Following yesterday’s PS5 tech talk from lead architect Mark Cerny, a developer and game music composer have expressed to be severely impressed by the PS5’s 3D Audio technology.

　　As detailed by Cerny, Sony created the Tempest Engine as a custom processing resource in its upcoming next-gen console for 3D audio. This new engine will support hundreds of sound sources to make sound appear more realistic and immersive. Not only for high-end surround system, but for TV-speakers and headphones as well.

　　3D Audio will be among the key-features of the PS5, and on Twitter, videogame composer Dale North has said that Sony’s new tech is simply audio magic and the steps that have been made on audio level are as big as on a graphical level. According to the composer, even with TV-speakers, people will surely notice the difference. "Sound and music will have points of origination that are continually tracked and adjusted, and even on TV speakers you’ll get some sense of that", he said.

　　"All of this has the power to draw you further into a game's world, further blurring the lines just as graphical advances have", North said in a previous tweet. "I'm just now getting to apply this power in my work (stay tuned) and it's very exciting & empowering. I can't wait to see (hear!) what the future holds."

　　Locations, items, places can have their own sound and music and as you move the sound does too, as does its reaction to nearby items/surfaces. Just as in real life, sound bounces down hallways, around corners, through walls, and under surfaces. Super powerful stuff.

　　— Dale North (@DaleNorth) March 18, 2020

　　Developer on musical VR title Synthesis Universe, Olivier JT, has also spoken highly of the PS5 3D Audio tech that Sony presented, saying that it is a dream come true. The developer event went as far as to say that audio might be even more important than visuals as humans are much more open to audio than visuals.

　　Let's say as it is:

　　Only Sony has the guts & tech range to create a dedicated Audio hardware.

　　This takes me back in 2014, when I visited Sony 3D Audio team and demoed their tech, touched to my core (I cried)

　　And they have been pushing much further for Ps5.

　　What a relief!

　　— Synthesis Universe (@OlivierJT_SU) March 18, 2020

　　VR has been such a disappointment in that regards, Oculus releasing pretty much HMD without speakers (Rift S & Quest), what a terrible gaffe, shameful really.

　　Only Valve Index speakers raised the audio bar.

　　Targeting 100 tracked sources open so much creativity.

　　— Synthesis Universe (@OlivierJT_SU) March 18, 2020

　　Tempest 3D tech is where everyone should go, I have to say I am even more sad not to be a Ps4/5 dev:

　　SU is a $ failure & I can't afford a Ps4 kit.

　　No consumer cares enough about VR and it's even a double

　　penalty when you add Music & 3D audio to the list of main features.

　　— Synthesis Universe (@OlivierJT_SU) March 18, 2020

　　Encouraging words for Sony's upcoming audio tech in the PS5. What are your thoughts on the Tempest Engine? Will it indeed be a system-seller for Sony? Hit the comments below.