Developed by: Dolby Laboratories
Published By: Dolby/Microsoft
Date of Release: February 16, 2017
Price: $14.99
In the modern day of gaming and computing a lot of thought is put into what video card and monitor we use to achieve the maximum potential and fidelity of our games graphics. However not as much thought seems to go into the audio side of things. Gone are the days when discreet sound cards were a necessity to experience the best of the aural soundscapes presented by our media, as most mainboards come with a sufficient audio solution built in now. Sure, Creative Labs and Asus still make enthusiast offerings for those with deep pockets, but after spending four digits on the rest of your gear audio tends to take a backseat to everything else, after all, why drop another three digits on a sound card when you have a mainboard with isolated audio sections, gold caps, and the like. Just add a decent headset and you're golden, right?
Well, you wouldn't be wrong thinking that, but you can add much much more to your enjoyment. Enter the Dolby Atmos for Headphones experience. Presented as an app for Windows 10 and the Xbox One, and it turns any set of stereo headphones into a full surround sound experience. It sounds like it would be too good to be true, but it actually has impressive results. Testing on both my Windows 10 PC and Xbox One X using a set of Kingston HyperX Cloud Alphas, a set of Apple Earpods, and an old pair of Turtle Beach X12s, I found consistent results in both spatial awareness and clarity/distinction between sounds. Playing Gear 5 on both platforms I was treated to a cacophony of chaotic sound during wind flares, and I could hear my enemies sneaking up on me in multiplayer. Switching over to Shadow of the Tomb Raider I was treated to a rich ambient soundscape, a nature's bounty of environmental sounds.
On top of that, Dolby Access also makes watching movies an amazing experience, especially when they have an Atmos track. The only thing missing from the theater experience is the ass rumble. The PC version of Dolby Access also has a suite of presets for listening to music, and it really punches thing up a notch. Anyway, alltogether I feel the experience is worth it, but you don;t have to take my word for it. if you download Dolby Access on the Windows 10/Xbox app store, there's a free trial of the Atmos support, and a nice selection of demos for testing. Try it out, I think you'll like it!
