PS5's 3D audio is so bad

[Hybrid Rainbow]

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?

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Lol The thread has not gone like that. It's basically people who don't think 3D audio sounds any different vs. people who notice a clear difference. That's the beauty of having billions of ears, we're all going to hear things differently. Now, I don't agree with some of the more hyperbolic responses I've seen in here from people making it sound like it's the worst audio solution ever created, but that's what you would expect from enthusiasts.

Might as well add "IMO" to every single post on ResetERA. Come on man, it's implied.

Sorry I insulted your PS5.

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This isn't helping your case.

 

[Afrikan]

Might as well add "IMO" to every single post on ResetERA. Come on man, it's implied.

Sorry I insulted your PS5.

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Thank you.

 

[ResetEraVetVIP]

Lol I'm using a DAC AMP and open back cans and it sounds amazing lol.

 

[exodus]

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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Tested:

Audeze Penrose through USB wireless
HyperX Cloud through the PS5 controller (low impedance)
AKG K701 through the PS5 controller (high impedance)
Ultrasone HFI-580 through the PS5 controller (low impedance)

Really doesn't matter. The compression is obvious to me in either case.

 

[Ensoul]

I have the steelseries with gamedac and to me it sounds great. I do wonder if I should get the pulse headset though

 

[nss]

What's confusing about it? You pick the one that sounds level.

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What they showed in the Road to PS5 video was about having 5 different HRTF profiles within the OS. I'm not sure what exactly higher/lower has to do with HRTF profiles. Why would a system that's directly attached to my ears be creating sounds that are above and below my ear level?

What am I supposed to be hearing from the sample sound? What if one profile sounds like it's half an inch above the middle of my ear, while the next best profile sounds like it's half an inch below my ear, which one is better for me? What if one sounds like it's at the right ear level, but it's quieter than the one that's slightly above my ear level, which sounds more pronounced? This could all just be HRTFs that don't align with my own, I can understand that, but I don't think the higher/lower UI makes that clear to me at all.

I would probably have found it a lot easier to nail the right profile in this higher/lower system they have if the sound itself was more focused (compared to the sound sample they used which feels like it has more spatial vertical volume if that makes sense) and that sound literally rotated around the character to give you an idea of it's dimensionality and location

 

[Izkda]

Yeah, it's pretty underwhelming, what you get on sound direction you lose it in quality.
It reminds me of the VSS on the gold headset.

 

[Halbrand]

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.

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Based on my experience with 3D audio using PlayStation Golds I would say the audio is objectively worse quality with 3D audio turned on.

 

[mordecaii83]

There's already a thread on this and yea, the general consensus is that it's underwhelming

Era, what are your impressions of the PS5's "Tempest" 3D Audio?

I picked up my PS5 and one of the things I was most interested in testing out was Tempest audio. I absolutely adore DTS Headphone X over on the PC and Xbox platforms, and the promise of a world class 3D audio solution was a very intriguing one for me. However, after testing it out, my...

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It's especially bad in Miles. So much of the detail is lost and it sounds like the audio is under water. Demon's Souls fares better but you still lose so much detail. Demon's Souls sounds incredible when playing in stereo, luckily. I'll be sticking to stereo until they fix it (if they fix it). I'm running my audio through a USB DAC/AMP, not the controller, so that is not the issue.

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The "general consensus" is not that it's underwhelming, there were a lot of people in the thread saying how much they enjoyed it (myself included). And I had zero issues with Miles, it sounded just as clear with 3D audio turned on. I'm running a Sound BlasterX G6 with Sennheiser HD58X's.

 

[Musubi]

That's... not how that works. Audio quality is largely dependent on what you're actually listening to it through, and the sound mix of the games you're playing. Saying "this entire audio system is terrible because it sounds weird to me" is pretty aimless criticism, especially when you don't specify what game you're playing, what sound profile you selected in that game or what headset you're using.

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All of this.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

So far I've thought it sounded incredible, but I'm no audiophile or anything, but I can tell a clear difference from what things sounded like on my PS4 or Xbox.

 

[Afrikan]

Based on my experience with 3D audio using PlayStation Golds I would say the audio is objectively worse quality with 3D audio turned on.

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Why did you quote me?

 

[mentallyinept]

I'm no audiophile, but it sounds great to me using the Pulse 3D.

I feel like this is the "gap" that Cerny was talking about with the HRTFs they have on the PS5. Without one that matches up really well, it's not going to sound awesome.

 

[BloodHound]

People rushing in here to say Demon's Souls sounds amazing are missing the OPs point. Demon's Souls has great audio design. 3D audio on the ps5 is not audio design.

The people who have 3D audio enabled on the system, did you try to play Demon's Souls with it off?

 

[Halbrand]

Why did you quote me?

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Because I'm responding to you? And agreeing with OP.

 

[KatieKatsup]

Don't know why some people are ragging on OP. Using a Sound Blaster G6 and some DT 990s I agree the 3D audio doesn't sound great. Tried all the different profiles too but no dice. Sounds too compressed or "hallow."

Granted, haven't tried Demon's Souls but Miles Morales and Astro weren't impressive with it turned on. 🤷‍♀️ Turning it off and setting Miles to "headphones" sounds fantastic though.

 

[dep9000]

That's too bad op. Hopefully they add atmos. I've been using atmos on my xsx and it sounds absolutely incredible. I was shocked at how good it sounds. Did Sony not want to pay dolby the licensing fee? They could pass some of the cost on like Microsoft does. It's worth the cost. It's that good!

 

[Mahonay]

Depends on the game. Demon's Souls makes great use of it.

Miles Morales sounds really average most of the time, but sounds great in some moments. That one feels a lot more inconsistent.

 

[leng jai]

People rushing in here to say Demon's Souls sounds amazing are missing the OPs point. Demon's Souls has great audio design. 3D audio on the ps5 is not audio design.

The people who have 3D audio enabled on the system, did you try to play Demon's Souls with it off?

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The point is that Demon's Souls doesn't take a big hit in sound quality with 3D audio on, so it retains the amazing inherent sound design/mixing but also gets some added spatial audio benefit. Miles Morales however sounds much worse with it on sound quality wise which isn't worth it. Switching back to standard stereo for Miles Morales sounds much better, whereas in Demon's Souls there's not a big disparity in comparison.

You can't do it on a PS5. DTS:X is only available for Blu-ray and Ultra Blu-ray.

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I'm not talking about PS5, it works on Xbox and PC.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Please continue this discussion here

Era, what are your impressions of the PS5's "Tempest" 3D Audio?

I picked up my PS5 and one of the things I was most interested in testing out was Tempest audio. I absolutely adore DTS Headphone X over on the PC and Xbox platforms, and the promise of a world class 3D audio solution was a very intriguing one for me. However, after testing it out, my...

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