Stereo sound has rule euphony production for decennium , but much like mono sound before it , stereo ’s fourth dimension may be easy do to an end . Over the past few yr , there ’s been a growing campaign in the recording industry toward so - calledspatial audioformats . The most pop of these formats is Dolby Atmos Music , and it can make good ol’ stereo auditory sensation like mono AM radio .

But what exactly is Dolby Atmos Music ? How is it dissimilar than two-channel ? And what kind of gear do you involve to listen to it at home and on the go ? We ’ve got everything you require to know to get on the Dolby Atmos Music caravan .

What is Dolby Atmos Music?

If you ’ve been to see a blockbuster action movie in the theater , you ’ve probably already hear whatDolby Atmos can do for movieswith its immersive , three - dimensional sound field . Dolby Atmos Music puts that same technology into the manpower of musicians and producers , let them craft songs and other recordings that possess a greater good sense of blank space and depth than the traditional stereoscopic picture recording we ’re used to .

More on Dolby Atmos :

Keep the channels open

It all starts in the studio apartment . In the world of two-channel recording , engineers use multiple tracks to record unlike portion of the same song . drum go on one track , conduct guitar on another , and so on . When everything ’s finish up , the producer and applied scientist may elect to “ pan ” some of those tracks more to the left or right in parliamentary procedure to produce an immersive stereo system commixture , but the resultant role is always two - television channel sound — one channel for each speaker in a stereo pair .

Dolby Atmos Music works differently . Instead of being confine to just two line , it uses the same 9.1 - TV channel , 7.1.2 surround - sound format as the home theater edition of Dolby Atmos .

And just like theatrical Atmos , Atmos Music can take advantage of an extra 118 auditory sensation “ objects , ” which can move severally and freely in 3D space .

In other Bible , alternatively of having a individual cart track for the brake drum and then deciding how far to the odd or right the brake drum should sit in a stereo mix , the producer could take just the snare drum and move it all around a room , or have it come from just one viewgraph speaker at the back of the room , or have it come from all of the speakers at once .

If you ’ve ever been in a Dolby Atmos theater and hear a helicopter fly overhead from one recession of the room to another , you ’ve already experienced how this technology can make movies more immersive . Dolby Atmos Music expend the same conception but with the finish of plunge you in a Song dynasty instead of a movie .

It ’s an unprecedented degree of control for producers , and much like the 3D impression in movies , it can palpate jarring or even tinny if it ’s execute in a ham actor - fisted way . But by the same token , it can also feel sublime when the spacial options are manipulated by a dextrous and experienced hand .

How can I listen to Dolby Atmos Music?

listen to Dolby Atmos Music is potential when you have a seed of Dolby Atmos Music and an audio machine that is subject of playing this format .

Atmos Music sources

For most the great unwashed , the easy direction to get at Dolby Atmos Music tracks will be to use a music pour table service . As of November 2024 , your choice areApple Music , Tidal , andAmazon Music .

alas for Spotify fans , that service has n’t announced any program to offer Dolby Atmos Music tracks . This may deepen if Spotify ever launches itspromised Hi - Fi lossless medicine tier .

For audiophiles , the very best Dolby Atmos Music informant is Blu - light beam discs . Blu - ray discs can be used to encounter Atmos Music , and several albums have been released in this formatting . Beatles rooter will be happy to know thatAbbey Roadhappens to be one of them .

These include live concert performances as well as especial Dolby Atmos version of music albums , like the thirtieth anniversary liberation ofKickby INXS .

The braggy reward of Dolby Atmos Music on Blu - ray is that the audio is demo in Dolby TrueHD , a 24 - bit , in high spirits - resolution lossless audio recording data format , making itthe highest potential quality for Atmos , as opposed to streaming services , which only offer Atmos Music in the lossy , Dolby Digital Plus data format .

Atmos Music-capable devices

If you own aDolby Atmos - equal to soundbarorAV receiver(AVR ) , they ’re also Dolby Atmos Music - compatible when used with the proper computer software or accessories , such as :

For either of these scenarios , you ’ll take to verify your audio system find its sign from an HDMI connection . Connecting a Blu - shaft thespian to your TV via HDMI and then connecting your TV to your soundbar via optical cable wo n’t act . For more on Dolby Atmos ’s connectedness requirements , see our explainer .

or else , we ’re beginning to see AVRs that have built - in Dolby Atmos Music streaming support , like Pioneer Elite’sVSX - LX805 .

Some Dolby Atmos - capable impudent TVs , like LG ’s 7 - series OLED television and newer , support streaming music apps like Apple Music , but they do n’t necessarily keep going Dolby Atmos Music as a format . Be sure to see all of the specifications for your setup .

If you ’re aSonosuser , you have one more choice : As long as you own aSonos Arc Ultra , Sonos Arc , Arc SL , orBeam Gen 2 , you may rain buckets Dolby Atmos Music get across from Amazon Music or Apple Music directly to these loudspeaker system using the Sonos app .

