Audio Engineer Reviews Spatial Audio in Apple Music // Dolby Atmos

[@RyanGreen]

Ok, I wanted to help out with a couple common questions! Firstly Kraftwerk: seems like heaps of people can't access this in Atmos. I'm not sure if this is locked to specific regions or something, this is the track that shows up in Atmos for me (and I've A/B tested it, it's definitely in Atmos): music.apple.com/nz/album/the-man-machine-3-d/1237436695?i=1237439403 If for whatever reason you're one of the people who still thinks I'm lying about this lol you can just Google "Kraftwerk Dolby Atmos" and find articles from around a year ago when they re-released several albums in Atmos Secondly if you can't access this in settings, it's been a gradual roll out, not everyone got it at once. It seems India in particular has been much slower to receive it. Hopefully everyone has it soon! Finally, I was a little unclear on the Apple TV thing. It wasn't available for me, also for a bunch of other people I'd heard from. I have it now though, seems like it was just part of the gradual roll out as well!

[@perrin325]

I can’t find a version of Jupiter with atmos as well, can you share the link for that as well cheers

[@RyanGreen]

@@perrin325 sure! It’s part of their “Made for Spatial Audio” playlist, here’s a direct link to the piece: music.apple.com/nz/album/the-planets-op-32-iv-jupiter-the-bringer-of-jollity/1569847170?i=1569847644

[@thomasjanssen9124]

It‘s unclear if the Update will come to the Apple TV 4k only - which is my current understanding - or also to the Apple TV HD (or 5th Gen) which would make a lot of sense. I reached out to Apple but no answer so far…

[@bensison4430]

There is a regular and 3d version which is the dolby atmos one. The regular version among others werent on dolby.

[@DanielLundh]

Kraftwerks 3D The Catalogue set of live albums are all mixed in Atmos on Apple Music (and on the Blu-Ray set for collectors of physical artifacts) and they all sound incredible!

[@anaymakan6989]

I think the issue is many songs feel like they have been upscaled to atmos rather than been produced with atmos so they don’t sound correct

[@RyanGreen]

That's definitely how it comes across

[@drjosephs347]

I agree, upscaled old songs sound sound so different than the original stereo I have been listening to for years, it makes it difficult to listen to for me. It would be interesting to listen to a new song that was mixed with Atmos in mind.

[@patrickishot0706]

@@RyanGreen the one song that was produced with atmos called mystery lady was awesome

[@DynamicTren]

Yess

[@auramac]

@@drjosephs347 Early CD's were like this.

[@szymon3676]

Hey. Its not about the technology, rather the mixing engineers not having enough experience in mixing Atmos, as it's a super new and innovative technology. Kraftwerk got a Grammy for their Catalogue 3D and these dudes who mixed it had been doing it for years. I'm an Atmos mixing engineer myself and can honestly say that the amount of possibilities is unlimited, however we all need to adapt and look at mixing from the new perspective.

[@guymuhimbaze3703]

True i’ve heard some horrible songs with dolby

[@Lac0rte]

Thanks for putting my thoughts on words. I listened to some amazing, AMAZING songs with DA. When I heard my favorite pops on Apple Music, like Chromatica, by Lady Gaga, it was terrible. I was really thinking that my ears were dead. But I'm so grateful to hear that it is what i thought: just terrible mixing. I think Apple should have a quality pattern before putting those things on air. Also: I get so angry with people saying how much they loved and feels in the studio or a show. Definitely, people buy anything they sell them.

[@RyanGreen]

Yep definitely. The Kraftwerk stuff is incredible! I'd be interested to know when you're mixing Atmos, do you listen to how it sounds in headphones anywhere in that process? I wonder if mixing engineers are only listening through their 9.2.4 setups or what have you and the headphone setups are being ignored, which is actually how probably 90% of music is listened to

[@szymon3676]

@@RyanGreen In the studio we have a 7.1.4 setup but when I mix, I always switch between headphones and speakers. Spatial Audio needs time to really become a market standard quality and normalise. There is no limiting, no compression on the bus/master so we all have to reevaluate our thinking about dynamics.

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah dynamics are hugely different! Good to know you’re checking on headphones. Have you mixed much rock, and if so do you find it translates worse to headphones? I’m trying to work out if those mixes are just bad or simply can’t really translate well to cans

[@samwight]

Taylor Swift's Folklore is incredibly gorgeous on Dolby Atmos. It feels like they got everything right about the mix. There's so many tiny production details that I missed before, and while voices sound just a little off, I think the big leap in the amount of stuff you can hear more than makes up for it. Like the little synth at the start of August is just such an incredible production detail and just feels so cool.

[@RyanGreen]

Ah that's cool! I'll check it out

[@jowzeep]

i noticed it, too. my tears ricochet is dope with dolby atmos.

[@karissaly9616]

the bridge in "illicit affairs" and "tolerate it" (evermore) are EPIC

[@richardparadox163]

And don’t forget “gold rush”. The violins in the background, the “sparkling” sound coming from above (I think they were chimes), you could pick out her background singers. I think they even did some of the “move the instrument around you while it plays” thing

[@andikunar7183]

I especially find folklore: the long pond studio sessions amazing. Ryan‘s comment about less instruments,… sounding better in Atmos was an eye-opener. However when comparing the Apple Music Atmos implementation on AirPods Max to the Disney+ video‘s Atmos audio, to me this really falls short. When comparing Apple Music stereo, Apple Music Dolby Atmos and Disney+ Dolby Atmos on AirPods Max the mix/implementation for video sounds much better to me. And I disagree with Ryan, having position-awareness in the experience to me dramatically increases the immersiveness - my head always moves a little, and having this taken into account for the sound makes it extremely realistic for me. I‘ve primarily listened with headphones since the late 70s and this was the first time, that headphones sounded „real“ to me - I even took them off because I thought some speakers were still on in my room. Also live Music experiences - e.g. A Star Is Born video’s Atmos music on AirPods Max (not the Apple Music soundtrack) sounds amazingly different/immersive to me. I think spatial really has the potential to enhance music-listening for me in a dramatic way. Far more than the switch to mere new audio equipment or headphone-models.

