Okay, let me start by saying this little adapter is a GAME CHANGER. As someone juggling between Xbox One X, Series X, and (soon) PS5 with my trusty Astro A50 Gen 3, I was devastated when Series X killed the optical port. Cue dramatic music.

The aux-in solution? Pure torture - that buzzing noise haunts my dreams. But this HDMI adapter? Magic. It slots perfectly into my chaotic setup (consoles → switcher → this thing → capture card → monitor) and delivers crisp optical audio like nothing happened.

Pro tip: It plays nice with HDMI switchers too! Still need to test with Switch and Fire Stick (update coming), but right now it's letting one headset rule all my consoles + PC without cable-juggling. That's worth its weight in gold.

PSA for PS5 users: Yes it preserves 120FPS! Though fair warning - between this, external drives, and peripherals, your USB ports will cry. My controller now charges on a PS4 like some sort of console orphan.