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What happened to the PS5 3D audio?
- Thread starter Artifice
- Start date
It's not that good tbh... I expected much more from it.
Basically it doesn't work with PS4 games and it's hit or miss with native PS5 titles.
Worked great with Demons Souls and Morales but sometimes it simply doesn't work as intended, even in PS5 games, the audio seems severely degraded. (regular headphones user via controller btw)
Basically it doesn't work with PS4 games and it's hit or miss with native PS5 titles.
Worked great with Demons Souls and Morales but sometimes it simply doesn't work as intended, even in PS5 games, the audio seems severely degraded. (regular headphones user via controller btw)
I'm still holding off on buying it thinking they'll release a remaster like they did with the first game. I'm thinking if they do, it will be a showpiece for 3D audio
I've tried 3D audio on PS5 and XSX and for a few minutes I thought "this sounds pretty cool" and then I proceeded to play games listening to podcast / music as Ive always done.
I think it's another case of a feature being completely oversold / overhyped at the lead up of a console.
I think it's another case of a feature being completely oversold / overhyped at the lead up of a console.
Which DAC?
Would like a thread that summarizes all about buying recommendations for audio on ps5 :D
One popular solution seem to be JDS AMP + DAC (99USD each). They offer a free firmware downgrade from UAC2 to UAC1 for PS5-support, but once downgraded you can't go back AFAIK which seems bad. UAC2 is requirement for Dolby Atmos AFAIK.
That was not the takeaway from that post I replied to. Whatever the case it is a noticeable improvement with the setup I am using.
I had to turn it off in Miles Morales and Spider-Man 1 Remastered. It ruined the audio quality of dialogue specifically
I would like to think that it was overemphasized, rather than a gimmick.
The only thing I can say is that I was surprised to how accurate I could pinpoint enemies locations in Demon's Souls (something critical in that game), the rest of the time I don't really notice anything special from it. I also don't particularly notice low fidelity like some posters are reporting, but I am not disabling/enabling it on each game to be able to tell.
Unfortunately, it's a huge disappointment. The sacrifice in audio quality is simply not worth the tradeoff for me. Even Demon's Souls sounds a lot better in stereo when using higher end headphones. Honestly, I don't know how to respond to anyone praising the Tempest audio solution - to my audiophile ears it sounds like rubbish. I use the 3.5mm jack on the dualsense.
On a positive note, the stereo audio quality coming through the dualsense seems to be of higher quality than DS4, so that was a nice surprise.
On a positive note, the stereo audio quality coming through the dualsense seems to be of higher quality than DS4, so that was a nice surprise.
Agreed with all of this.
Feels kinda early to ask such questions? I mean, there was a pretty small amount of released games since launch, etc. Even though this feature was used as one of the bullet points in console's marketing, so it's fair to ask such questions early, I still thing we should probably wait for the release of full 3d audio support (aka not headphones only) and for bigger amount of exclusive and multiplatform games to check it out. It's like asking «what happened to Dualsense adaptive triggers» right now. In ~2022-2023 - sure, but not 4 months after release.
It really sucks that they took out the optical port and then shipped this thing not supporting 3D over HDMI or UAC 2.0 support. Aside from the convenience factor, the Pulse 3D headset is shit. I want to be able to run all audio outputs into my PC sound card > schiit headphone amp and then my 6xx cans. Hell I was even willing to buy a new DAC amp setup but without 2.0 support it seems pointless. Guess we have to wait and see if they are able to give us more options via firmware updates. Stereo for now and occasionally putting on the Pulse 3D's.
I'm not sure what you're expecting in this regard but if this appears before the PS6 I'll be mightily impressed. The reason why it's headphones only is because it's positional audio and relies on you wearing a stereo headset allowing for a roughly consistent origination point for the sound. Your ear shape directly influences how you hear it too.
As soon as you add in speakers you have the problem of figuring out where the listener is in regards to 2 speakers (are they closer to one, is one louder than the other) and forget anyone else in the room having a good experience listening to the game if the sound is tuned to your exact position.
The only way they're going to get it working over speakers is if they sample the controller mic on a repeat to figure out your position to the speaker sounds. Expect iffy results and battery drain if they ever do crack this.
Edit: That's not to say they couldn't do something similar to Dolby Atmos for Home Theatre but at that point they need to wrap it in a container your amp supports and can process the height information for so they may as well have gone with Dolby Atmos in the first place and saved everyone the headache of a custom 3D audio engine.
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The site is horrible designed (on PC/desktop), but RE2 is there.
Yes, it's quite clear in Astro that it can be done very well and still have high quality. That said most games don't seem to do a good job, so might as well not turn it on on average.
The Resident Evil demo is probably the best example so far. Demons Souls has some great moments as well.
I feel like it just hasn't been implemented very well yet.
I feel like it just hasn't been implemented very well yet.
We need to wait for more Sony first parties. Returnal should be a real opportunity due to the dynamic nature of the gameplay. Also I have high hopes for Ratchet, BF6 and next COD.
However, I might get Battlefield 6 on Series X since it supports Dolby Atmos.
However, I might get Battlefield 6 on Series X since it supports Dolby Atmos.