[@WestieSeb]

I was starting to think I was the only one to hate it.. So disappointed.. I was waiting this feature so much.. Having the lossless is a good thing tho

[@RyanGreen]

Yep. Thankfully it’s just a format, mixes can get better!

[@xxsoundwave83xx]

Yeah I felt the same way very very underwhelming and disappointed I mean the music they with the Dolby atmos mix was pretty bad is like the volume went down like 50 perfect and in order for me to hear anything if at all different I had to blast the volume to a 100 or close to it 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻 hopefully they can work on it and get it sounding correct bcausy at this point all the music I listen too doesn't have Dolby atkos or spatial audio which ever one you call it lol

[@nikhil2642]

Same here👎👎👎

[@JuanAlvarez-uf3np]

It’s the same thing that happened with stereo years ago, its a mess because its new, over the time artists and mixers will fix it. Also i think it should be easier to Change spatial audio to stereo in the app itself

[@RyanGreen]

Yep agreed!

[@schyzeno7348]

on ios 15 with airpods pro at least, you are able to switch it between spatial and stereo if you haptic touch on the audio control in the control centre. But Apple music has an awful way of dealing with this as it keeps the same profile as the dolby atmos versions but crushes it into a line whereas spotify stereo moves it together completely. the way i see it theres dolby atmos, stereo, upscaled dolby atmos (from stereo) sounds awful, then downscaled (crushed) from dolby atmos to stereo which sounds absolutely fucking dreadful.

[@gtnew]

This is spot on. In a few years it will become the standard, but in the meantime we’re in the Dolby Atmos infancy.

[@jeffe4297]

This reminds a little bit of the late 80s when CDs became mainstream. There were three types of recordings: AAD, ADD, and DDD, where A meant analog and D meant Digital. All older music fell under the AAD because they were recorded via analog, mixed via analog, and then transferred to digital format. While this music sounded good, it lost a lot of the fullness you could find on the vinyl album. Music that was recorded later using the DDD format (digital recording, digital mixing, digital format) sounded really good because producers took advantage of the new technology from beginning to end. Older songs that were made before or without Dolby Atmos are probably not going to be as good as songs that were recorded using Atmos from the beginning, especially as sound engineers take advantage of the technology.

[@Sin71879]

@Lui Alexandre studio headphones with the right drivers will do fine. I played that MJ black and white and damn near jumped out of my sofa when the father bangs on the floor. I have studio driver headphones it’s not as nice as mine atmos surround sound system, however they sound really good. I just ordered a USB dongle to get 2496 sound quality.

[@Sin71879]

@Lui Alexandre yeah I am definitely wondering if this is going is viable long term or just a fad. I mean it sounds great with studio equipment or just the 9 dollar dongle. But it would be nice for this to play through my speakers in my home at this fidelity. My TV has an Apple Music app and Apple TV on it already. I am not sure why it’s not allowed to play the Apple Music in Dolby when it can play Apple TV in it.

[@TamingChaos]

@@Sin71879 it will come. They’re trying to justify people spending 550$ for AirPods Max. They’ll update Appletv with it once there is a larger, more comprehensive collection I suspect.

[@joshmanufan]

In my opinion, the best song I've heard for it so far is BOOM by Tiesto and Sevenn

[@chesareg8217]

Same!!

[@Dragon-vc9gt]

7 rings by Ariana Grande sounds great too, you should check it out.

[@danielmateusz7557]

OMG! This is true!

[@joshmanufan]

@@Dragon-vc9gt just checked it out. You’re not wrong. Sounds great!

[@8741slipknot]

100%

[@29kalel]

Blinding lights was pretty good. The background vocals come in and you hear more than what you can hear normally

[@RyanGreen]

Glad to hear a different take! Did you feel like it was missing punch?

[@djsoulfilter]

@@RyanGreen almost all the Dolby Atmos songs I’ve heard so far are missing punch. Glad to finally have lossless music though!

[@roadhouseguy]

@@RyanGreen agreed it is wider but a lot of pop tracks lose bass or punch.

[@djsoulfilter]

@@Endemoniada I do agree with you about jazz music sounding awesome with Dolby Atmos. I listened to the Dolby Atmos mix of Moanin by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and really enjoyed it.

[@chadacox]

For me, the harmonies and backing vocals came through so much clearer! Loved it for this song.

[@juliogarrido3824]

Listening to pop music in spatial audio is like watching a badly converted 3D film. I think it's because it's trying to "create" space when there shouldn't be. Most pop music today sounds compressed and very direct. Giving it an exaggerated soundstage just makes it feel fake. It also mistakes foreground for background a lot. Listening to Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish on stereo, there's a very nice texture to the bass. Turn on spatial sound however, and Billie's vocals are sort of isolated, while putting some fake distance between the vocals and the bass, which loses all of its texture. This music just wasn't recorded with Dolby Atmos in mind. On the other hand, jazz records sound really great with this feature, so I'd like to think there's some real potential here and it's not just a gimmick. Just like their ads say, this could become to stereo, what stereo was to mono decades ago.

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah we'll just have to see the mixing techniques for pop improve

[@user-mf1mr5tp5o]

Exactly what I felt. But The Weeknd’s album (After Hours) is sounding amazing to me…

[@juliogarrido3824]

@@user-mf1mr5tp5o Some tracks in After Hours actually sounded really good to me too, but Blinding Lights is kind of a mess. There are sudden volume spikes and it just feels like it was mixed in a very haphazard way. Still, goes to show that even for pop music it’s not a lost cause.

[@user-mf1mr5tp5o]

@@juliogarrido3824 yeah in your eyes, save your tears, blinding lights were kinda underwhelming I agree

[@CryBabyHoe]

That’s actually a really good example I went back and forth between special on and off and the richness in her voice is definitely lacking with spatial audio turned on

[@rogermadsen]

I have also noticed that I have to turn up the volume when turning on Dolby Atmos. Otherwise as you say the void sounds really low and far away.

