Diablo III is Perfect for Testing Audio Gear
Blizzard’s chaotic soundscape will push your speakers or headphones to their limit
I’ve reviewed dozens of headphones and gaming headsets over the last five years, and the key to a balanced approach is to use audio material I know inside and out. In addition to a handful of music tracks I’ve heard too many times and some work I’m hyper-intimate with because I created it in my production career, I also test several video games.
Video games are more challenging to mix than music and movies because they’re a superset of both disciplines. They contain both the linear sound mixes of those mediums for things like cutscenes and the soundtrack, and dynamic elements that have to play in real-time and move around based on player or camera position. Game mixes are often extreme stress tests of audio gear as a result, and can quickly highlight the flaws or delights in your current setup.
About a year ago, I published a list of five games that sound better with headphones. Their soundscapes are clean and thoughtful, and immediately enhanced by the intense detail-retrieval and closer listening environment of…
