An audio engineer explains why Dolby Atmos Music is “definitely going to supersede stereo”

[theREALdotnet]

Atmos for music has never struck me as all that fun, to be honest. It's great for interactive media and for movies, but... not for me for music, especially in headphones. Disorienting.

I agree, I have not found surround sound for music in general to be attractive. While reading your post I was listening to the “Wine and Cheese Gathering” jazz playlist on Apple Music through our TV setup, all in good old stereo, and all of a sudden Jobim’s “Água De Beber” plays in surround sound (probably Atmos). I find it jarring and unnatural. This is not the way I would normally perceive live music. Most people would not mingle with musicians when they attend performances, unless the performances are like this one:

 

[JoachimStrobel]

I like the airy sound that Atmos introduced by using the heights. I noticed that I can listen very long without getting tired of it. Where 2 speaker sound seems to be too focused.

 

[Andysu]

I’m sure there is something of interest in all of this, but I’m afraid I stopped reading after:



Your use of punctuation makes what you write very hard to parse (at least for me as a non-native speaker of English). Unless you’re writing for an audience of puzzle solvers or word game players, that is not a good thing. Remember, language belongs to the listener (or reader). The onus of drawing the reader into a story or argument is entirely on the writer.

I’m a cat lover, in case that matters

world moves fast , i think hyper fast and about where voyagers 1 and 2 are and what my cats needs are when they need feeding , and when big fish Atmos , is trying to give us all small sardines trimmings to keep the masseMos happy . i 0 time for grammar . most are clever and should be able to interpret

anyway lets all talk Atmos now and maybe i treat a few of you to some fish and chips lunch afterwards ?

 

[OldHvyMec]

Atmos for music has never struck me as all that fun, to be honest. It's great for interactive media and for movies, but... not for me for music, especially in headphones. Disorienting.

I always found music that made me throw up a little low on my listening list. Yoko Ono was a real Pepto-Bismol minute, my next door neighbor is too when he drinks and sings. My dogs howl, I grab the pink stuff and take a gulp. I listened to a song called "Diarrhea" on the X-Files. I had to think on that one, Jack Black!

The point is I'm subject to motion sickness, I don't want to be disoriented.

Regards

 

[Chromatischism]

I always found music that made me throw up a little low on my listening list. Yoko Ono was a real Pepto-Bismol minute, my next door neighbor is too when he drinks and sings. My dogs howl, I grab the pink stuff and take a gulp. I listened to a song called "Diarrhea" on the X-Files. I had to think on that one, Jack Black!

The point is I'm subject to motion sickness, I don't want to be disoriented.

Regards

Best to avoid modern action flicks then.

 

[Tim Link]

Just to give you some ideas
Crank up the volume!

That handily beats a card in the spokes!

 

[Tim Link]

My Huffy Radio Bike had y'all beat in 1992.

View attachment 255510

Wow, that detachable radio takes cycling to all new heights. I'm more motivated than ever!

 

[AdamG]

Listening to music in Dolby Atmos blew my mind – and I didn't need Apple AirPods

Dolby Atmos transformed the way I listen to music – and now I can’t go back

www.techradar.com

 

[Chromatischism]

I wish more services offered it. I use and like Deezer and they don't have Atmos.

 

[AdamG]

I wish more services offered it. I use and like Deezer and they don't have Atmos.

Apple Music has the best Atmos/Spacial Audio out of every service I’ve tried. That includes Amazon, Tidal and Qobuz that doesn’t support atmos yet. Amazon and Tidal have serious level matching problems. Some songs you can barely hear the music and then the next song blows you out of the room. Even with level match settings engaged it’s a problem. If you have to ride the volume button on your remote it gets old fast. Apple is pretty consistent and that’s a major plus. But apple isn’t cheap. Trade offs in all directions making this overly complex and difficult to navigate. Just my 2 1/2 cents…

 

[bevok]

Apple Music has the best Atmos/Spacial Audio out of every service I’ve tried. That includes Amazon, Tidal and Qobuz that doesn’t support atmos yet. Amazon and Tidal have serious level matching problems. Some songs you can barely hear the music and then the next song blows you out of the room. Even with level match settings engaged it’s a problem. If you have to ride the volume button on your remote it gets old fast. Apple is pretty consistent and that’s a major plus. But apple isn’t cheap. Trade offs in all directions making this overly complex and difficult to navigate. Just my 2 1/2 cents…

In terms of cost if you have an individual membership and the cash you can’t beat an annual membership. 12 months for the price of 10. Here in NZ Tidal Hifi and Spotify are slightly cheaper per month but the Annual membership sorts that (they don’t offer annuals).

