Eddy Cue Says Spatial Audio on Apple Music is Equivalent to Watching HD Television for First Time

[sjsharksfan12]

I confess I'm very ignorant to audio features and I'm confused about all of this. When I heard the examples with Marvin Gaye and the Weeknd, when they went to Spatial audio it felt like listening to an echo underwater. The sound was immersive, but it didn't really feel as clean as the stereo versions. Is that the point of spatial audio, where you want kind of an echo to what you are listening to? It seems like if you are listening to music working out, that might be a little bit of a distraction.

 

[Mausse]

I think a lot of artist will be mad that apple TOTALLY ruined their stereo mix. It lays a blanket over the vocals. What a marketing hype.. pure stereo it is!

 

[SpringKid]

Mono from 2 or 4 speakers can often sound better, especially if the original was mastered in mono.

Some of the beatles songs remastered in stereo lost their blended quality, and the music was performed to be blended.

Yes of course, if the original is in mono, mono will sound better.

 

[SpringKid]

I think a lot of artist will be mad that apple TOTALLY ruined their stereo mix. It lays a blanket over the vocals. What a marketing hype.. pure stereo it is!

You think Apple is doing the Atmos mixing?

 

[ikramerica]

I just listened to Spatial Audio for the first time. It was the first time I actually heard true music. A tear started to run down my cheek as I experienced this concept, so familiar yet so foreign. I saw the music in front of me. Behind me. Bathing my body in melody. Whispering in my ears revelations the Universe previously kept secret to Herself.

For the first time, I am alive.

I felt that way the first time I saw “Ernest goes to Camp”. Sadly, the feeling fades.

 

[ikramerica]

Yes of course, if the original is in mono, mono will sound better.

So…

All the original stereo recordings should sound better in stereo than spatial?

That’s my point. It’s actually song by song, case by case.

 

[SpringKid]

So…

All the original stereo recordings should sound better in stereo than spatial?

That’s my point. It’s actually song by song, case by case.

Completely agree, I'm saying the same thing here. It's not down to Atmos vs. stereo, really. It's down to how a song is mixed, regards of channels.

Edit: However, the songs available in Atmos is not just stereo played in an Atmos setup.

 

[MikeyMondy]

I think a lot of artist will be mad that apple TOTALLY ruined their stereo mix. It lays a blanket over the vocals. What a marketing hype.. pure stereo it is!

This has nothing to do with Apple. They just brought a headphone compatible version of Dolby Atmos Music to their devices. Atmos Music development was done by Dolby with consulting, and the remixing needed to make it work is done by mixing engineers.
The stereo mixes will always be there as an option for those who prefer them.

 

[ikramerica]

Just gave spatial playback a listen on my AirPods, HomePod, and mini. Honestly, this makes the HomePods sound more like I thought they would. It lets them fill the room a little more from that singular fixed position (there's just one in each room). And I like it. On AirPods it just sounds like the gimmicky thing I assumed it would be. Hearing Zane Lowe describe all the amazing details I should be noticing is just hype IMO. It sounds different but not insanely detailed and enveloping. So my hot take on this: makes HomePods sound better but probably not worth bothering when listening through stereo speakers.

Kind of like the DSP modes on those 4 speaker Pro Logic AV all in one systems from the 90s. I had one that worked quite well for what it was, and you could really improve some material in a small room.

Yet a quality setup of discrete components and audiophile speakers and amps usually sounded best when you set the input to DIRECT and removed all the processing. With the same material.

 

[ikramerica]

After listening and comparing maybe a half dozen songs I've come to the conclusion that Atmos is just a different stereo mix, so it may or may not sound much different and if may or may not sound "better." It just depends upon which mix you prefer (if you can even tell the difference).

I do wonder, however, whether Atmos is mainly just a mix created automatically by a computer program whereas a normal stereo mix is determined by the person(s) who did the original mastering/mixing to stereo.

Of all of the songs that I've listened to Marvin Gaye 's "What's Going On" seems to show the greatest difference. But, that was originally released in mono and the stereo mix that they compared it to may have just been done poorly. In fact, the differences could have come from a more recent remastering for the Atmos version.

This. And I am usually of the opinion that the mix that was released at first is the mix that was actually intended by the artist and producer as a creative team.

Remixes are a “second take” on a song. Sometimes they are better because the producer overdid things and the artists preferred a do over. But usually the new mix doesn’t involve the same people and suffers.

 

[76morgan]

I think its odd really. As its really a different mix of whatever you were used to listening to. Not necessarily an improvement. It's not what the mixer and the mastering house wanted you to hear. (i.e. the original stereo mix)

I listened to Pat Benetar's "We Belong" in Atmos and within the first 5 seconds I noticed it is a different mix. There are vocals there that simply weren't there before in stereo. I don't think they add anything. In fact, I liked the instrumental intro better.

 

[ikramerica]

Completely agree, I'm saying the same thing here. It's not down to Atmos vs. stereo, really. It's down to how a song is mixed, regards of channels.

Edit: However, the songs available in Atmos is not just stereo played in an Atmos setup.

Nor are the remixed 60s songs. They are remastered from the original tapes. But it doesn’t make them any better if a harmonious mix is now a distinct soundstage.

 

[lpolarityl]

Alright… coming back to the thread after listening to actual lossless albums. Oh my. If you’re a Tool fan, listen to any of their albums, they sound amazing.

H from AEnima specifically, my goodness it sounds so goooood!

 

[ElBerserko]

If you can't tell the difference between standard definition and HD then you should probably see an eye doctor. When HD came out in the early 2000's it was a massive leap forward, everyone was blown away when they first saw an HD TV fed with HD content.

