When we think of video games, sound quality isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. We think of visuals, gameplay, and story. We think of the social connections we make. We think of the experiences we’ve had or look forward to having. Audio, if it’s lucky, would fall halfway down a top ten list of most important features. We take it for granted.
But that’s an illusion, a deception brought about by audio great enough that we stop noticing it outright. Truly immersive audio fades into the background and immerses you in the world and gameplay. There’s a saying in the content creation world: a viewer will sit through poor visuals, but if the audio quality suffers, they’ll tune out before they can even see what you have to offer. That same principle applies to video games.
Immersive Audio in 2023
Immersive audio draws you in and helps you get lost. It makes the world, the story, the characters believable. It makes MMORPGs feel like living worlds. It makes action scenes visceral and sad moments heart-wrenching. It is the indispensable partner of art, of story, and of gameplay.
And it is evolving. Just as graphics and gameplay have advanced with time, so too has immersive audio. At this point in 2023, games often give you choices for how you want your audio delivered: stereo, speakers, TV, mono, night mode, surround, and spatial. Depending on your platform, you have even more things to consider. Gaming headsets often come with surround sound headsets. Xbox has Dolby Atmos, PlayStation has Tempest 3D, Windows has Windows Sonic with even more options in the Microsoft Store.
And what about speakers and soundbars? What about beamforming and headtracking? What about other kinds of immersive audio experiences, like binaural audio? All of these are at play today, creating a soundsphere more rich than we’ve ever had before.
Who Am I?
I’ve been working as a gaming and technology journalist since 2013. I became the Hardware and Technology Editor at MMORPG.com in 2015 and have been the lead reviewer ever since. Since that time, I’ve been a regularly contributor to a number of different publications, including IGN, GameSpace, Hooked Gamers, Tom’s Hardware, PC Perspective, Popular Science, and Reviewed, a sister site to USA Today. I’ve written guides on the best headphones, best digital audio players, and best DACs to enjoy your games and music to the fullest. I’ve reviewed more than a hundred pairs of headphones and earphones here at MMORPG and far more than that if you include gaming headsets, and spearheaded a new high-end audio column for desktop users.
Put another way, reviewing tech has allowed me to develop a passion for audio. It has transformed me from someone who used to be content with a cheap headset and bargain bin earphones to a full-blown audiophile.
And here’s the thing: almost all of these headphones, earphones, and headsets benefit from spatial audio in some way. I’ve explored it all and am here to give you the short version or the lay of the land.
This is immersive audio in 2023.
Virtual 5.1 or 7.1 Surround Sound
The most basic immersive audio solution, and the most commonly touted, is virtual surround sound. This is DTS: Headphones, Nahimic, and the various in-house surround sound solutions manufacturers include in their software suites. This method of immersive audio utilizes algorithms to mimic the placement of five or seven speakers in a circle around you (+1 for a subwoofer). It does not include height information, though audio engines often help compensate for this.
Less common in this arena is physical 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound that includes separate drivers within the headset or as speakers around the room. This is more costly and, though it can be excellent with physical speakers, involves far more setup. When used with headphones, the results are very mixed. Paired with the high cost of true 5.1 and 7.1 headsets, they are an uncommon and often (but not always) disappointing solution.
Virtual surround sound options vary drastically in their quality. At their best, they can excel at adding a sense of space and directionality to the listening experience. At their worst, which sadly often includes implementations of major names like DTS, they can be a reverb-soaked mess that actively degrades sound quality and positionality. I have used expensive, big-name headsets boasting about their virtual surround sound capabilities that were far better with surround completely turned off.
At this point, I usually just disable these options. They’re unreliable and just not as good as true spatial audio, such as…
Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos, and PlayStation Tempest Audio
The next bit of audio tech is really something special. If you’re using headphones, these are the options you should be using. Ignore what comes with the headset and use these instead. You won’t regret it.
Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos, and Tempest Audio on Sony PlayStation 5 are true spatial audio solutions. They take the concept of algorithmic surround sound and add height to the mix. None of the options listed here turn to excessive reverb to create their sense of space. They are more reliable and less intrusive. They are also compatible with any headset since they function entirely based off of software (just be sure to turn off any other surround sound settings in your headset’s software).
Of these, Dolby Atmos is the most impactful and noticeable, but all three work to create similar experiences. Instead of a circle of sound around you, they create a bubble of audio. Picking out whether an enemy is upstairs, downstairs, or on the same floor is easier, which can lead to a competitive advantage. They are, in my opinion, the best example of true spatial audio available in headphones.
Best of all, Windows Sonic and Tempest 3D are both free on Windows and PS5, and Dolby Atmos is very affordable at only $15 for a lifetime license per platform.
