Favorite Dolby Atmos (or spatial audio) albums

[Beershaun]

Thanks for this thread! I'm currently listening to Automatic For the People and it's great! I don't know if it's been discussed elsewhere, but Atmos seems inferior to me most of the time. Granted, I'm only using Airpods with personalized spatial audio. Separation is fantastic, but this is kind of a double-edged sword. I feel like the ubiquitous distortion put on vocals is offputting when not skillfully layered into the stereo mix. I'm guessing that Atmos mixes are lower priority while simultaneously being much more work. The result is usually an inferior mix. Even though it's great to be able to pinpoint some instrument that was previously buried in the mix, the downside is that there's usually at least one prominent element that sounds horrible for one reason or another.

Definitely there is an A team and B team doing the mixing sometimes. My main thing I've noticed is the levels are much lower. So i have to turn up the volume to get to the same level I normally listen at. I believe this is by design as Atmos requires a certain amount of headroom so the "loudness war" mixing isn't an option.

Check out The Beatles revolver Atmos mix side by side with the stereo remaster. It's great for hearing the difference with headphones. And Giles Martin is an amazing audio engineer.

 

[shuppatsu]

Those mid-60s Beatles stereo albums probably single-handedly sold the majority of crossfaders out there so I’m not surprised that an Atmos mix would kick some butt.

 

[BJL]

Thanks for this thread! I'm currently listening to Automatic For the People and it's great! I don't know if it's been discussed elsewhere, but Atmos seems inferior to me most of the time. Granted, I'm only using Airpods with personalized spatial audio. Separation is fantastic, but this is kind of a double-edged sword. I feel like the ubiquitous distortion put on vocals is offputting when not skillfully layered into the stereo mix. I'm guessing that Atmos mixes are lower priority while simultaneously being much more work. The result is usually an inferior mix. Even though it's great to be able to pinpoint some instrument that was previously buried in the mix, the downside is that there's usually at least one prominent element that sounds horrible for one reason or another.

I did a quick comparison with a couple of songs, listening to the Atmos version from Apple Music on headphones (Airpods Max), the stereo version on the same headphones, and the blu ray Atmos version released by Craft Recordings. I generally agree with the above comments on the Atmos headphone version (spatial audio), it seems kind of blurry and unfocused, I though the old stereo version sounded better, on headphones. However, the blu ray Atmos version I have found to be superb, played back on a 7.1.4 system. So, from my listening, I don't find Atmos to be inferior, I find "spatial audio" on headphones to be inferior. I've noticed this with other recordings, not only the Automatic for the People. It seems to me to be a pointless gimmick.

On the other hand, well mixed Atmos recordings, whether they be remixes of older music, or (preferably in my opinion) new music specifically recorded for Atmos, played back over speakers in a 7.1.4 or 5.1.4 system (I've set mine up both ways) sounds great and adds considerable artistic value.

 

[Beershaun]

The Beach Boys Pet Sounds is now in Atmos...

The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds Re-Released With New Dolby Atmos Mix

Producer Giles Martin oversaw the remixing of the 1966 classic

pitchfork.com

Also produced by Giles Martin.

 

[NiagaraPete]

The Pineapple Thief “Nothing but the truth 2021”.

But only the first half of the album the second half for me is better in stereo.

 

[Beershaun]

I did a quick comparison with a couple of songs, listening to the Atmos version from Apple Music on headphones (Airpods Max), the stereo version on the same headphones, and the blu ray Atmos version released by Craft Recordings. I generally agree with the above comments on the Atmos headphone version (spatial audio), it seems kind of blurry and unfocused, I though the old stereo version sounded better, on headphones. However, the blu ray Atmos version I have found to be superb, played back on a 7.1.4 system. So, from my listening, I don't find Atmos to be inferior, I find "spatial audio" on headphones to be inferior. I've noticed this with other recordings, not only the Automatic for the People. It seems to me to be a pointless gimmick.

On the other hand, well mixed Atmos recordings, whether they be remixes of older music, or (preferably in my opinion) new music specifically recorded for Atmos, played back over speakers in a 7.1.4 or 5.1.4 system (I've set mine up both ways) sounds great and adds considerable artistic value.

I generally agree that Atmos is best served by listening in a multichannel listening setup. You really don't get any advantage I can see over stereo with a 2 channel or headphones setup. The one caveat I would add is that due to the headroom requirements Atmos mixes tend to have higher dynamic range than standard streaming stereo mixes. At least that is what I have seen in the results from this site that tests dynamic range across the various digital release formats...

