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Nintendo Switch doesn't support Optical Audio out....
- Thread starter hlhbk
- Start date
finalflame
Banned
It's 2017 fellas. Let's not dwell on archaic tech and let's realize HDMI can transport high quality audio as long as your A/V equipment is from this decade.
finalflame
Banned
Flash media used in game cards is in many ways superior and more modern when compared to the optical media being used in other consoles. The PS4 Pro supports it because it's a "premium" power user console also marketed at a streaming 4K player for your home theater with everything and the kitchen sink thrown in for $399. The PS4 Slim, for example, does not. Lest we forget Nintendo is being pretty clear that this is a game console, not a general purpose media device. More likely than not, for 98% of all users buying a Switch, having an HDMI port to pass their audio to their TVs/Sondbars/Receivers will be just fine.
Yeah, but it's an awkward use case. Shouldn't the optical jack be on the Switch itself then, not the dock, to support the people who want to use headsets when undocked? Also, Nintendo isn't even supporting voice chat on the console, why would they think about headSET support?
Transistor
Banned
dragonfart28
Banned
People really do complain about absolutely everything when it comes to Nintendo.
Transistor
Banned
Optical audio extractor. $25 and it pulls the optical from HDMI. That way people with legacy formats can keep their stuff and not have to upgrade/
bobs...onGaf
Member
For all the people saying this is a silly complaint - This is a little annoying for people who use headphones.
Ultimately it sounds like a converter exists so it's not the end of the world but I think the larger problem is the switch is already expensive enough without games that having to buy a convertor too - even for a tenner starts to make the whole thing seem even less affordable
Ultimately it sounds like a converter exists so it's not the end of the world but I think the larger problem is the switch is already expensive enough without games that having to buy a convertor too - even for a tenner starts to make the whole thing seem even less affordable
geordiemp
Member
Yeah the problem is most head amps seem to use optical and usb
So flash media is obsolete? Are microSD obsolete? A faster physical media that doesn't require installation is obsolete and slow discs aren't? What's your point?
Transistor
Banned
I use one for my zone 2 for my patio speakers. Works great.
LordOcidax
Member
Every Switch thread.
Transistor
Banned
Don't all instrument and music games have latency adjustments in the options?
Apparently everyone expected it going by the reactions in the PS4 Slim thread
KurtSloane
Banned
Plenty of people, still an excellent format.
You guys here pretend as if optical audio devices have been phased out. When high end (for gaming) headsets from Turtlebeach and Astro still use optical for even their latest 2016 models it means it's still the standard rather than an old technology that's phased out or is starting to be phased out.
Consoles have supported the superior HDMI audiontil dince PS3 but until these high end manufacturers of audio headsets switch to HDMI atleast for their flagship models, optical is still the standard.
Consoles have supported the superior HDMI audiontil dince PS3 but until these high end manufacturers of audio headsets switch to HDMI atleast for their flagship models, optical is still the standard.
Transistor
Banned
Then they need to switch to HDMI, which is the going standard for home theater devices now and is compatible with today's audio formats
KurtSloane
Banned
Yep, but we are all just clueless or some are just "attacking" the Switch.
Yeah there are artifical options to lower your audio input over HDMI. Yet you can technically not reach a level that is low enough to become acceptable for this type of game. Rocksmith is basically not playable over HDMI even tho it is the (overall) superior audio standard. This genre is just a small exception compared to the general market but Rocksmith is kinda awesome.
Yes they need to, but they haven't...which means it's still the standard and Nintendo going against it is the equivalent of when Apple did that thing with 3.5mm jack and talked about how it took courage eventhough their replacement was considerably superior to 3.5mm.
Standards would defined by manufacturers of audio devices...not the platform that these devices are used on no matter how hard the platform tries. All the platform can do is point towards a direction but ultimately it is up to the Audio device manufacturers to decided if they want to go in that direction. Point being the audio device manufacturers have had access to HDMI audio since PS3 but they haven't switched over, and until they do...optical remains the standards and Nintendo alone can't change that across for everyone.
gooderthanu
Member
How are headphones going to switch to hdmi??
That's an audio and video output. If you are expecting a console to have a hdmi audio out, I've never heard of such a thing.
If you guys have a receiver there's likely a million ways to hookup your headphones.
Transistor
Banned
The mixamps for the headphones would have an HDMI in and HDMI out.
Bummer- I literally just moved my Wii U to my downstairs TV this weekend, which is connected to a nice stereo Amp which only has optical and L/R audio inputs (I had to use the A/V out workaround to get analog audio out).
