Next-Gen Casualty. Gamers Who Use Stereo Speakers.

Since the PS4 and Xbox One both do not contain an AV output for stereo audio, MANY gamers including me (who still like to use their stereo speakers) have a bit of a conundrum.

One solution could be to use the 3.5mm headphone jack on the PS4 controller and run the cable to your speakers near your TV (instead of to your headphones).

Although I am uncertain if such a set-up would contain audio lag since the controller receives the audio VIA BLUETOOTH (Will the bluetooth that transmits the audio to the controller be laggy?)

Any insight would be appreciated...

oh, wait, they won't? I thought they had shown the standard RCA thing (i.e,. red, white and yellow cables, where red and white are left and right audio and the yellow is video) as an optional cable (probably with a proprietary adapter) at least for the PS4?

Since I have my PS3 hooked up to my monitor, and use RCA for audio (as I don't have an HD TV, nor would have much use for one, since I don't watch TV), I guess I wouldn't be able to use a PS4 if they truly have skipped analog audio output.

According to the Amazon page the PS4 has Analog-AV out?

There is no use of Red and White audio as there is no AV output. You could use the 3.5mm output on the PS4 controller (i.e. use a 3.5mm to RCA cable) and run the cable to you speakers, but do you think there would be audio lag since some people would need a 15 ft cable since they sit 10 ft away from their TV?

It has the same thing the for the cord the PS3 uses, and the same cord the PS2 used. Nither of them had an anolog out on the box ether.

No on the PS3 there was an analog audio output. The PS4 took it out.

Get a DAC problem solved.

But a DAC (Digital audio converter) can have problems converting certain sounds (and can be quite expensive).

Using the 3.5mm port on the PS4 controller and a 3.5mm to RCA cable would avoid conversion issues and be less expensive.

Yet do you think using a 20 Foot 3.5mm to RCA cable would cause audio lag? Since the audio would be traveling via bluetooth to the controller and then through the 20 Foot 3.5mm to RCA cable into the speakers? Since it is much longer than a headset cable plugged into the controller.

Here and Here

So yeah, confirmed for a while that it wouldn't have it I guess.

@josam27o7: Don't think anyone really knows if it will cause audio lag unless they've spend some time with a setup like that and I am willing to bet not a lot of people have.
And if anyone have it would probably be Sony guys, and if they had audio lag issues they probably have some people somewhere working at some branch of the Sony family who knows a thing or two about how to fix that issue

Quick question. My TV has a 3.5 mm jack. If I hooked the ps4 up via HDMI and hooked the speakers up to the 3.5mm jack in the tv, would the audio quality be as good as hooking the speakers up via RCA straight to a ps3? Ive always been afraid to try, but Id assume having the connection go from ps4 to tv (hdmi) and tv to speakers (3.5mm) would result in lower audio quality.

@josam27o7: You can always invest in a nice loud sound bar like this Samsungs HWF450 little pricey but really worth it. I actually own this one, played all of Uncharted 2 with it to give me that movie theater experience, shook the room quite nicely.

But yes I remember playing Silent Hill 2 with my old Aiwa stereo, good sound really can help the experience. Something most gamers are missing out on I think.

About time this topic came up. I have been worrying about this for a while. Looking to see more suggestions.

Can you just get stereo out from your TV after running the consoles in via HDMI?

If you are not running an HDTV with HDMI you have more to worry about than whether you can play audio through your stereo. I am confident that developers are going give zero fucks about people who still use CRT's.

@monetarydread: I (and some other people in this thread) currently use a monitor for playing games. That means no sound via HDMI. Although my picture quality is fucking great.

with all of the horror stories of many games having unreadable text on crt televisions, I'd say they haven't given any fucks for some time.

$20 soundcard with S/PDIF

If you are using your PC monitor then you can add a $20 sound card that will turn your pc into a receiver (even though most onboard sound cards have S/PDIF support currently). The ps4 supports S/PDIF, so you run a toslink cable from the PS4 to your sound card, then your sound card can output to your stereo.

$30 DAC that provides S/PDIF to analogue audio

or, if your PC is not close enough to your monitor, you could just use this DAC to get the job done. FiiO is a great brand for DAC's and your $30 even gets you a 6ft toslink cable.

I've never known a DAC to have a problem like what your describing, provided your feeding it a PCM stream or transcoded signal at a bitrate it supports it's technically impossible for it to miss "certain sounds". After all your missing analogue output was only there on the PS3 because there was an on board DAC.

There are plenty of affordable DAC's out there (audio engine make one for something like $150). All you need to do is hook up the optical out to the optical in on the DAC unit and as the PS4 to send Stereo audio over that connection.

Also I would strongly dis-courage people from trying to use the 3.5mm headphone jack on a display as an audio out solution to a set of speakers. That is not a line level output so it's going to sound potentially a lot worse than it should.

There is extra processing there. So it would probably result in slightly lower quality. But nothing noticeable. I've actually tried that type of set-up before. It works fine.

I do that and i've never had any problems. Sounds decent enough. (obviously depends on your speakers)

Do you guys think that the bluetooth that carries the audio to the Dualshock 4's 3.5mm Jack could have lag issues?

I am assuming there wont be problems because why would Sony give us the option to plug speakers into the controller if all you are going to get is laggy in-game sound?.....

It would depend on the specs for the bluetooth antenna sending out the signal to the controller. Could definitely be laggy if they skimped on it, or it could be fine. Either way, a hardwire connection will always be preferable/less laggy. We probably won't know until we finally get our hands on it.

