Dolby Access: Dolby Atmos for Headphones in Games

EastCoastHandle

EastCoastHandle

EastCoastHandle

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Has anyone used Dolby Access in these games and noticed a difference in audio fidelity?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone also included (not updated on the website yet)



https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/dolby-access/9n0866fs04w8?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/categories/games.html
Recommended
Your device should meet these requirements for the best experience
OS Windows 10 version 15063.0 or higher, Xbox One, Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher
Architecture x64, x86


How to Install

Has anyone used Dolby Access in these games and noticed a difference?


https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/dolby-access/9n0866fs04w8?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/categories/games.html
Recommended
Your device should meet these requirements for the best experience
OS Windows 10 version 15063.0 or higher, Xbox One, Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher
Architecture x64, x86

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone also included (not updated on the website yet)



How to Install
https://youtu.be/-Tfj2BdhbL0
 
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I've used it and have the app/license. More experience with it on Xbox One than PC. Funnily enough I did try it recently and carried out some pretty extensive testing with Netflix (The Rim of the World) and The Division 2 comparing Dolby Atmos across a few headphones against my Sound Blaster X7 or directly plugged into the Xbox One controller (with Dolby from Optical, or SBX on/off etc.). I had previously tried Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos when I first got the Xbox One X in 2018, but didn't stick with it.

I think in summary I am impressed with Dolby Atmos. It seems to have slightly more 'detail' in the audio; i.e. you hear more stones hitting the ground in a particular scene and 'where' they are. However the sound quality is more muddy and lacks clarity when compared to Dolby on the X7. But I am impressed and I would use for gaming if I didn't already have the X7. I felt in The Division 2 that I could pick up on directional queues better with Dolby Digital/SBX, although the gap certainly didn't feel as great as when I first tried it. I feel it's more of a no brainer to use with movies.

Not to complicate things, but I've also noticed that in the Windows Store there is now a DTS Sound Unbound app for Windows 10 that seems to do something similar to Dolby Atmos for Headphones (with the same game list).

I hope with the next gen we see a far greater emphasis and take up of 3D audio for games, and the recent PS5's 3D audio unveiling is a good sign of things to come.
 
hyperseven said:
Its been out donkeys and not free either. Yep, the effect is quite good.

2t8HySqm.jpg
Click to expand...


That can't be the same thing. Dolby Atmos in the Dolby access store is currently £11.39 with 20% off, ususally £14.24. I'm using the 7 day free trial

I got it from the Dolby store to try with COD MD and am impressed. It's more subtle that Dolby headphone and does make the game more immersive without changing in game settings which after testing them seem to wreck the general sound of the game.

When you enable Dolby Atmos for headphone in speaker properties, Spatial sound, I did notice it changes the default sample rate from 24bit, 192Khz (or whatever you set) to 16 bit 48Khz. When I enable Dolby headphone, I just use the Xonar Essense audio center so it doesnt change the speaker sample rate

For now i'll leave it switched on as im only playing COD MW. How it's removed from sound settings after 7 days, im not sure

Don't need Dolby Atmos, just 8d audio in all games. How incredible would 8d FPS game be?

Quite old I know now, but

 
Guest2 said:
That can't be the same thing. Dolby Atmos in the Dolby access store is currently £11.39 with 20% off, ususally £14.24. I'm using the 7 day free trial

I got it from the Dolby store to try with COD MD and am impressed. It's more subtle that Dolby headphone and does make the game more immersive without changing in game settings which after testing them seem to wreck the general sound of the game.

When you enable Dolby Atmos for headphone in speaker properties, Spatial sound, I did notice it changes the default sample rate from 24bit, 192Khz (or whatever you set) to 16 bit 48Khz. When I enable Dolby headphone, I just use the Xonar Essense audio center so it doesnt change the speaker sample rate

For now i'll leave it switched on as im only playing COD MW. How it's removed from sound settings after 7 days, im not sure

Don't need Dolby Atmos, just 8d audio in all games. How incredible would 8d FPS game be?

Quite old I know now, but

Click to expand...

It is the same, works out £2.60 bought from the Argentinan store over a year ago.
 
