Another key feature of Sony’s next-gen rollout for the Playstation 5 is 3D audio. Whilst nothing new in the general sense, 3D audio is a technology that provides detailed sound from multiple directions, such as those provided by Dolby Atmos, 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.
Tempest 3D AudioTech
Sony has created its own technology for the Playstation 5 called Tempest 3D AudioTech, which simulates audio coming from different sources or directions. The technology will ensure that sound in-game is delivered in a way that would seem quite natural and less one dimensional.
3D AudioTech will use object-based spatial sound tech which enables sounds to be delivered at a wider soundscape and provide greater immersion for players.
The Tempest Engine is built on the AMD RDNA 2 processing technology, in which we have a dedicated sound chip solely for processing 3D audio.
What this enables is much like computing units on a GPU, a dedicated engine on a chip that can be used to process sounds and environmental sources on a larger scale than what was previously available.
One benefit of having this dedicate chip is that they can support a multitude of devices, as opposed to have dedicated devices with an audio processor. Sony can look to support a wide array of sound devices, from TVs, soundbars and headphones.
Sony tested the Tempest Engine by building an array of 22 speakers and put microphones in people’s ears then rotated them.
As they were being rotated Sony were able to sample different audio waves from multiple locations to enable the engine to render sound from different sources in different ways.
Sony took samples from over 100 people and will use this data to create five advanced audio profiles that people can choose from.
What we can Expect
The aim of 3D audio is experience, you should be able to hear people approaching you, water in the distance getting louder as your approach and generally being able to sense more directionally the ambient sounds as you play.
As with ray-tracing and the new SSD it will be down to developers to integrate the new audio advancements. Currently some of the games to support 3D Audio at launch are:
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered Gran Turismo 7 Demon’s Souls Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Sackboy: A Big Adventure Horizon Forbidden West
Whilst 3D audio is a hard thing to demonstrate without having actual hands-on real world examples, its another flag that Sony is flying and by not resting on its laurels and really trying to attack next-gen with standout features.