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Netflix Allegedly Testing Spatial Audio Support for AirPods Pro and AirPods Max

andyorkney said:
I’m using my AirPods Pro on Apple TV occasionally. If spacial audio was available then it would become a very regular move and the whole household would be doing same so we can set volume to personal taste and decide if we would prefer to isolate in noise cancellation or be socialble in transparency mode.
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So when you watch a show, you want the dialog to sound like it's coming from a tiny box sitting 10 feet off to the side of your TV? Also, "whole household" is limited to 2 people, and you'd have to pass the remote back and forth to adjust volume, so maybe come up with some hand signals if you plan on using cancellation
 
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This is good news. I like the spatial audio feature in my Pro AirPods. It makes watching shows on a smaller screen (12 Pro Max) better.
 
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If I have used spatial audio I haven't noticed it.

I thought it simulated sound direction from the TV. How would that even work with the Apple TV as many people don't have their Apple TV under their TV. Can you calibrate it or something so it knows where the TV is?
 
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randyhudson said:
In other words, you don't know what spatial audio is.
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I know what it is.. for 360VR and videos. The sound changes as your "view" changes.. or your head moves. Positional audio.

Do you constantly turn your head and look around when you are at a movie theater?
 
It just starts in the direction you're looking and the Airpods detect when you move your head. I think the gyro function in an iOS device is to compensate for movement if you are viewing on a train for example. I don't think the Apple TV would need gyro function as it doesn't move. I think the only reason it doesn't work on the current ATV is its processor can't do the maths to work with the Airpods. Same reason older phones and iPads can't do it.

I fully expect to see it work on the next ATV...
 
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The first time I experienced 'spatial audio', it honestly freaked me out. (Part of it was that it actually worked) Oops...

Funky.

I was glad it worked. I was surprised they were able to actually pull it off. But anyway...
 
Thats great If you turn the volume up high enough you almost cant hear how apple trampled on the american people.
 
CrysisDeu said:
Maybe next-gen Apple TV will get gyro and UWB, then they might support spatial audio.
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Is that the sticking point? I had assumed the headphones themselves have gyros and that they just need to "know" where the screen is. I do hope they solve this though, because spatial audio is pretty neat but not neat enough to make me watch a whole movie on a handheld device instead of a proper screen.
 
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apparatchik said:
I dont know how many we are, but to me its now my default way of watching TV, the sound is better than my TV's audio, and I dont bother other people, I share an apartment with my gf, and as we both work from home nowdays, its so much discreet, etc.

For me it just makes sense. When just one person is watching TV, to be respectful to others and use headphones, specially if you live in an apartment, your neighbors, roommates, significant other, etc. Dont have to deal with a TV sounding in the background, and you can listen to political content, or guilty pop music, or blast thru a FPS without everybody around you knowing what music you like, what game you're playing, etc.

The days of people studying or working or sleeping in their bedroom while TV sound coming as a muffled soundtrack from the living room are over thank god. To me this has been perhaps the greatest benefit of truly wireless earphones and the strongest use case why Im considering buying the airpods max instead of a sound bar for the TV, to have great sound quality on the living room without blasting everybody around me.
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I absolutely use my AirPods with my Apple TV too! I stay up later than my wife and I can have the sound on and it doesn’t bother her. Also, like you the sound is better than my TVs is. Especially with the Spatial audio. That feature blows my mind how it works, I doubted it at first. Glad I was wrong.
 
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Spatial Audio is amazing for music only. I don’t watch movie while using headphones. I still prefer old school home threats 7.1 setup..love to see and feel my room shaking with thumping bass👊
 
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Ironically the spatial audio demo uses a two channel track and sounds great. If music apps could use it on iOS that would be very fun.

Yes but the killer app will be with the ATV. It sounds like a multi thousand dollar surround sound system.

And even if head tracking doesn’t work with ATV, the spatial part would be worth using. I’d upgrade my ATV and buy a second one just for this.
 
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Chung123 said:
I know what it is.. for 360VR and videos. The sound changes as your "view" changes.. or your head moves. Positional audio.

Do you constantly turn your head and look around when you are at a movie theater?
Click to expand...

Actually one of the main ways humans interpret the location of sounds is by subtly moving the head a tiny bit and noticing how sound changes. It greatly improves the surround effect to have have tracking as part of it.
 
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Chung123 said:
I know what it is.. for 360VR and videos. The sound changes as your "view" changes.. or your head moves. Positional audio.

Do you constantly turn your head and look around when you are at a movie theater?
Click to expand...
Over-ear headphone takes the effects of the entire outer ear over frequency response and such. Yes you can emulate the same effect on IEM, but that also means one more filtering/processing which can never been as accurate, because every one has different ear canals.
 
couldn’t they do what phillips do like the entertainment area? You tell the app where the ATV is in the room and maybe put a marker to say where you sit and then it can work out location or something?
 
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apparatchik said:
I dont know how many we are, but to me its now my default way of watching TV, the sound is better than my TV's audio, and I dont bother other people, I share an apartment with my gf, and as we both work from home nowdays, its so much discreet, etc.

For me it just makes sense. When just one person is watching TV, to be respectful to others and use headphones, specially if you live in an apartment, your neighbors, roommates, significant other, etc. Dont have to deal with a TV sounding in the background, and you can listen to political content, or guilty pop music, or blast thru a FPS without everybody around you knowing what music you like, what game you're playing, etc.

The days of people studying or working or sleeping in their bedroom while TV sound coming as a muffled soundtrack from the living room are over thank god. To me this has been perhaps the greatest benefit of truly wireless earphones and the strongest use case why Im considering buying the airpods max instead of a sound bar for the TV, to have great sound quality on the living room without blasting everybody around me.
Click to expand...
How do you use them for gaming? I can’t connect mine to my Switch nor my PS4.
 
marvin_h said:
Actually one of the main ways humans interpret the location of sounds is by subtly moving the head a tiny bit and noticing how sound changes. It greatly improves the surround effect to have have tracking as part of it.
Click to expand...
Oh it’s cool.. spatial audio that adjusts to where your view/head/tilt position is. (Definitely important for VR or 360 videos) But ultimately— it is just 2 channels of sound: Left and Right—- (binaural) Even without the tracking.. it’s very immersive and would be able to work with any stereo headphone. Apple should let it work even without tracking—- that is continue to provide the spatial audio.. but a “fixed” position if no AirPod Pro is present.
 
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Chung123 said:
Oh it’s cool.. spatial audio that adjusts to where your view/head/tilt position is. (Definitely important for VR or 360 videos) But ultimately— it is just 2 channels of sound: Left and Right—- (binaural) Even without the tracking.. it’s very immersive and would be able to work with any stereo headphone. Apple should let it work even without tracking—- that is continue to provide the spatial audio.. but a “fixed” position if no AirPod Pro is present.
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I agree. In situations where the head tracking is not possible, at least offering the spatialization would be great.

Ive been eagerly following this tech for twenty years. The original Dolby Headphone, which they didn’t invent but bought, was somewhat meh. I’ve been buying this tech when affordable (ie not the Smythe Realiser, which is the gold standard so far) and in terms of bang for buck, Apples solution is the clear winner.....so seeing it expand to more situations would be awesome.
 
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If you have a Apple Lightening or USB-C Digital AV adapter, hook up your on iphone or ipad HDMI to TV and airplay spatial audio to your Airpod Pros from Apple TV app
 
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