I am unable to see the Dolby option.
I am subscribed to Apple One plan and live in India
is this region specific?
I am subscribed to Apple One plan and live in India
is this region specific?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Music: How to Enable Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh bummer !
gonna take time for it to reach india I guess .. usually receive updates more or the less the same day in India.
not sure why they’re slow on the release for this feature
THIS! I think music going forward will incorporate this effect and it will become much better. Some of the songs they converted over were songs from a very long time ago just to show off how it works. Some of the songs sounded way cool to me and others sounded muddy. Patience people.
It's really down to the skill of the engineer doing the mix. Nobody would (or should?) be attempting to 'extract' an Atmos mix from an existing stereo version, but if the engineer has access to the original separately-recorded instrument tracks it's quite possible to make an excellent Atmos version regardless of the age of the material.
Hmm...gotta be honest, it doesn't sound dramatically better to me on my AirPods Pro. At least not what it's been hyped up to be
EDIT: BOOM by Tiesto & Sevenn sounds really good though. The choice of genre/song/mastering quality must also determine some of the end result with this.
In general “hype” is just a marketing scheme and Apple is the best there is at the game. I’ve found that when it comes to audio or visual upgrades night and day rarely if ever exist so while I think spatial audio is great I never expected it to blow me away. It’s a nice bonus. We also have to realize these songs were recorded, mostly, in stereo on equipment that’s surely better now then then. Digital software can only do so much.
I tend to think much of this comes from audiophiles who seem to think they hear better than dogs and are a special breed of human who think they know more than the general public.
REMINDER: Final versions of iOS15.0 and iPadOS15.0 are NOT available yet but will be introduced in Fall '21. 14.6 is the latest official version of both.
FWIW, I've heard Dolby Atmos encoded music through an 11.2 surround sound system with Dolby Atmos separation and it's VERY impressive. The 4 extra speakers in the upper corners of the room raised the soundscape upwards and increased the sensation of "being there" because each of the 11 speakers was playing discrete sound specific to its location. [The dual sub-woofers enhanced the overall bass depth]. I'm not sure what the sound engineers are doing by squeezing 4 channels of ambient sound coming from above onto two channels for headphones and regular stereo systems. It sort of doesn't make sense and seems like it would be nothing more than a 'different mix' of the same music with perhaps some extra 'echo' thrown in; i.e., nothing more than a kludgy marketing concept. So I have Dolby Atmos turned Off on my iPhone and iPad.
The above discussion is apart from that of lossless audio that is a compression technology that mathematically removes some of the bits to create a slightly smaller file but that when played through the appropriate decoder sounds just like the original source. Apple calls theirs Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) and creates files with an .m4a extension. These contain all of the sounds evident in the original recordings and potentially should sound better than .mp3 encoded files that are smaller because they are encoded with a lossy form of compression. All of the music in my music database on my laptop is Apple Lossless because I've imported music from CDs in that format and purchased music from Apple Music in that format. The entire music library on my laptop is larger because of this.
Admittedly, it is often difficult to perceive the differences between songs stored as .m4a (lossless) vs. .mp3 (lossy) because I have tested this by importing different kinds of music from CDs both ways. It seems that 'lossless' cannot make a poorly recorded CD song sound better, nor can 'lossy' make a really well-recorded CD song sound noticeably less impressive. It's a matter of taste and I prefer knowing that ALL of the available music is lossless.
FWIW, I've heard Dolby Atmos encoded music through an 11.2 surround sound system with Dolby Atmos separation and it's VERY impressive. The 4 extra speakers in the upper corners of the room raised the soundscape upwards and increased the sensation of "being there" because each of the 11 speakers was playing discrete sound specific to its location. [The dual sub-woofers enhanced the overall bass depth]. I'm not sure what the sound engineers are doing by squeezing 4 channels of ambient sound coming from above onto two channels for headphones and regular stereo systems. It sort of doesn't make sense and seems like it would be nothing more than a 'different mix' of the same music with perhaps some extra 'echo' thrown in; i.e., nothing more than a kludgy marketing concept. So I have Dolby Atmos turned Off on my iPhone and iPad.
The above discussion is apart from that of lossless audio that is a compression technology that mathematically removes some of the bits to create a slightly smaller file but that when played through the appropriate decoder sounds just like the original source. Apple calls theirs Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) and creates files with an .m4a extension. These contain all of the sounds evident in the original recordings and potentially should sound better than .mp3 encoded files that are smaller because they are encoded with a lossy form of compression. All of the music in my music database on my laptop is Apple Lossless because I've imported music from CDs in that format and purchased music from Apple Music in that format. The entire music library on my laptop is larger because of this.