Edit:

geclefk.jpg


Link
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/dts-sound-unbound/9pj0nkl8mcsj?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab



List of games that support Microsoft Spatial sound

Gears 5
Borderlands 3
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Forza Horizon 4
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Assassin's Creed Origins
For Honor
Final Fantasy XV
Resident Evil 2
Metro Exodus
The Division 2

Does DTS Headphone:X work with all headphones?

DTS Headphone:X enables immersive audio playback over any pair of headphones.

DTS maintains a database of 500+ headphones with custom tunings to optimize the listening experience, preserving accurate sound externalization and precise localization of audio objects.

Is HDMI supported for DTS content?

At this time our focus for DTS encoded content is for headphones and multi-channel speakers that are directly connected to the sound card on the PC. HDMI and home theater uses are on our roadmap where we are actively working with Microsoft to bring this feature to our DTS community.
Click to expand...

Link
https://dts.com/sound-unbound/faq


Ok, DTS Sound Unbound does the same exact thing as Dolby Access as mentioned. However does appear to be a bit more clear/fuller. And after trying it for a few hours it's simply better in Modern Warfare. It doesn't have the fine tuning options that Dolby Access. But it is plug and play. I would suggest you try it for yourself. In games, to me, it's simply better. Although both use 16bitrrate 48kHz.

Now what is interesting is that DTS Sound Unbound have profile for several hundred headphones. And there was a profile for my cans. And because of this, IMO, is why I don't miss having option to fine tune sound settings like in Dolby Access.

Unbelievable!!! And this one cost $20. IMO, worth it.
 
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EastCoastHandle said:
...
Ok, DTS Sound Unbound does the same exact thing as Dolby Access as mentioned. However does appear to be a bit more clear/fuller. And after trying it for a few hours it's simply better in Modern Warfare. It doesn't have the fine tuning options that Dolby Access. But it is plug and play. I would suggest you try it for yourself. In games, to me, it's simply better. Although both use 16bitrrate 48kHz.

Now what is interesting is that DTS Sound Unbound have profile for several hundred headphones. And there was a profile for my cans. And because of this, IMO, is why I don't miss having option to fine tune sound settings like in Dolby Access.

Unbelievable!!! And this one cost $20. IMO, worth it.
Click to expand...

Is Dolby Atmos a one time cost of £11.39 and DTS Headphone X a one time cost of £16.74? I have installed DTS and selected my headphone so will give it a go with COD MW

Why do both lower the bitrate to DVD quality? Something do with the audio compression being used I expect

Edit - Using DTS Headphone X, do you think Balances or Spacious Spatial mode sounds better? I'll try both anyway and see if I notice a difference

Edit 2 - I ahev tried both, DTS X does sound good but to me sounds a little over processed in COD MW and maybe a bit 'echoey'. This was using balanced instead of spacious and my K702 headphones manually chosen.

Dolby Atmos is more subtle, whilst still adding some good atmosphere to the game.

I guess sound is subjective though
 
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Timber said:
I think in summary I am impressed with Dolby Atmos... However the sound quality is more muddy and lacks clarity when compared to Dolby on the X7.
Click to expand...
Creative doesn't use Dolby Headphone, but own HRTF algorithms.
And bloated bass etc was basically signature of also old Dolby Headphone.

Timber said:
I hope with the next gen we see a far greater emphasis and take up of 3D audio for games, and the recent PS5's 3D audio unveiling is a good sign of things to come.
Click to expand...
PS5 basically "trumps" post-WinXP PC game audio design because Microsoft de facto killed sound hardware acceleration and flattened sounds to lossy 5.1/7.1 with no vertical data or precise 3D sound source locations.

By now we should have customized HRTF calculating binaural sound from game's true original 3D sound data with accurate sound source locations etc.
 
EsaT said:
Creative doesn't use Dolby Headphone, but own HRTF algorithms.
And bloated bass etc was basically signature of also old Dolby Headphone.
Click to expand...

I didn't say Dolby Headphone ;)

The X7 can decode Dolby Digital and that's what I am feeding it from PS4/XBO via Optical. Irrespective of SBX the sound isn't as clear with Atmos, but either way I probably should have written '...when compared to the X7'.

