XBox One, XBox One S and XBox Live question

Sep 29, 2004
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I am keeping the PS4 for now (as talked about in another thread).

Long story short. I have a 4K TV and want to get a new Roku. Those are $100 alone. Instated, I think that I am getting an Xbox One S today instead for $300. That way I get a 4K blu ray player and I can stream 4k content to my TV. And I get another game console!

The quirk. My son has an Xbox One of his own. He uses my Xbox/Microsoft account to use it. I do not pay for Xbox Live.

The Xbox One S will be the second one in my house. What do I have to do account wise? Also, if I want to get Live working on both of them so I can play games with him. So, what do I have to do? I'm assuming that I need two Xbox Live subscription that I pay for.

So, what are the Live costs in my scenario and what do I have to do account wise? I don't want my son to loose his game progress on his Xbox One. Should I just make another user on the new Xbox one and use that?
 
Sep 29, 2004
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Well, this sucks, The Forza Horizon 3 bundle doesn't appear in stores till Friday or Saturday. Great.
 

Tweak155

Lifer
Sep 23, 2003
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As far as multiplayer, you should only need to pay for a 2nd account if you play on separate Xbox Ones at the same time. Otherwise if you play on the same console, a basic Xbox Live account will work just fine for the 2nd Live account.

What some people do is set the opposite Xbox console has the Home console for a Gold account, and then any OTHER Xbox Live account can then use those games on that console, and then log in with that ID on another console to play the game locally.

It might be confusing, but basically -

1 - Buy all digital games with a single gold account (call that account A)
2 - Set Xbox A as the Home console for Account A (this enables accounts that are not A to access account A's digital purchases)
3 - On Xbox A, log in with Son's Account B, which can now play those games
4 - On Xbox B, set as Home console for Account B
5 - On Xbox B, now log in with Account A to access digital purchases made by Account A

Now Account B can use digital purchases from account A on Xbox A, and Xbox B can use Account A's digital purchases only while Account A is logged in.

I personally know someone that got their account banned by doing this between 2 different houses but I don't know how Microsoft views it in a single household. If you look at their digital section games on their site:

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/games/game-setup/playing-across-multiple-consoles

They state pretty clearly you're supposed to have 1 digital purchased copy per system. If you want to be cautious, you're still going to need to buy 2 of everything. They try to set it up as though 1 digital copy = 1 physical disk.
 
Sep 29, 2004
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The Microsoft store has the Horizon 3 bundle in stock and I'm going towards the mall with a store so I'll grab the bundle tonight.

I'll just get two live accounts.

I guess this is my question. Can I login to both Xbox Ones under the same account (mine) for registering the device. And then create a second user profile for me on the new console?

Are Live accounts tied to each console? Or to user accounts? Maybe that would clear things up for me. Can I just use the same user ID on each console? If so, what happens in games if playing co-op?
 

razel

Platinum Member
May 14, 2002
2,337
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Your question was about Xbox Live, but it sounds like you XB1s also will probably serve the same purpose as mine which is for 4k BluRay + streaming. So far, 4k BluRay is fine, it'll be fantastic once MS releases the bitstream audio support very soon.

What disappointment me was 4k streaming. I've only been able to get 4k streaming off Hulu! That's it! YouTube and Amazon do not stream in 4K. I remember seeing UHD content available/selectable in XB1 Amazon app, but it never streams in 4k. And it isn't due to Internet traffic, When I immediately switch to my TV's Amazon app it streams the same movie in 4k immediately.

I ain't mad though. MS is agile and aggressive. I have hopes with the upcoming 'Creator's Update' Actually, I'd be happy just to get bitstream BluRay audio working, then my PS4Pro will not be my primary BluRay player. By the way, YouTube and Hulu work with 4k just fine and great off that.
 

Tweak155

Lifer
Sep 23, 2003
11,447
262
126
The Microsoft store has the Horizon 3 bundle in stock and I'm going towards the mall with a store so I'll grab the bundle tonight.

I'll just get two live accounts.