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah you definitely need to compensate with volume, but even so the vocals sound quite distant

[@ag4eng]

Agree, what happened to the audio under Dolby Atmos ? It’s sounds terrible. I always thought Atmos was for movies, not music.

[@jaymmao]

Ok so im not the onlly one ...... wtf is going on with this ¨newbie stupid concept¨ of DOBLY ATMOS . Is low , is horrible, and the regular apple quality music is just simply far SUPERIOR ...... A lot of us dont get it so far

[@ES-qy2ju]

It must be a bug on the Apple Software. Dolby Atmos tracks on android sounds louder than stereo tracks.

[@liambaxter1759]

I think Dolby automatically uses “sound check.” You can turn it on in Music settings and all songs get quieter to the same level (not sure why they chose to do it that way), but then you don’t have to change the volume when switching between Dolby and normal

[@kedavis]

I imagine the "spatial" experience will get better with time. Just like Siri and other Apple technologies.

[@RyanGreen]

Hopefully, but it's a little different in that Apple themselves can't change anything, it's on artists and studios to sort it out

[@kedavis]

@@RyanGreen So it's not an algorithm that creates the spatial effect on Apple's end? I thought of it as filters and other tricks applied to existing mixes, not new mixes.

[@RyanGreen]

Na it’s not that. If it was they could just process everything in the library, but artists actually need to release their music in Atmos

[@kedavis]

@@RyanGreen Gotcha. Ok, huge undertaking. Also, forgot to mention I enjoyed this video too.

[@RyanGreen]

Thanks Karl! Appreciate that

[@tindo7147]

To my friends who couldn't find the god damn song: It's "The Man Machine (3-D)" Not "the man machine (remastered)"

[@RyanGreen]

Hahahahaha Kinda frustrating, but I’ve posted a direct link and I think it might be glitching and not showing up for people. Glad I’m not the only one who can get it though 😂

[@siphomd1360]

thanks chief!

[@magdalenasracz]

Can you post the link? I cant find it.

[@musahenderson]

A lot of these tracks weren’t written or mixed for Dolby Atmos. Think The Beatles Stereo mixes. An uncared for afterthought. How ever Art Blakleys Moanin’ sounds amazing. Who ever mixed that cared and took their tone.

[@fopicado]

I really enjoyed Linkin Park’s album. You can hear each instrument separately, really nice. Some songs are really amazing in Atmos, like Riders on the storm, The Beatles songs, eletrodance music and obviously… Jazz (really mindblowing)

[@Sin71879]

I really enjoy spatial on Apple Music- it is such a rich experience. The vocals do seem far away on some songs- but than I started to listen to the voices and they were so much clearer, more distinct and probably more honest than on stereo where I feel like the vocals are artificially turned up to cover for the power of the surrounding music. I am no engineer- just some guy- but I totally appreciate listening to my old songs updated- plus please listen to Diana Ross’s I am coming out- my God it’s damn beautiful- Dolby is more about space than it is about the feel of stereo

[@moel8230]

For all people, read this: 1. Use Apple EarPods (those with cable) 2. Tune EQ into „electronic“ You will get a hole different experience! Tried it with several headphones, with DAC etc, but the best result was with the standard EarPods for around 20 € 😂

[@RyanGreen]

Hahaha that's mental, you mean the standard wired earpods?

[@moel8230]

@@RyanGreen yes Sir! With those settings u can turn on the volume to 80% and more. Tested with: Bob Marley - Exodus Richard Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra John Williams - Imperial March Kenny Rogers - The Gambler Lil Wayne - Lollipop

[@marcelloghelfi4651]

Ti be honest jazz sounds great. Seems to be in a club listening live. Amazing

[@gonzalomcampos]

you should definitely try BOOM by Tiesto, it’s increíble

[@scullymills]

That is the first track I’ve heard that actually sounds good 👌

[@ianeskenazi2781]

Brooo!! This is nuts. This is how everything should sound.

[@ArnelGuanlao]

Mind blowing! Love it! :)

[@TheJoeidson]

WHOOOA I got chills during the whole song :O

[@Sagarnaral]

I heard it on apple music and youtube music and it sounds puncher on YT.

[@kaplanhirschmannmusic893]

The lack of punch and the fact that vocals sound farer away isn't an issue of Dolby Atmos or the Dolby Atoms Mix itself. It only occurs when it's played back on headphones. A Dolby Atmos mix played back on an Apple TV connected to a 5.1 or Atmos Receiver doesn't have any of these issues. Apple's Spacial Audio simulates playback on speakers over headphones in order to achieve that Spacial Audio also has to simulate a room where these virtual speakers are placed. Unfortunately this leads to the sensation that the vocals are not as close anymore as with a normal stereo mix on headphones in most cases.The general problems with solutions like that is, that a listener rarely is in a room that sounds like the simulated one. Therefore it's hard to trick our brain into believing that the sound is actually emitted from speakers that are really around you. I once had the chance to test the Realiser (a system that also produces surround sound over headphones - but by measuring an actual speaker setup in a room) in the same studio the system emulated. This Illusion was perfect and I wasn't able to tell whether I was hearing the surround sound trough the headphones or from the speakers. Normally our brain subtracts the sound of the room we are in and therefore we perceive music sounds much more direct than it actually is. Just try put a microphone on your listening position and record music played back through you speakers und listen to that on headphones. It sounds much more "roomy" than in real life. On the other hand ff you would do the same with a dummy head and listen to the playback on your listening position via headphones it would be very hard to tell whether you are listening to the speakers or the headphones.

[@shawnqi1215]

Also just a quick note for those of you who don’t know. Lossless audio is NOT supported on ANY wireless apple audio products, including AirPods max. However spatial audio is supported.

[@gx1tar1er]

No bluetooth device support lossless but it's still better to have lossless for lossless-lossy instead of lossy-lossy (which degrades quality even more).

[@zeusflores7339]

You HAVE to listen to Tiesto & Sevenn’s “BOOM”, this song sounds amazing in Atmos. Also, listen to Leaving California by Maroon 5, I love the punch it gave in the chorus, the vocals are loud and aren’t drowned by the instruments, and everything can be heard.

