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PS5 3D Audio

You too are free to go waste your own money on this audio bs.
I did a lot of comparisons. It's not worth spending more on wired. The quality upgrade is not there compared to having to be wired.
maybe just wire to the controller. It does not sound too bad either
Wrong, so wrong

Just be happy you can live with poor sound quality… it’ll save you money at least.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Wrong, so wrong

Just be happy you can live with poor sound quality… it’ll save you money at least.
I've been there, done that.
oh whatever... each to his own. I had to spend a lot of money to realize I can't hear much of a difference. Or it is just that pulse 3d is pretty good.
 

Kuranghi

Member
I got the Pulse 3D headset the other day and I've turned 3D off for Horizon 2, as you say it just sounds tinnier, I would say it does have better positional audio for most things (not always, sometimes it goes nuts) so you can know whether something is behind you more easily but its not worth the trade off in sound quality.

Even with it off the sound quality of the headset is noticeable shitter than my sound system (Sony ZF9 soundbar with SA-Z9R rears) and I'm not a big pedant for audio accuracy. I might swap them for Arctis 7P+'s instead, I hear they are more comfortable than the Pulse 3D.
 

01011001

Banned
3D Audio is the most overhyped thing ever. I have the exact same issues with it as OP, and I tried all the settings.

meanwhile other surround sound solutions sound way better to me
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Spider Man MM supports it but UC4 does not, its simply their 7.1 mix expanded to "3D" essentially virtual surround sound, its not object based like Returnal, GT7, Demons Souls.

I thought with the among thieves collection they added tempest PS5 audio.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I dont have issue with someone praising another system or game. That the very reason i singled out this post vs others that mentioned MS or Halo. This provided not content comparison or value to the topic. Its literally a person just saying they like MS implementation and Halo in a thread about PS5 and Tempest.... how much farther off topic can you get?

Your shocked that a post about positional audio ended up discussing another game and or system? Plenty of value on topic. I think you need to re-evaluate your thread standards.
 

Reave

Member
3D audio is great... but not on the Pulse 3D headset.

Pick up a pair of Philips SHP9500s and don't worry too much about wireless to get a cheaper and better audio experience.
 
I got the Pulse 3D headset the other day and I've turned 3D off for Horizon 2, as you say it just sounds tinnier, I would say it does have better positional audio for most things (not always, sometimes it goes nuts) so you can know whether something is behind you more easily but its not worth the trade off in sound quality.

Even with it off the sound quality of the headset is noticeable shitter than my sound system (Sony ZF9 soundbar with SA-Z9R rears) and I'm not a big pedant for audio accuracy. I might swap them for Arctis 7P+'s instead, I hear they are more comfortable than the Pulse 3D.
Oh good so i’m not doing something wrong lol.

Sony was on some major bs with this whole 3d audio thing
 

Kuranghi

Member
Oh good so i’m not doing something wrong lol.

Sony was on some major bs with this whole 3d audio thing

Yeah I'm not that impressed with it, but I'm going to try it more with other games and see how it is, I should try Astro actually.

One thing I'd point out though is you do need to try it with USB wired or wireless dongle headphones for it to not be trash, when I wire my 1000XM3s into the Dualsense it sounds like crap, even though they're much better quality through Bluetooth normally. Might be unique to them tho, they do weird stuff on PC sometimes.

Did you find the non 3D audio noticeably better through this setup?
 
Yeah I'm not that impressed with it, but I'm going to try it more with other games and see how it is, I should try Astro actually.

One thing I'd point out though is you do need to try it with USB wired or wireless dongle headphones for it to not be trash, when I wire my 1000XM3s into the Dualsense it sounds like crap, even though they're much better quality through Bluetooth normally. Might be unique to them tho, they do weird stuff on PC sometimes.

Did you find the non 3D audio noticeably better through this setup?
I’m using an open air audio technica wired headphones ; I just plugged them in the dualsense and it sounded horrific.

Plugged them straight back into the tv (x900e) and it sounds good again lol.

Bottom line anytime something tries to “simulate” surround sound it’s not going to be great.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
This is what you get when you try to make your own proprietary system instead of using the long ago established industry standard, which in this case is Dolby Atmos.

