Xbox update now brings noise cancellation

Xbox voice chat users know it: breathing heavily, the air conditioning, or the neighbor with a chainsaw. Microsoft is trying to curb these sometimes annoying background noises in the future and is now testing a new noise cancellation for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Xbox Insiders can now download a new update preview within the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring, which includes the new noise canceling feature in addition to various improvements and bug fixes. Microsoft’s goal is to deliver clean audio in party chat sessions and most likely filter out unwanted background noise.

No more smacking, sawing, and honking in the background?

It remains to be seen to what extent the new noise reduction will have an effect and whether too much filtering may be applied for ex-works. The setting is enabled by default but can be toggled in the audio options drop-down menu. If the sound drops out while using the Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One, it’s not because of the new noise canceling feature. As Microsoft points out in the patch notes, it appears to be another bug that can only be “fixed” by rebooting the console for now.

The Xbox development team also tackles known network, system, controller, and HDMI-CEC. issues. to resolve these with a possible June update. The recently released May 2022 update already brought gamers a new “Quality of Service” (QoS) feature for prioritizing the network connection from the router to the console, wired or over WLAN. In addition, new users can try out the new “Stories” in the Xbox app, allowing them to share game clips, screenshots, and achievements with their friends and the Xbox community in the form of short videos.