I've heard Dolby Headphone and remember it too.
 
Guest2 said:
Is Dolby Atmos a one time cost of £11.39 and DTS Headphone X a one time cost of £16.74? I have installed DTS and selected my headphone so will give it a go with COD MW

Why do both lower the bitrate to DVD quality? Something do with the audio compression being used I expect

Edit - Using DTS Headphone X, do you think Balances or Spacious Spatial mode sounds better? I'll try both anyway and see if I notice a difference

Edit 2 - I ahev tried both, DTS X does sound good but to me sounds a little over processed in COD MW and maybe a bit 'echoey'. This was using balanced instead of spacious and my K702 headphones manually chosen.

Dolby Atmos is more subtle, whilst still adding some good atmosphere to the game.

I guess sound is subjective though
Click to expand...
That's odd, with my Senn's Balance seems slightly better then Dolby Access while Spacious sounds a bit more open to me. Now I wouldn't use it for listening to music etc. But in MW2019 I'm able to hear players from further away with spacious. So I use that. I guess they really did look into the headphones.

As to why they only use 16bit 48kHz for 7.1 surround sound, etc? I have no idea why that is. From my understanding consoles use 24bit. If someone does know why I too would like to know.

But let me tell you a little story:
From what I do recall back in the day...PC Games did use dedicated audio from the audio card. However, some developers, like Dice, started to use the cpu for audio calling it software audio. I remember a big debate about it back when EA use to run their own EAUK forum for Bad Company 2 that was nicknamed Mordor by Dice employees, LOL (ah, the memories...)

Anyway some, like me, had one copy of the game on console and one on the PC. And the audio on the PC was horrific when compared console to say the least. That sparked a huge thread over there and Dice's Audio Department decided to chime in and explain the process. More or less it was there that I learned that gaming developers didn't want to license Creative Labs for audio. They found a way to use a 4 core 8 thread CPU to do audio (I think using no more then 2-4 threads total) and get a "similar" experience, limited to 16 bit only, referring it as software audio vs hardware audio using the sound card. Needless to say that ended well, LOL. This is going on memory though.

Fast forward today, we see even MS mandating it's use and taking it a step further by streamlining it to nothing more then basic audio because they, like Dice, lacked depth and pitch. So, at a guess it would appear that 16bit is used to ensure compatibility. Anything higher might put a competing strain on the PC with the OS and game you are playing.

But that's at a guess.

As for DTS, I always preferred DTS over Dolby when watching movies. As DTS was always better for me. And here again, I'm seeing the same trend. Shame they haven't found a marketing compaign to get more attention. Sigh, I guess that's the way things work...vhs over beta or bluray over HD. But I digress.
 
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So game devs didnt want to pay license fees to Creative Labs / Asus / other dedicated soundcard makers so game audio is now processed on the CPU

What's my £240 soundcard doing then during gaming, nothing?

Or do you mean that 5.1, 7.1, Dolby / Dolby Atmos is only processed on the CPU - the reason when enabling Dolby Atmos on my sound card lowers it to 16bit.

If this is the case, for games using Dolby Atmos is no dedicated soundcard required?
 
EastCoastHandle said:
Anyway some, like me, had one copy of the game on console and one on the PC. And the audio on the PC was horrific when compared console to say the least. That sparked a huge thread over there and Dice's Audio Department decided to chime in and explain the process. More or less it was there that I learned that gaming developers didn't want to license Creative Labs for audio.
Click to expand...
Creative sure started demanding license fees from other sound card makers for later than EAX 2, but don't believe they demanded license from game developers.
Similarly while Creative didn't release OpenAL for free use by any sound card maker, it would have been stupid to demand some per game license fees from game developers.

That's more like convenient excuse for them being just lazy/going for Microsoft's crap PC game audio ideology.
(because PC couldn't be more advanced than more profitable for MS as gaming platform Xbox)
If problem was flaws in DirectSound, like Microsoft's stinky excuse claims, then why didn't Microsoft dictate new better HW sound processing API for Windows?
Microsoft could have done that and hardware makers would have had to obey.

