
 
Refreshment.01 said:
Yes you should be sorry. Touch screen, mic, headphone jack, camera, TV remote, motion sensors, IR leds, stereo speakers, NFC reader, notification light, remote play. And similar battery life to the DS4 speaks other wise about the Gamepad in relation to the pro controller.

Having to get used to 400 grams instead of 200 or so is more than a worthwhile trade off.
Click to expand...

All these things are not better than the pro controller for me. That pro controller is much better for playing all wii u games in front of my tv. When I'm not in front of my TV, then yes, you're absolutely correct.
 
It's incredible! I live in a small apartment with my girlfriend and work late enough that there's no way I can play games until we've already had dinner and she's already turning in for the next day.

It might sound silly, but this is by far my favorite feature this console generation. It's made playing games and watching hulu/netflix/crunchyroll at night so convenient that it's actually something I do. The sound is great, and an update this year made it really easy to adjust the headphone volume in game. I actually look forward to sitting down at night and putting on the headphones and being immersed in a way that's really different from playing in a room full of daylight with no headphones. I probably would've played half as many games this year if it weren't for this.

And somehow I had no idea the Wii U does this -- does it work for emulated wii games? Maybe I can finally play Xenoblade. Gonna try it later!
 
FarCry 4 turned into a horror game when I tried the headphones for the first time. I'm now too scared to walk around in the woods any time I hear the tiniest little anything.

Animator said:
You listed facebook sharing as something cool about the ps4?
Click to expand...
Well, you could make a fake alternate Facebook account and leave it as a depository for all your screenshots...
 
Stratostar said:
Talk about hyperbole. If you really consider this "genius," I don't know what to tell you.
Click to expand...

It's a very good idea to normalize it cell-phone style, compared to other big consoles which either did proprietary jacks or fiddled with it a bit.

You plug it in, it works, it's good. Roku did it with their remote for newer stream boxes; it's a great idea.

Oersted said:
Your wording was genius, which is obviously a stretch since others have been doing it for a while. But yeah, its cool.
Click to expand...

Hrm? On consoles?
 
hwy_61 said:
All these things are not better than the pro controller for me. That pro controller is much better for playing all wii u games in front of my tv. When I'm not in front of my TV, then yes, you're absolutely correct.
Click to expand...
Play the Wind Waker HD hwy, see what a little effort to actually take advantage of the controller can do for a game. Superior item management, better aiming and Miiverse implementation, not to mention you can enjoy your favorite feature of this gen of controllers by pluging your headphones. Can't do that with a Pro. XD
 
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