Admittedly, it is often difficult to perceive the differences between songs stored as .m4a (lossless) vs. .mp3 (lossy) because I have tested this by importing different kinds of music from CDs both ways. It seems that 'lossless' cannot make a poorly recorded CD song sound better, nor can 'lossy' make a really well-recorded CD song sound noticeably less impressive. It's a matter of taste and I prefer knowing that ALL of the available music is lossless.
I agree.
The old SoundMirror analog was 1000% better.
The music Oligopoly needs to be taken down.
The Jurrasic park theme sounds incredible on AirPods Max. This is very hit and miss on songs. That’s the first one I noticed any difference on.I agree.
The old SoundMirror analog was 1000% better.
The music Oligopoly needs to be taken down.
Yeah but can you EDIT it with scissors and cellophane tape? My point exactly.
Sounded great through Apple TV and my stereo system. When I first try to play song, it said if I wanted it to be Atmos, I had to delete song and re-download, then I got it.
I have been listening to the Apple playlist of Atmos music and for the most part sounds great. Surprised at how well the Beatles "Come Together" sounds. When I started in the retail audio business when Abby Road was released, it never sounded this good. Abby Road has to be one of the all time great albums, we sat in my sound room and listened to it over and over.
"Riders on the Storm" another great track on Atmos.
Last edited:
When Dolby Atmos is set to automatic, I wish it would switch to Lossless when you aren't listening with a capable device.
If you’re on iOS 15 Apple has enabled head tracking for ATMOS and stereo spatialisation server side. I suggest your check out both, it is a mindblowingly different experience!
Apple has rolled out a new spatial audio feature for Apple Music subscribers that uses Dolby Atmos to create a richer, more immersive soundstage when listening to songs in the Apple Music catalog.
With Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos enabled, the subjective experience is that musical notes are coming from all around you. The steps below show you how to control the new audio feature on any iOS device with an Apple Music subscription.
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap Music.
- Under "Audio," tap Dolby Atmos.
- Select from Automatic, Always On, and Off.
Now that you've enabled Dolby Atmos, you'll be able to enjoy a more immersive audio experience. Apple Music will play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as will the built-in speakers of the newest iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Just make sure that you have Spatial Audio enabled on capable headphones.
You can check which tracks in Apple Music support the audio effect by looking for the logo in the app interface. Apple plans to add new Dolby Atmos tracks on a regular basis, and will offer up a curated selection of Dolby Atmos playlists. At launch, there are thousands of Dolby Atmos-enabled songs that are available to listen to.
Article Link: Apple Music: How to Enable Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio
on iOS15 beta, the real Dolby Atmos is enabled.
Apple has rolled out a new spatial audio feature for Apple Music subscribers that uses Dolby Atmos to create a richer, more immersive soundstage when listening to songs in the Apple Music catalog.
With Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos enabled, the subjective experience is that musical notes are coming from all around you. The steps below show you how to control the new audio feature on any iOS device with an Apple Music subscription.
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap Music.
- Under "Audio," tap Dolby Atmos.
- Select from Automatic, Always On, and Off.
Now that you've enabled Dolby Atmos, you'll be able to enjoy a more immersive audio experience. Apple Music will play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as will the built-in speakers of the newest iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Just make sure that you have Spatial Audio enabled on capable headphones.
You can check which tracks in Apple Music support the audio effect by looking for the logo in the app interface. Apple plans to add new Dolby Atmos tracks on a regular basis, and will offer up a curated selection of Dolby Atmos playlists. At launch, there are thousands of Dolby Atmos-enabled songs that are available to listen to.
Article Link: Apple Music: How to Enable Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio
Sounds just like the PRO-MAX SURROUND button on my 1996 Onkyo amp. What year is it?
Just to be clear, dolby atmos from apple music does not work in the homepods yet, right?. Like happens with lossless.
The only way to get Dolby Atmos from Apple Music playing on the (original) homepods is to set them as the default audio output of an Apple TV 4K, presumably because the Apple TV does all the heavy-lifting with the Atmos decoding.
I assume that a software update will come in the future to enable lossless AND atmos support on the homepods, or at least I hope so
The only way to get Dolby Atmos from Apple Music playing on the (original) homepods is to set them as the default audio output of an Apple TV 4K, presumably because the Apple TV does all the heavy-lifting with the Atmos decoding.
I assume that a software update will come in the future to enable lossless AND atmos support on the homepods, or at least I hope so
There are film scores in dolby Atmos?. Interesting. I feel orchestral music is going to benefit the most from this IF mixed and mastered correctly.
Last edited:
Atmos stream are lossy. Lossless streams are in stereo. Lossless and Atmos don´t go together.
Because lossless and Atmos are for the moment only available for the apple music catalogue, not the Itunes Store one. Apple confirmed it to the media.