Gaming audio is probably one of the most important aspects when it comes to a game’s overall experience. Titles like Call of Duty or Fortnite demand the best audio in order for you to gain a competitive edge over your enemies. Having great audio though isn’t just limited to the actual headphones you’re using. There could be more, it could be better. Luckily, Embody has created the Immerse HIVE software which utilizes your favorite set of headphones and gives them a completely spatial cinematic sound experience. It’s a great service that hardcore gamers are really going to dig.

Features

AI-DRIVEN SURROUND SOUND - Industry-leading HRTF modeling engine creates a personalized 360 sound field using your game’s native multichannel audio and a picture of your ear.
HIVE | OPTIMIZED FOR ALL HEADSETS - Sophisticated acoustic tuning algorithms shape a distortion-free and cinematic sound experience while maintaining the signature sound quality of your favorite gaming headset.
GAME GENRE PRESETS - From precision-enhancing directional awareness to visceral immersion, choose between 3 powerful game genre presets engineered specifically for a wide variety of genres including FPS, MMORPG, MOBA, Racing, and Fighting.
SONAR MAP - Receive split-second visual confirmation of where sound is coming from with Sonar Map, a semi-transparent overlay that drags and locks to any part of your screen.

HIVE offers a bunch of cool features that most gamers are going to utilize in just about every title they play. It’s $15 annually for a key and it will grant you access to all of the above features available. The thing that stands out the most though and is what Embody describes as the secret sauce is the HRTF profile that you’ll upload using your phone. All you have to do is snap a pic of your ear and upload it. Once you’re done, it changes the software’s sound specs specifically to match your ear’s profile. It’s a really cool feature that does its job very well.

The software allows you to choose between 3 preset profiles that range from Racing and RPG titles to FPS and MOBAs. The software even has some profiles that are tuned specifically for certain headsets. It’s all pretty great stuff and they even add more headsets as time goes on. If you don’t see your headset now though, don’t worry. You can choose from a set of different universal profiles to suit your needs until then.

Audio Quality

I did a lot of switching between my desktop audio and the HIVE software while playing Fortnite and Dirt: Showdown. Through this, I found that the software really improved on making sounds more impactful. Shotguns had a deeper blast to them and vehicles sounded a lot meaner. I noticed that while the desktop audio may have given off a clearer sound it was not as meaty or immersive as what HIVE brought to the table.

Spatial sounds are fantastic and even without the Sonar Map, it allows you to see where sounds are coming from. It creates a very open space as compared to the flatness that comes with using desktop audio. The software does allow you to change the channel type as well or have it auto-detect it. There’s Stereo+, 5.1, and 7.1 as well as the choice to choose your distance from what you’re looking at. It’s just another layer to the easily peelable onion that is HIVE.

Functionality

A notably cool feature is the Sonar Map. This allows you to see on-screen where sounds are coming from. While playing a game, you’ll see points of the on-screen circle fill in. You can drag this bubble to any part of the screen and lock it into place so that it doesn’t go anywhere. You can even double-click it so that it changes presets.

I personally love the fact that the software doesn’t ask too much of the user besides snapping an ear pic. I’m not a fan of software that gives me too much to choose from when it comes to settings as it can honestly be too overwhelming for me. The HRTF does the majority of the heavy lifting and then all I had to do was choose my headphones and the preset that matched the type of game I was playing.

What It Could Have Done Better

The only complaint that I could really think of is that when it comes to bringing up the Sonar Map overlay it can be tricky to figure it out as there aren’t any instructions on it. Once you figure it out though it is easy to adjust. I just wish it was more clear from the get-go but that’s all.

Verdict

For only $15 a year, you really cannot beat the price of what the Immerse HIVE technology can do. It takes an already awesome pair of headphones and tunes them specifically to your ears. The added creature comforts just add even more incentive on giving it a try. It’s an awesome piece of software that I definitely see competitive gamers taking advantage of. The fact that Embody also allows players to test it for 14 days free, leaves no excuse for any gamer not to try it out for themselves.