But it's good to know that those optical extractors are available if I use the same setup in the future.
But it's good to know that those optical extractors are available if I use the same setup in the future.
gooderthanu
Member
So you are routing cords through the headphones... is it a dock that transmits wirelessly I guess.
The exact same way it works for surround/home theatre speakers. The HDMI goes to a device and the device then sends the audio to surround speakers and video to TV separately. If you want an example then here it is..except the headset itself is shit quality compared to Turtlebeach and Astro and well below convention industry leading manufacturers like Bose and Sennheiser.
http://www.trittonaudio.com/prod/katana.asp
If you aren't using an intermediate device like a receiver/mixamp then what is even the point of the high quality of HDMI audio ? Because you won't be able to connect it to any surround sound/home theatre system and be limited to TV speakers seeing how that cable coming out of the console would have to be directly plugged into the TV and TV speakers are crap. Unless your TV itself is capable of doing the job of sending HDMI audio out to connected speakers...I don't know how common that is but I know mine doesn't.
But to get the best experience, they really should support component out too, for crt tv's, because there's inherent lag in lcd's. To get the optimal experience for a genre of games no longer produced.
The oldest version was released august 2016. Guess this means that those games aren't produced anymore since at least 20 years. /s
This might be a genre closer to musicans or people that want to learn an instrument. Just because they don't appeal to you doesn't mean that you should make false claims about it.
Lady Siara
Member
Disregarding every post explaining why it's upsetting before yours will give you that impression, I'm sure.
Is it surprising? No, seeing as how the Wii and Wii U didn't have one either. Let's not pretend it's exclusion is saving us any noticeable money as a consumer, though. Choices aren't a bad thing.
The only reasoning I could accept is that the design wouldn't mesh with its inclusion, either from a space/function perspective.
me? A lot of people?
Nowhere near as ridiculous as excluding an ethernet port on the Wii U though.
The last Rocksmith game came out few months ago and they still might make new ones. Unlike Rockband and Guitar hero there is always room for games like Rocksmith because they use actual musical instruments rather than toy ones with no relation to the skills required to play the real instrument.
The guy you quoted specifically mentioned Rocksmith.
maquiladora
Member
Seriously expecting a system with 32gb storage to feature Optical Audio out?
It ain't that kinda system.
It ain't that kinda system.
See I get it, Switch looks great...Zelda looks great. But I've observed that people are a bit too defensive about this console and it's games for some reason..You end up seeing the same reasons over and over again and how it doesn't really matter as it's not important in
1) Threads where people talk about its storage space
2) Threads where people talk about Joycon (missing Dpad and analogue triggers)
3) Threads where people talk about the ethernet port
4) This thread
5) Threads where people talk about Switch's battery life which generally also includes "It's not really a handheld" to reason that.
6) Threads where people talk about Switch's performance which generally also includes "It's not really a home console" to reason the performance.
7) Threads that talk about lack of internal voice chat support.
1) Threads where people talk about its storage space
2) Threads where people talk about Joycon (missing Dpad and analogue triggers)
3) Threads where people talk about the ethernet port
4) This thread
5) Threads where people talk about Switch's battery life which generally also includes "It's not really a handheld" to reason that.
6) Threads where people talk about Switch's performance which generally also includes "It's not really a home console" to reason the performance.
7) Threads that talk about lack of internal voice chat support.
dead_lighter
Member
You can complain about the ps4 slim also
It's quite common for the TV audio-out to only be in stereo, unfortunately. I'm no expert, but I believe 5.1 audio over optical has to be compressed (whereas it can be raw over HDMI), so something would have to do the compression.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Arent there like a million converters that can do this for you?
Theonik
Member
On a $90 dock absolutely. Especially Ethernet. Online games on the WiiU are terrible without buying the adaptor.
BAM!
MorshuTheTrader
Neo Member
Hopefully it'll at least support outputting audio via USB so I can use the DAC I just bought last month.
Yeah, optical can only do stereo at full quality. Anything else has to be compressed, which means you'll take a latency hit on the decompression step no matter what. And in addition that, it only has the bandwidth to fit lossy compressed 5.1 ...
Teletraan1
Banned
It is the year where new products are released that support optical out such as headphones and soundbars. I swear anytime options are not presented to consumers someone just thinks of their own situation and says fuck everyone else. The whataboutism on display in this and any thread that is detailing any Switch shortcoming perceived or not is staggering.