Xbox Series X: Dedicated hardware for processing audio reportedly on board

The first few months of 2020 appear to be very mediocre in the video game front as Sony and Microsoft continue to keep silent about their new machines. The former is yet to even show what the retail version of the PS5 would look like. Meanwhile, the latter only needs to confirm the technical specifications. Earlier this week, a new leak posted on controversial imageboard 4Chan might have exposed the confidential details. Now, a new Xbox Series X feature might have just been confirmed by the manufacturer.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently communicated over Twitter that his team is currently busy with preparations for the company's Electronic Entertainment Expo 2020 showcase. Unlike Sony, which announced its decision to pull out, Microsoft's gaming division will have a lot of surprises in store for gamers. According to the tweet, there will be new titles published by Xbox Game Studios and more.

However, it appears that prior to the gaming expo this June, another presentation is scheduled for the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month, wherein a panel will discuss something about the Xbox Series X, reports GamesRadar+. The special segment is titled "Building Audio Gateways Into Immersive Worlds With Spatial Sound (Presented by Microsoft)."

The synopsis reads, "Learn from the audio designers of 'Borderlands 3' and 'Gears of War 5' around how a collaboration between Microsoft, Dolby, and our middleware partners kicked off a revolution with spatial sound that turns any pair of headphones into a multi-dimensional gateway to another world." Analysts believe that this implies the new game system will have dedicated hardware to process audio signals.

Most console or some PCs rely on the CPU to process the sound, which is why those who seriously want the best audio performance go for dedicated sound cards or external amplifiers to process the signals coming from the software. What this means for gamers is that the Xbox Series X might ship not only with the latest hardware that can handle advanced graphics and reduce load times. Moreover, the way that it outputs audio signals might give users a new type of experience. Even without the help of dedicated sound systems.