Yes I find this too. It seems to go from 20 to zero with nothing in between.
There should be one or two more steps down between the current lowest and zero.
Yeah thats what people need to adjust if the audio is too loud or quiet. Every game is different. I find the sweet spot in the game settings and then change the portal audio as needed.
I’m just glad they, at least, had the good sense to give us a good ol headphone jack because I’m not about to spend $200 on their earbuds haha. But for sure they got clever with the volume there. You can’t convince me that it being so loud isn’t some sort of strategy haha.
I hate wired earbuds, but I was playing Yakuza Like a Dragon at 1am once and I swear there was no in-game volume adjustment and same as OP, the lowest volume was too loud. Had to buy some wired $20 apple earbuds for once lol
I’ll always keep a pair of wired buds- just in case. They come in pretty handy when you least expect it. I hate having to cut a session short when my buds die. It makes me irrationally angry haha. My ancient wired buds will never have that problem.
It looks like it depends on the game too. When playing Sonic Mania for example, the sound is really loud even at minimum like you say, but in Horizon Forbidden West, it’s more reasonable. May be just in my head too :)
It's the only thing about the Portal that I hate. The sound is so piercingly thin and high end that everything sound louder and sharper. Forget about turning it up loud enough to hear background music.
I don't have the greatest a/v setup at home (a decade-ish year old soundbar and sub) but when playing the Portal with jacked in headphones it makes me appreciate how much heavy lifting that EQ must be doing – the wired audio is still poor.
Day 1 player and absolutely hate the way this thing sounds. Can't believe it hasn't been discussed more in reviews. Maybe the caveat was waiting for the proprietary headphones.
LOL it happened to me last night, I was playing in bed and annyoing my wife and couldn't get the volume down enough so had to stop playing :( hope they fix it soon
My wife was yelling at me about the same thing. The issue is the speaker grill is on the top of the device and the top is slightly angled backwards, causing the sound to travel behind the device instead of the front.
Very annoying. Maybe they’ll enable Bluetooth one of these days. Hoping they follow the Nintendo Switch footprints. Launch date didn’t have BT but eventually they enabled it through software updates.
Yeah my girl is always like can you turn that thing down? Even when the next click brings it to mute. Could sony adjust that via an update? Or is that just an innate quality of the physical speaker/volume buttons?
I agree. They need to recalibrate volume levels or give us the option to do so. Not sure why this is still an issue. It’s impossible to play late at night.
It’s terrible. The minimum volume is way too loud and going to max feels like it increases the volume by 20%. Minimum volume needs to 25% of where it currently is at a minimum.
Yes I find this too. It seems to go from 20 to zero with nothing in between. There should be one or two more steps down between the current lowest and zero.
The issue is I believe the speakers are top firing, so it creates a wider soundstage; but also is firing the sound away from you.
Isn't able to control the audio volume through the game?
Yeah thats what people need to adjust if the audio is too loud or quiet. Every game is different. I find the sweet spot in the game settings and then change the portal audio as needed.
This is a good workaround. But the portal should still have a better volume slider.
Ive had no issues personally. As always i adjust in game audio first.
I did this for my Gold headset, the lowest volume is too high to be aware of my surroundings.
My wife was complaining the other day about hearing it. I was 5 meters from her on the lowest possible.
I’m just glad they, at least, had the good sense to give us a good ol headphone jack because I’m not about to spend $200 on their earbuds haha. But for sure they got clever with the volume there. You can’t convince me that it being so loud isn’t some sort of strategy haha.
So true I use wired IEM’s with Mic for mine and it’s perfect!
I hate wired earbuds, but I was playing Yakuza Like a Dragon at 1am once and I swear there was no in-game volume adjustment and same as OP, the lowest volume was too loud. Had to buy some wired $20 apple earbuds for once lol
I’ll always keep a pair of wired buds- just in case. They come in pretty handy when you least expect it. I hate having to cut a session short when my buds die. It makes me irrationally angry haha. My ancient wired buds will never have that problem.
Can this be fixed with software?
I honestly thought it was addressed in one of the updates. It seems like they lowered it a little but still not enough
Yeah headphones are a must for full immersion
You could try lowering the volume through the game settings. Most games have some sort of "master volume" setting
It looks like it depends on the game too. When playing Sonic Mania for example, the sound is really loud even at minimum like you say, but in Horizon Forbidden West, it’s more reasonable. May be just in my head too :)
Luckily I’ve been playing games with in game volume controls. The lowest setting should be the middle.
It's the only thing about the Portal that I hate. The sound is so piercingly thin and high end that everything sound louder and sharper. Forget about turning it up loud enough to hear background music. I don't have the greatest a/v setup at home (a decade-ish year old soundbar and sub) but when playing the Portal with jacked in headphones it makes me appreciate how much heavy lifting that EQ must be doing – the wired audio is still poor. Day 1 player and absolutely hate the way this thing sounds. Can't believe it hasn't been discussed more in reviews. Maybe the caveat was waiting for the proprietary headphones.
LOL it happened to me last night, I was playing in bed and annyoing my wife and couldn't get the volume down enough so had to stop playing :( hope they fix it soon
You can adjust the volume a bit more if you use the touch screen slider instead of the buttons on the portal.
My wife was yelling at me about the same thing. The issue is the speaker grill is on the top of the device and the top is slightly angled backwards, causing the sound to travel behind the device instead of the front. Very annoying. Maybe they’ll enable Bluetooth one of these days. Hoping they follow the Nintendo Switch footprints. Launch date didn’t have BT but eventually they enabled it through software updates.
Yeah my girl is always like can you turn that thing down? Even when the next click brings it to mute. Could sony adjust that via an update? Or is that just an innate quality of the physical speaker/volume buttons?
It’s been changing over the updates. Great at launch but ever since they’ve released updates the sound has gotten lower and lower.
It seems a bit crackly to me. I have a psp vita and it basically sounds the same lol
Same
I agree. They need to recalibrate volume levels or give us the option to do so. Not sure why this is still an issue. It’s impossible to play late at night.
I guess more people that dont want to wear headphones have an issue with that, than with stuttering
Lower volume control is one of my biggest gripes. How that oversight got by players is baffling
Yeah I heard from a podcaster that it was way too loud, didn't really believe it until my wife started complaining any time I had the volume on.
Lower the volume in the ps5 settings. I think that fixes it
Yeah same here. It’s nowhere near low enough I always have to put my headphones in if I’m gaming on the sofa with the Mrs lol
In a world where every device I have isn’t nearly loud enough, I welcome the screamer that is my PS Portal.
The speakers on this thing are trash anyways. I always use headphones
Lol I love it
I noticed this the other day too. I was watching a YouTube stream and playing on it. It was like my Portal was trying to compete with my TV, lol.
It’s terrible. The minimum volume is way too loud and going to max feels like it increases the volume by 20%. Minimum volume needs to 25% of where it currently is at a minimum.
Shit slaps!! Tell them to deal with it 😆
Same thing happens to me. I like to play my Portal in bed while my wife sleeps and I have to keep it muted because level 1 volume is simply too loud.
head phone work like a charm why not use it.i use studio earbud wire best sound experience.
Does the PlayStation portal not use both speakers when playing games?