[@Dragon-vc9gt]

Off topic question but, how did you set your Memoji as a profile picture on KZbin? Did you take a screenshot of it or is there a way to download it?

[@bryantrigueros4458]

I don't like this type of music, but BOOM sounds incredibly good with Dobly Atmos, excellent recomendation.

[@jeffe4297]

Great suggestion! I felt I was in the middle of the song.

[@bruxi78230]

@@jeffe4297 ----- I'm glad he mentioned that song, hadn't heard that one yet.

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@Dragon-vc9gt uP

[@jaimemontes9143]

I guess as new albums roll out we can expect a better experience, I’m hoping more musicians and producers take advantage of atmos. Is it me or there’s a huge gap right In Front of me not being used. Am I the only one that wants the guitar player to “walk around me”? haha and the chorus to be whispered in my left ear and then the right ear?

[@RyanGreen]

Haha not sure I'm keen on mixes being too wild lol, but I'll keep watching to see what people come up with

[@adams5389]

i wouldn't be surprised if you have already listened to songs that contained tracks that were moved "around you" but the lack of true spherical experience because of lack of personalized HRTF just made it sound like it was going from left to right and back

[@sanderhoogeland9161]

I guess that would all be nice if the music didn’t also get destroyed in the process.

[@iKaGe01]

Find tracks mixed using binaural and this is exactly what you get. Tracks made especially for headphones for surround sound like feeling. The technique to record uses an actual physical head with microphones in the ears

[@sanderhoogeland9161]

@@iKaGe01 I am glad that binaural recordings sound far better than spacial audio does though.

[@Ndut390620]

Atmos-mixed tracks/albums I like; - Abbey Road 2019 mix - Love Goes (Live at Abbey Road Studios) - Chromatica - Live In The Dream (St. Vincent) - I Want You Back (Jackson 5)

[@user-py7qm7jt1t]

I feel that for recordings lacking spatial information, this works, but for already well-mixed records, this feature sounds really weird.

[@ignarias96]

Hollywood’s bleeding is amazing, but most of the others are not the best

[@jannysen884]

Sam Smith’s album, “Love goes: Live at Abbey Road Studios” Sounds amazing with spatial

[@silentrocco]

While it sounds more like in-person live experience, I prefer the great stereo mix by A LOT.

[@michaelbell75]

Dolby Atmos is a game changer for music. The first time I put it on, I thought the same as you. I went yuck, what happened to the volume and the vocals?. I went back and forth with it on and then off on a few songs and left it off. Then I put on some headphones and everything changed. Two albums that really show off what Atmos can do IMO are the latest albums from CHVRCHES (Screen Violence) and Cannons (Fever Dream). Put on some headphones and listen to "He said She said" off Screen Violence. You dont even need to listen to the full song, just the intro, verse and chorus. Play with Atmos off first, then put it on and crank up the volume. The chorus hits way different with the Atmos version, you can FEEL it and will bring a smile to any audiophiles face. The non Atmos version sounds harsh with too much treble going back to it after Atmos. Then check out the track "Bad Dream" off Cannon's Fever Dream. Pay attention to the synth part around the middle of the song that comes in around 1:59. In the non Atmos version, its just there. Then back it up and play the Atmos version and you will hear it bouncing around you. Best way I can describe it is 3D sound while the non Atmos versions sound flat when listened to again right after. Everything from the vocals to the instruments have more depth and presence to them with Atmos. It has that "warm" vinyl sound to it thats missing in the non Atmos version. In fact, the Atmos version of Screen Violence sounds better than my 180 gram vinyl version of it, which I never thought would happen with any digital music. Im in love with Atmos.

[@swift-za8390]

wtf is this??? this guy is sooo professional with the best information-literally NO useless information- yet he only has 2k subs…bro tf he deserves like millions

[@RyanGreen]

Haha thanks! Appreciate that. Hopefully on the way 🤞

[@akoswertmuller]

I like how in good mixes, you can hear the vocals and instrumentals clearer and more seperated so you can just focus on a point in space if you want to hear that sound of the song

[@eslipino5233]

To my untrained ear 👂, my experience was awesome, there were some songs that sound weird - I guess is what I would call it? But other songs I was able to hear sounds that I hadn’t heard before, it felt like instruments were separated and it sounded superb, like Limelight from Rush… I will listed to classical music with SA On always! Thanks for this video, I learned something.

[@RyanGreen]

No problem! Yeah I enjoyed classical through it, and in general you will get more separation and hear some parts you otherwise hadn't. I just found a lot of tracks where it felt like the foundation of the song was worse: drums, bass, vocals

[@bhushaaa4244]

LIMELIGHT IS ON DOLBY ATMOS? I can’t see it!!

[@eslipino5233]

@@bhushaaa4244 yes, on Apple Music search Dolby atmos, you will get a list of dif generes, one of them is rock, and it’s in this list

[@lolerie]

@@bhushaaa4244 it is in Atmos, just checked.

[@rpanchal06]

Best song I’ve heard on Atmos is Nora Jones Don’t Know why. Feels like your in the room, better bass and separation of instruments!! I can’t listen to that song without atmos now

[@stevenaguirre9326]

It feels like you’re singing the song and the instruments are around you

[@mikeymofonz]

I’ll try that track out thanks

[@moontrakerr]

Fenomenal mixing fakk

[@Simos805]

I think there should be a way to toggle Atmos/Stereo in per song basis, because some people would prefer some songs in Atmos and others in stereo, or the opposite. If you’re listening through AirPods, there is an easy toggle between the two in the control center, but if you’re listening on the device’s speakers, you have to go every time in the Music settings to switch Atmos on or off.

[@Scarecr0wn]

Kinda late here. What I´d absolutely recommend is to listen to The Chain from Fleetwood Mac with spatial audio on (lossless etc). It blew my mind to the heavens. I had shivers in my spine. That song was made for that technology. But yeah, most of the other songs sounds bad with it on, it´s very hit ot miss.

