Hearing Cortana on a stereo TV

Sometimes, if you’re polite enough, you can get people to correct mistakes you make instead of just telling you what an idiot you are. (Or maybe they call you an idiot when you’re not around, then correct the mistake for you – I’m not sure.) In any case, Marty O’Donnell, stung by my unfair appraisal of Halo’s audio in the review I posted recently, wrote to correct some misconceptions.

I have heard the problem you are describing and it is due to the way some people have their TV audio setup. Some TVs have weird faux surround or enhanced stereo settings and that can change the mix on Halo.

I’d complained specifically that Cortana’s speaking parts seemed to come directly from the central speaker, and so were lost in a stereo setup – not so, says Marty:

As a matter of fact, Cortana’s dialog is specifically split equally left and right.

How to fix this?

The Xbox needs to be set on “stereo” and the TV should be set on normal stereo not surround or enhanced or anything else like that. No one should be missing any of the dialog.

So there you have it – make sure both your TV and the Xbox are set to standard ‘Stereo’ sound if you don’t have a surround sound setup. (The Xbox sound controls are only accessible if there’s no DVD in the drive, so dump that Halo disc.) Thanks for the information, Marty!