I've had a Pulse 3D from launch and most games sound pretty great. Demon's Souls in 3D had some of the best sound quality I've ever heard in a game and the 3D soundscape was distinct and noticeable. Miles was great pretty great with 3D audio too; again, crisp audio quality, no sense of compression or muddle sounds or anything like that. I wouldn't be surprised if my HRTF it's super close to the HRTF profile I'm using. Remember, everyone hears 3D audio differently and the game has to support it. Tempest doesn't just magically make every game suddenly support 3D audio.
It's gonna take time for games to properly use it. It's not just gonna make sound magically better if the source is a low quality or compressed. A new audio processing chip is gonna magically make every game sounds suddenly beyond words... It's a bespoke audio solution that needs to be supported and most games likely aren't even using that solution. Give it some time.
Also, don't use the headphone jack on the DualSense unless you're using an good amp and DAC.
It's gonna take time for games to properly use it. It's not just gonna make sound magically better if the source is a low quality or compressed. A new audio processing chip is gonna magically make every game sounds suddenly beyond words... It's a bespoke audio solution that needs to be supported and most games likely aren't even using that solution. Give it some time.
Also, don't use the headphone jack on the DualSense unless you're using an good amp and DAC.
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Man this isn't a good look when both spidermans' implementations are mediocre.
Oh for sure. I just meant, out of that tiny list, two entries suffer the same problems, and are similar to the other vast swathes of games that don't work well either. So the list gets even shorter effectively.
How you gonna call yourself an audiophile and then say you're plugging your "high quality headphones" into the DualSense lol. Demon's Souls sounds incredible through a G6 DAC w/ DT 990 250 Ohm cans with the 3D audio on. It's really the only game I enable the 3D audio for though, except it was really nice in Astro's Playroom and RE Village's demo.
The issue might very well be the controller, in fairness. You're making me consider getting a USB DAC just to use with the PS5.
That begs the question though, how come the audio quality through the controller takes such a hit when when compared to stereo? Are you saying that there isn't a noticeable audio quality loss with 3D audio when listening through USB?
I think one of the reasons questions are asked so early is the fact that there are better solutions out there and Sony opted to not use them. They could've always used other solutions and offer theirs, too. So the consumer can make the choice themselves and when eventually tempest gets better, which I am sure is just a matter of time, then they can switch to tempest.
3D audio is amazing on their consumer headphones where you take a picture of your ear to get a more accurate hrtf setting. Hopefully they introduce a way to do that on the PS5 soon
We need a sound design offshoot of DigitalFoundry to analyze the hell out of each platform's sound offerings. Then maybe it'd put the pressure on Sony to get Tempest on parity with Dolby/Xbox. And it wouldn't hurt to educate the public on equipment, terminology, and video game sound design history (EAX!!!).
MS got around it by charging selling the license for atmos or/and dtsx
Demon's Souls is the only game currently worth using it on, and maybe Astro's Playroom/Dirt. In Spiderman the drop in audio quality is way too much and whatever it's doing to games that don't natively support it sounds absolutely awful.
It still has noticeable audio quality loss even with a dedicated DAC (every 3D audio solution does to some extent), it's just even worse through the controller jack. A controller jack will always sound awful for decent headphones because the amp is extremely weak, whatever is doing the DAC processing is lower quality and on top of that it''s sending the signal over Bluetooth. Anyone with decent headphones and cares about sound quality shouldn't be using it unless there's no other choice.
It still has noticeable audio quality loss even with a dedicated DAC (every 3D audio solution does to some extent), it's just even worse through the controller jack. A controller jack will always sound awful for decent headphones because the amp is extremely weak, whatever is doing the DAC processing is lower quality and on top of that it''s sending the signal over Bluetooth. Anyone with decent headphones and cares about sound quality shouldn't be using it unless there's no other choice.
It just doesn't work right most of the time. Sometimes it's almost like if you character can't see it they can't hear it either.
example. Bug snacks when music is playing on the radio. If you turn your back to it you can't hear it at all. Any sound that exist behind your character is silent.
Another example since everyone says Demons souls. Guy throwing bombs at me while we are both in a room. I go outside the room just outside the door. He keeps chucking bombs and I can still see them explode, but as I am now on the other side of a wall they are completely silent.
example. Bug snacks when music is playing on the radio. If you turn your back to it you can't hear it at all. Any sound that exist behind your character is silent.
Another example since everyone says Demons souls. Guy throwing bombs at me while we are both in a room. I go outside the room just outside the door. He keeps chucking bombs and I can still see them explode, but as I am now on the other side of a wall they are completely silent.
It's still just available for adequate for Pulse 3D or adequate headphones. Still nothing for TV speakers yet, let alone 7.1 sets.
I laughed at this initially, but then it made me think... how does one know if it's supported and/or working as intended?
It's okay, I wouldn't call it incredible. You can still easily notice the drop in sound quality. It's also no better than any of the spatial audio games with Atmos/DTS: X which has been on Xbox and PC for a few years already. Something like RE2 Remake, CoD 2019 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider sounds far superior to anything we've heard from Tempest.
Obviously it's very early and there's not much native content but what we've heard so far and how it's implemented currently is pretty underwhelming.
You need special equipment to record this?
People posting YouTube videos of RE2, tomb raider etc just sound like stereo. Whereas YT videos of destruction allstars, astrobot and spider man all have good spatial sound. (Sounds good to me anyway, think I'm close to the default)
In what sense is it a gimmick? If anything, the vastly reduced load times has been the biggest wow factor for me.