X-Box and PS2 5.1 surround sound? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Burkes]

I am trying to decide which system to purchase in a few weeks. One major aspect of the X-Box that is appealing to me is the inclusion of 5.1 surround sound in most games. I was wondering if most PS2 games contain 5.1 surround sound. If anyone could clear this up for me, it would be a big help. Also, feel free to give me any opinions on which is the better system and which has better games. Thanks for any response.

Rob

 

[Dave F]

5.1 sound is very rare in PS2 games. There is DTS 5.1 (although I heard it is actually 4.1) in SSX Tricky, but it was pretty poor. When 5.1 sound is touted in a PS2 game, it is usually only during cinematic scenes, and not during realtime gameplay. If there are any that currently feature 5.1 during gameplay, I'm sure someone will correct me.
The 5.1 sound during Xbox games is fantastic.
-Dave

 

[Andy Anderson]

I believe the PS2 lacks the ability to encode 5.1 during gameplay, but I know that it does decode during movie sequences for some games.
Incidentally, this was the make-or-break feature for me (I'm an HT audio freak); it's why I went with an Xbox. I'm not dead set for or against any platform, but I needed to decide on one just because of the fact that these systems are so expensive these days. At any rate, if you haven't experienced 5.1 during gameplay, it really is amazing. Halo, Oddworld, Azurik, Starfighter--they're all greatly enhanced by 5.1 during gameplay. During Halo, I find myself whipping around when someone talks to me just so I can hear their voice circle around the room. I'm a rear-effects junkie.

 

[Dave Falasco]

Heh heh, I do the same thing, Andy. I also like chucking frag grenades in front of me and hearing the debris rain down behind me, or powersliding in the Warthog and hearing the gravel and stuff slide in the side speakers.
But it's not so fun hearing one of those laser-sword wielding Elites hard-charging you in your rear speakers...

 

[Derrick_Ellis]

Actually Andy, Only a few of the EA (Electronic Arts) games have realtime DTS surround. Some people have labeled it as poor, but it's still in its infancy, give it time. But the fact that it can be done is the important issue. There are a few other threads about this subject in the Gaming Hardware area as well.

 

[Kelly Scott Rickards]

Here's the deal...

PS2 games featuring Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (non-gameplay)

The Bouncer

Final Fantasy 10

MGS2

Batman:Vengance

PS2 games with DTS surround sound (during gameplay)

NHL 2002(5.1)

SSX Tricky(4.1 only)

EA developed a sound API for the PS2 that uses processing cycles from the VU0 vector processor in the Emotion Engine to encode DTS in real time and during gameplay

The PS2 can only stream Dolby Digital during non-playable movies (the real-time story sequences in MGS2 or the movies in FFX) because there is no way to encode Dolby Digital on the PS2 at this time (an order of magnitude more processor intensive than DTS encode)...

EA has only said future EA titles will use the DTS sound API and although they plan on licensing it to other 3rd party developers, no other games have been announced...

If you want a lot of support for 5.1 sound during games, the PS2 is the wrong place to look for it....

 

[Derrik Draven]

Actually, those that said 'Tricky's DTS is 4.1, are correct.

I run everything through my Outlaw 1050. It has a graphical display on the front that shows exactly what speakers are being fed info. When I put in 'Tricky, the center speaker disappears. It's 4.1 audio.

Not a big deal but, everyones correct; if you want real time, fully immersive 5.1DD or DTS, you must go with the XBox during this round of console wars.

 

[Nick Graham]

Basically, PS2 has 5.1 during cinemas in certain games, whereas most of the flagship X-Box titles have real-time 5.1 during gameplay....the X-Box version of SSX Tricky has Dolby Digital as opposed to the DTS of the PS2. If 5.1 sound is a big deciding factor, I'd go with X-Box, though I enjoy my PS2 and can't spend an extra $300 this holiday season on an X-Box.

 

[Tino]

In regard to XBOX 5.1, I agree that it sounds great, however 4.1 maybe a better term since there is very little sound coming from the center channel on all the games I have played (Halo, Max Payne, Oddworld).
But what is there sounds great

 

[Derrik Draven]

I wonder if alot of people have their center channels turned up loud enough?
With the several guys that said they didn't hear much of anything from Halo in the center, I was surprised to hear as much as I did. Even my footsteps were coming from dead center when I tilted my view down to watch where I was walking. Cortana always talked from there, many of the ambient sounds would pan through the center if I turned accordingly.
I dunno...???

 

[Kelly Scott Rickards]

EA just announced 4 more titles using DTS surround...

I posted it in another thread..