Next Xbox appears to have notch better hardware than PS5, but PS5's audio side pretty much makes me wish that it would get market control.
Microsoft deserves "ice crampon decorated" boot kicks for sabotaging PC gaming audio back to "pre 3D graphics card era".

Freely posiotionable "audio objects" including sound formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X would definitely help to current state.
But those are definitely strictly license only things in every part of their use from source material making to playback.
And that makes their adoption as standard in PC unlikely.


16 bits would be actually fine for audio output format.
But any sound engine/post processing would have to happen at higher accuracy to minimize rounding errors.
 
Guest2 said:
Or do you mean that 5.1, 7.1, Dolby / Dolby Atmos is only processed on the CPU - the reason when enabling Dolby Atmos on my sound card lowers it to 16bit.

If this is the case, for games using Dolby Atmos is no dedicated soundcard required?
Click to expand...

They are software solutions. Added to other current solutions like Wave NX or Razer's software surround.

Microsoft's adoption of spatial codecs is linked to their Xbox One. It is over simplification but both current consoles seem to utilise a small part of their Jaguar CPU (Sony's Mark Cerny during the PS5 unveiling talked about currently having half a Jaguar CPU core or less for their current 3D audio solution, itself less power than they had for audio with the PS3's cell processor - something Digital Foundry mentioned). Microsoft's 3D spatial solutions (Sonic/Atmos) are limited to a small number of 32 objects due to CPU limits. The approaches have been different though; Sony's hardware only 3D audio Platinum Wireless Headset for Days Gone, Horizon ZD or Uncharted 4. With Microsoft selling licenses for third-party technology beyond their own free solution; Dolby Atmos/DTS. All seem to produce similarly impressive results but the number of games supported has generation has been dire.

As EsaT has said the encouraging thing now is that Sony (and maybe Microsoft) seemed to be focusing on significant leaps in audio tech from the get go. Sony have allotted something as powerful as the entire current Jaguar CPU in PS5 just for audio. Which will work with existing audio technology you own. Given the market share of PlayStation sales over Xbox it's possible this could hep with 3D audio being much more supported. And indeed should positively impact PC gaming too. Bit off-topic but the last hope is that Sony allow surround over USB and support external USB devices like PS4. And that MS don't lock down XSX to proprietary licenced hardware only (i.e. Astro Mixamps), particularly as they drop Optical support.

It might also mean having more choice with AMP/DACs as a gamer after good VSS or 3D audio. If the consoles/PC do all the heavy lifting you'll just need a nice AMP/DAC combo and not have to worry about a game-oriented only product. Although alas as mentioned, I'm not sure it'll be that simple.
 
Guest2 said:
So game devs didnt want to pay license fees to Creative Labs / Asus / other dedicated soundcard makers so game audio is now processed on the CPU

What's my £240 soundcard doing then during gaming, nothing?

Or do you mean that 5.1, 7.1, Dolby / Dolby Atmos is only processed on the CPU - the reason when enabling Dolby Atmos on my sound card lowers it to 16bit.

If this is the case, for games using Dolby Atmos is no dedicated soundcard required?
Click to expand...

Now you have to remember that was back then. Here is what Dice did with Battlefield 5's audio

Frostbite sound files are produced at source 24 bit 96khz uncompressed PCM, dithered down to 16bit 48khz and compressed to .cas files in the engine to keep all the sound files at realistic sizes. You can extract the raw files with Python 2.7.6 as per here instructions here https://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19074 if you want to confirm for yourself and then analyse them with any modern capable DAW.

They are then played through the engine and converted back to PCM audio at your sounds cards sample / bit rate via whatever DAC you use of course.

