It’s too bad the Sonos Era 100 doesn’t have spatial audio. I guess spending $50 more or waiting for Black Friday/Amazon discounts on the HomePod 2 ($249?) makes more sense.
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Sonos Now Supports Apple Music Spatial Audio on These Speakers and Sound Bars
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I guess I'm in that "10%" as I'm very much enjoying Dolby Atmos content via both my home theater system and via my master bedroom Sonos system (ARC + sub + surrounds).
It is a shame that both speakers won’ t work as a stereo pair for your tv/hometheater . I really don’ t like soundbars. I want a setup that has 2 paired speakers for both hometheater, music and podcasts in my living room.
That is why I bought 2 HomePods and an Apple TV 4K 2022. For what I need , that is a great setup.
That is why I bought 2 HomePods and an Apple TV 4K 2022. For what I need , that is a great setup.
You'll be surprised to learn that an algorithm alters sound on almost every modern listening device. Usually adjusting for the speakers and environment. Plus, unless you're listening on some seriously expensive speakers, you won't ever be hearing exactly what was mixed in post production.
A more specific headline would be:
"Sonos now plays Dolby Atmos content from Apple Music but is still cannot play lossless content, and it still cannot play Dolby Atmos from Amazon Music or Tidal nor Sony 360 RA from any services"
It would bug me that such an expensive speaker is still incapable of playing CD-quality audio from Apple Music. Strangely enough, it can play lossless content from Amazon Music (but not spatial...), Tidal or Qobuz.
"Sonos now plays Dolby Atmos content from Apple Music but is still cannot play lossless content, and it still cannot play Dolby Atmos from Amazon Music or Tidal nor Sony 360 RA from any services"
It would bug me that such an expensive speaker is still incapable of playing CD-quality audio from Apple Music. Strangely enough, it can play lossless content from Amazon Music (but not spatial...), Tidal or Qobuz.
Apple Music has 100 million songs, but the entire catalogue of the three major labels is maybe 5 million. Add a few million (maybe 10-20) indie tracks that are worth something, and most of the rest is filler material: covers, karaoke tracks, instrumental covers, "relaxation music", sounds of nature. This race to 100 million tracks has been a massive marketing willy-measuring contest.
Spatial Audio means any multichannel or object-based format.
For music streaming, there are two competing formats that are popular:
- MPEG-H 3D, a lossy codec marketed as Sony 360 Reality Audio (available on Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, Nugs, formerly on Deezer) and
- a lossy/compressed, streaming-friendly version of Dolby Atmos (available on Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal). Dolby Atmos is a container, not a codec, and can use a variety of codecs such as AC-3, AC-4, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD... Apple Music seems to use AC-4 or DD+ depending on sources, but I'm not quite sure. It's lossy in any case.
The "Dolby Atmos" branding is a little misleading as it's the same branding as the one used with higher bitrate and lossless audio in cinemas and on Blu-Ray. But the Atmos you get on Netflix or Apple Music is always in a compressed format, it's a lesser experience.
MPEG-H Audio vs. "Dolby Atmos" - there is a winner!
"Dolby Atmos" and "MPEG-H Audio" are the two Next Generation Audio (NGA) competitors! But which of them is better?
www.vrtonung.de
Many artists and/or producers are participating in the Atmos mixing/mastering process now, so having equipment that supports this is hearing it the way the artist intends it—today.
I have a Sonos Arc with a sub and two ERA 300s as surrounds, all of which support Atmos and Spatial Audio, and the masters I’ve selected by bands I love that are certified as artist-approved sound transformational in this format.
So many instruments that were previously buried in the stereo mix are now audible—and as an amateur musician myself, hearing this for the first time is thrilling. All of Lindsay Buckingham’s studio trickery is now evident in Atmos—and Steven Wilson’s Atmos and 5.1 mixes of XTC’s catalog, Yes, ABC and Tears for Fears are nothing short of incredible. Same with Giles Martin’s efforts with the Beatles catalog.
If you try to listen to these mixes on a system that isn’t Atmos capable, the experience can be off-putting. Prior to my purchase of the ERA 300’s, I was using old Sonos Play:3s as surrounds, and some of the music elements often sounded disembodied from the overall mix. I could tell I was listening to something processed, because the original balance of instruments from the stereo mix was lost. The sound was interesting, but didn’t sound full or complete. The left surround was closest to me and it overpowered the rest of the mix. It sounded too distanced from the album I was accustomed to.
Since I got the ERA 300s and completed the proper 7.1.4 configuration, especially after I performed Trueplay tuning and got all the speaker distances and phases properly set up, when I listen now it sounds like the original version I grew to love, just more immersive. Even though my left ERA 300 surround is three feet from my ear, when I’m sitting from my sofa I can’t hear it any louder than the other speakers. Everything is balanced and perfect. And no matter where I move to in the room, with Spatial Audio everything remains balanced and natural-sounding.
Stereo music was an arbitrary invention from nearly a century ago that endeavored to make the music soundstage more realistic, based on the best technology available at that time. And many people objected to it as artificial back then, just as you are now. Circumferential music is a long-overdue advancement in the same concept, that has been attempted with varying degrees of success for niche markets for years.
It’s only with the advent of digital technology, adequate storage containers, wireless bandwidth, multi-driver, independently powered speakers, and sufficient processing power that true Spatial Audio has been achievable for the mass market. It’s every bit as authentic as stereo if done correctly and played on the appropriate equipment, and it’s the future of audio listening I’m afraid. In the meantime, the stereo mixes remain available to everyone not interested in the technology—although for the first time in my life as a music lover, I think they’re missing out.