Yakuza 0’s city of Kamurocho hasn’t sounded this good in years. The surround sound audio helps sell the illusion that it’s a real place. Screenshot captured on Switch 2 by the author.

I Totally Love the Switch 2’s Headset Options

Nintendo’s new console makes beautiful sounds

I play almost every game with a pair of headphones or a gaming headset strapped to my ears. I like the more intimate audio landscape this provides, and over the last decade or so, virtual surround sound implementations on consoles and PC have advanced so much that I don’t miss having a full huge speaker setup.

The exception to that rule is the Nintendo Switch. While the little 2017 portable made some waves by being the first (and only) console of the previous generation to support Bluetooth headset connections, that’s where their audio ambitions stopped. Many Switch games are mixed for full surround sound, but they require you to dock the console and own a compatible HDMI audio receiver with uncompressed surround support to take full advantage. In portable mode Switch games were limited to stereo, with either the basic speakers on the console or the headphone jack your only choices for output.

While it seemed cool at first when Nintendo rolled out Bluetooth support, it was always rather limited. The audio quality takes a big hit using Bluetooth on the Switch 1, with intense additional compression applied even beyond what you’d expect from a basic SBC connection to a phone. Latency also varies wildly based on your chosen headset, with no…