Dolby Atmos is proprietary as well. Just because it is widely used in audio systems doesn't make it a "standard". Standards are agreed upon technologies that are not dictated by one company or entity. HDMI and USB are good examples.

Yeah I'm not that impressed with it, but I'm going to try it more with other games and see how it is, I should try Astro actually.

One thing I'd point out though is you do need to try it with USB wired or wireless dongle headphones for it to not be trash, when I wire my 1000XM3s into the Dualsense it sounds like crap, even though they're much better quality through Bluetooth normally. Might be unique to them tho, they do weird stuff on PC sometimes.

Did you find the non 3D audio noticeably better through this setup?

The headphones you are using make a huge difference. I was using my 1000XM4s with bluetooth and you are correct that headset with dongles are far superior.

I’m using an open air audio technica wired headphones ; I just plugged them in the dualsense and it sounded horrific.

Plugged them straight back into the tv (x900e) and it sounds good again lol.

If you have an USB to 3.5mm adapter you will notice a significant difference plugging into the PS5 USB port.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
so, is it the shity 3d audio, or the shitty pulse 3d? or both?

Personally, I did not care for the Pulse 3D. My Razar Blackshark V2 wireless sound much better to me. But you really should try a few and see which you like better. I don't think the 3D audio is shitty at all.
 
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MrFunSocks

Banned
Dolby Atmos is proprietary as well. Just because it is widely used in audio systems doesn't make it a "standard". Standards are agreed upon technologies that are not dictated by one company or entity. HDMI and USB are good examples.
Industry standard, not a standard. Dolby atmos is available to everyone that will pay the license fee, even if they want to just give the users the option to pay the fee themselves like MS do. Sony don’t license “Tempest”.

Take off the fanboy goggles.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Personally, I did not care for the Pulse 3D. My Razar Blackshark V2 wireless sound much better to me. But you really should try a few and see which you like better. I don't think the 3D audio is shitty at all.
Buddy got that razer. It's pretty great.
I would 100% get it but since I have a ps5, pulse 3d seemed fitting and I am happy.
And I don't like pressure around my ears. That razer is a bit more/better sealing.
Pulse 3d seal is sloppy af but thanks to that, my ears breathe more :p
 

Topher

Gold Member
Industry standard, not a standard. Dolby atmos is available to everyone that will pay the license fee, even if they want to just give the users the option to pay the fee themselves like MS do. Sony don’t license “Tempest”.

Take off the fanboy goggles.

Sony doesn't need to license Tempest. It doesn't require any fees or special equipment.

What's with the "fanboy goggles" junk? Can't you just talk with other people without resorting to that nonsense?
 

MrFunSocks

Banned

MrFunSocks

Banned
Sony doesn't need to license Tempest. It doesn't require any fees or special equipment.

What's with the "fanboy goggles" junk? Can't you just talk with other people without resorting to that nonsense?
Lol doesn’t require any special equipment other than only working on a single piece of equipment, the PS5.

Tempest was typical Sony trying to make a proprietary tech that doesn’t need to exist, ala vita memory cards.

Atmos is the industry standard for a reason. Dolby is the best in the business at this, it’s what they do.

We all know why you’re defending tempest.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Lol doesn’t require any special equipment other than only working on a single piece of equipment, the PS5.

Tempest was typical Sony trying to make a proprietary tech that doesn’t need to exist, ala vita memory cards.

Atmos is the industry standard for a reason. Dolby is the best in the business at this, it’s what they do.

We all know why you’re defending tempest.
the problem is that Dolby IS NOT in fact an industry standard. it is a proprietary, paid standard.
Like with hdr10+ vs Dolby Vision. You still cant play latter on pc and many devices and it is almost no different to good hdr10... I compared some movies on my lg oled and the difference is very subtle
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
the problem is that Dolby IS NOT in fact an industry standard. it is a proprietary, paid standard.
Like with hdr10+ vs Dolby Vision. You still cant play latter on pc and many devices and it is almost no different to good hdr10... I compared some movies on my lg oled and the difference is very subtle
It’s proprietary but it’s the industry standard. It works across everything and it’s the go-to 3D audio solution across the industry.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Lol doesn’t require any special equipment other than only working on a single piece of equipment, the PS5.

