Why 3D Audio Is Going To Be A True Game Changer This Gen :)

Here's a great article that dives into how much work both camps have put into 3D audio...even though the article mainly touches on Sony's 3D audio headset since they are pushing the feature more than Microsoft at this time. It's still a good read.

https://www.ign.com/articles/3d-audio-ps5-xbox-series-x

I am not sure how something that has been around with Dolby for some time is going to be a game changer now.

You can find 10 year old videos on YouTube that show binaural stereo audio....that's basically what "3d audio" is. Soundblaster cards in the 90s had it, but not that many channels.

3d audio could improve the crappy sound coming out of TV speakers at some point, but it won't come close to true directional audio like Atmos, which is lacking on the ps5.

Trust a cow to call 10yr old tech, tech thats been on the competition for years, game changing

It's great to see Audio actually get some attention again this gen. if anything it has regressed since the old days. I remember having Creative sound blaster cards that were doing some fun things with audio. hooked up to a 5.1 surround system: it was great.

Ps4 gen it just seems to be stereo audio and kept as basic as possible to save those precious CPU cycles :(.

I hope it gets a lot more love this gen from devs.

It's not the same. You'd know that if you did a little research. Google is your friend too :)

I’m not an audiophile and just use the standard speakers on the TV itself. I can certainly appreciate good audio though so if this can produce that then I’m certainly down with that.

@Archangel3371: Highly recommend getting something better than tv speakers, you can get even a decent set of active speakers without breaking the bank which will result in vastly superior audio, for games I'd recommend headphones tho as getting similar quality setup in livingroom speakers is expensive

@howmakewood: Yeah I like to look at what’s available from time to time but it just hasn’t really been a high enough priority for me. Perhaps one day I’ll grab something.

I'm sure whatever games I play will sound awesome out of my 9.2 dolby atmos setup

I think it’s different when you need to generate the sounds in real time in an interactive medium?

@Sushiglutton: Sure, but again....this technology has been around in various guises since the 90s on pc....using real time medium ie games. 3d audio has just expanded the amount of channels.

@louixiii: yeah its dolby atmos which has been one the XBO for years

I knew it was a game changer when Ps4 didnt support Atmos like Xbox One did years ago.

Atmos 9.2 doesn’t exist

Isn't that typically true? That a technology has been around for many years before it gets implemented in the big mainstream products?

@Sushiglutton: In a way, but it would be like Sony claiming the SSD on the ps5 is a "game changer". It's not. It's better, faster but doesn't do anything we haven't seen before.

@louixiii: Xbox having Dolby in there corner is a pretty big advantage. 3D audio marketing from Sony is just words. It’s not gonna do anything special or crazy.

It’s just marketing. I think or at least hope Sony has improved audio from last generation. But it’s not a game changer.

Yes, it does. Nine channels, two sub woofers. He has either a 5.2.4 system (with four ceiling speakers) or a 7.2.2 system (where two Atmos speakers are placed front high). Calling it 9.2 still makes sense, because we only care how many maximum channels the receiver supports.

Nothing will be coming out of your Atmos speakers, though. The PS5 offers only 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0.

3D headphone audio is a separate menu, meaning it won't sound good with speakers or play at all with speakers. Which is a shame, because the height speakers help immensely with this three-dimensional audio Sony is hyping.

@ezekiel43 said:

@pyro1245 said:

I'm sure whatever games I play will sound awesome out of my 9.2 dolby atmos setup

Nothing will be coming out of your Atmos speakers, though. The PS5 offers only 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0.

3D headphone audio is a separate menu, meaning it won't sound good with speakers or play at all with speakers. Which is a shame, because the height speakers help immensely with this three-dimensional audio Sony is hyping.

I have a 5.2.1 dolby atmos setup so this makes me sad.

Why did they do this, just stick with the best out there.

But it’s also not nothing. I feel like this is a glass half full or half empty type of situation.

You are not wrong. But new AAA games on ps5 will have positional audio (like Spidey), but the old ones did not (God of War). So something has improved.

I'm still not quite getting what this Sony's "new" 3D audio is supposed to do that hasnt already been done before?

Can you clarify what you mean by positional audio? God of War has had surround sound since the PS2.

Headphones is all I'll ever need. Speakers don't do it for me anymore and this so-called 3D Audio doesn't interest me.

@BlackShirt20: If you think Tempest is just words, you haven't done the research.

@ezekiel43 said:

@Sushiglutton said:

@sealionact said:

@Sushiglutton: In a way, but it would be like Sony claiming the SSD on the ps5 is a "game changer". It's not. It's better, faster but doesn't do anything we haven't seen before.

But it’s also not nothing. I feel like this is a glass half full or half empty type of situation.

You are not wrong. But new AAA games on ps5 will have positional audio (like Spidey), but the old ones did not (God of War). So something has improved.

Can you clarify what you mean by positional audio? God of War has had surround sound since the PS2.

As I understand it difference between 3d audio and surround would be the difference of a massive increase in resolution. With 3d audio you can simulate sounds coming from any direction (including above and below). Surround is 5 different directions. I also think they can simulate objects blocking, how different materials affect the sound (like textiles) and so on.