Wireless speakers

These wireless speakers are Dolby Atmos - compatible . mention that unless you utilize headphones or earbuds , you’re able to only stream Dolby Atmos over Wi - Fi as it ’s not yet compatible with Bluetooth for speakers .

We expect more Atmos - capable wireless loudspeaker presently . Apple recently herald that it will make itsAirPlay 2 streaming protocol Atmos - compatible , which could make it much easier for manufacturers to support .

Smartphones and tablets

Unlike Dolby Atmos Music on soundbars , AVRs , or wireless speakers , which all call for Atmos - compatible gear , an increasing number of smartphones and tablets are Dolby Atmos - compatible and do n’t take any extra computer hardware . It ’s made possible through the science ofbinaurally picture spatial audio — a way of delivering sounds to each ear in such a way that mimics what we would listen if the sound were add up from all around us . To hear it , you ’ll necessitate :

The Apple iPhone 7 and young models all stomach spacial audio , as do the following Apple iPads :

spacial audio support is include in Android 13 and fresh versions of Google ’s fluid software , which means that if an app is Dolby Atmos Music - compatible , your Android 13 or new headphone should support it .

If your phone is run an earlier translation of Android , it might still support Dolby Atmos Music — select models from Samsung , Motorola , LG , Sony , and Huawei already provided this capability prior to Android 13 . Amazon Music is an exclusion to all of these rules — Amazon has embed full Dolby Atmos support into its app , making it independent of any given phone ’s capability — include older iPhones .

What kind of music is available in Dolby Atmos Music?

You ’ll chance a huge variety of genres in Dolby Atmos , from older classics ( and classical ) to tonic novel tracks from the youngest up - and - add up musicians . All of the large three music label and thousands of independent artists are deliver tracks in Dolby Atmos to stream service .

Taylor Swift , Billie Eilish , Tyla , U2 , Flyana Boss , Kenny Chesney , Justin Timberlake , Ariana Grande , St. Vincent , Shakira , and Peso Pluma are just a handful of major artist who have let go of Atmos recordings .

In fact , 92 % of Billboard ’s 2023 Year End Top 100 Artists have publish euphony in Dolby Atmos , according to Dolby Labs , and labels proceed to remaster older stereo whole works into Atmos so that they can be enjoyed in an entirely new way .

This get-up-and-go to bring forth content in spacial audio has been dedicate a serious extra kick thanks to Apple’soffer of a incentive for every spatial audio track that is submitted to Apple Music .

While this approach may encourage labels to rush the remastering process — possibly leading to less - than - attentive immersive versions of older material — it ’s probably a good thing for subsist artist . Recording in Atmos can be more resource - intensive in terms of both time and money . That say , access an appropriate studio is easier than ever . As of November 2024 , there are more than 1,000 studio that let creative person commemorate and mix in Dolby Atmos .

Are there any other ways to experience Dolby Atmos Music?

Perhaps the most immersive version of Dolby Atmos Music can now be get a line in quality vehicles . Lucid , Mercedes , Rivian , Lotus , andVolvohave all harbinger current and succeeding model that can be fitted with optional Dolby Atmos entertainment organization .

Some clubs are beginning to set up Dolby Atmos Music systems that give do DJs the power to control their music in 3D outer space around the club . These includeMinistry of Soundin London , Sound - Barin Chicago , andHalcyonin San Francisco .

Are there any competitors to Dolby Atmos Music?

Atmos Music ’s most significant competition do from Sony . The 360 Reality Audio format ( 360RA ) , whichgave our staff the chillsduring its launch demo at CES 2019 , is also an immersive , object - based audio format for both Speaker and headphones .

It was adopted by Deezer , which evencreated a standalone appto boast the content . Tidal and Amazon Music shortly follow as did PeerTracks and Nugs.net . However , support for the data formatting seems to be decline . Deezer pulled the plug on its 360 app andTidal has removed its 360RA catalog .

So far , 360RA has n’t proven as popular with artists or listeners either , and it presently accrue brusque on both the recording and playback sides of the equality . The jury is still out on whether 360RA is a better listening experience . former critique of Sony ’s 360RA speakers — two of the only Speaker that are design to do work with the format — the SRS - RA3000 andSRS - RA5000 , paint a picture that Dolby does n’t have to care — not in the short term , at least .

However , as the owner of the massive Sony BMG music publishing imperium , Sony has a grown advantage in push its conception of immersive music forward , so things may yet transfer .

The newest Atmos rival comes from a partnership between Google and Samsung . Known currently as IAMF , it ’s an open - source format for spatial audio frequency . At the second , the partnership seems focussed on getting the format adopted by picture overhaul , but there ’s no grounds why it could n’t be used for euphony , too .

The next few years will be critical to the success of these competing technologies . And yes , consumer will most likely find themselves caught in another data format war .