Tempest was typical Sony trying to make a proprietary tech that doesn’t need to exist, ala vita memory cards.

Atmos is the industry standard for a reason. Dolby is the best in the business at this, it’s what they do.

Right......Tempest was built just for PS5. Which isn't a problem since it doesn't require other equipment to be Tempest compatible. So any headphones I buy will give me Tempest 3D audio and since PS5 doesn't require proprietary wireless technology, PS5 has a lot more options in headsets.

I'm perfectly fine with Dolby Atmos on my XSX and Tempest 3D on my PS5. They work equally well, imo.

We all know why you’re defending tempest.

Yeah....it works well and I like it. Glad you "all" know that. Do you have company over or something?
 

thewire

Member
It’s proprietary but it’s the industry standard. It works across everything and it’s the go-to 3D audio solution across the industry.
And yet the industry leading audio showcases are on PlayStation 5 with utilising tempest audio with returnal, death stranding dc, ghost of Tsushima dc, uncharted collection, demon souls remake, horizon forbidden west & gt7 currently.
 

Sega Orphan

Banned
I found a Dolby option under the audio setting on ps5....is that legit?

I'm not sure. I was surprised that it wasn't there to begin with honestly.
I assume it's as easy as firmware update, and if Sony feel that it's being supported and is giving better results than their own 3D is they will adopt it.
It's not so much that Sony don't have the capabilities of Dolby, as Sony are one of the premier audio companies in the world, it's that Dolby is universal and heavily used, while Sony's 3D audio is not.
But let's be honest, all audio is good enough at this point and will not be the reason a game sells or doesn't sell.
 
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TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Yeah I tried it and wasn't impressed.
Went straight back to my home cinema.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
And yet the industry leading audio showcases are on PlayStation 5 with utilising tempest audio with returnal, death stranding dc, ghost of Tsushima dc, uncharted collection, demon souls remake, horizon forbidden west & gt7 currently.
Industry leading audio showcases? Who decided this exactly?

Xbox has had 3D audio since last generation lol. It’s only a new thing for ps only players, and they fell for Sonys marketing gimmick of giving it a cool name like “Tempest”.
 

Sega Orphan

Banned
Dolby can fuck right off with their paid and compatibility bs.
Their tech is nothing special everyone has to pay for it.
I'm point isn't that Sony doesn't know audio, that's a given, but Dolby is the standard. It's what everyone in gaming and entertainment use. Sony's 3D just isn't going to get the same treatment.
MS has it's own just as impressive audio capability in the Xbox, but they were smart enough to include Dolby as the default. And why are you worried about people having to pay to use Dolby? Do you say the same when people have to give Sony 30% for using their PS platform to sell games? Is Dolby a not for profit charity that spends hundreds of millions in research and development just so Sony and MS can use it for free?
 
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Sega Orphan

Banned
Industry leading audio showcases? Who decided this exactly?

Xbox has had 3D audio since last generation lol. It’s only a new thing for ps only players, and they fell for Sonys marketing gimmick of giving it a cool name like “Tempest”.
Not to mention how Tempsest can also be used to run game code and improve graphics as well.
That's one he'll of a single Compute unit lol
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I'm point isn't that Dony doesn't know audio, that's a given, but Dolby is the standard. It's what everyone in gaming and entertainment use. Sony's 3D just isn't going to get the same treatment.
MS has it's own just as impressive audio capability in the Xbox, but they were smart enough to include Dolby as the default. And why are you worried about people having to pay to use Dolby? Do you say the same when people have to give Sony 30% for using their PS platform to sell games? Is Dolby a not for profit charity that spends hundreds of millions in research and development just so Sony and MS can use it for free?
Sony knows audio pretty well. They make reference headphones since forever and a lot of audio gear.
Everyone in from soft audio team uses sony stuff. You can see on some behind the scenes videos.
That said - the 3d is obviously not going to be supported by most devs sadly. But when it is supported, it sounds very good aka returnal and demons.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
Sony knows audio pretty well. They make reference headphones since forever and a lot of audio gear.
Everyone in from soft audio team uses sony stuff. You can see on some behind the scenes videos.
That said - the 3d is obviously not going to be supported by most devs sadly. But when it is supported, it sounds very good aka returnal and demons.
Their car audio equipment was absolute trash though.

