Does The PS4 / PS5 Actually Support Surround Sound?

Written by Nikhil in Gaming / Desktop

Introduction

Before my brother and I got our PS4, we already had an external speaker system along with some gaming headphones that we acquired over the years. After we completed our first home theater set up in my family’s house, we then decided to hook up the PS4 as our main media device for the room. But what about the speaker system? Was the PS4 going to support the surround sound that came with our Bose setup?

There wasn’t a lot of information out there or it was too hard to find, so I did some research and compiled this article for people that want to know how the PS4 works in relation to surround sound compatibility.

This article will help you understand how the PS4 works in terms of both internal and external surround sound capabilities. If you have any questions after reading this article or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond! Thanks in advance for all the article suggestions and questions you guys have all submitted.

So does the PS4 / PS5 actually support surround sound?

The PS4 and PS5 support both 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound on external speakers as well as headphones. As long as your gaming headphones support 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, it does not matter what brand or model it is. The PS4 can hook up to external surround sound speakers using its optical cable and HDMI connection to the TV or projector. Some of you may need to connect the PS4’s optical cable into your audio receiver to achieve true surround sound. 

Before we begin, here’s a quick recap of 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems. 5.1 has 5 speakers with one subwoofer while 7.1 has two extra rear speakers- further enhancing the direction you hear sound coming from. The “.1” at the end of both of those means there is a subwoofer that works with the sound system.

Even gaming headphones come with subwoofer systems installed. These are the things that create that extra bass sound when you hear helicopter blades in a movie or more ambient sounds in the background.

PS4/PS5s and External Surround Sound Systems

As mentioned earlier, both PS systems support external speaker surround sound. This is because they come with installed 40mm audio drivers that work exactly the same as a beefy graphics card and mother board set up on a gaming PC.

To know if your PS system will work with what you have already, here’s some important things to know:

  • You already need to have a reciever that supports 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. The PS4/PS5 will not generate surround sound on its own.
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  • You will also need an additional HDMI cable so you have one HDMI going to the TV / Projector and another one going to the receiver sound system. I’m not sure why this is, but this was the solution to getting surround sound for my family’s setup
  • The optical output connects to your receiver as well. See the video below for the visual explanation.

This video explains it in the most simple way, I embedded this to start at the location you should start watching from:

The Two Methods For Getting Surround Sound Explained from the Video: 

  1. 1 Optical cord connects from the PS4 to the reciever, 1 HDMI cord connects from the PS4/PS5 to the TV
  2. 1 HDMI goes from the PS4/PS5 into the Reicever (IN), 1 HDMI cable goes from the TV to the receiver (OUT).

As you can see, there’s two really easy methods you can use to achieve surround sound for your external speakers! My family decided to go with using the Optical Cable and Single HDMI connection to our speaker system.

Check to see if your home audio system has a spare optical cable that you can use to connect to your PS4. In my opinion, this is the easiest method for getting surround sound to work.

But what if you’re wondering if you can achieve the same surround sound effect with the gaming headphones you already own?

Gaming Headphones and PS4/PS5 Surround Sound Compatibility

Important note* All gaming headsets  that support 5.1 or 7.1 surround systems except the Logitech G663 work with any game you have on the PS4 or PS5 (and other PS models). 

For some reason, Logitech audio drivers aren’t compatible with the PS4’s. You can still use these headphones on your PS system, but you’ll experience 5.1 surround sound or possibly just regular Left / Right directional stereo (which isn’t true surround sound).

While it takes a lot of digging through forums to find out if your headset is surround sound compatible, the good news is that PS4 and PS5 systems are completely compatible with your gaming headset as long as your gaming headset already supports 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound.
If you’re not sure if your headset supports this, do quick google search to find the specs but you shouldn’t have an issue.

If you’re in the process of deciding on a gaming headset, I recommend the following:

Sony PlayStation Gold Wireless Headset 7.1

Some people from my research ran into issues with surround sound comatiobility with knockoff brands or budget gaming headsets. The Sony PlayStation Gold is literally built to work with PS4/PS5 surround sound and all the features that you can use a headset for on PS systems. It’s also a lot more affordable than some of the bigger brands like the Hyper Cloud II Flight.

Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 

This one goes for about $100 and is even more affordable than the PS Gold model. This is the gaming headset that my brother uses when he plays Fortnite and Apex. The surround sound works perfectly on his PS4! It’s less bulky than the picture looks and it comes with a USB cord that connects to the PS4 as well as an aux cord that connects through the controller.

Related Questions

  • Are cross platform games compatible with surround sound on the PS4 / PS5 systems? Yes, games like Apex, Rocket League, and Fortnite that aren’t organic to the PS systems will still support your systems surround sound capabilities. Literally any game you play, as long as it’s on the PS, you will experience surround sound the same way you do with all the other media that you play
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  • Do Gaming Headset Brands work with PS Systems? Yes- all will work except the Logitech series. Products such as the HyperX Cloud II (a very popular and well-reviewed gaming headset) support 7.1 surround sound and will do so on your PS4 / PS5 as well.
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  • Does the Netflix app on PS4 Support 5.1 and 7.1 Surround Sound? It actually depends on the movie or show you’re watching. Some movies and TV shows aren’t rendered all the same, and so some movies don’t support surround sound (most of them do support surround sound however!). I don’t recommend using Netflix as a way to test your PS4/PS5’s surround sound for this reason. I’m not sure why not all media is created to support surround sound, but it’s important to be aware of this reality so you don’t think it’s your own system.

Other Good Things to Know

Setting up surround sound on your PS4 or PS5 system is actually really easy. Hopefully you found it useful to spend some time going over this article and applying it to your own situation. Like I mentioned earlier, I think the best practice is to utilize the optical cable and the single HDMI input method.

If for some reason you’ve tried both of the methods for your external speakers, then you might need to consider switching the HDMI (outs) with the HDMI (ins) on your speaker’s receiver and between the TV / Projector. I struggled a couple times with this and realized I had the ports switched up. Be sure to rewatch the video from this article if you think that is your situation. Thanks for reading! Be sure to check back regularly for new articles and feel free to reach out if you have any article topic suggestions.

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