Hi all! Back at E3, we had announced that we will be releasing an all-in-one Surround Sound System for the PS3 system with built-in subwoofer. A device made for the ultimate gamer, the Surround Sound System will be available next week in the U.S. and Canada. It’s perfect for use with games and Blu-ray movies and more importantly, is easy to use. You’ll be able to enjoy immersive audio by simply placing the Surround Sound System in front of the television and connecting it to the PS3 system with the optical digital cable. The sleek design of the Sound Bar compliments the design of your PS3.
So, why pick up the Surround Sound System? The Surround Sound System utilizes cutting-edge technologies, including Sony’s S-Force PRO Front Surround Sound that creates the equivalent of a home theater system, bringing to life in-game sounds not normally audible with conventional acoustic systems. Bringing in SCE’s expertise in both entertainment and technology acquired from developing games, four sound fields and two sound modes have been designed with the help of our expert game sound designers. Check out this video that has excerpts from our conversations with the game sound design team:
To learn more about the features and specifications of this Sound Bar, visit our web site. Many retailers across the country have it on display as well. Visit one of the online retailers listed on our website for more info. Enjoy!
Optical is equal to HDMI in sound quality. If there even is a difference it’s negligible. Anyway I think the reason for the system to only have optical is because the PS3 only has 1 HDMI out. How do you suppose you would plug an HDMI into your TV and into this sound system at the same time? You couldn’t.
Anyway the Ultimate gamer already has a surround sound theater system… This system creates the “equivalent” of a home theater system. That’s hilarious that you would even write that.
One thing I’ll give it is simplicity. Most people don’t want to deal with figuring out cords and adjusting the surround sound properly. This would be a simple way to set up surround especially if it’s just plug and play with the optical cord. Buut I’m guessing the system doesn’t come with an optical cord does it? Kinda like the PS3 being packed with Composite cables. HA!
It would be nice if we knew the price, for someone with a relatively small room and no surround sound system, this is a good solution.
Optical? if it doesn’t support HDMI, I’m not interested. ANd why hook it up straight to the ps3? This thing is not compatible with a receiver? I can’t bypass my Pioneer HDDMI THX certified receiver. i didn’t buy it so I let it collect dust. I was thinking of replacing my speakers as I don’t like their sound at all, but not looking for something to hook up directly via optical, I’d rather have a device that uses HDMI through a receiver :) A response would be appreciated whether this is supported or not.
I almost think that it would be better to NOT have this released as an official PS3 accessory. Sound is my personal favorite thing about the PS3. I have an Onkyo 605 with 10 speakers (7.1, 2 L/R towers, 2 center speakers, 4 surf speakers [2 are towers], and 2 back speakers [two are towers].
Obviously this is a lot more expensive than this 179.99 sound bar, but, really, this thing is just stereo sound. Not even uncompressed stereo sound. You may as well just buy… any speakers.
I think people will buy this thinking they’re getting the best thing ever, when really they could just go get a good HD audio/video recover for slightly more money and buy some cheap used speakers over time.
errr 12 speakers*. lol mah bad.
I think for everyone wanting to criticize this product and want to keep their 5.1 or 7.1 sound systems………LET EM!!!! If you read the ad Sony posted with this product they state the sound bar is specifically designed FOR GAMES ON THE PS3!!!!!! If you feel a product should do more than what its intended to do don’t waste everyone’s time crying about it…..GO INVENT ONE!!!! The bottom line is Sony didn’t develop this audio bar to compete with the true surround systems or to try and swindle their gaming consumers to buy it by making it out to be something it’s not. They developed it for one purpose….PS3!!! So stop HATING!!!!….or go kiss Bill Gates ass and buy an XBOX 360!!!!
Obviously, this is not meant for people that already have surround sound setups so I don’t get all the people coming on here saying, “No thanks, I’ll just stick to my 5.1, 7.1 etc…” This isn’t for you!
This are for all the PS3 owners that simply have an HDTV and are playing their PS3 using the HDTV speakers. TV speakers are garbage and this is a cheap alternative than buying a receiver, sub, and speaker setup. It is even cheaper than other sound bars because you have a separate sub and sound bar. This takes up very little room and includes the sub in it.
I have no intentions to getting this either because I also have better setup, but I can see how attractive this is to the normal gamer that doesn’t have money.
There are still tons of people that are still playing PS3s on normal SDTVs so I know there has to be a bunch of people that are playing with just the HDTV speakers.
Sony should charge under a $100 within the average customer’s affordability range because we should all be able to afford & enjoy this product.
Thank You CajunShooter!!!!
@Vu_Prime (101), actually optical cannot carry certain lossless codecs that HDMI can, even with HDMI carrying video data as well. Also, at least on the PS3 you can only do 7.1 audio via HDMI, and 5.1 on optical.
Too bad Sony delayed GT5.
A true HD solution would definitely be better…if you have the money and space for it. I honestly don’t think Sony is offering this as some sort of replacement for those folks, but more likely a solution for those of us who might live in smaller setups and really don’t have, again, the space and money for a nice setup.
Man, there’s a lot of negativity here. Why can’t we just recognize that it’s a solution for some…but not for everyone.
NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR SOUND SETUP!!!
guaranteed sold if you can turn it on and off with your ps3 controller. i don’t wanna have to manually turn on one more device just to play video games.
I really want to get this. Been wanting to get a surround sound system for some time, but wasn’t sure where to get something reliable at a decent price. Seeing as this is optimized for the PS3, I might go with this. Here’s my worry: I know I can use and optical cable, but I see stereo inputs (red/yellow), so is it stereo sound or surround sound?
Any idea where I can get it in Canada? FutureShop doesn’t seem to have them listed, at least yet…
How is it a surround sound if you only just have a single sound bar?
Don’e we need rear speakers?
It uses SONY’s proprietary technology to create virtual surround sound effect