Magic Vinyl vs Digital

What is the best edition of an album, vinyl, cassette, digital (CD, SACD, Streaming), in stereo, 5.1, Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 RA? Who has never asked this question?

magicvinyldigital.net

 

[shuppatsu]

I don't find Atmos to be inferior, I find "spatial audio" on headphones to be inferior. I've noticed this with other recordings, not only the Automatic for the People.

"Automatic for the People" was actually one of the good ones! I am really curious to hear Atmos music on a proper multichannel setup. The reason why I blame the mix rather than the technology is that some mixes do sound good and bring new things to the listening experiences. And even some "inferior" mixes are superior in most ways, with just one or two things sticking out and ruining it. A good example is Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," where the Atmos mix sounds wonderful with earbuds except that it accentuates the poor recording of the horns. When I listen to the stereo mix, I can still tell that they were not recorded well. But they blend into the stereo mix better and are not as offensive. But it's entirely possible that the mixes sound more subtle with a proper multichannel setup.

The one caveat I would add is that due to the headroom requirements Atmos mixes tend to have higher dynamic range than standard streaming stereo mixes. At least that is what I have seen in the results from this site that tests dynamic range across the various digital release formats...

The Atmos spec actually requires that music not be dynamically brickwalled. For this reason some people take Atmos mixes and mixdown to stereo. But as much as I dislike the loudness war, the Atmos mixes (at least as mixed down) are entirely different presentations of the music. It may fix the dynamic compression issue but it introduces a host of new issues.

 

[shuppatsu]

If @BJL or @Beershaun wants to be my virtual ears, we could have a fun experiment. What do you think of Joao Gilberto's vocals on the Atmos version of "The Girl From Ipanema?" Or really any track on "Getz/Gilberto." To me the echo is about 10x more pronounced, which makes it nigh unlistenable. Then again, I hate the echo on other audiophile-approved recordings such as Diana Krall's "Love Scenes" and Muddy Waters' "Folk Singer."

EDIT: Just a pet peeve of mine, but I don't understand why people care so much about "soundstage." It's not something that I'm accustomed to paying much attention to, but when I do it's mostly infuriating. Drums and pianos are frequently panned across the stage. At least in some recordings (like Chick Corea's trilogy), it's only the drums, and I can imagine that I'm in the drummer's seat. In this case, playing Gilberto/Getz, Joao Gilberto's guitar is on the left and his voice is on the right. Why did the Atmos engineer decapitate him and stick his head in a bathtub? The separation is there on the stereo mix as well, but I'm just not as attuned to soundstage on a stereo recording. And thank goodness, because it's horrible.

 

[BJL]

If @BJL or @Beershaun wants to be my virtual ears, we could have a fun experiment. What do you think of Joao Gilberto's vocals on the Atmos version of "The Girl From Ipanema?" Or really any track on "Getz/Gilberto." To me the echo is about 10x more pronounced, which makes it nigh unlistenable. Then again, I hate the echo on other audiophile-approved recordings such as Diana Krall's "Love Scenes" and Muddy Waters' "Folk Singer."

EDIT: Just a pet peeve of mine, but I don't understand why people care so much about "soundstage." It's not something that I'm accustomed to paying much attention to, but when I do it's mostly infuriating. Drums and pianos are frequently panned across the stage. At least in some recordings (like Chick Corea's trilogy), it's only the drums, and I can imagine that I'm in the drummer's seat. In this case, playing Gilberto/Getz, Joao Gilberto's guitar is on the left and his voice is on the right. Why did the Atmos engineer decapitate him and stick his head in a bathtub? The separation is there on the stereo mix as well, but I'm just not as attuned to soundstage on a stereo recording. And thank goodness, because it's horrible.

I'm not set up to play streaming audio through my system, so I listened on headphones to the supposed atmos version at apple music, compared with the stereo version elsewhere. To me, the mix in both stereo and atmos were both mediocre, kind of primitive (not commenting on the music, which is terrific).

As far as soundstage is concerned, I think this ia semantic issue. There are fine recordings that bring you into the music, and part of the way they accomplish this is by creating (or recreating) the spatial aspect of the performance (the soundstage). When you bring up excessive reverb (or echo), this is poor mixing and mastering as to the soundstage.