Some of the HD content in the early 2000's were much higher quality than the HD we get today. They used insanely expensive cameras and lenses and used much higher bitrates. TV broadcasts went from around 20Mbps down to less than 6Mbps using the same MPEG2 compression technology. That "blown away" feeling was real back then.

 

[Capeto]

I really don't get it - it sounds like a stereo mix with more channel separation between instruments?

Maybe if you had a proper Dolby Atmos setup with actual upper and lower speakers you'd be able to hear a difference.

 

[Artemis70]

It was a technical question on how to, though, not what's easy or not.

When you say "just", that implies easy. Technically you are correct that one has to remove the download(s) and redownload. Practically that is not a solution.

My $0.02 is that Apple has once again made something very good only to get lost in user friendliness. I'm afraid there have been more examples in recent years.

 

[Marek Bujko]

Hi, is there a big difference compared to Spatial Audio + Dolby Atmos on Xbox One (2013) and Windows 10?

 

[CJ_Ocean]

No, Eddy. Lossless is like watching HD for the first time; spatial audio is like bringing back 3D glasses.

 

[MrGIS]

Do beats studio 3s and Powerbeats Pro get spatial audio and if so how to activate it?

Strictly speaking, ALL headphones get spatial audio.

Supported songs automatically play in Dolby Atmos when you're listening with:

• AirPods Pro or AirPods Max with spatial audio turned on. Go to Control Center, touch and hold the volume button, then tap Spatial Audio.
• AirPods
• BeatsX, Beats Solo3 Wireless, Beats Studio3, Powerbeats3 Wireless, Beats Flex, Powerbeats Pro, or Beats Solo Pro

If you want to use other headphones that don’t support automatic playback, choose Always On. This setting only applies to headphones.

 

[MozMan68]

So, does anyone on here really know what the difference is and how this is being created for Apple Music? I think not as it sounds like some of you think Apple is just applying some pre-configured "effect" to take a standard stereo song and make it come out different to your ears.

Lossless is lossless and I don't think we need to discuss.

Spatial Audio is simply Apple providing the CAPABILITY for one to hear songs re-mixed, remastered or originally recorded in DOLBY Atmos...this is the music creators doing this, not Apple. Appl is simply giving you the capability to experience Atmos on the songs that have it.

The next thing we'll hear is how some of you prefer the "warmth" and crackles of a record player.

Making lossless and Atmos songs available on a streaming service like Apple Music that works with my Apple products is pretty damn amazing if you ask me. We can argue all day whether or not the artists, the producers, the record company, some third party owner of the music "ruined" the music by remastering it or screwing with the original mix, but tat argument has been going on since before CD's were introduced and that became a "thing."

 

[SpringKid]

When you say "just", that implies easy. Technically you are correct that one has to remove the download(s) and redownload. Practically that is not a solution.

My $0.02 is that Apple has once again made something very good only to get lost in user friendliness. I'm afraid there have been more examples in recent years.

Dude, just stop. I replied to a person who asked if they needed to just remove the downloaded file or also remove the song completely from the library and re-add it.

 

[jjDevt]

getting the same mixed bag of results for spatial Audio as most ppl here. But I just turned off spatial audio on my Apple TV 4K and turned on Lossless. This really makes a difference on my Sonos 5.1 setup, it is so much better, even somebody like me can hear the difference. Apple better support a wireless standard in the future which can deliver Lossless. For now I will keep spatial Audio turned off and Lossless turned on on my Apple TV and vice versa on my iPhone.

 

[chris4565]

Spatial Audio is simply Apple providing the CAPABILITY for one to hear songs re-mixed, remastered or originally recorded in DOLBY Atmos...this is the music creators doing this, not Apple. Appl is simply giving you the capability to experience Atmos on the songs that have it.

My huge gripe (and probably other people's issue as well) is that the feature is enabled by default. So for the people that don't like this feature this means that potentially dozens or even more songs get ruined for them and less tech-savvy people might not even know what's going on. I think Apple should at least have made a splash screen explaining the new feature and asking whether or not you want to turn it on. That's at least my personal opinion.

 

[Minato1990]

Strictly speaking, ALL headphones get spatial audio.

Supported songs automatically play in Dolby Atmos when you're listening with:

• AirPods Pro or AirPods Max with spatial audio turned on. Go to Control Center, touch and hold the volume button, then tap Spatial Audio.
• AirPods
• BeatsX, Beats Solo3 Wireless, Beats Studio3, Powerbeats3 Wireless, Beats Flex, Powerbeats Pro, or Beats Solo Pro

If you want to use other headphones that don’t support automatic playback, choose Always On. This setting only applies to headphones.

So how do I turn it on
Or is it turned on automatically cuz I don’t see in control center

 

[jmgregory1]

I’ll show my age a bit here, and say that this Spatial Audio / Dolby Atmos seems sort of like a digital reinterpretation of the quadraphonic stereos of the 1970’s. I remember a friend whose dad had a crazy groovy quadraphonic stereo, with tapes that were 4 channels, so you actually heard different instruments or vocals coming from different speakers in the room. I was mystified by it then, but of course it was such a niche thing with limited options for music that would work on it.

And that’s the thing with Spatial Audio, they’re going to need artists and studios to start capturing more sounds and engineer them for an immersive experience for it to really take off, imho. I listened to some of the example songs Apple has and some sounded like they had a much larger soundstage, which was great, while others simply felt different (neither good nor bad). I do think that Apple is correct in pushing beyond just offering lossless audio, as so few people can even hear the difference, but having an altered soundstage, if done well, can be immersive in a way that everyone can enjoy the benefits of.