Agreed some engineers love to overcompress and brick wall a track for radio. All this being said I think this spatial audio is just a beta test for it’s true intent and that’s for VR. I see them working out the kinks with Apple Music but the end game (IMO) is to have a crazy immersive spatial audio format for use with the Apple glasses VR system. That’s where I see this going. Not Apple Music
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Spatial Audio on Apple Music Promoted in New 'Beyond Stereo' Ad
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Yeah definitely, how it’s mixed and mastered certainly drives how it’ll sound, in addition to what kind of direction mixing is taking place. The loudness thing is particularly painful because it’s one of the easiest things to get right, yet everyone just wants to go for crushed sound to achieve a louder track, even though most streaming services normalize anyway to like -14.
I think they want it to be popular across the board.
Yes, there is a site DR Wars or something like that, which shows just how many albums had this issue. It is a widespread problem.
I was listening to classic jazz Spatial Audio tracks (mainly the Herbie Hancock album) the other night in virtual Atmos (5.1) and my girlfriend came in, sat down and started working on her laptop. About 20 minutes in, she looks up and says "what did you do to your system?" I said "why" and she said it sounded better than ever...she didn't even know about Apple adding SA or lossless.
I think that's the point. As mentioned, it doesn't sound great on every track... "Summer of 69" stands out as a not so great sound IMO. However, I will just leave it on and see if I get tired of it. So far, I like it on speakers.
Given that Daft Punk broke up relatively recently…I don’t think we’ll see it any time soon, which is tragic.
I‘ve yet to be convinced, listening on multiple products (including stereo HomePods). Some older songs sound worse to me. Gaga remastered her whole album in Spatial and it just sounds…messy. It seems like the whole point is to separate the elements of the songs more but there is no noticeable effect on her songs.
Maybe this sounds best on AirPods Max and it’s a trap so we all have to buy them. Damn you Apple!
I think some person somewhere has to submit a new Dolby Atmos mix. So, if there’s a part of this that’s automated, it’s probably an engineer clicking a “Dolbyfication” button and calling it a day rather than actually taking the time to produce a proper mix (or the original engineer isn’t available, and the person picking up the work can’t follow the intent?).
Yea, they ended on mutual terms though, but I can’t really imagine anything that would delay their albums(or anyone’s albums for any reason) from becoming available in Atmos.
It’s not like John Lennon and Marvin Gaye were just in the studio reworking their albums for Atmos, but they are available lol. I’m joking, I know it doesn’t work that way, but I don’t see how any issue other than an artist specifically not wanting their albums in Atmos to not be available within the next year or so. Even then I don’t really know what they could do about it.
Is like watching a normally recorded movie "converted" to 3D in your TV. "Beyond 2D".
"Spatial" sound good is good for movies, but for music, cmmon the instruments are not like bullets being shooted that need to be placed around you, we need hi fidelity, not fake "spatiality".
The real fiasco is that apple devices cant support true HiFi lossless, at any price point!.
"Spatial" sound good is good for movies, but for music, cmmon the instruments are not like bullets being shooted that need to be placed around you, we need hi fidelity, not fake "spatiality".
The real fiasco is that apple devices cant support true HiFi lossless, at any price point!.
I don’t understand why anyone can complain it simply gives you another option don’t have to go with it and I bet people complained about stereo when they had previously mono
It’s still an effort, though. Some artists and engineers are likely excited to revisit their old stuff. Some may consider the art that exists as a “settled matter” and don’t see the need. Another group, though, that I didn’t think about until just now, may want to make the Dolby Atmos mix a completely separate thing, so it may be a year or more before we hear some of those.
Oh, there absoLUTEly were people complaining when some of the Beatles’ mono’s were remixed into stereo
For example:
So what do Beatles records sound like in mono? Different and mostly better: more gripping and exciting. There is an intensity to mono because it was mixed to blast straight into you from that one speaker. By contrast, the stereo separation diffuses the atmosphere in some songs and distracts in others.
I’m sure stereo is more gripping and exciting, you see!
I think it’s another gimmick that only adds some effects in certain specific songs,maybe it’s useful for games or some movies but not really important in music.
will soon be forgotten.
will soon be forgotten.