[@bryanc7856]

You gotta listen to Atmos in a true Atmos home theater setup. Headphones with Atmos is heavily processed. Atmos in a home theater system with ceiling speakers sound great!

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah definitely! I was mainly interested in this because I think it's how 95% of people will experience it

[@matthewhill5426]

Can we do that with Apple Music? I don’t think so, where do you get the content?

[@bryanc7856]

@@matthewhill5426 You can definitely get it from Apple as they have Atmos now. I played Atmos through my Apple TV and Denon receiver.

[@terriersforever23]

Only tried a few tracks but I really liked what I heard,I’ll try more later,great job with the review mate

[@RyanGreen]

Thanks very much man, glad you're enjoying Atmos!

[@hkproductions_]

Seeing a lot of comments about loss of bass and stuff like that, I honestly think it's a hit and miss at this stage with a lot of songs but a couple songs to try that maintain the vocals as well as bass really well in Dolby Arnos are: "thank u, next" "i want you back" "space cadet" "psycho" "rockstar" "BOOM" "mystery lady" ALL INSANE

[@patrickishot0706]

I listened to mystery lady and I was so confused for a minute because I thought sun was across the room

[@TheTayuLin]

Tried the Atoms using Bose soundtouch 700 sound bar with bass module, the soundstage is really incredible, very immersive. Way better experience than playing on the AirPod Max. One quirk about spatial audio is that you need to turn up the volume a bit more compare to standard or lossless track

[@TheTayuLin]

Album (Norah Jones - Come away with me )with Atmos is the best version I’ve ever listening to. Instrument imaging and vocal mixing works in harmony.

[@RyanGreen]

Yep, there's definitely a noticeable volume difference!

[@terencetreece6633]

Listen to Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' and Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors'

[@kmitalian]

Once Apple gets Pink Floyd in Dolby Atmos then it will win even more people!!!

[@themarkoczon]

I've noticed that you listened using wired headphones. Have you tried listening using airpods, pro or Max?

[@RyanGreen]

With standard AirPods yep. This is a slightly different feature to what they released with AirPods a while back, it works with anything

[@tfraley]

@@RyanGreen I've had not sat down and listened to tons of music just yet maybe a dozen or so but there may be something to what @mark Christian Oczon said. I have the airpods Max and everything sounds great so far. I would wounder if having the extra processing power in the airpods helps. Would wounder your take on this through an airpod max.. Thanks for the insight.

[@RyanGreen]

Hmm possibly, unfortunately I don’t have access to AirPods Max. Definitely keen to try them at some point! It shouldn’t really be a processing power thing, but people with AirPods Max seem to be liking it more so there must be something to it

[@Arn._.]

I had a very similar experience with AirPods Pro. I think it's a hardware limitation. You can't actually make 2 speakers into a surround setup.

[@adams5389]

@@Arn._. the problem right now, in addition to poor mix choices when converting music made for stereo into spatial, is that everyone is using a “one size fits very few” HRTF to decode the music into binaural, so the timing and filtering cues that tell our brain if something is above, behind, or below aren’t convincing.

[@DanielLundh]

It works on AppleTV. I listen to spatial audio through it on my receiver which identifies the signal as atmos.

[@RyanGreen]

Yep, it's now supported

[@bobrobert13]

The jazz playlist for me was really good, I don’t know if it’s just me but I think jazz really compliments spacial audio where each instrument was given room to breathe and I could more accurately hear the conversations between the different players during improv.

[@RyanGreen]

Gives it a real live feel, like you're there in the room!

[@alexhdw]

Great balanced review. I did some A/B comparisons with the first few tracks in Apple’s spatial audio playlist (all mainstream pop) and found the spatial audio versions drained of energy and very weird sounding. I was ready to totally dismiss the tech, so I appreciate your doing the legwork to check out spatial audio in different genres. Looking forward to turning it on for Kraftwerk!

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah I'm glad I didn't give up haha, it's worth persevering but still a disappointing start.

[@alexhdw]

@@RyanGreen I’m wondering if Spatial Audio is designed in part (or mainly) to optimize playback of music on relatively inexpensive equipment (wireless headphones, smart speakers, etc). Regular stereo mixes can be very ‘spatial’, with discrete placement of instruments/voices/effects in a 3-d soundstage, *when* I listen using my separate dac/amp and pricey headphones or stereo system, but not so much when using my regular walk-around bluetooth headset or homepod.

[@RyanGreen]

@@alexhdw yeah I’ll have to try it on some lower quality setups and see how it translates

[@andreaszweili8593]

Shit mate you deserve way more views.

[@RyanGreen]

Haha thanks

[@dpa03]

I had similar sentiments however I’m going through the entire list and there are some standouts to me: Tom Sawyer - Rush Boom - Tiesto (give this one about 20 seconds) Black Skinhead - Kanye Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish All the Beatles tracks Can’t Feel My Face - The Weeknd And the ones you mentioned. Oh and the Diana Krall track - Someone in Love is pretty amazing.

[@MusicByNumbersUK]

Head tracking is still needed even without large movements. We subconsciously use small head movements to clarify where a sound is coming from and those apple headphones use head tracking to keep the 360 bubble in roughly the same place so that you don't rotate the sound image with your head. Without head tracking, binaural sound doesn't really work unless you have had your actual ear lobes scanned in and turned into impulse responses for the decoder. :)

[@Holkas]

You should try listening to atmos songs on a home theatre system instead of headphones. Makes a big difference! But i agree that most rocks songs sound really bad (Like Ramones etc.) Abbey Road- Beatles sounds great. If you use Tidal try Elton John - Rocket Man.

[@samdrinkel3313]

Fearless taylors version is incredible in spatial audio

[@mzt8787]

As well as folklore. That's the best mix of all her spatial audio.

[@user-tq1ny7yc5d]

You have to tun on the automatic sound control menu in order to level match between Atmos and stereo. There are huge level difference between the two!

[@EricE549]

in the pop realm, halsey's "manic" made the best use of spatial audio imo. "graveyard" definitely sounds full.