Does Tempest sound better than Dolby atmos which is far more widely supported and made by a company that literally does it for a living? No.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Not to mention how Tempsest can also be used to run game code and improve graphics as well.
That's one he'll of a single Compute unit lol

It is factually removing processing from the CPU. That isn't running graphical game code. Who told you that?
 

Sega Orphan

Banned
Sony knows audio pretty well. They make reference headphones since forever and a lot of audio gear.
Everyone in from soft audio team uses sony stuff. You can see on some behind the scenes videos.
That said - the 3d is obviously not going to be supported by most devs sadly. But when it is supported, it sounds very good aka returnal and demons.
Oh agreed, Sony is top of the food chain in audio. They have always innovated. Shit, I still have a minidisc and don't understand why it didn't take off.
They know their shit when it comes to audio, and applaud them utilising their companies strengths in other areas for the PS5. I'm not saying they shouldn't have put their own 3D audio into the PS5, they should have, but they should also have used Dolby as well.
 

Leyasu

Banned
And what would that change ?
You ever listened to pulse 3d? It uses 2,4ghz dongle. not bluetoothe. There is no hiss, no lag and audio quality is pretty fantastic.
Exchange that for wasting money on wired crap ? that you have to wire to a console?
No thanks. Even if the quality was much worse on wireless (and it is not, I guarantee), the hassle is not worth it

michael jordan laughing GIF



Yeah, I'm sure a wire to the controller or a 2.5ghz wireless set sounds better than a schiit dac and a decent set of headphones/headset....
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Yeah, I'm sure a wire to the controller or a 2.5ghz wireless set sounds better than a schiit dac and a decent set of headphones/headset....
you would really be surprised. I assure you. I was surprised too
 

Ev1L AuRoN

Member
Dolby Atmos for Headset for PC is a waste of money, didn't try it on Xbox, but on PC I don't think it does a good job.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
Dolby Atmos for Headset for PC is a waste of money, didn't try it on Xbox, but on PC I don't think it does a good job.
Any 3D audio through stereo headsets is not going to do a “good job”. It’s “fake” surround sound then trying to fake 3D positioning.

Unlike Tempest, though, Atmos works with more than 5.1 surround sound systems and has up/down firing speakers.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Any 3D audio through stereo headsets is not going to do a “good job”. It’s “fake” surround sound then trying to fake 3D positioning.

Unlike Tempest, though, Atmos works with more than 5.1 surround sound systems and has up/down firing speakers.
you still got 2 ears.
And to some degree sound can be modified to "sound" like if it was coming from different direction. That's why ear shape matters.... and sony promised you will be able to adjust ear shape but only did the few presets
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
you still got 2 ears.
And to some degree sound can be modified to "sound" like if it was coming from different direction. That's why ear shape matters.... and sony promised you will be able to adjust ear shape but only did the few presets
Number of ears has nothing to do with it lol. With headphones you have 2 speakers pointing directly at your ears. You don’t have a speaker to your rear left and right, not downward or upward firing ones with an atmos surround sound setup.

The whole ear shape thing was just another attempt to make their solution sound better than it is, and as always it was eaten up by a certain team.

Even the absolute best “3D audio” from a stereo headset pales in comparison to even a 20 year old 5.1 setup.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Number of ears has nothing to do with it lol. With headphones you have 2 speakers pointing directly at your ears. You don’t have a speaker to your rear left and right, not downward or upward firing ones with an atmos surround sound setup.

The whole ear shape thing was just another attempt to make their solution sound better than it is, and as always it was eaten up by a certain team.