For me Music files with spatial audio enabled is less loud than stereo. At this moment for me it’s not a game changer for the music industry as they are promoting it.
A lot of comments will have “It sounds worse because it sounds different” without even realizing that’s what the comment is saying.
To a purest. Sounds different is a bad thing. They want to come as close as possible to the performance heard in the studio or heard live. Rather to what the original audio technician heard when mastering the track. It's not a matter of sounding better, which is subjective, but sounding accurate. They also won't adjust the EQ because that distorts the audio from original.
Once I was obsessed with this. Then my interest waned. All I care about now is that it sounds okay. As I'm bored of the old music and don't like the newer stuff. I'm fine with cheap earbuds. Not that I use headphones anymore. I've still got all my vintage stereo gear, monitor headphones and vinyl if I want to listen that way again.
Two things:
- As others have said in this thread, only some songs do spatial audio properly. Songs that have just been processed will sound like crap.
- The only way I've gotten spatial audio/atmos to sound really good is to listen to the songs using my Apple TV plugged into my surround sound receiver. The receiver clicks from "STEREO" to "MULTI" and it sounds really neat, with some song elements coming from behind.
But yeah, it only really works for some songs. The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" is a good one in my opinion.
- As others have said in this thread, only some songs do spatial audio properly. Songs that have just been processed will sound like crap.
- The only way I've gotten spatial audio/atmos to sound really good is to listen to the songs using my Apple TV plugged into my surround sound receiver. The receiver clicks from "STEREO" to "MULTI" and it sounds really neat, with some song elements coming from behind.
But yeah, it only really works for some songs. The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" is a good one in my opinion.
Yup. I actually got my hands on one of the SRS WOW Things awhile ago. Neat little gadget to play with and sounded OK. I think I have the demo track audio around here that had a copy of “TangoMar” that I’ve not been able to find the full version ofBeen here before. Anyone remember QSound?
QSound - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Yes! I've listened to a few of the tracks that are supposedly spatial audio and I've found that to be true. Also, I've noticed that some of the musical elements that used to be front and center have been diminished in volume but are otherwise unchanged. So, it's like whoever mastered the song for spatial audio decided things like, "for this particular bass riff, I'm going to drop the volume on the bass by 35%" but the instrument isn't really 'positioned' any differently. To be honest for me the originals still sound superior. I'm open to the idea that songs recorded and mastered with this in mind may sound great, but for existing ones, no so much... at least, not yet. Overall, I'm not impressed. It certainly doesn't feel like the 'game changer' they're trying to sell it as.
Dear Apple: more than one genre exists in music.
How about similar concept, but something orchestral or with an actual band instead of one dude talking to himself, same woman walking down a city street and as she walks the different instruments or band members surround her from different sides, passing by on a bike or singing to her from a doorway as she walks by, literally surrounding her with the music as she walks through her day.
Would be much more interesting visually and with wider appeal than this.
Oh well, I guess it’s still better than that HomePod mini nightmare fuel they put out last Christmas, even if it is uninspired and lazy, especially for an apple ad.
How about similar concept, but something orchestral or with an actual band instead of one dude talking to himself, same woman walking down a city street and as she walks the different instruments or band members surround her from different sides, passing by on a bike or singing to her from a doorway as she walks by, literally surrounding her with the music as she walks through her day.
Would be much more interesting visually and with wider appeal than this.
Oh well, I guess it’s still better than that HomePod mini nightmare fuel they put out last Christmas, even if it is uninspired and lazy, especially for an apple ad.
Reminds me of 3D movies that had 3D elements added afterwards in editing instead of the film being filmed in 3D from the start. The difference in quality and effect is very noticeable.
And why should we trust you?
Sorry, but your opinion is just that - an opinion. There are obviously people who enjoy spatial tracks - and this is no different from remixing mono tracks to stereo or stereo to 5.1 etc.
Many tracks are actually being remastered into spatial.
And the best bit - it’s entirely optional!
I like how Apple finally after years started supporting Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. I haven't been able to praise it on my old Xbox One and Windows 10 in recent years.