[@jasonbhatnagar7134]

I recommend listening to Modus Vivendi by 070 Shake. It's great with dolby/spatial audio

[@RyanGreen]

So what songs should I check out next in Atmos?

[@saadali6775]

Still not available in India

[@RyanGreen]

@@saadali6775 that sucks! Hopefully it’ll get to you soon

[@Joy-qq8ck]

@@saadali6775 ..:and is still not available yet!

[@markedwards6385]

Black skinhead by Kanye west/ I want you back Jackson 5. I have the same opinion as you an I’m glad I wasn’t the only thinking it was very hit and miss. Some songs will work great though!

[@jasha6343]

I feel it coming (The weeknd & Daft Punk)

[@JorgeThomasM]

Dear Ryan, I partially agree with your opinion regarding headphones, BUT.... I tried it with Apple TV and the Home Theatre System (Dolby Atmos capable) and 5.0 setup (front towers); three songs: Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do", Lennon's "Instant Karma" and Moby's "Porcelain" (New Mix). No words... INCREDIBLE.

[@RyanGreen]

That does sound great! There are definitely some hidden gems, and I imagine there's a higher hit-rate with a proper surround setup, but it's the inconsistency that bugs me

[@aptudo]

Great summary. There's another important point you didn't mention. Apple is depriving us of the best feature of "Dolby Atmos for Headphones" (IMO): spatialize processing on *stereo* recordings. Unlike these special Atmos mixes, this feature is subtle and doesn't change the mix at all; it just puts more space in the stereo image and makes any reverb in the recording sound more real and enveloping. I've spent a lot of time listening critically to it on Windows 10 through the "Dolby Access" app (which costs $15 after a 7-day trial). That app lets you spatialize _everything_ - whatever your computer is playing (unlike Apple's implementation which only spatializes the special "Atmos" mixes). I absolutely love it, and I'm also trained as an audio engineer. It's not gimmicky. I can hear more details in music that I thought I knew really well. It's worth checking out. Shame on Apple and Dolby for not making this part of the launch.

[@RyanGreen]

Oh interesting! I can see why they wouldn’t add that as dedicated mixes seem more “pure”, but good to hear that feature actually works well! I haven’t played with it personally but I want to check it out now haha

[@docayomide6617]

You can actually spatialise all audio now in iOS 15 (I’m on the beta), but that’s not available for everyone because unlike spatial audio which they could just flip a switch to turn on server side spatialising all audio requires a system update. I’ve been listening to podcasts and KZbin videos in spatial audio and quite liking it-and there’s dynamic head tracking too! It already feels very different when it goes off from time to time when I change headphones.

[@aptudo]

@@docayomide6617 Thanks for that info - great to hear!

[@payday1989]

Maybe i’m late but yall can try listen to Dua Lipa “Future Nostalgia” album. That was perfect dolby atmos mastered at the moment in my opinion 👌

[@oyamabottoman4575]

And Billies album well her second one sounded much better with this update

[@thomasjanssen9124]

Yep, same experience. Most songs sounded worse. Some sound amazing, especially Kraftwerk. Perhaps it is a production issue, Kraftwerk had a 3-D recording before and perhaps they made good use of it. Have you also compared lossless audio (normal resolution) versus AAC? What’s your take on it?

[@RyanGreen]

Glad I’m not the only one! Yeah I have. If you’re already using the higher quality AAC, Lossless is better but it’s very subtle. You can tell if you have a great listening environment and focus in, but the reality is that most listening happens in the car, walking down the street, at the office, etc. It really will be barely noticeable in those contexts, so it’s not a big deal either way. I never complain about better quality for free though!

[@ajaugatarip5285]

@@RyanGreen lossless audio doesn’t work with Amy Bluetooth headphones tho ….they must be wired quality headphones

[@RyanGreen]

@@ajaugatarip5285 correct

[@ittoakimbo]

I think instrumental music, classical, jazz, etc, will probably benefit from this Tech

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah it doesn't seem to fit modern pop productions very well, but we'll see with a bit more time

[@ittoakimbo]

@@RyanGreen i agree 💯

[@perrylambert]

Try listening with the Apple TV hooked up to a 5.1 surround system. Works better with 5.1 speakers rather than headphones. Let me know what you think.

[@jkb462]

It is literally just virtual surround sound, rebranded. I never thought I’d say this but I prefer lossless over spatial.

[@lehshoot]

This was just what I was looking for Ryan! Sadly, at 75, I can't even hear the difference between reasonable compression levels, let alone lossless, but your comments regarding spatial audio are very similar to my own opinions. I listened to "Gordian Knot" by Gordon Goodwin's "Big Phat Band" and those tracks knocked my socks off! Loved it. But then I checked a few more Albums in different genres and was surprised that some sounded worse to me than the stereo original. I guess like in all recordings, skill can be present or not. Great job Ryan, and I'll be paying attention to your offerings in the future. You have true talent as a teacher and presenter of complex information.

[@RyanGreen]

Thanks very much, I appreciate the kind words! I’ll check out the album you mentioned. There are definitely some hidden gems, just none of the tracks that Apple are promoting haha

[@Anonymous-vh9tc]

In my 20s I also can’t hear the difference between different levels of compression.

[@RyanGreen]

@@Anonymous-vh9tc just enjoy saving on your data bill 😂

[@smejky007]

My favourite so far is Riders on the Storm. Sounds so well in dolby atmos!

[@trishrolt722]

2:27 "this isn't the kind of thing where if you turn your head it's changing what you hear" this is literally false, iOS uses the gyroscopes included in the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max to adjust the audio signal when you move your head to make it sound like the various instruments are coming from fixed points in space rather than being attached to your head.

