By Carolyn Heneghan
Still debating between buying the PS4 or the Xbox One? Why not consider each one’s music playing capabilities?
The latest generation of consoles has shifted toward not just being superior game systems but to also act as fully integrated media centers. This includes offering music lovers something extra to go along with their game purchases in the form of apps, music subscription services, audio outputs and perhaps, most exciting for many, the ability to play selected music while playing games.
Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages, so determining which one is best for you might take a little research and consideration of your needs and preferences.
Playing Music During Games
Finally, gamers no longer have to turn the volume down on the TV and up on their stereo or mobile device to listen to their own personalized gaming soundtracks. Both the PS4 and Xbox One integrate playing your own music into the gaming experience, but each does it a little differently.
On the PS4, you can play other music while gaming, but the songs must come from the Sony Music Unlimited service, which includes 22 million tracks at a $10/month subscription. You cannot currently upload your own music, mp3s or CDs at this time. You simply go into the game’s settings and turn the game’s music off. It’s easy to access as well—because it is integrated at the system level, you can simply hit the PS button and adjust the music rather than having to exit the application completely.
One plus for the PS4 is that you will still be able to select the game’s sound effects to play even while the selected music is playing—simply toggle the volume for both the background music and sounds in the settings area. Some games, however, will override this capability if music is pertinent to gameplay, such as on dance games.
The Xbox One offers a similar feature, but the main difference is that the music will envelop both the music and sounds of the game, so you have to choose all or nothing, one or the other. The console does, however, offer a “snap” feature that easily enables the user to toggle back and forth between games and apps, including Xbox Music (also $10/month) and other forthcoming music apps.
Music Subscription Services
Both systems come with a music subscription service that enables music playing on the device: Sony Music Unlimited for PS4 and Xbox Music for Xbox One. Both services run at about $10/month, and both have tens of millions of songs in their libraries. Though Xbox Music currently boasts a larger catalog, Sony has the advantage of potentially integrating its label, Sony Music, and its signed artists with the music subscription service in unique ways.
The PS4 comes with a 30-day free trial for Sony Music Unlimited, while Xbox Music offers a free 15-song trial. Both subscription services run on their particular consoles, the Web and iOS and Android devices, and Xbox Music is also available on Windows devices.
Apps
New apps are always in development, but as of launch and the first few months since, each system has its own set of apps specifically geared toward music lovers. The PS4 does not yet have a YouTube app, which is one of the main sources of music listening for music lovers across the globe, but Xbox One does. Xbox also offers access to 40,000 music videos with its Muzu.TV app.
Not to be outdone, PS4 recently released the VidZone app, a free music video service that has been improved since its PS3 version to be optimized for the PS4 with faster start-up times and better navigation. The app also coordinates with PS4’s inherent social features to share music video activity on Facebook, Twitter and friends’ “What’s New” activity feed. VidZone offers access to thousands of HD music videos and the ability to create unlimited playlists and watch hundreds of VidZone TV channels.
Audio Outputs
Looking to hook up your PS4 or Xbox One music (and gaming, for that matter) to a nice set of surround sound speakers? While both consoles offer optical audio outputs (a single wire for uncompressed or surround sound), it helps to know which console works for each system, and they do differ in their capabilities.
The PS4 supports Dolby Digital 5.1 and other formats through its digital output. But because this optical audio output is slightly more advanced, you won’t be able to use many older sound systems—at least, any that don’t have an optical input.
The Xbox One also has this problem with working with older sound systems, but it comes with other problems as well. The only sound coming out of its digital optical input is Dolby DTS, which means that if your receiver only works with Dolby 5.1, you can only get stereo output, not surround sound. The same goes for 5.1 headsets. Instead, you could use the HDMI for surround, but your sound system has to support HDMI as well.
Drawbacks of Both Systems
There were a few disappointments for gamers for both launches of the new consoles. While Xbox One can play CDs, PS4 cannot, and neither can store MP3s on their hard drives (PS4 can also not even play mp3s at this time). Also, neither machine enables USB sticks for playing music, and neither supports DLNA (though you can push music through DLNA using another device connected to the Xbox One console).
PS4 claims that they did not even think of CD and MP3 playing capabilities when assembling the features for the console’s initial launch, but they are working toward enabling them in the future. Some analysts wonder if Sony is trying to force people to use its Sony Music Unlimited service, but Sony insists that this is not the case.
Another interesting drawback to the Xbox One is that because of its voice command capabilities, certain songs (currently about 1,000) cannot or at least should not be played on or near the console. This is because users have come to find that certain songs’ lyrics can trigger Xbox commands, which can greatly disrupt the gaming experience. For example, in “Rocks Off” by the Rolling Stones, the words “rocks off” sounds like “Xbox off” to the voice controls, and the system is then shut down in the middle of whatever the user was doing. This has become quite problematic, and Sony is currently doing what they can to remedy the situation.
With all of these factors in mind, the music functions on either one of these consoles may sway you toward one or the other if you’re not sure of which to buy. The decision should be based on your needs and preferences alone, but this guide can hopefully help you determine which is best for you.
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