Topic: Heavily compressed audio ruining the experience

@Switchcraft Interesting about PS3 file size, but wasn't that the non-HD remaster? I.E. that space went to textures.

Vorbis isn't truly "taxing" on the CPU in absolute terms but in relative terms it's not a free process, it definitely isn't as cheap as MP3 still. The hardware evolved to handle such things more efficiently, but the codec hasn't changed much. It still eats some battery comparatively. And those MP3 players are using hardware decoding Switch almost certainly lacks. Not to say Switch can't handle doing it in software ore than fine (one of the benefits of Switch vs. WiiU BotW according to Aonuma was better audio, after all!) But audio may be deprioritized depending on what else the CPU is being used for.

In Okami's case, I can't say specifically. Doom, it makes perfect sense, that thing is pushing the hardware harder than one would think possible. Okami, who knows. Maybe it's poorly optimized and audio had to be cut. Maybe they really wanted to hit a file size target and cutting audio did that. Either way, it's a shame. I'd be curious the reason, but obviously they don't just compress audio at low bitrate for no reason so something is the cause.

When docked to my surround sound it's always noticeable to me. On top of artifacts from compression IMO it also sounds like some dynamic compression going on with the lows and highs feeling cut off. Not sure if this is because the Switch's built in speaks can't handle the range and so its compressed overall or not, but comparing audio from titles between the Switch and PS4 is like night and day. For instance south park on the switch the dialog feels compressed and can be hard to hear. Sounds like the TV show on the PS4. I see the poster above also noticed this.

In Handheld its not as noticeable to me, but only because the Switch's speakers and placement really doesn't sound that great IMO. The 3DS sounded better.

Not some audio engineer and I would expect HDMI to be completely different output then the jack. Just saying what it sounds like to me, but I could be completely wrong.

To a degree it still comes down to Switch being a portable device, you need to hit a size target to be practical to get the content there, but also due to memory bandwidth and SD/GameCard streaming bandwidth limitations. PS4/X1 is more or less a PC aimed as a home entertainment device, so no size must be spared for maximum quality.

I'm with you guys, I'm an audiophile as well, and the compression is irritating (most irritating yet, Dust, the indie game....it sounds like 1995, but a lovely game otherwise) but I also accept the tradeoffs of these games with big audio soundtracks to store on a portable device (to a point.) XC2:Torna however has wonderful sound quality.

Another guy here that cares about audio fidelity! As the OP said, they can do much better than that on Switch.

Pokemon HeartGold was one of the best pokemon games (if not, Black 2) and had amazing music. Playing it today after playing some modern ones makes the ears bleed. Black 2 runs on the same system, and has waaaaaaaay better audio (and better music). I know Black 2 came along when more tricks were made to make the DS smoother...but come on.