Binaural Audio
Another example of immersive audio is binaural audio. This spatial audio solution typically exists outside the realm of games, and involves recording content with two microphones usually inside the ears of a dummy head. This recording method allows the sound to be captured with a similar phase distortion and filtering effect of the outer ear as you might hear in real life. While a normal recording is a single ear outside of a head, binaural audio is what both ears actually hear.
The resulting recording, when played back with headphones, sounds extremely realistic, almost as if you were heading it in person. Take this tour of New York City from The Verge or this walk in the rain from Nomadic Ambience or this musical performance from Tape Club Records. Virtual concerts in binaural audio are far more convincing and immersive than traditional recording methods, which is why you’re beginning to see more content recorded this way.
While true binaural audio requires special recording methods, it can also be done in software to some degree (though you might consider this “faking it”). Still, it can be quite convincing. Spatial audio within games can be encompassing in much the same way; however, it’s undeniable that real, true, professionally recorded binaural audio exists at the peak of this form of immersive audio.
Binaural audio can be experienced with any headphones or in-ear monitors, but high-resolution headphones offer the best experience. HiFi headphones and audiophile gear like the Campfire Andromeda: Emerald Sea deliver exceptional resolution and detail, and even more importantly, separation between the layers of sound. If the audiophile’s pursuit is to get as close to real life as possible, binaural HiFi with a great pair of headphones is one of the absolute best ways to reach the summit of immersive listening experiences..
Personalized Spatial Audio - Audioscenic and Waves NX
The last form of spatial audio tech is burgeoning: personalized spatial audio. We first saw hints of this way back in 2018 with the Audeze Mobius. It was the company’s first gaming headset and it threw the kitchen sink at it, jam packing it with tech. It included virtual surround sound but paired that with Waves NX 3D motion tracking.
Waves NX is a popular software company within the audio engineering space. Its head tracking technology lends itself to games, however, as it applies direct positionality based on head tracking. Turn your head and the sound sources will move. Cock your head to the side and the audio you’re hearing will adjust similar to how it would in real life. Waves NX head tracking feels much more “active” in the world of immersive audio because it literally revolves your exact movements.
In practice, however, the results are a bit more mixed. Some people love it. I myself enjoyed it quite a bit during my review but other people find it to be less useful. It’s an especially subjective implementation and it can be hard to know which camp you’ll land in before experiencing it for yourself.
The most recent evolution in this space is beamforming spatial audio and comes to us from Audioscenic in the Razer Leviathan V2 Pro gaming soundbar. It’s innovative and exceptionally interesting, meshing together much of what we’ve discussed in earlier sections with new techniques to deliver an immersive audio experience. Razer describes the system as using THX Spatial Audio and Audioscenic Beamforming/head tracking technology. This is a good summation. Implemented in the Leviathan V2 Pro, it uses a camera to track your position and then adjusts the audio channels to match exactly how sound might hit your ears if you were wearing a great pair of surround sound headphones.
I was able to speak with Audioscenic’s CTO, Marcos Simón, ahead of this feature to discuss exactly how it works. He kept returning to the term “virtual headphones.” To understand what he means, it’s important to understand what Audioscenic’s tech and the Leviathan V2 Pro is actually doing.
The Leviathan V2 Pro is meant to sit under a television while you’re sitting on a couch or recliner. You want the big, bold sound of a powerful soundbar, not headphones. Often, this means giving up true spatial audio in favor of largess, but not here. Using its built-in camera, the V2 Pro locates you and zeroes in on your location. Using its algorithms, it adjusts its speakers ever so slightly out of phase, mimicking how sound would hit your ears if you were wearing headphones. You don’t need to be centered directly in front of it. The Leviathan V2 Pro dynamically adjusts to give you a consistent, personalized listening experience no matter where you may be.
In short, it creates a beam of audio catering directly to your ears, delivering a headphone-like experience at distance, without needing to wearing anything on your head. Even more impressively, it does this while also incorporating surround sound solutions.
I was able to test this for myself ahead of this review, and I’ll tell you now that I was skeptical. But, my friends, it’s a bit uncanny. The sound is clearly closer, clearly more personal. If a soundbar fills a room, Audioscenic’s tech fills your personal bubble, and it does so with clear positionality, direction, and the same bold sound we know for the original Leviathan. It’s a first generation product and an exciting one.
Audio: It’s Subjective
It’s an exciting time in immersive audio. There have been major advancements in how games, movies, and music present their sound. Dolby Atmos began as a vast speaker array that was out of reach for nearly everybody and can now be had for $15 and a download. Games can be engrossing, but it’s sound that immerses you and takes you to that next level of enjoyment.
So no matter which style you prefer: put on a pair of your favorite headphones and get lost.
