Microsoft has today announced that it will be finally releasing a new line of stereo headsets for the Xbox One later on in March, which will be priced at £59.99 for a new stereo headset, or £19.99 for those who want to adapt their existing Xbox 360 headset to work with the Xbox One.
The official Xbox One headset will be over the ear style and will have 20Hz-20kHz audio range which Microsoft claims will give a “deep bass and clear highs, while remaining comfortable during long gaming sessions”.
The adapters are a different story as Microsoft has catered to the existing gaming headset market by offering a new Xbox One adapter to be sold separately for the older Xbox 360 headsets. This means someone who has forked out £250 for a new set of Turtle Beach headphones in the past year won’t have to go out and buy a new Xbox One-specific model.
The adapter can be bought separately for £19.99 (or $25 USD for our American friends) but it will only enable chat audio. For gamers looking to get the in-game audio too, they will need to setup a direct connection with their Xbox One via an optical cable or TV via RCA cables to the headset of their choice.
The actual adapter is part of the Xbox One Stereo headset package and slots into the bottom of the Xbox One controller to offer audio controls for the headset such as balance adjustment for in-game audio and chat and the ever-handy mute button. Until now, third party headsets from the likes of Turtle Beach have not been fully compatible with the Xbox One as an official adapter was required to provide chat audio through the controller.
The Stereo headset and adapter draws power from the Xbox One controllers so expect your battery life to take a hit when connected wirelessly, but this shouldn’t be a major problem for gamers.
The Microsoft Xbox One Stereo headset and separate adapter will go on sale worldwide in March.