 

[shuppatsu]

As far as soundstage is concerned, I think this ia semantic issue. There are fine recordings that bring you into the music, and part of the way they accomplish this is by creating (or recreating) the spatial aspect of the performance (the soundstage). When you bring up excessive reverb (or echo), this is poor mixing and mastering as to the soundstage.

Oh, I wasn’t saying that the echo was poor soundstage. I was complaining about the echo in the mix but kept listening to the album, which then led to my rant about soundstage. I would assume that the whole point of Atmos (at least with naturalistic recordings) is to bring the performers to life, as it were. And yet here they stuck Gilberto’s guitar on the left and his voice on the right. It’s wildly unnatural, yet par for the course. But my rant was broader than just that recording, or Atmos. My point is that there’s little point in caring about soundstage when the engineers clearly don’t care about it at all. (EDIT: you are right in a way, that I was probably using soundstage wrong. I wasn't talking so much about the width or depth of the sound illusion, but the imaging)

By the way, I’ve been listening to the Atmos version of the Allman Bros’ Eat a Peach, and it is glorious on AirPods. The guitars and vocals are not all that well matched either (EDIT: though now that I think of it, their vocalist plays keys), but on a rock album the artifice doesn’t bother me as much. The acoustic guitars in particular sound amazing. Wonderful sense of space, and nothing awry.

 

[AdamG]

https://tidal.com/album/289993424

https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0C2VTTWJB?ref=dm_sh_vH46BxJGolvlFRi3KYOhspU1I

 

[AdamG]

TIDAL’s Bluegrass: Dolby Atmos Playlist Is Changing the Listening Game - The Bluegrass Situation

Ask any fan of bluegrass, and part of what inspires their love is the experience of feeling the music. The reverberations of wood and string. Thick harmony hanging in the air. That magic interplay of creative spirits trading instrumental breaks back and forth without speaking a word. Until now...

thebluegrasssituation.com

 

[BJL]

The Beatles revolver recent remix in in Atmos as well and it's super fun!

This article has some interesting detail on the technology behind the Revolver restoration/remix (or recreation) as well as worthwhile commentary, from Vulture (NY Magazine).

How Peter Jackson Broke Up the Beatles

And used AI to make Revolver better than ever.

www.vulture.com

 

[Beershaun]

This article has some interesting detail on the technology behind the Revolver restoration/remix (or recreation) as well as worthwhile commentary, from Vulture (NY Magazine).

How Peter Jackson Broke Up the Beatles

And used AI to make Revolver better than ever.

www.vulture.com

Very cool! Using AI to "demix" single tracks with multiple voices and instruments will definitely help resurrect and modernize a ton of pre-1970s music.

 

[bevok]

Just listened again to Bohemian Rhapsody (on Sonos Arc/Sub/Ones) - what an awesome fun mix and enjoyable listening experience! A demonstration that listening to recorded music doesn’t have to be a simulation of sitting at a live venue with the performers 20 in front of one’s seat!

@AdamG247 the Trio Medieval is stunning!

 

[AdamG]

Trio Medieval is stunning!

Agreed and I’m not giving up on this 2 channel crowd. All they need is headphones and the effect works. This is a tough crowd!

 

[bevok]

Agreed and I’m not giving up on this 2 channel crowd. All they need is headphones and the effect works. This is a tough crowd!

I have resisted commenting in another thread filled with anachronisms, misinformation and conspiracy theories Better to just enjoy the music!
There have been a whole lot of recent Chicago Symphony Orchestra releases in Atmos (or perhaps just being highlighted), just enjoyed this one (sub essential):

https://tidal.com/album/207579637

Subtle spatial mix until the drama steps up.

 

[Dj7675]

The Bluray Atmos changed my mind on just how good Atmos music could be. A remarkable effort. Sounds absolutely amazing.

 

[jhaider]

I learned today the “new in spatial audio” list is incomplete. The re-release/augmentation of Clapton’s “24 Nights” compilation (taken from 24 shows at Royal Albert Hall ca 1991, just before his son died, to be memorialized in “Tears in Heaven.”) is mixed in Atmos. I haven’t heard it all yet, but I like what I hear so far.

@Sean Olive the vocals are spread across the front three channels, so there’s some anchoring for people off center.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Steven Wilson has been busy remixing of classics. ABC’s Lexicon of Love comes out Aug 04.

I’m not sure I’ll ever listen to any of these old albums. There is way too much new to take in.