I am assuming Dual Shock 4 works the same as Dual shock 3 in that you can connect with a USB and bypass the bluetooth (IS THIS CONFIRMED?) ensuring no audio lag.

Wouldn't that be the optimal set-up?

Does anyone know if the PS4 has 3.5mm microphone jack or just an all in one headset port? I would love to able to use my PC headset (which has a 3.5mm audio cable and a 3.5mm microphone cable).

It depends on what your TV does to the signal, and the quality of it's DAC converters. Unless it's an absolute piece of junk, or you're running it into a very high quality stereo rig, you most likely won't notice a difference.

I'm now also concerned about this since I use a computer monitor and external speakers for my PS3. I guess I'll just have to upgrade sometime between now and when I buy a next generation console, which I haven't planned on doing anytime in the near future anyway.

What are the best settings to use on PS3 when using digital out but for stereo only? If you own a 5.1 AVR but only want to use stereo speakers with it, are you only getting audio meant for front left front right and wasted electricity is being sent to the empty speaker terminals? Does the receiver combine channels? Can the PS3 turn them to stereo? The only setting I see is to output PCM instead of bitstream, but nothing about telling it to use stereo. Also, when PS3 makes LPCM is it from a separate recording (meaning do all games have a 5.1 soundtrack and a separate 2.0 master instead of the PS3 just combining the 6 channels into 2 for RCA out, etc.)?

Wait it doesn't have digital audio out?!

I would assume it does. This thread is about a lack of analogue outputs.

WOW, this is kind of crazy to me. I run my video through the HDMI but hook my speakers up through component cables that plug directly into my Logitech subwoofer. This option is dead? Then so is my video game bass! Nooooooo!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005DIRI6I/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1381510696&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

This would work right? $16 ain't bad.

Guys, guys! Can't you just connect the speakers to the tv? That's how I do it now.

@nodima: Just get a DAC, they have a full range of price options out there. It's literally the missing component from the hardware needed to run that analog connection, they just haven't included it for cost saving reasons (that and most people will just get their audio over HDMI/SPDIF).

@terradelu said:

Yeah pretty much, can't speak much to the quality of the DAC chip itself but i'm sure it functions.

What do you mean a line level output? Couldn't I bypass bluetooth by connecting the controller via USB. Then the audio should be fine.

I am going to gently bump this thread as I still don't have a solution to this problem. I currently have a nice pair of stereo speakers, which are connected to whichever console I have hooked up at the time. However, this is no longer possible as both of the new systems are getting rid of analogue audio output.

As some have stated, the obvious next step would be to find a way to connect the speakers directly to my TV. Can someone please help and give me a real idiot-proof way of doing this? I am not a tech guy at all and I haven't had much luck finding out info on the web. I have a Xbox One preordered and it would be nice to sort this problem out before the 22nd.

Thanks in advance!

As others have mentioned you will need to ether

• Buy a DAC
• Buy an AMP and run console to amp via HDMI - AMP to Monitor via HDMI hook your Speakers up to that or u can do console to amp via optical and HDMI straight from console to monitor
• Use the 3.5mm output on the Monitor mine has this and works fine HDMI to Monitor - 3.5mm back to amp . i use this for my Macbook
• Buy a new TV

I don't see any other options for you

BUY A DAC.

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-Digital-Analog-Audio-Converter/dp/B005PWPUW6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1383785725&sr=8-3&keywords=DAC

Alright, I get the picture! I will buy a DAC. I have never used one before but it should be easy to use I take it? Sorry for being dumb about this kinda thing!

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Digital-Coaxial-Toslink-Converter/dp/B006PHXMQQ

Other's have posted similar items, but hope this helps.

If your TV has composite or 3.5mm Audio Out, you can use HDMI and stereo speakers just fine. That's what I have.

Good thing I'm rocking an HDMI and primarily use my Astro's.

Yep just plug the optical in one end and the RCA's in the other, set the machine to output Stereo LPCM over optical and you should be fine.

Sorry if the comment seemed a bit firm, but myself and 2 others said the same thing like 3 times. It either went ignored, one loopy person seemed to think that DAC's can "skip sounds" (despite the fact that the reason the previous consoles had line level out was because they had a DAC on board) and the rest devolved into insane strategies involving plugging speaker into the headset out on the wireless controller.

@korwin: Don't worry about it! I did see DAC's mentioned but I didn't know it was the best and easiest option. I will order one soon. Thanks for the help though!

So I'm going crazy and might actually try and pick up a PS4 this Friday even though I haven't pre-ordered. Just to check, this set-up would allow me to get audio from the PS4 to my speakers which have a single male RCA cable, right? I know this is kind of a dumb question, but I just drove 360 miles and my brain doesn't want to think about cables.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-ILJRY-1-Single-Female-Y-Adapter/dp/B00006346W/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1384202230&sr=1-2&keywords=y+connector

http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-Digital-Analog-Audio-Converter/dp/B005PWPUW6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1383785725&sr=8-3&keywords=DAC

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B001TH7GSW/ref=pd_bxgy_MI_text_y

@dgtlty: Yeah this is exactly what I do, no problems.

Stupid question coming up: What exactly do I plug into the back of the DAC? Don't tell me I need to buy another cable...

EDIT: Works well with the PC via USB but I am not sure how to make it work with consoles.

@vod_crack: SPDIF/Toslink cable from your PS4 to your DAC, and your analog RCA cables from the DAC to your speakers. If that is indeed your setup, of course.

@joemarsden: Ok, I don't think I have a Toslink cable. Thanks though!