Sony’s next-gen audio will sound a revolution

EPOS, formerly Sennheiser Communications, is ready for PS5

WE ARE STARTING TO SEE GAMES WHERE AUDIO IS MORE IMPORTANT.

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There are plenty of gaming headsets to choose from, but Sennheiser Communications’ high-end ear-wear has frequently topped our wishlist. Now, rebranding as EPOS, the company is looking to the future with a brand-new line of headsets and an ear to the future of gaming sound.

Given how PS5’s Tempest Engine will add oomph to 3D audio, we ask EPOS’ senior director, global product management and marketing, gaming, Andreas

Jessen, what the future holds for headsets. “3D audio is another layer of information in the audio,” explains Jessen. “Audio is a special input to your brain, because most of the time it is feeding directly to your subconscious and allows you to make super-fast reactions or be more immersed without you thinking about it.”

EARS OPEN

As gaming has evolved, it has come to feel like graphical improvements get all the limelight. “I think it has always been super-important for games to have great audio, but it could feel sometimes like the audio was maybe a bit underprioritised compared to visuals,” says Jessen. “However, I personally think we are starting to see games where audio is more important or could even be that it is opposite – but used more effectively.”

Even though it might be less obvious, better audio can make a huge difference to games, even if “improvements will be smaller than [for example] going from SD visuals to HD visuals” as Jessen puts it. “The audio is what brings all that information to life and can place emotions into a game.

Everything from how a gun sounds when it is fired or how your horse reacts to your character – here audio is much more important than

Andreas Jessen, senior director, global product management and marketing, gaming, EPOS. graphics.” It’s all about immersion. “A picture of a monster can be scary but if you remove the audio, it’s just a picture,” explains Jessen. “However, if you have a black screen with a monster audio, it’s still scary!” Look at EPOS’ headsets to put your head in the jaws of audio here: bit.ly/opm-epos.