Learn all about what hi-res audio means and why you need it in your life.
It's time to go further with your audio. The term hi-res audio is typically heard around "audiophile" environments, at the highest level of sound enthusiasts. It's not what you would typically encounter in gaming headsets. However, SteelSeries bridges this gap with headsets like Arctis Nova Elite.
Simply put, hi-res audio (high-resolution audio) is digital audio that captures and reproduces the full range of sound from a recording that has been mastered at a better-than-CD quality, the way the designer truly intended—with incredible detail, clarity, and depth.
Let's explain the basics of audio to understand what makes it hi-res: sampling rate and bitrate.
What is Sampling Rate?
It's not all that dissimilar from leaps in display technology, like 4K, which features more and more pixels. A higher resolution audio file is made up of more data points, played back at an extremely fast rate. Each snapshot of this is called a sample. So the higher the sampling rate, the more "data" the audio has, and this is measured in kilohertz. For instance:
Standard CD Quality is 44.1 kHz (44,100 samples per second).
Hi-Res Audio typically starts at 96 kHz (96,000 samples per second) or higher, with some formats going up to 192 kHz.
As you can see, hi-res audio uses more than double the sampling rate. This "sounds" good on paper of course, but this is not everything yet.
On a deeper level, your highest frequency is actually limited to your sampling rate divided by 2 (due to the Nyquist Theorem, or else you wouldn't have stable audio signal). So in reality, hi-res audio's outcome comes out to 48 kHz (with CDs to 22.5 kHz).
However, having a higher sampling rate still shifts that Nyquist frequency up, which means the system's low pass filter cutoff is also higher. Which basically has a positive impact on the quality of sound.
What is bit depth?
That's almost 3.2 times more data transmitted! Image from Sony.
Arguably, bit depth is actually more important than sampling rate. Bit depth talks about how many bits are contained to define each of the audio samples. The more the merrier! AKA, the greater the detail and fidelity of the sound.
For comparison's sake, again, CD-quality is 16-bit, while hi-res audio uses 24-bit or higher. Which does tend to increase the file size, by the way. This is the actual number of information the values store (according to Headphonesty):
16-bit: Stores up to 65,536 levels of information
24-bit: Stores up to 16,777,216 levels of information
Now you know what composes hi-res audio. It's really basically an "HD" version of sound, packed with tons more information on how the sound should be reproduced.
Hi-Res Audio Headset: Arctis Nova Elite
Now that you understand what it is, it's time to grab a headset that is hi-res certified! While SteelSeries has had hi-res audio-capable headsets in the past, Arctis Nova Elite is the world's first hi-res wireless gaming headset.
Officially certified by the Japan Audio Society, which created the program to help consumers understand which products have the proven capability to receive and play hi-res formats at full quality, Arctis Nova Elite packs a ton of features aside from unbelievable audio reproduction with its next-level, custom Carbon Fiber speaker drivers.
Beyond incredible hi-res wireless audio on a gaming headset, Arctis Nova Elite allows you to truly venture deep into the gaming world with next-level Active Noise Cancellation, which reduces up to 89% of background noise (that's 42% more than other headsets!).
Control everything with a handy GameHub, which has multiple USB inputs. Mix audio from up to 4 sources at once (2 USB, 1 Line-in, 1 Bluetooth) while playing on virtually any platform. All while never having to worry about the battery, since you're always charging the second one, ready to be hot-swapped.
With the newly added AI-noise rejection on the mic for even more vocal purity and incredibly high-quality Sage & Gold and Obsidian finishes, Arctis Nova Elite is truly an outstanding headset with tons of features, wireless hi-res audio at the forefront.
Wordsmith at SteelSeries. Enthusiastic about Dota 2 and fighting games. A cat dad.
