The PS5 eliminates the classic optical port.

The PlayStation 5 There will be no optical audio port like PS4 and PS4 Pro. Chose not to bring back the optical like Sony Decided to use the Microsoft Xbox Series X..

Confirmation has not come directly from Sony, as the platform holder has not yet been shown on the back of the PS5. Instead, headset maker Astro has revealed to the media which of its various headsets will be compatible with the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

In a briefing attended Destructoid, Astro has confirmed that it will be offering an HDMI-to-optical splitter on the PS5. The unit splits the audio signal from the HDMI when allowing 4K pass for video. Astro claims that the adapter does not present any delays in the signal and supports HDMI 2.1 and HDCP.

Each headset is different, and things are a bit more complicated on the PS5 compared to the Xbox Series X, so it’s worth checking the link to see which Astro headsets will work for you and the new adapter you need (if any). Astro’s official site is expected to have detailed pages with similar information, but the links are inactive at the time of writing.

The news is not particularly surprising; Optical audio has been out for a while. Excluding audio from HDMI certainly worked for one purpose, and the second was dedicated to video. Some settings depend on connecting the two at the same time, alternating between the audio sources on the consoles’ own dashboards.

However, it is disappointing that this information is not important for Sony to communicate in the months since the PS5 was announced. We have to stress that we are only months away from release and the back of the PS5 has not been shown in public yet.