The highest possible audio quality you can achieve, configuration wise, is by setting your output device to 48khz and at least 16 bit with output in game to Surround and Large speakers, since that involves no additional re-sampling or added dynamic range compression. Using a higher bit rate will not reap any audio benefits since the audio data itself is quantize to 16 bits of data and all the sounds are heavily "produced" with baked-in dynamic range compression already. Re-sampling at a silly rate like 384khz just involves not only additional CPU load but can also cause (depending on the device driver/algorithm) quantization harmonics (distortions) as the result of math rounding errors which would need additional dithering to remove (but sound card drivers don't automatically apply) and in some content (especially low frequency heavy) can result in problems such as DC offset which effectively reduces dynamic range. There is never any point in re-sampling audio above it's source quality for the purposes of simply listening to it unless you need to do so for compatibility reasons like a device just doesn't function at a certain sample rate (incredible unlikely these days).
Click to expand...
https://forums.battlefield.com/en-us/discussion/comment/1546397/#Comment_1546397

Now imagine doing this with the CPU segmented for
-BFV
-Audio
-Video
-OS
-etc
The end result? People complaining of audio positioning problems of land, air and sea assets including footsteps that either cannot be heard or the direction of them is inaccurate. All based on your CPU's capabilities. Some will only notice a slight problem. While others, who aren't audiophiles, experience problems far worst.

"Gaming Audio" is an entity of it's own. Far to often I've seen the mistake of some reference 16/24/32 bit audio used in Online FPS Gaming Audio as being similar playing your favorite music genre at those bitrates!! You have to take into consideration the above quote and factor in the real processing of you CPU in those games.
 
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Interesting stuff. At least for now COD Modern Warware supports Dolby Atmos for Headphone and sounds great to me, might end up buying it have ended up buying it for £11.39 as have put 5 days of play time into COD MW so far!
 
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EsaT said:
Creative sure started demanding license fees from other sound card makers for later than EAX 2, but don't believe they demanded license from game developers.
Similarly while Creative didn't release OpenAL for free use by any sound card maker, it would have been stupid to demand some per game license fees from game developers.

That's more like convenient excuse for them being just lazy/going for Microsoft's crap PC game audio ideology.
(because PC couldn't be more advanced than more profitable for MS as gaming platform Xbox)
If problem was flaws in DirectSound, like Microsoft's stinky excuse claims, then why didn't Microsoft dictate new better HW sound processing API for Windows?
Microsoft could have done that and hardware makers would have had to obey.

Next Xbox appears to have notch better hardware than PS5, but PS5's audio side pretty much makes me wish that it would get market control.
Microsoft deserves "ice crampon decorated" boot kicks for sabotaging PC gaming audio back to "pre 3D graphics card era".

Freely positional "audio objects" including sound formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X would definitely help to current state.
But those are definitely strictly license only things in every part of their use from source material making to playback.
And that makes their adoption as standard in PC unlikely.


16 bits would be actually fine for audio output format.
But any sound engine/post processing would have to happen at higher accuracy to minimize rounding errors.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, I do recall Mordor (EAUK) calling him out on that. It was assumed they did it that way do to time constraints. Although I didn't personally agree with that assumption. Heck I recall someone emailing CL/SB asking them to "intervene". Not sure how that turned out. From what I do remember they were trying to determine if they charged or not. Can't say I remember how that went though.
 
Guest2 said:
Interesting stuff. At least for now COD Modern Warware supports Dolby Atmos for Headphone and sounds great to me, might end up buying it for £11.39 as have put 5 days of play time into COD MW so far!
Click to expand...

Now lets not forget that BF1 actually does allow for Dolby Access too! I can only assume that DTS works as well. I don't have that game installed to see if there is a difference. And, for BF1 you actually might need to process sound through your HDMI in order to get it to work for BF1. I'm not sure, but I don't think it works for headphones.
 
EastCoastHandle said:
Now lets not forget that BF1 actually does allow for Dolby Access too! I can only assume that DTS works as well. I don't have that game installed to see if there is a difference. And, for BF1 you actually might need to process sound through your HDMI in order to get it to work for BF1. I'm not sure, but I don't think it works for headphones.
Click to expand...

BF1 was the sequel to BF4 wasnt it? I never played it, only 1942 (proper BF1) BF2 and BF3.

How do you go about processing sounds through HDMI? I have a Xonar Essenese ST soundcard (output RCA to speakers and 6.3mm to headphones) and monitor is connected to DisplayPort 1.4
 
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