[@davidklem6186]

This! When i listend on my Air Pod Max yesterday i was totally underwhelmed by the pop stuff but thought whatever.. since I don’t listen to that anyway. But over at the rock playlist Papa Roach „last resort“ (I think that was the worst) and 3DoordDown was just awful, the mix was just totally awkward, and the vocal weirdly pitched some how. However the jazz playlist blew my mind! When turning it of and on the difference was incredible I could pinpoint at the saxophone drums and bass players in the room and heard the echo of the walls. Als what I found pretty cool was a song called boom! Which just totally blew my ears with bass but also had some cool 3D effect. I‘d love them to revisit some songs and mixes and give you an option to have a song to song setting that’s getting stored with the song to use spatial audio or not.

[@RyanGreen]

Yes! Song specific settings would be ideal, but feels very un-Apple so I'm not holding my breath

[@weeue]

For now you can turn toggle between stereo and spatial on AirPods settings I suppose

[@jc-ts5ww]

I think this spatial audio feature only works depending on the song. I heard some songs and it was meh, but I also heard some songs and it was amazing. The best example I've heard so far is Ariana's position album, damn it was immaculate!

[@bazadam6635]

Listen to this song in lossless and then listen in atmos. I think you might change your opinion

[@wowmazing.wowzers1545]

I definitely feel like most stuff sounds worse or the same now in spatial audio, and I think as stuff starts to be made with atmos in mind, it will become way better. The album After Hours by The Weeknd overall sounded way better than the stereo version. Especially Heartless, it’s insane!

[@Jsiurano]

I have noticed that leaving the sound check feature on actually helps hear what is happening when you switch Dolby on and off. If you don’t use sound check then everything gets louder when you shut it off making it seems like it sounds better. Most songs I think sound better in Dolby so far with only a couple exceptions. For the most part I can hear all the instruments better and things sound more spacious

[@RyanGreen]

Hmm yeah I leave sound check off, but was compensating for the volume difference. That'll definitely be catching a lot of people out though, our brains love loud lol

[@MonroeYohey]

Running through a vintage NAD amp that isn’t overly powerful I almost blew my head off switching from apple to roon because both apple lossless and spatial seem to be less loud and I need to drive amp harder - that is through my ipad. The m1 mac mini is a bit louder.

[@user-mf1mr5tp5o]

Songs with heavy compression are sounding awful on dolby atmos mode. My personal best experience was The Weeknd - After Hours (album)

[@movitz1579]

Some notes: 1. Atmos is available on Apple TV aka through HT systems with real atmos setups. 2. Spatial audio is an Airpods feature, it has nothing to do with dolby atmos itself.

[@RyanGreen]

Yep Apple TV support came a couple days later for me They've been using Spatial Audio for this Atmos roll out as well, they've been pretty loose with their language on it

[@cmdrdredd]

It doesn't work for any rock or metal because the distortion of the guitars is lost. There are whole sections that are missing the iconic guitar tone by a particular player. People keep saying it's because "its like the transition from mono to stereo" but when you went to stereo from Mono you didn't lose voices in the background and change the tone of the instruments and seemingly remove the drums from the track. That's what is happening with a ton of rock stuff.

[@themasterjay7189]

Mystery Lady by Masego is really amazing in Spatial Audio! Come on its on the Apple Music Commercial!

[@javiercastaneda2555]

Spacial audio is on Apple TV for Apple Music just requires an atmos enabled system.

[@Godbluffer]

St. Vincent’s “Daddy’s Home” sounds fantastic in Atmos, too! Nothing even close to cheap ‘just add distance and reverb’ trickery.

[@chrisd6736]

I agree that is definitely one of the best Atmos mixes I’ve heard. Clearly some people are doing it right. I think atmos music has a ton of potential.

[@sunashota2069]

I totally agree with you. It’s seems like only focusing on orchestra or jazz stuff. In terms on band music and EDM stuff, obviously vocal part is disappeared.

[@SHADMAN94690]

i was listening to apple music wirelessly through apple carplay and then suddenly this song played which supported dolby atmos. I couldnt help but play the song on repeat. It just stood out and only later i found out that the song supports dolby atmos.

[@justincalhoun7062]

completely agree. jazz, classical, & anything more open or sparse sounds fantastic. what they really need to do is allow us to turn dolby atmos on/off with a button press & it would be a much better experience.

[@prashanthchinnu6688]

I am not sure how many of you guys tried the Apple Music videos. I've tried "Old town Road" by lil was music video. MIND BLOWN. It was as if someone was talking infront of me. Try to move your head..and you can understand the spatial audio magic.

[@lamentistriangle281]

For me the crucial thing that dolby allows is many Atmos tracks have significantly more dynamic range than their stereo counterparts (which is intentionally kept dynamically compressed and limited; though this is not Dolby's fault) even though the atmos mixes aren't inherently dynamic, whole new mixes.

[@llukas0906]

I like it. It feels much more natural than the classic stereo mix. With the stereo mix, you feel like everything is playing right next to your ear. The Dolby Atmos mix sounds more spatial. As someone who prefers to listen through speakers, but sometimes has to use headphones, this is ideal.

[@josephborr]

I used to perform for our city’s ballet company. Listening to the Nutcracker suite on spatial audio really brought me back to the stage. It surreal. The added spaciousness in the audio really mimics the big space of the theater. And you’re right, spatial audio is a hit and miss, because for other tracks I could hardly tell the difference, or the added spatial feel ruins the song. But damn do I miss performing again

[@RyanGreen]

That’s really powerful! So awesome it gave you that experience

[@MarcoZehe]

I am totally in love with Spatial Audio, and enjoy how much more dynamic and natural many instruments and vocals sound. And unlike many of you youngsters, I actually don‘t like that heavily punchy and compressed-to-death stuff that much of today‘s pop music has. So when Atmos takes some of that punchiness away and un-drowns some of the vocals in the process, I‘m all for it. And I am discovering new things in songs I thought I knew well when listening to ttheir Spatial Audio versions.

