For soundbar yes. But I thought you're talking about the Logitech Z506?

For me, the cheapest setup for surround 5.1 (for budget constraint) is to get cheap DVD player with HDMI ARC feature.

PS3 --> TV (HDMI ARC) <--> DVD player (HDMI ARC) .

But have to live with cables. Wireless rear speaker available for high end bluray players .

*ARC = Audio Return Channel.

I wasn't really serious about the Z506 lar... I already my Triton Ax720 for PS3.

This post has been edited by noruazumi: Sep 3 2013, 03:02 PM

Now there is another HDMI slot to use, VITA TV


Make sure you get a system that has more than 5 HDMI inputs.

About the rear speakers cable, I just place it under the carpet and the corners between the floor and the wall. If you done it right, the cables is invisible

Mark Cerny confirmed in an interview that PlayStation 4 uses hardware expressly dedicated to audio tasks. What are the capabilities of this hardware? What is Sony telling to developers about it?

Here we have some material from Sony’s presentations where you can learn more about audio custom hardware in PS4. This dedicated hardware will manage basic tasks, for game or system, relying on the CPU or GPU for advanced tasks.

Another important point is that this audio block is not programmable by developers directly, they could only access it via OS.



Source


I dunno what all the technical mumbo-jumbo they were saying, but i hope at least it is slightly better than PS3's audio processor

to me ps3 audio is already good if u have proper audio setup...

Oh no, it isn't about the audio quality entirely. Rather how audio is being processed.
The PS3 reserved an entire SPU solely for audio processing and that was actually rather expensive late in most game developments. Also because audio was handled through a very basic visor on the PS3, it was hard to optimize performance as well without handling the entire process through a game engine, further complicating matters.

So now, on the PS4 there is a straight up custom audio block that allows all audio to be done on the CPU or GPGPU without compromising performance. The support for up to 200+ audio streams simultaneously is nothing new as the Xbox One's "up to" 512 streams trounces this. Whether or not we can hear such detail, well that depends from one person to the next individually but the support is there.

I see it as a good thing because consoles has been almost on a dead stop on audio since the PS2 days, which is ridiculous. A reason why so many games these days take the easy route out by pre-baking multi channel audio.

From the slide that I shared above, what does it mean by "Not programmable by game teams"?... is this good?

Good and bad I presume.
What I do know is that since the ACP isn't programmable directly, this means that devs will have to use the OS to access it. This does streamline a lot of stuff, gone are the days where you have to set a side 3 or 4 audio engineers just to tackle the audio issues on one part of the console.

Bad because it might lead to some limitations on the devs part if they want to do something unique, like say... implementing HRTF on a console perhaps? Something that hasn't really been done before on a console. Since the ACP is locked to the OS and I don't think devs has much access to change anything within the OS, might be a limitation.

I'm not exactly sure however, need more fine print on this.


*EDIT*
Funny how AMD just announced their new line of graphics cards which has their new "TrueAudio" technology that is programmable. Though the slides that was presented basically means it is just a fancy word for AMD's version of a DSP, just done on a GPU instead of on a soundcard.

Sounds like a reverse on the PS4.


*DOUBLE EDIT*
Well I went over a bit more and I think the PS4 has a disadvantage in audio now in comparison to the Xbone. The reason being that the PS4's ACP doesn't have the ability to enable any sort of DSP on its own on a hardware level.
It has to be done through game code, as in through a game engine. Multichannel audio will still be simulated on a software level and there won't be HRTF on the PS4.

The Xbone on the other hand has hardware audio support, quite similar to AMD's new TrueAudio technology.

For many people, this wouldn't be an issue but I think for those who likes to play in surround sound will feel somewhat miff'd about this.... because I am.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Sep 26 2013, 01:56 PM

as long the audio is better than ps3 than i ok already i just hope ps4 will be able to do fullhd for all games and 60fps for first person shooter games in multiplayer.

It'll be as good as athe PS3's, I'm just hoping that HRTF will make the cut on the PS4. Something the Xbone is capable of where as the PS4 doesn't seem to be...? I don't know, there needs to be more info.

Googling HRTF ... A head-related transfer function (HRTF) is a response that characterizes how an ear receives a sound from a point in space; a pair of HRTFs for two ears can be used to synthesize a binaural sound that seems to come from a particular point in space.

...surround sound is a must for me

Well, the easiest way to explain is to listen to it:



Put on your headphones, disable any effects (virtual surround sound and EQs), then listen.
This is HRTF in 7.1, imagine the possibilities of over 24 channels all simulated on a 5.1 speaker setup. You'll be able to hear audio not only from front and back, but also simulated on the ceiling (like Dolby Atmos) and the floor.

Thats quite amazing... even my old sennheiser earphone can simulate some kind of surround effects

damn it good...
my hair were standing n got me a bit scare.

anyway i got my DSS earforce second hand, can't wait my hand to try it out yet.

im still using my 2 years old koss porta. Cheap but really good quality earphone.

This post has been edited by jellybean-fish: Sep 26 2013, 08:56 PM

Koss KSC75? One of the best portable clip-ons around. I concur, it's good.

The DSS (and any other virtual surround DSP) will not work with the Interrogation Chamber test if anyone is wondering. The IC test is a pre-recorded HRTF demo in perfect environment and situation. There were a few older PC games that used to have these sort of audio accuracy, but unfortunately they weren't that many.

If possible, go to the video's YT link and head to the description box to get the lossless .wav download instead. Even better quality, even more immersion.

This one , been using it for quite sometime, looking for something to upgrade.

Ahh.

What budget do you have in mind?

I thinking around Rm300 - Rm500 , but the ATH-M50 is above my expectation.
survey is ATH is around RM750

That's SRP, of course it is much higher. The M50 can be had for RM550+ the last time I checked.
Though I don't think getting the M50 is a good idea if closed headphones are what you are looking for. The Creative Aurvana Live! is which goes for about RM400 (maybe even less, check garage sale) is a much better deal with similar extension on the bass, still holding mids in detail and doesn't have the rather harsh and bright highs that the M50 has.

Although the M50 has better imaging, but can be a little bit too analytical at times. Taking the fun out of actually enjoying games. It's not as if the CAL! isn't good in positional accuracy either, but just not at the level of the M50 for a closed headphone.

I always found the M50 to be very uncomfortable too, the clamping pressure on them is just... really bad. This is coming from someone who has quite a small head and if I can't take the clamping pressure, I don't think anyone with a medium size or bigger head will be happy.
There are some mods where you can pre-stretch the bands for 48 hours or more, but even then... the comfort is really only passable. The CAL! doesn't have much of a comfort issue and its pleather pads are one of the best I've ever put over my ears.

So if closed headphones under RM500 - Creative Aurvana Live!
As a bonus, the CAL! doesn't need much amping to get to its potential either. The DSS you got is good enough, plays well with Dolby Headphones too!


Though understand the mids on the CAL! isn't as intimate as your Koss Portapro, but you'll get more bass if that's what you're looking for.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Sep 27 2013, 02:49 AM