PS5 3D audio only works with headphones at launch

PS5 Tempest 3D AudioTech — 3D Audio will be headphone-only at launch (pic: Sony)

Sony has been explaining more about its 3D audio tech for the PlayStation 5, but there’s one problem: it won’t work with TVs until after launch.

A new PlayStation Blog post reveals that launch games Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls, Destruction AllStars, and Astro’s Playroom will use the technology, as well as Gran Turismo 7, Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Sackboy A Big Adventure, Horizon Forbidden West, and Resident Evil Village when they’re released.

But you won’t be able to hear the difference unless you use compatible headphones, with Sony keen to push its own Pulse 3D wireless headset, which costs £90.

‘On the PS5, you’ll be able to experience 3D Audio with the headphones that many of you already own, either through USB connection to the console, or by plugging your headphones into the DualSense wireless controller’s 3.5mm headset jack’, wrote Sony’s Isabelle Tomatis.

‘We’re also in the process of working on virtual surround sound through speakers that are built into TVs’, she added.

‘Although TV speaker virtual surround sound won’t be available on launch day for PS5, it’s still a feature we are extremely excited about, and our engineers are hard at work on bringing it to PS5 in the future.’

3D Audio has been heavily promoted since the first unveiling of the PlayStation 5, featuring in Mark Cerny’s technical talk and the initial TV ads.

As ever though, audio related improvements are a difficult thing to demonstrate without having access to the new console and the technology’s benefits will only truly become obvious once the console is released on November 19.