Xbox One’s audio and voice features to get an upgrade

By Will Fulton May 5, 2014

xbox one audio voice recognition improving settings — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In a recent blog post Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, Xbox Live’s Director of Programming, announced upcoming audio features for the next Xbox One system update coming later in May.

As per fan requests for more precise control over audio levels, they will be adding two new features under Settings for sound. The new Sound Mixer will allow separate control over the volume levels of two apps when you’re using Snap. You will also now be able to tweak audio levels while using Kinect chat.

The second major new feature will be an opt-in program to allow Microsoft to collect your speech data to help improve the console’s speech recognition function. The more voice samples that they are able to analyze, the more precise their detection can be. Users will be able to go into Privacy & Online Safety Settings to allow Share Voice Data if they wish to help Microsoft out.

Users will now be able to download the new update as soon as it is available, found again under the Settings menu.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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Larry Hryb holding an Xbox microphone at an Xbox event.

Larry Hryb -- better-known to Xbox fans by his gamer tag Major Nelson, as the senior director of corporate communications for Xbox, and as host of the official Xbox podcast -- is moving on from his position at Microsoft.

Hryb worked at Xbox for two decades, starting as editor-in-chief of MSN Music before becoming a senior project manager at Xbox during the early days of the Xbox Live and Xbox 360 era. He gained the most notoriety for hosting a "Major Nelson Radio" podcast, which was one of the first to give players an inside look into game development and the people who make games. That transformed into the official Xbox Podcast, which Hryb hosted alongside other duties.
Before Phil Spencer, Hryb was the face of Xbox for a lot of people, so this is a pretty significant departure for Xbox, which is coming off an outstanding June 2023 showcase. Hryb explained his reasoning for his departure from Microsoft on Twitter.
"After 20 incredible years, I have decided to take a step back and work on the next chapter of my career," Hryb wrote. "As I take a moment and think about all we have done together, I want to thank the millions of gamers around the world who have included me as part of their lives. Also, thanks to Xbox team members for trusting me to have a direct dialogue with our customers. The future is bright for Xbox and, as a gamer, I am excited to see the evolution. Thank you and I’ll see you online."
Hryb went on to confirm that the Xbox Podcast will go on a hiatus following his departure, but says it will come back in a new format sometime in the future. He did not reveal more about what exactly that "next chapter" of his career is just yet.

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