The goal is total immersion. The scene should sound like you were truly inside it. It’s like VR for your ears. Surround sound is more like 3d TV lol.

he didn’t say he had 9 channel Atmos, that would be fine. He said he has 9.2 Atmos

9.2 would imply he has 9 surround channels, 2 subwoofers, and 0 height channels, and you can’t have Atmos without the height channels

@tdkmillsy said:

@ezekiel43 said:

@pyro1245 said:

I'm sure whatever games I play will sound awesome out of my 9.2 dolby atmos setup

Nothing will be coming out of your Atmos speakers, though. The PS5 offers only 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0.

3D headphone audio is a separate menu, meaning it won't sound good with speakers or play at all with speakers. Which is a shame, because the height speakers help immensely with this three-dimensional audio Sony is hyping.

I have a 5.2.1 dolby atmos setup so this makes me sad.

Why did they do this, just stick with the best out there.

5.2.1 would imply you have 1 height channels, you need at least 2 height channels for Atmos

Perhaps you meant 5.1.2 which is 1 subwoofer and 2 height channels

They are known as 9.2 channel receivers. His phrasing is still correct.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=receiver+9.2

https://www.amazon.com/9-2-receiver/s?k=9.2+receiver

Anyone who is into home theaters can figure out he means 7.2.2 or 5.2.4, since there is no home media that supports nine surround channels plus low frequency plus height channels.

Again

he didn’t say “I have a 9 channel Atmos receiver” That’s perfectly acceptable

But saying “I have a 9.2 Atmos setup” is not correct in any way whatsoever

I’m sorry but it really isn’t going to be a game changer at all most gamers will not even care about it only the hardcore few.

there’s 13 channel home receivers that can do 9.2.4 or 7.2.6 atmos

https://www.audioholics.com/av-receiver-reviews/denon-avr-x8500h-dolby-atmos-network-receiver-review

@rdnav2 said:

@tdkmillsy said:

@ezekiel43 said:

@pyro1245 said:

I'm sure whatever games I play will sound awesome out of my 9.2 dolby atmos setup

Nothing will be coming out of your Atmos speakers, though. The PS5 offers only 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0.

3D headphone audio is a separate menu, meaning it won't sound good with speakers or play at all with speakers. Which is a shame, because the height speakers help immensely with this three-dimensional audio Sony is hyping.

I have a 5.2.1 dolby atmos setup so this makes me sad.

Why did they do this, just stick with the best out there.

5.2.1 would imply you have 1 height channels, you need at least 2 height channels for Atmos

Perhaps you meant 5.1.2 which is 1 subwoofer and 2 height channels

Yes totally correct numbers wrong 1 sub 2 height :)

Headset audio doesn't work for me. I have a big sub and good speakers. I like to feel the sound.

If it's not an Atmos data stream then it will just be 9.2 surround. Even if it's set to 7.1. I'll get the normal 7-channel surround and my 2 subs will still do their thing. The ceiling speakers (the extra 9-7=2, just do L/R, or I could disable them)

Atmos is great. Object oriented surround is very cool.

Honestly the most annoying thing was sound coming out of the PS5 controller in Demon's Souls. Gotta see if I can disable it. I can't believe they would hype up this type of immersive audio, and then just have sound coming out of the crappy controller speaker.

Surround sound and positional audio has been around for decades. How is it suddenly a "game changer"?

I read MS already has a solution. It's not heavily advertised on consoles. I forgot the term.

How are we even supposed to get the audio from that thing? I used an amp/dac connected through the optical port on my ps4, but just now i've learned that the ps5 doesn't have an optical connection. Since i am using a monitor, i sure as hell don't want to use its crappy speakers for sound. I have my amp/dac connected to one of the back USB ports, but no sound is coming out. Am i supposed to connect my headphones into the shitty controller jack? 🤢 Please tell me there is a way omg 🤮🤮🤮

Does anyone use an external amp/dac on their X or PS5? Am i missing something!?

I told you it could be plugged into the console in a previous thread based on this:

The Platinum and Gold Wireless Headsets, as well as third-party headsets that connect via USB port or audio jack, will work on PS5 (the headset companion app is not compatible with PS5)."

https://blog.playstation.com/2020/08/03/playstation-5-answering-your-questions-on-compatible-ps4-peripherals-accessories/

If they mean the mini/micro-USB on the controller, that's pretty terrible. Using headphones has always been inconvenient with consoles.

I am not sure what they're talking about. If i connect my pair of headphones into my amp/dac, and then connect the amp/dac into the ps5 through usb, there is no sound coming out.

What dac are you using?

Looking at an IGN video, there's a setting under...

Audio Output > Output Device > Headphones connected to controller

Try changing that. IGN, of course, wasn't thorough enough to actually click that option and show if there's one for "Headphones connected to console."

Its the Micca OriGen+. Been using it for ages on the ps4 and pc.

Yea, i am currently searching all over on the web.

For the ps4, i remember buying my first amp/dac a while ago, and it didn't have an optical connection. PS4 didn't allow the sound to go through USB, so i had to buy another dac just so i could have an optical connection. It might be just like the ps4, and don't allow sound to go through USB's? What a mess.

But what options do you have under Audio Output > Output Device?

Sounds like only dacs that use the UAC1 standard work, and ones that rely on drivers or newer standards don't. You can get splitters that will pull the audio from hdmi and convert it to optical though.

There is only two options. If i connect my pair of headphones directly into the controller jack, it shows the headphones output. Otherwise its only showing HDMI, which tells me the sound can only go through HDMI and no usb?

Yea, i was just looking at the hdmi audio extractors, which i believe is what i need? Never used them before so not exactly sure which one to get and if there's any difference in audio from the cheaper options.