I guess this is my question. Can I login to both Xbox Ones under the same account (mine) for registering the device. And then create a second user profile for me on the new console?

Are Live accounts tied to each console? Or to user accounts? Maybe that would clear things up for me. Can I just use the same user ID on each console? If so, what happens in games if playing co-op?

An Xbox Live account is only "tied" to a console when that console is set as the Home console. And this basically only applies to the way digital purchases work.

Otherwise, you can log into any Live account on any Xbox and access any games you bought. You just cannot be logged into two Xbox consoles simultaneously on the same Xbox Live account. The "tying" again only applies to other accounts be able to access THAT account's digital purchases.

So if I "tie" an Xbox (set that Xbox as the Home console) for an Xbox Live account, then other Live accounts can access those purchased games without having bought those games themselves. To play online, you need at least 1 gold account logged in.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,177
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Your question was about Xbox Live, but it sounds like you XB1s also will probably serve the same purpose as mine which is for 4k BluRay + streaming. So far, 4k BluRay is fine, it'll be fantastic once MS releases the bitstream audio support very soon.

What disappointment me was 4k streaming. I've only been able to get 4k streaming off Hulu! That's it! YouTube and Amazon do not stream in 4K. I remember seeing UHD content available/selectable in XB1 Amazon app, but it never streams in 4k. And it isn't due to Internet traffic, When I immediately switch to my TV's Amazon app it streams the same movie in 4k immediately.

I ain't mad though. MS is agile and aggressive. I have hopes with the upcoming 'Creator's Update' Actually, I'd be happy just to get bitstream BluRay audio working, then my PS4Pro will not be my primary BluRay player. By the way, YouTube and Hulu work with 4k just fine and great off that.
I have a Sony 4k TV and I can find YouTube videos in 4k. I do have to go to the options wheel and select 2160p. But these are mainly 4k demos or stuff people recorded with a go pro in 4k.

Also Amazon prime has some 4k shows like sneaky Pete and a few others.

Mainly for 4k I just use Netflix but in general there isn't a lot of good 4k content.

As for the live accounts you can get two subscriptions or one live account and set one Xbox as home but then to play the same games at the same time they need to be digital.

I let my little brother borrow my Xbox 1 and he linked his friend's account on there so now I have access to the games he played but a lot of times I just end up uninstalling everything because I'm not interested in those titles.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,177
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Im kinda pissed. The Netflix app doesn't tell me the stream is. Just hd. Wtf
I wonder if my TV Netflix app is different. It's also an Android TV so I can see ultra hd if 4k is available. I should launch Netflix from the ps4 pro and see if it offers ultra hd.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
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Im kinda pissed. The Netflix app doesn't tell me the stream is. Just hd. Wtf

We've been talking a bit about this change on AVSForum where Netflix disabled the extra stream info to see what resolution you are actually getting. Basically it can tell you it's available in HD, UltraHD 4k, or HDR but it won't tell you if you are actually getting 720p, 1080p, or 4k. There used to be a way to enable an information popup that would give you this information but apparently Netflix thinks we are too stupid to interpret what this means. The theory is they got a lot of calls about not getting 1080p or not getting 4k when someone's internet connection or equipment was the actual culprit. Whatever the reason it sucks.
 
Sep 29, 2004
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My receiver was reporting 1080 input from my xbox one s when streaming movies that I knew were available on Netflix in 4k.
 
Sep 29, 2004
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At least the xbone s is getting dolby atmos and bitstream support soon. Bitstream means that dts:x should also work!
 

razel

Platinum Member
May 14, 2002
2,337
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At least the xbone s is getting dolby atmos and bitstream support soon. Bitstream means that dts:x should also work!

I'm hoping the same that it's pure bitstream for BluRay. Meaning regardless of the audio format (DTS, DD, DD Atmos, DTS-X) it's 100% bit perfect. That is the simplest way to do it and I really don't understand why it's hard. I also understand that when bitstream is on, all other audio off the xbox (dashboard sounds, etc) will not work which I'm fine with.