[@IndiaBoy]

Kraftwerk 3-D audio was actually mixed by Spatial Audio entrepreneur Tom Ammermann who owns New Audio Technology one of the first & only Spatial Audio plug-ins and processor maker. Kraftwerk began working with Dolby Atmos even before Atmos was available to public cinemas & studios

[@RyanGreen]

And it shows! Honestly the number of people trying to tell me that Kraftwerk haven't released Atmos though 🙃

[@IndiaBoy]

@@RyanGreen To be fair, on the CD there were only a few selected songs (15 in total) that were Atmos mixed, however, on the Blu-Ray all the songs are Atmos mixed. I have both of these releases and I can confirm that they are indeed mixed with Dolby Atmos: www.discogs.com/Kraftwerk-3-D-The-Catalogue/release/10355328 www.discogs.com/Kraftwerk-3-D-The-Catalogue/release/10350423 (even has the Atmos logo on the disc...)

[@IndiaBoy]

They are also known for using Atmos technology during live performances where they split each individual sound/instrument into individual channels. I guess its more of a "Room Control" rather than Atmos since most venues are not rigged with Atmos equipment, however, I know they travel with a lot of gear to maximize sound performance on standard venue systems

[@chintz0]

Maybe Dolby is cut out for speaker experience only...headphones are for an immersive experience anyway right?..so i find it a bit weird to use it on earphones/headphones

[@hisokamorow1816]

Need to Know by Doja Cat is astounding on spatial. The vocal adlib panning is so good

[@thejosephchoi]

Agreed. The majority of the songs I've listened to with Dolby Atmos certification sounded very hollow and quiet.

[@RyanGreen]

Yep. It's worth noting that they are actually quieter though, so make sure you turn them up to match to get a fair comparison!

[@thebrax]

very high quality content for 1k subs, I was expecting a few hundred thousand

[@RyanGreen]

Thanks so much!

[@homiespizza7108]

Smoked a joint listened to riders on the storm ..... good time!

[@RyanGreen]

lol, glad you're having fun

[@VigneshGiridharanGV]

Kraftwerk isn't yet on Atmos here in India, which is a shame. But, god, I'm so glad Kraftwerk won some recognition where none was expected.

[@RyanGreen]

Yep! They released a whole bunch of stuff in Atmos a year or so back, they’ve been pushing music technology forward for decades with nowhere near enough recognition

[@silvitooo]

I asked myself about this. I used Apple Music on my Galaxy cell phone and Buds 2 Pro. Apple music in dolby was the best platform for me. The sounds came out very spatial. Ironically it was the best Dolby Atmos streaming to listen to on a Galaxy. Today I'm using an iPhone and AirPods Pro 2 and I felt that the spatial audio changed a lot to bad. In addition to the sound being very low, the spatial stage almost does not exist. I started listening to Dolby Atmos on Amazon Music and I was surprised. It has all the characteristics that a Dolby sound should have. I don't understand what's happening with dolby atmos + iphone+ airpods.

[@vincefree]

Albums like j.Cole’s 4 your eyez only are really great with it on. Because as a fan I know he recorded it all in his basement and spatial makes it feel more intimate

[@myki16]

Spatial audio with head tracking works on Dolby Atmos tracks on iOS 15 and it sounds good. There’s also a new feature called ‘Spatialized Stereo’ where you can enable head tracking on non-dolby atmos tracks.

[@RyanGreen]

Yeah I'm not on the beta to test it out...I can't imagine why I would want that though haha. Good to know you're liking it though! It isn't distracting having head tracking?

[@burns0100]

I think the more interesting thing would be to see what people are using to listen to the new audio quality with. Most people aren't rocking good headphones or even headphones at all. So people reading about this better audio quality and new update might be under whelmed when they don't notice a difference in sound. For me I'm happy to hear the different with my setup, it means as I delve deeper into audiophile levels of tech I can happily stick with Apple Music as my source and be ok. Save myself time and money looking for Lossless files online.

[@RyanGreen]

Oh yeah Lossless is a great feature for free! And I'm definitely glad to see Apple putting effort into their Music service

[@burns0100]

@@RyanGreen Agreed, this for free is a amazing feature for Apple Music. Really makes the service something i'd recommend now to people and i'm glad a big company like Apple are now fully supporting Lossless Audio, It hopefully means now it has a long lasting future and music quality only goes up from here.

[@entexv]

From what i’ve heard (on headphones), in many songs that include singing, the vocals get drowned out and they sound like they are just backing vocals. Also pretty much everything gets quite bassy, kinda making it sound like it just applied a EQ preset to make the bass louder. So far the only songs that sounded fairly good were songs that don‘t include vocals and also don‘t have too many instruments.

[@Mikegritz]

Thanks for the honest review.

[@gossipboy2010]

Generally speaking, Spatial Audio technology can elevate Orchestral music and Opera listening experience. Georg Solti's Wagner Ring cycles remastering and Renee Fleming's LIVE performances captured on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera are good testimonials.

[@resso.rx7]

This is by far the best fucking update spatial audio sounds sick asf.

[@spane5mixline]

The big question her is, what are you atmosing with your two ears and stereo sound system, trying to hear 6 sounds. It's like crashing down a stereo enhanced mix to mono

[@DDuMas]

I think apple would have done better if they mixed the audio for sound bars. A lot more people have those and it would ensure the formats future and find a place for it.

[@gg-ip3zo]

I’ll try to explain this the best I can. Device: AirPod Pros Spotify with the vocals in the middle and the based turned all the way up; sounds like a BMW 7 Series with the Bang and Olufsen sound system. Apple Music with this feature sounds like a Chevy Equinox with 4 small Bluetooth speakers, one on each door.

[@aditya.sharma]

Love the way you explain things

[@RyanGreen]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@albertoarizaga9546]

Same here, I found the Dolby Atmos experience awesome for Jazz and Classical. But for Rock or Pop, it didn’t work the way I wanted to; I was expecting for Coldplay to be great in Dolby Atmos (Only Higher Power) but I prefer the stereo set up a lot.

[@djsoulfilter]

Same here

[@RyanGreen]

I was worried everyone would hate me for saying it haha but seems like most of us are feeling the same way

[@eduardoquerino]

For me, "Harry's House" album has the best Dolby Atmos version I've ever heard. Try to listen to it

[@rs660alec3]

It’s hard to go back once you listen to it this way