Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 update will bring personalised spatial audio to the console

Sony has announced a new update coming to the PlayStation 5 that will introduce personalised spatial audio to the console. While the PS5 already supports the Tempest 3D audio system, this update will tailor the immersive audio experience to each individual's ears.

In a demo of the new UI that can be found here, Sony shows off the new step-by-step calibration system that will be added to the settings menu of the PS5 when this update is released in the coming months (no exact date has been set yet). The calibration settings involve test sounds being played through your headphones, with users then locating the direction of the sound using a three-dimensional audio bubble graphical interface. 

This new audio feature is expected to work across a variety of wired and wireless headsets, so you won't need one of Sony's own Pulse 3D PS5 headsets in order to take advantage of it. Furthermore, this is quite a big upgrade over the current spatial audio customisation settings, which only allow you to change the height level of sound effects. 

This personalised spatial audio system joins Dolby Atmos, which was also recently added to the PS5 in a software update. Sony's implementation of Dolby Atmos is more focused on using external HDMI eARC devices such as Dolby Atmos soundbars or AVRs, so this new headphone-based spatial audio system should benefit gamers who prefer to use gaming headsets.

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