My fear is how MS was marketing it. They also mention Dolby Atmos support for games. They never mentioned DTS-X. I really hope they aren't mixing all that PCM xbox dashboard audio + the current non-bitstream audio off BluRays mixed into a Dolby Atmos stream. It'd be a facepalm for BluRay playback if that happens. We'll have too see.

By the way, if you guys are interested in the betas for xb1s. Just download the Insider Hub off xbox1. Though MS is no longer advertising and invites are rare, you can sign up there. I was surprised that I got in. It's Ring 4, the least updates available to me, but it's a foot in the door.
 
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cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
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Dts:x support is built in. Meaning if you bitstream dts hd-ma then it can contain the extra metadata
 

razel

Platinum Member
May 14, 2002
2,337
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I signed up for the Insider previews and got into the preview ring 4. I received no new software updates since getting accepted, but to my surprise when I dug into the BluRay settings, I see the bitstream option. Unless I never noticed this before in the BluRay settings. Perhaps it's available for everyone? The player was updated late January. I haven't dug into the BluRay options since the last dashboard update in December.

Anyhow, DTS-HD and TrueHD now bitstream and work just like any BluRay player where audio comes from the movie only. I also currently do not have any DTS-X or Dolby Atmos movies to try. I'll have to test if bitstream works with DVDs. The bitstream option was in the BluRay settings area only. If you tap the Xbox button to return to the dashboard, just as before the movie continues to play in a preview and audio switches to PCM and works just like before with full xbox audio mixed in.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
I signed up for the Insider previews and got into the preview ring 4. I received no new software updates since getting accepted, but to my surprise when I dug into the BluRay settings, I see the bitstream option. Unless I never noticed this before in the BluRay settings. Perhaps it's available for everyone? The player was updated late January. I haven't dug into the BluRay options since the last dashboard update in December.

Anyhow, DTS-HD and TrueHD now bitstream and work just like any BluRay player where audio comes from the movie only. I also currently do not have any DTS-X or Dolby Atmos movies to try. I'll have to test if bitstream works with DVDs. The bitstream option was in the BluRay settings area only. If you tap the Xbox button to return to the dashboard, just as before the movie continues to play in a preview and audio switches to PCM and works just like before with full xbox audio mixed in.

This is exactly how the PS4 works. I don't think it should have taken 3 years for this though.
 
Sep 29, 2004
18,665
67
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I signed up for the Insider previews and got into the preview ring 4. I received no new software updates since getting accepted, but to my surprise when I dug into the BluRay settings, I see the bitstream option. Unless I never noticed this before in the BluRay settings. Perhaps it's available for everyone? The player was updated late January. I haven't dug into the BluRay options since the last dashboard update in December.

Anyhow, DTS-HD and TrueHD now bitstream and work just like any BluRay player where audio comes from the movie only. I also currently do not have any DTS-X or Dolby Atmos movies to try. I'll have to test if bitstream works with DVDs. The bitstream option was in the BluRay settings area only. If you tap the Xbox button to return to the dashboard, just as before the movie continues to play in a preview and audio switches to PCM and works just like before with full xbox audio mixed in.

I joined the insider previews. I got Ring 4 immediately. I guess it is new, but I can now use bitstream. What I don't understand is why there are multiple bitstream options. But I did notice that under Blu Ray options there is also a bitstream related option there. So I turned that on. I think the audio options I found were for games, etc. The Blu Ray bit-stream option is the one that I think pertains to desirable 4k blu ray play back in order to use Atmos and DTS:X.
 

razel

Platinum Member
May 14, 2002
2,337
90
101
There are two places for audio 'bitstream' settings. The 'sound' in the xbox settings and the one in the BluRay. Luckily the BluRay bitstream options always outputs bitstream when playing a movie regardless of the xbox setting. There is a bug/improvement needed when you skip chapters while in the movie. It does try to switch back and forth between bitstream/PCM just to play that audible tone when you click something in xbox in general, but other than that, I'm glad it's working. Now they just need a video bitstream YUV output for non 4k-BluRays. It's not a big want though... their YUV-RGB conversion seems correct.