Microsoft is launching a ‘noise suppression’ feature for Xbox Party Chat, which should ensure gamers no longer have to put up with their online pals chewing and breathing, or tolerating any other unsavoury excess sounds.
Whether it’s the TV on in the background, or kids pestering parents for snacks, no-one wants their multiplayer sessions marred by fellow gamers saddled with poor mics within headsets, picking up all that extra-diegetic sound.
The gaming giant says the new tool will process all audio before it reaches the rest of the party, and should ensure a cleaner experience all around.
In a post on the Xbox Wire blog, Microsoft says: “We’ve enabled a new feature which will process your microphone input through a noise suppression step to help produce cleaner audio in your Party Chat session. The setting is enabled by default but can be toggled from the dropdown options menu.”
This isn’t the first feature of its kind, not by a long shot. PC gamers often use the tech to reduce the distraction from the clacking of keyboards and clicking of mice in the background. Discord’s Krisp.ai, for example, uses machine learning to ensure your voice remains clear, but excess noise in the background is reduced.
The feature is rolling out first to Xbox Insiders in the ‘Alpha Skip-Ahead’ Ring, meaning it’s still probably a few months from landing with all Xbox gamers. Today’s update also features a series of updates for networking, audio, the controllers and consoles’ HDMI-CES tech.
If you’re an Xbox Insider and have tried the new feature, let us know how the noise suppression tech works @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
