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PS5's 3D audio is so bad
- Thread starter exodus
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I'm using Pulse 3d headphones, Demon's Souls sounds amazing on the other side Destiny 2 sound really muffled, but that game didn't receive ps5 update so I'm hoping it'll get better on November 10th.
Oh, I know what their sales pitch is. I've tested 3D audio via headphones for years and would count this as one of the most unconvincing surround-testing setups I've ever encountered. I don't notice any difference in "height" between the levels, while testing the official PS5 wireless headphones, no less. And their choice of audio, a mess of white-noisy water streaming without any disparate elements, is suspect to me.
Maybe my brain is broken? I dunno. But as time has gone on since PS5's launch, I've heard more anecdotal pushback about how janky that setup process is and am glad to know I'm not alone.
For me, it each profile made changed the sound "height". Hard to explain but profile 1 sounded like the source was above me, 5 sounded like the source was below and also the frequency irritated my ears. I think it's supposed to help the positional awareness of the 3D audio, so if in game something makes a noise above or below you, it sounds like it's coming from above or below you.
I'm using the pulse 3D headset. Overall the sound is not as nice as my old gen 2 Astro a50s, but they are significantly cheaper. I'm really impressed that they get close to the levels of spatial awareness though, just straight out the box with no additional hardware.
Interesting, I can hear the 'height' very obviously. Using the Pulse 3D or a pair of Sennheisers plugged into the controller.
I think back to the 'photos of your ears' presentation from Cerny and I wonder if it is a difference in ear size/type/whatever. I feel like that setup process will likely be replaced/expanded with a further update.
There's definitely a strange muffling of noice. Dialogue is clear but music in particular feels muted.
I thought it was pretty clear for the height element. I had to change it to 2 because 3 was too low. Had to switch between all the settings to get understand what I was supposed to be hearing though.
Super underwhelmed by it so far
Didn't notice anything in Miles Morales, Spiderman Remastered sounds awful, Sackboy sounds really nice but it's not a spatial showcase lol
Sounds like Demon's has great audio design. Just confused as to whether this can be improved on or not.
Hyper x Cloud 2 -- Muffled
Bose QC 35 II -- Muffled
3d Pulse -- Muffled
Arctis 1 - Slightly better than the above for whatever reason
That's what I've tested so far, glad there's a thread on this because I thought that I was going crazy to be honest
Didn't notice anything in Miles Morales, Spiderman Remastered sounds awful, Sackboy sounds really nice but it's not a spatial showcase lol
Sounds like Demon's has great audio design. Just confused as to whether this can be improved on or not.
Hyper x Cloud 2 -- Muffled
Bose QC 35 II -- Muffled
3d Pulse -- Muffled
Arctis 1 - Slightly better than the above for whatever reason
That's what I've tested so far, glad there's a thread on this because I thought that I was going crazy to be honest
You can't do it on a PS5. DTS:X is only available for Blu-ray and Ultra Blu-ray.
Don't think you will be using 3D audio unless you have them plugged into the controller. If you are connected via optical with a splitter it will be the Astro box's Dolby.
OP
OP
The test made no sense to me. 3 sounded the clearest, and 4-5 sounded more level with my hears, but horribly compressed and distorted. None of them actually sound good in game to me.
I think Dolby Atmos for Headphones downmixes all sources to virtual 3D surround, and the software support issue has to do with Atmos compatible games for A/V receivers. As long as you are using the headphones driver (in Settings) you are getting a virtual representation of the Atmos codecs.
The progression of this thread is funny.
1. OP posts complaints with few details.
2. People dismiss OP
3. Turns out OP knows what they are talking about
4. People chiming in to agree.
I'm mostly curious about why some people think Demon's Souls sounds amazing and others find it underwhelming. Is this really a matter of subjective preference or are these people actually hearing different things?
1. OP posts complaints with few details.
2. People dismiss OP
3. Turns out OP knows what they are talking about
4. People chiming in to agree.
I'm mostly curious about why some people think Demon's Souls sounds amazing and others find it underwhelming. Is this really a matter of subjective preference or are these people actually hearing different things?
It was a little confusing at first but you are meant to pick the one that sounds on the same level as you are and not above or below you.
I ended up staying at 3 as that was the one I thought matched the criteria.
Yep, it's not good. But by all means turn it off when not playing a game that supports it, otherwise it makes the audio downright dreadful.
I love how so many people on this board assume everyone else is a dumbass.
I'm using the pulse headset. It gets 3d audio.
I like it but it definitely isn't this crazy game changer, I wish they had just supported atmos so all devs get used to one system really well and it's supported by way more games
How it sounds is going to be dependent on the quality of the headphones, the quality of a particular games audio, a variety of settings, how those settings match up to your ears, not to mention bugs can affect anything on the software level.
Your problem is the headphones, they sound like shit. Well, to be fair, I've never used the PS5 ones but I tried the PS4 model years ago and they were terrible. Doubt they've improved much at the $100 price point if we're being real here. Wireless headphones are always going to under perform at their price point, and even $100 isn't that high for wire headphones, so don't expect much from $100. Even Sony's $300+ XM4 headphones are outperformed by $200 wired headphones.
How??? I ended up sticking with the default, since I couldn't decide which was "better," but each level clearly sounded different.
