The last two console generations from Microsoft and Sony – ranging from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X – have been transformative in terms of audio quality. Consumers have been able to move away from hi-fi tuners and expansive surround sound speaker systems to relatively cheap, high-quality headphones. That means many consumers, including myself, have put down a serious coin for new cans. But will your audio investment pay off with the next generation of consoles? We spoke with four major manufacturers to get answers.
Turns out things are still kind of in the air.
‘We are dependant of [Microsoft and Sony] to tell us that a little bit [our] products are compatible with the future, ”said John Moore, chief of marketing and sales for peripherals for growth at Razer, in an interview with Polygon last week. That’s because, like every other manufacturer we’ve talked to, his company still doesn’t have definitive console hardware. Brian Fallon of SteelSeries, senior audio product manager, told a similar story.
“We obviously waited with bated breath to find out all the final details of everything,” Fallon told Polygon. He said Microsoft has been the most forthcoming so far.
“We found out a few months ago that we had everything [on the market] just went to work [with the new Xbox], ”Continued Fallon. “That was great news for us and for our customers. […] And it is all just plug and play. No need for firmware updates, none of that. It’s all just going to function. “
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Sony and its PlayStation 5.
PlayStation, of course, has its own wireless headphone technology. New Sony brand headphones are on the way with the PS5. In addition, older peripherals such as the Platinum and Gold wireless headsets will also be compatible. Sony also has announced that ‘third-party headsets plugged into a USB port or audio jack’ are compatible with the PS5. Furthermore, all the third-party manufacturers we spoke to said there are still things in the air.
“On the PlayStation side,” said Fallon, “it’s a bit of a mixed bag.”
The new PS5 does not have an optical audio connection, also known as S / PDIF or TosLink. Manufacturers such as Astro, SteelSeries, and others use that optical connection to split in-game audio from voice chat. That allows you to run digital surround sound and high-fidelity voice chat with low latency through the same speakers. It is also what allows you to balance the levels between those two different streams.
“Of course, if we don’t have optics, we have no way to do that,” said Fallon. “We only have one audio source, which comes from USB. So the SteelSeries Pro Wireless [Polygon’s top headphone choice for the PlayStation 4 in last year’s round-up] still works on the PS5. Just by plugging in the USB, you can get your entire audio out. The only thing you can’t do is adjust your game-chat mix. “
Presumably a menu within the PS5 dashboard would let you do that, but no one can know for sure until reviewers get a chance to boot the device for the first time. It’s also a lot less convenient than just turning a physical dial on your headset.
Astro has made a name for itself with these types of high-quality physical interfaces that allow users to play with their levels on the fly. Their wireless A50 headset – Polygon’s best performance for the Xbox One in last year’s roundup – only requires a firmware update to be compatible with the next generation of Xbox consoles. It’s a different story for the PS5 too. Astro says it comes out with a dongle called the Astro HDMI adapter that will fix the problem. It will be available for $ 39.99 through the Astro website as well as select retailers.
“It enables game sound + voice chat mixing and features 4K HDMI video throughput with no lag while adding a TosLink optical connection,” the company said in a September 1 press release. “Registered owners of Astro products can provide their serial number. and receive a $ 15 discount online. “
The good news is that both next-generation console controllers still include a 3.5mm audio connector, allowing you to connect the vast majority of products from companies like Astro, Kingston’s HyperX brand, Razer, and SteelSeries. In fact, both consoles are designed with that kind of stereo interface in mind.
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Back in the Xbox 360 days, consoles didn’t actually decode [digital] audio for you, ”said Thadeus Cooper, head of brand at Astro Gaming, in an interview with Polygon. “The reason MixAmp and the A50 were so popular with people is because [the consoles] would output that signal via optical or via HDMI, but you had to have a device that does Dolby decoding. “
In the current generation, only Microsoft’s console was able to decode that digital audio and output surround sound through stereo output only, in the form of Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos. Now, with the PlayStation 5, Sony is releasing its own new technology. Her Tempest 3D AudioTech solution should be able to do similar things with positional audio. Manufacturers tell us this means de facto audio parity between the two console brands.
It also means that the next generation of third-party headsets will have to differentiate themselves in a very different way. They will no longer have to rely on bells and whistles, such as adjustable in-game audio levels and custom sound profiles, to differentiate themselves. Instead, expect them to try to compete on things like sound quality, comfort, cross-platform compatibility, and price.
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