 

[AdamG]

In terms of cost if you have an individual membership and the cash you can’t beat an annual membership. 12 months for the price of 10. Here in NZ Tidal Hifi and Spotify are slightly cheaper per month but the Annual membership sorts that (they don’t offer annuals).

You raise a good point. I get Tidal and Amazon for about half price, but yeah I did the annual subscription for apple. To some a few dollars a month is not important. To others it’s a major issue. Maybe I should have said nothing about prices because there are different prices for different countries and different deals and what not. So, belay my cost related comments. I should know better.

 

[bevok]

You raise a good point. I get Tidal and Amazon for about half price, but yeah I did the annual subscription for apple. To some a few dollars a month is not important. To others it’s a major issue. Maybe I should have said nothing about prices because there are different prices for different countries and different deals and what not. So, belay my cost related comments. I should know better.

I forgot that Tidal Hifi doesn’t include Atmos too so yes best leave price considerations!!

 

[AdamG]

Why Spatial Audio is the future of the music industry, even if you hate it

It doesn't matter if Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is good, because it's already the future of Apple Music and the larger music industry, for better or worse. Let us explain.

appleinsider.com

 

[IPunchCholla]

Why Spatial Audio is the future of the music industry, even if you hate it

It doesn't matter if Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is good, because it's already the future of Apple Music and the larger music industry, for better or worse. Let us explain.

appleinsider.com

I might be one of the 80% of subscribers that enjoyed it, I just don’t know for sure as while I have it on by default, so far nothing I’ve listened to has said I’m listening to spatial or Atmos. I did listen intentionally once. I couldn’t hear a significant difference on my headphones or speakers (AirPod Pro2s for the earphones). So for many people, the future will look exactly like the present, which is fine, until you realize they are going to have to monetize this somehow…

Also, even as a fan of many Apple products and a stock holder, I have to point out they fail all the time. My personal biggest annoyance , even though I am an Adobe user, is they ceded photo and video editing to their competitors far too easily.

 

[Chromatischism]

I thought Atmos music was for multi-channel speaker systems? Not sure how well that would translate to earphones.

 

[IPunchCholla]

I thought Atmos music was for multi-channel speaker systems? Not sure how well that would translate to earphones.

As far as I understand Atmos is for any number of speakers, up to a certain amount. So if you are listening to it on two speakers (or headphones) what you get is a mixed down version that is like stereo, but different. Spatial might be (I am unclear on this) Apple’s use of their proprietary system to place those sounds in 3D space by tracking the head of the listener. And/Or simply to use the multiple speakers and microphones in their AirPods to create a different spatial mix.

Listening to ordinary stereo tracks with spatial turned on does alter the sound as well.

 

[krabapple]

I thought Atmos music was for multi-channel speaker systems? Not sure how well that would translate to earphones.

No, Atmos is very much also a headphones-directed initiative.

 

[Chromatischism]

Sorry, my comment came after watching my 4th 4K UHD movie on my 7.1.4 system. I'd be up to demo anything but I'm not sure how well these experiences would translate to headphones.

 

[abdo123]

Sorry, my comment came after watching my 4th 4K UHD movie on my 7.1.4 system. I'd be up to demo anything but I'm not sure how well these experiences would translate to headphones.

As long as what your right ear hears and your left ear hears remains Separate with no cross-talk, you could translate any experience to headphones.

but personal differences are greater in that realm and research is still a bit lacking. Apple is doing great strides to make it mainstream.