topic Re: Surround Sound in Stadia General

Surround Sound

AH — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 15:16:50 GMT

I am thinking of buying a good headset with surround Sound. Will this be working off the USB-C port of the controller? I am looking at the arctis 7p ord 7x. Or maybe corsair virtuoso?

Re: Surround Sound

SanjaySyam — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 20:23:18 GMT

Probably the surround sound won't work off the USB-C port of your controller and you might need to use it wired via 3.5mm instead. You should get in touch with the manufacturer and confirm whether it's compatible with a wireless controller before you make the purchase.

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 20:41:46 GMT

Beeing quite new to gaming, i am just wondering,what All you guys use for proper gaming Sound?

Re: Surround Sound

DonTonyDeluca — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:19:55 GMT

I would like to use my surround sound, but for some reason Google has made Stadia's surround sound work only with eARC. So very silly. I hope they fix this very, very soon...

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 06:19:55 GMT

Okay. So no surround posibilities out of the controller and in to a headset then?

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 06:20:39 GMT

good point, thank you

Re: Surround Sound

DonTonyDeluca — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 15:18:09 GMT

No, I believe not.

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 06:38:43 GMT

I was in contact with google support, they told me that both the 3.5mm jack and the USB-C port on the controller carry 5.1 surround.

They also told me that a workaround for the chromecast eARC issue, should be to set the TV or the AVR to PCM mode, which should be able to pass through the 5.1 signal.

I have not tryed any of this yet, so, I cannot confirm. maybe some of you guys can confirm this?

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 06:40:31 GMT

come to think of it, I didn´t ask if the controller had to be wired to the PC or connected to WI-FI for the 5.1 audio signal to pass..

Re: Surround Sound

DonTonyDeluca — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 07:25:02 GMT

Hmm, I would like to know these things too.

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 12:09:59 GMT

I did some more research in to this eARC issue.

As I wrote earlier about setting the TV or AVR to PCM mode, this does not work with an optic cable which is what I am left with for my AVR.

Another solution that might work - Install an HDMI audio extractor, for eksample - Nedis HDMI 4K 60Hz Extractor - in between the chromecast and the TV, and extract the audio through an optic cable and in to an AVR receiver. Or, as I am thinking about, in to the base unit of Steelseries Arctic Pro Wireless headset

Maybe this could work?

Re: Surround Sound

DonTonyDeluca — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 14:11:04 GMT

Thanks for looking into this more deeply. However, I think Google must address this. I can't imagine enabling ARC would be very difficult at all, likely an afternoons coding. The fact this was overlooked is truly unbelievable. Also, I contacted Stadia support about this before too and went through four different support staff before I eventually got an email from a fifth telling me it's because I don't have eARC...

Re: Surround Sound

Deleted User — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 16:20:45 GMT

Support told you that the 3.5mm jack AND the USB-C port BOTH carry 5.1?? I am HIGHLY skeptical - but sounds about right for Stadia support unfortunately.

I have seen quite a few posts from folks saying they plugged their gaming headphones into the controller and only got 2-channel. You can connect the phones to the AVR or TV directly and get 5.1 but you won't have a working mic.

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 05:45:22 GMT

You are right, I didn´t think of the mic. of course the headset has to go in to the controller.

beeing new and all to this, I must say, it is very confusing looking for a good headset. All manufactores promise all the right things on their web pages. it is when looking at all the reviews on Youtube the differences stand out. I have not found a headset that can do surround off the 3.5mm jack. in fact, many of them has to be connected to their app on a PC to bring you surround...

or, am I missing something? It is really confusing..

Has anyone tryed to connect to the USB-C port on the controller, which is where the chance for surround in a headset should be then?

Re: Surround Sound

Broken_toe — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 11:44:45 GMT

Wondering about this aswell, got both a turtle Beach 800p and a plantronics rig 800 for my ps4. Both must be plugged in with optical adapter to give me any 5.1. Never heard about a headset that can give you any surround sound through 3.5.m or usb c. Maybe its different with stadia since the controller connect direcrly to Stadia servers.

Re: Surround Sound

kungfuaddict — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 20:29:25 GMT

I just confirmed with Stadia support that audio through the controller is currently only supported via the 3.5mm jack, not USB-C. They did say USB-C audio was under development and should be released soon. No word on whether it would support surround sound or not.

So, currently surround sound is only supported via the HDMI port connection to the surround sound system, not via 3.5mm jack. Also, when bluetooth support is released it won't be supported as bluetooth doesn't support that many audio channels, only stereo.

So, I guess my only option for surround sound on headphones is to get a pair that emulate surround sound. **bleep**. Anyone have a suggestion for a headset that would be worth my time and money?

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 06:30:22 GMT

I don´t know about Stadia Support. it seems to me that they don´t really know anything?

There has been several articles a while back about the USB-C port now open for audio. On Reddit there are many happy people talking about the Steellseries Arctis 1 working great off the USB-C port with its little wireless dongle attached.

Stadia Support told me a couple of weeks ago that both the 3.5mm and the USB_C ports carry 5.1. This is not the truth though. I have been in contact with Steelseries, they told me that the controller only carry stereo off the two ports.

So... I don´t know about Stadia Support..

I bought the Steelseries Pro Wireless headset because I thought that I could split the sound from the CCU HDMI signal with an extractor unit. This did not work. The 5.1 format that Stadia uses off the CCU is not compatible with an optical connection..

So, it does not look good in terms of surround sound in the headset and Stadia!

As someone mentioned earlier, it would be nice if they could implement dolby digital.. even though it is an old format, all the gaming gear that is available would be working again..

Re: Surround Sound

Mky — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 09:26:51 GMT

I'm afraid you're talking about me, I've been claiming Dolby digital or dts audio since stadia's launch day, in the same way that all other game consoles have tried all kinds of audio extractors sadly none worked. The easiest thing is for Google to allow us to choose which pretend audio we want but it seems that Google does not want to pay a Dolby license to solve these problems. I find myself in the situation that to have 5.1 audio I have to change my 2019 Samsung 4k TV and my AV, or use headphones ... the cheapest thing would be to buy any new video game consoles. they all have minimal dolby sound.I've been in stadia for a year and I don't see that stadia is going to change anything on this subject. conclusion you will see it great 4k hdr ... but unfortunate stereo sound

Re: Surround Sound

AH — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 09:49:52 GMT

Hi MKY

Do I understand you correct, do you have surround in your headset?

I don´t.. but I have surround from my old AV Receiver. I just connect the CCU to the AVR game HDMI port and then HDMI from the AVR to my (ARC) TV.

This setup is working just fine, I´m not experiencing more lag from this setup than the CCU directly in to my TV.

I Just wanted my new headset to bring me surround sound

Re: Sonido envolvente

Mky — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 16:48:01 GMT

if you want to use ccu, with 4k hdr and lpcm 5.1 sound, you will have to have at least one av equipment that supports this confirmation. if you don't forget to have all 3 things. I currently have my ccu connected in the tv, in this way I have 4k 60hz and hdr but I lose the 5.1 sound, the other connected to my av configuration is 1080p 60hz without hdr but with 5.1 sound. conclusion, if i want the best audio and video I have to change my AV at least. an AV with this quality does not fall below $ 300, so I say that it is cheaper to buy a game console than to change my AV to watch the games in stadia. so i decided temporarily use stereo headphones through the jack port. but when I have the money I will have to decide whether to change stadia for playstation or my AV 4k hdr..