Hear360 brings spatial audio and microphone processing to HyperX peripherals

Hear360, a pioneer in immersive 360-degree spatial audio tech, announced a strategic relationship with gaming peripherals maker HyperX.

Through this collaboration, Hear360 is raising the bar by bringing premium spatial audio and advanced microphone processing enhancements to HyperX’s NGenuity platform, delivering a new level of realism, immersion, and clarity to gamers worldwide. HyperX is the gaming and esports brand of HP.

Hear360’s sound solutions enrich in-game audio experiences by creating immersive soundscapes and crystal-clear voice communication, said said Matt Marrin, CEO of Hear360, in an interview with GamesBeat.

HyperX, renowned for its high-performance gaming headsets and peripherals, will add Hear360’s technology into NGenuity—HyperX’s powerful customization software suite—so gamers can personalize and optimize their audio settings with greater precision.

“We are extremely proud to introduce Hear360’s spatial audio technology to NGenuity,” said Marrin. “HyperX has been innovating the gaming peripherals space for more than 20+ years now, and today’s announcement further illustrates both of our companies’ commitments to elevating player experiences, especially when it comes to how they perceive and interact with their virtual environments.”

“Sound quality and voice clarity are essential for any competitive gaming experience,” said Josephine Tan, senior vice president and general manager of Gaming Personal Systems at HP, in a statement. “By teaming up with HEAR360, we’re able to bring cutting-edge technology to our community, providing a deeply realistic, highly refined experience in NGenuity that helps gamers stay one step ahead.”

• Hear360’s 360-degree audio processing algorithms will be integrated into NGenuity, giving users a sense of spatial awareness that helps them pinpoint in-game sounds more accurately.
• Gamers can expect clearer, noise-reduced voice transmission to improve team communication and eliminate distractions.
• NGenuity users will have the freedom to fine-tune and control their audio profiles based on personal preference or specific gaming environments.

These new features are expected to roll out this summer and will be accessible to all NGenuity users via a software update. Further details about release timing, compatibility, and system requirements will be available on HyperX’s website.

The company started in 2017, when Marrin and CTO Greg Morgenstein teamed up because of their backgrounds in the music industry. They consulted for audio companies and used their expertise to mold sound products. Then they started working on their own company with spatial audio for virtual reality production and professional tools.

“That’s where it all began,” he said.

They built microphone systems and pro tools and production software. During COVID, they looked at new markets to take their spatial audio software, targeting embedded headphone systems and gaming systems. The team worked with Samsung on its early VR efforts. And that was how they eventually met with HyperX on gaming.

I noted that I have written about spatial audio products for decade. Marrin said it feels like we’re about four generations in on spatial audio, which started with Dolby 5.1 surround sound.

“Some gamers knew about spatial audio, but most people didn’t know about it and it was like pulling teeth trying to explain it to people,” Marrin said.

He noted that Apple’s latest efforts with the Apple Vision Pro has educated people more about the opportunity.

“Our perspective is all not just about hearing it in a certain position in space? It’s about, ‘Hey, does this sound really, really good? Does it sound like I can hear the positional accuracy matched with the sonic quality? That’s our approach, and we’ve got a different take on it.”

The company has six people and it’s expanding. It has contractors and is adding new team members. It also provides spatial audio for Panasonic Avionics, which provides in-flight entertainment on airplanes.

For gaming, the spatial sounds can help create spatial awareness. I noted that I was playing Fortnite once and heard someone come into the house I was looting. I hid in a bathroom and waited for the person to step into my ambush. The other player walked around but I couldn’t tell where they were in the house. I finally opened my door and bam! I got shot.

“We think gaming is the perfect application for spatial audio because of the way the games are natively created with a surround sound field, and the fact that most people are not rendering or utilizing that sound field correctly or at all,” Marrin said. “We can actually take advantage of what the game developers are creating for that situational awareness.”

It would have been very valuable to hear whether the other player was downstairs or upstairs, or was somewhere close to me. Hearing something from above can be very valuable for your awareness, said Morgenstein.