I think you're going to have to send a picture of your ear to cerny, op. When I listen to the different presets in settings, some of them sound pretty bad. The directionality isn't as pronounced as I had hoped, but the sound quality has been excelent.
What does "sales pitch" have to do with what you quoted?
Also who said it was a surround-testing set up?
It's pretty straight forward.
And no, I don't think your brain is broken.
OP
OP
It's really, really hard to say when it comes to audio because it's a purely subjective thing. You can't measure audio quality very easily.
It definitely sounds terrible if it's enabled in a game that doesn't support it, which is pretty much all PS4 games and some PS5 games (Borderlands 3 for one). You have to disable it and enable it as needed which is not ideal. Not sure why Sony didn't make it auto disable for games that don't support it.
I'm in the same boat, I play the 5 options and the only thing I get out of it is that 3 sounds clearer out of the 5, and while all of them sound slightly different, I can't really tell wether they're up or down. I can kinda tell which one is up and which one is down, but it's not like I can clearly tell which one is at my ear level, all of them could be the right choice if you listen hard enough.
Maybe they need the picture of my ears after all.
I'd imagine their testing would hinge to SOME extent on their own first-party headphones. Right? I do need to try some better wired headphones through the 3.5mm port soon, hoping that helps.
That's so disappointing. My girlfriend and I play games next to each other. So I put my headphones in every now and then. And it's so bad I'd rather play without sound then have the headphones on with ACV
Seems like these threads always go the same way. Those of us who have played demons souls see that there is something good there. The sound design and mixing in that game is, all hyperbole aside, on another level.
Other games range from passable (spiderman) to insulting (ac valhalla).
I'm using razer blackshark v2 wireless headphones.
Other games range from passable (spiderman) to insulting (ac valhalla).
I'm using razer blackshark v2 wireless headphones.
I have worked with audio for years producing songs and mixing stuff for artists , I used some decent akg studio headphones for demons souls and definatley heard the 3d aspect with the seperation of sound sources and being able to hear directional sound.
It sounds fantastic to my ears. Was it as good as I thought it would be ?? .. probably not from the hype of having so much processing power strictly for audio. But then its a massive improvement on stereo imo.
To say its not, is crazy to me but thats my experience. I haven't played much else apart from cod cold war and that sounded OK but nothing special. Hopefully as time goes on in the generation devs fully utilise the resources on the harware for some more Impressive results.
It sounds fantastic to my ears. Was it as good as I thought it would be ?? .. probably not from the hype of having so much processing power strictly for audio. But then its a massive improvement on stereo imo.
To say its not, is crazy to me but thats my experience. I haven't played much else apart from cod cold war and that sounded OK but nothing special. Hopefully as time goes on in the generation devs fully utilise the resources on the harware for some more Impressive results.
Didn't really notice anything on Spider-Man but Demon Souls is AMAZING. There is one boss battle that blew me away.
I'm happy there are plenty of people pleased with it (genuinely!) but I have to agree with OP. Well, I don't think it's "so bad" but I am disappointed.
I got my Penrose yesterday and have been playing Demon's Souls with them. While the set sounds great in general, Demon's Souls has decent sound design (at least technically), and the positioning is more defined with 3D audio than I suppose I'm used to, I have been generally unimpressed and underwhelmed. It hasn't sounded as good to me as HRTF examples on YouTube, anyway. And the height level slider was already the most natural for me so that has no effect.
I never considered turning it off and comparing it to the stereo output. I'll try that.
the HRTF profiles Cerny seemed to imply would be there at launch aren't and I don't think the height slider qualifies. I know he said that it would do a lot more developing post launch (the far-off ear photo hypothetical and 2-channel speaker 3D audio being prime examples), I have to believe it is just still undercooked and they know it.
Here's hoping it improves.
EDIT: It should be noted that while I am not the biggest audiophile you'll meet, I do work professionally in audio engineering and sound design (not for video games though).
I got my Penrose yesterday and have been playing Demon's Souls with them. While the set sounds great in general, Demon's Souls has decent sound design (at least technically), and the positioning is more defined with 3D audio than I suppose I'm used to, I have been generally unimpressed and underwhelmed. It hasn't sounded as good to me as HRTF examples on YouTube, anyway. And the height level slider was already the most natural for me so that has no effect.
I never considered turning it off and comparing it to the stereo output. I'll try that.
the HRTF profiles Cerny seemed to imply would be there at launch aren't and I don't think the height slider qualifies. I know he said that it would do a lot more developing post launch (the far-off ear photo hypothetical and 2-channel speaker 3D audio being prime examples), I have to believe it is just still undercooked and they know it.
Here's hoping it improves.
EDIT: It should be noted that while I am not the biggest audiophile you'll meet, I do work professionally in audio engineering and sound design (not for video games though).
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Seems more like a downgrade to me. Surround audio using AirPods Pro is amazing.
Yet YOU chose to title your thread as "PS5's 3D audio is so bad".
Could have added a "to me" or anything else, but you chose to make the title as if it were a fact... and not a subjective thing. But let me guess, that wasn't your intent? Gotcha.
OP
OP
Might as well add "IMO" to every single post on ResetERA. Come on man, it's implied.
Sorry I insulted your PS5.
If you're plugging a "good set of headphones" into the dualsense it likely doesn't have the power to drive those.
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