Immerse Gaming | HIVE Review – HIVE enhances the audio experience in games by providing catered spatial audio through your headset
Audio is an aspect of most visual mediums people take for granted. It is one of those things that go unnoticed if everything is working and immediately notice if it is not. It is something most do not even recognize when it is done extremely well. However, it is becoming much more recognized in gaming as people are finally beginning to appreciate and understand the depth the sound teams work is. Not only do sound teams work to make sound directional, they actually make sound spatial. Gamers of popular games like Knockout City, PUBG, and Call of Duty. Gamers are able to gain some major advantages with sound. Unfortunately sound quality varies greatly and better sound costs more money. Luckily Immerse Gaming | HIVE is there to help bridge the games and make things easy for gamers.
Immerse Gaming | HIVE, (HIVE), is a computer program that calibrates and optimizes sound in your PC-connected headphones/headset to give you the full spatial sound and separation as intended by amazing sound teams behind the games. If a dodge ball is coming from the top left is closer than the dodge ball coming from behind you and lower to the right in Knockout City, then HIVE wants to make sure your headset is able to render those sounds accurately. This sounds too good to be true, that’s why we have this HIVE review.
First thing to go over in this HIVE review, is functionality. HIVE does exactly what is advertised and provides more accurate sound separation and spatial awareness. I am a definite fan and admirer of sound quality, but far from say a hardcore audiophile level, so I can’t necessarily speak to the quality at which it happens. However, HIVE does make a noticeable difference in the way sound is dispersed through your headphones which has been very useful playing Knockout Kings. I tested it out on my holdover JBL earbuds from the bygone era of cellphones having headphone jacks and my Turtle Beach headset from a few years ago. HIVE noticeably affected the audio experience which benefitted my gameplay. I will wholeheartedly say HIVE does what they say and they do it well.
On top of performing as advertised, HIVE is very easy to use. Simply install the program, follow the prompts, and you are good to go. If you set it up to run at startup, your previous settings will be immediately implemented as soon as you hop back onto your computer. If you switch headsets, it is easy to change the type and brand of headsets you are using, change sound profile type, and volume from the easily navigated application. There are only a few screens, as seen by the screenshots above, and it’s easy as pointing and clicking. Unfortunately, my exact models of headphones were not in their database, so they weren’t FULLY optimized. But I still experienced the benefits to a noticeable degree.
In terms of functionality, Immerse Gaming | HIVE is an awesome enhancement to the gaming sound experience. But, like most things, there’s a price, and we get into the cost vs. want need. And that’s where I think people may struggle with their decision. HIVE runs at $14.99 USD annually or $39.99 for five years. I believe at that price, they definitely enhanced the value of my $20 JBL earbuds for gaming. The downside is the recurring nature of the fee. Granted annually or once every five years is hardly noticeable, but recurring fees on a relatively invisible benefit is a barrier I feel most would avoid. Also, in my higher-quality Turtle Beach headset, which I use on my consoles, I tested the sound difference with Knockout City on PC and Xbox. The difference in sound has to be looked for. It is easier found using a cheaper headset, like with my JBL earbuds, but in my 7.1 surround sound capable Turtle Beach headset, I am not sure if there was a noticeable difference. When it comes to the value of HIVE, I’m not sure if I would choose to spend the money on the program or simply invest in a higher-quality headset.
*Keep in mind, I’m a decent gamer whose ability to hear more accurately probably wouldn’t make me a much better gamer. Me panic reacting more accurately doesn’t improve my KD ratio.
Immerse Gaming | HIVE is an impressive technological feat that does noticeably increase the audio experience. As gaming continually improves the sound quality, design, and engineering in games, I believe that the need for a better spatial sound experience will increase. While I cannot attest to the current need and promote the additional, but very intuitive and easy, steps and price of HIVE to say it is for everyone, I will say it is a welcome luxury at a very reasonable price point that really only requires a single instance of minuscule effort to experience. If you have are a hardcore gamer, audiophile, or just want to experience catered spatial sound, I believe HIVE is a great application that will provide a surprisingly noticeable experience that will positively influence your gaming and audio experience. For any skeptics, HIVE does come with a free trial that I highly recommend. For its function and performance, my Immerse Gaming | HIVE review gets a 4/5
**Use the free trial of HIVE then watch the video above again, pretty impressive
Immerse Gaming | HIVE Review $14.99 Annual
TLDR
Immerse Gaming | HIVE is an impressive technological feat that does noticeably increase the audio experience. As gaming continually improves the sound quality, design, and engineering in games, I believe that the need for a better spatial sound experience will increase. While I cannot attest to the current need and promote the additional, but very intuitive and easy, steps and price of HIVE to say it is for everyone, I will say it is a welcome luxury at a very reasonable price point that really only requires a single instance of minuscule effort to experience. If you have are a hardcore gamer, audiophile, or just want to experience catered spatial sound, I believe HIVE is a great application that will provide a surprisingly noticeable experience that will positively influence your gaming and audio experience. For any skeptics, HIVE does come with a free trial that I highly recommend.