Even the absolute best “3D audio” from a stereo headset pales in comparison to even a 20 year old 5.1 setup.
but you can make that sound distorted enough like if it was coming from off angle. This is how it works
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
but you can make that sound distorted enough like if it was coming from off angle. This is how it works
That’s how they try to make it work, but like I said, it pales in comparison to even a 20 year old cheap 5.1 setup.

I’ve got a Dolby atmos license btw and do almost all my console gaming with a headset.

I’ve also got a 5.1 setup, and if I want to actually experience surround sound I use it.
 
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Zannegan

Member
I actually forgot all about this feature, which is a bit ironoc because, to me, it was one of the most interesting things about the PS5 in the runup to launch.

I'm bummed to hear that it isn't universal for all PS5 games and even moreso that people are having mixed results in the games it is in. I was hoping for a knock-your-socks-off, it-just-works solution. I still want to try it for myself though.
 

Ev1L AuRoN

Member
Any 3D audio through stereo headsets is not going to do a “good job”. It’s “fake” surround sound then trying to fake 3D positioning.

Unlike Tempest, though, Atmos works with more than 5.1 surround sound systems and has up/down firing speakers.
I had the Sony headset on PS3 and I remember playing Dead Space 2 and been blow away by the surround sound.
 

TrebleShot

Member
I thought with the among thieves collection they added tempest PS5 audio.
It does but not in the intended way.

There’s currently two ways to use tempest:

1. Object based 3D audio where the engine supports something like 5000 audio sources (far more than any game engine can support or process at once let alone the space that would take up in high fidelity - audio is very large)

2. Surround sound simulation in a binaural environment so imagine a virtual 5.1/7.1 system with speakers placed in a virtual space as you would expect from a surround set up, that is the version of tempest Uncharted collection supports.

It’s also worth noting that there is also stereo sound for headphones for most games, a binaural software solution for others (Battlefield) etc etc.

It’s a bit of a minefield and not covered very well in gaming media.

Also worth mentioning I don’t claim to know all of this as fact but I do remember reading about uncharted specifically and also how tempest can work.

Often the games with “lacklustre” audio on headphones are using the wrapper for tempest surround sound and technically support “3D audio”.
 
so, is it the shity 3d audio, or the shitty pulse 3d? or both?
Really can't comment on the quality of the headset apart from it being closed back so you'd really expect the positioning to not be as good as in a decent open back pair of cans.
My preferred choice of a headset for gaming has long been the Sennheiser HD 600 and in part that is simply down to the wonderful positioning and wide soundstage that it presents and combined with something like the 3D audio in Returnal or Forbidden West it is absolutely magnificent. I really can pinpoint when something is happening around me, it's made such a difference in Forbidden West when doing things like hunting smaller prey and you're trying to track a small bird as you hear it flying around behind you.
The 3D audio itself works wonderfully and in a comparison to Doby Atmos I'm not hearing any advantage to either, apart from of course that Sony don't have to pay Dolby to use this I suppose. I think the only real advantage to a user with Sony's take would be the increased number of voices the algorithm can support but at the moment there isn't a title that uses anything close to the full range and by the time that happens I would have expected Dolby to improve theirs too. At the moment I don't feel that I'm missing anything by them not using all the available voices but I've been so surprised with how well spatial audio works in gaming that I'm not going to say that having hundreds or thousands of extra voices until I've been able to actually experience it myself.
It is worth remember still that it's very early days for 3D audio with the mass market and there's still a lot of room to improve the algorithms that are used but it is something that is very much here to stay now and it will get better. One place that spatial audio will be incredibly important is using PSVR2 because you hearing in 3D space is ground you far more than simple stereo audio could ever hope to do.
Probably worth mentioning that Apple Music uses spatial audio wonderfully and even though it's not something that I thought I'd ever be interested in personally, I have been really impressed with it. Apple Music uses a version of Dolby Atmos and it works just as well on the PS5 as it does on our Apple TV.
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
To early to be definitive, but after an hour I'm thinking Gran Turismo 7 is going to be added to my list of current gen games with the best audio.

Yeah, I'm sure a wire to the controller or a 2.5ghz wireless set sounds better than a schiit dac and a decent set of headphones/headset....
Does cost factor in? A schiit setup could cost you as much as everything else combined.
 
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