Fleetwood Mac/Rumors/Dolby Atmos/Apple Music

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CPR

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Ok; here we go; just listened, & I'm marginally impressed
Compared to my DVD/A version, it's tame at best
Not much better than my Super disc/100% Virgin vinyl/2 channel
Certainly, no WOW factor
Maybe I'm too old for this Atmos stuff
My 5.1/SACD's, & DVD/A's, blow this format out of the water IMHO
Haven't heard one CLASSIC ROCK album, that has moved me to say WOW!
Maybe when DSOTM, & WYWH, are released, it'll change; we'll see
DISAPPOINTED, to say the least, in Beatles, Harrison, Mac, Stones, etc.
Thoughts?
 
You're likely listening to the format run through the meat grinder with lossy reduction for streaming, of a mix that might be faux surround to begin with (ie mostly front stereo), or a mix that was given to a film guy for "mastering" and reduced to front heavy brick walled and eq'd shrill nastiness. Comparing that to a carefully delivered 1:1 audio stream from your lossless master source.

Full quality mono sounds better than stepped on stereo too. And that doesn't lead to the conclusion that stereo is inferior fidelity to mono. Just a critique on someone's poor work.

Atmos is supposed to be full bandwidth 7.1 with 4 height channels added and up to 64 optional direct object channels. When/if Dolby finally releases the playback codec publically, we'll be able to use our existing proper interfaces, DACs, and amps.
 
Ok; here we go; just listened, & I'm marginally impressed
Compared to my DVD/A version, it's tame at best
Not much better than my Super disc/100% Virgin vinyl/2 channel
Certainly, no WOW factor
Maybe I'm too old for this Atmos stuff
My 5.1/SACD's, & DVD/A's, blow this format out of the water IMHO
Haven't heard one CLASSIC ROCK album, that has moved me to say WOW!
Maybe when DSOTM, & WYWH, are released, it'll change; we'll see
DISAPPOINTED, to say the least, in Beatles, Harrison, Mac, Stones, etc.
Thoughts?
Mostly I would say the same thing. But for me the value in the Apple Atmos stream capability isn't about the titles I already have, its about the stuff that is exclusive to streaming. Try Petty's Wildflowers... and all the rest. Play Steve Winwood's Higher Love and The Commodores Brick House.
 
Ok; here we go; just listened, & I'm marginally impressed
Compared to my DVD/A version, it's tame at best
Not much better than my Super disc/100% Virgin vinyl/2 channel
Certainly, no WOW factor
Maybe I'm too old for this Atmos stuff
My 5.1/SACD's, & DVD/A's, blow this format out of the water IMHO
Haven't heard one CLASSIC ROCK album, that has moved me to say WOW!
Maybe when DSOTM, & WYWH, are released, it'll change; we'll see
DISAPPOINTED, to say the least, in Beatles, Harrison, Mac, Stones, etc.
Thoughts?
I‘ve said it already a few times.
A classic quad or surround mix beats every Atmos mix by now….I think the engineers need much more experience to do a great Atmos mix.
So time will tell…..
 
I‘ve said it already a few times.
A classic quad or surround mix beats every Atmos mix by now….I think the engineers need much more experience to do a great Atmos mix.
So time will tell…..
Many of the Apple offerings dont even make it as good 5.1 mixes. It seems to me a good portion of what i hear on Apple just seem like upmixes. There are exceptions though.
 
With a few song as exceptions, I had the opposite reaction to this album. I found the mix and fidelity to be demo material. It sounds to me as if the harmonized vocals are mixed very effectively among the ear height and upper channels. Really interesting stuff in the rears on some songs. Certainly better to my ears than a lot of the Atmos mixes of classic rock that I've heard so far.
 
Many of the Apple offerings dont even make it as good 5.1 mixes. It seems to me a good portion of what i hear on Apple just seem like upmixes. There are exceptions though.

Apple Music doesn't allow upmixes. Not to say some might sneak through but it would be a violation of the terms to put an Atmos mix on Apple Music.
 
I did a very brief comparison between the DD track on my Rumors DVDA and the new Atmos mix on Apple. I’m neither audio engineer or audiophile. Seems to me they take different approaches.

With the DVDA mix, I heard more discreet instruments in the surround channels.

The Atmos mix felt more enveloping. Vocals on some tracks felt more out into the room.

The DVDA mix was louder. I didn’t have time to do any sort of level matched comparison. I will have to do more comparison.
 
Apple Music doesn't allow upmixes. Not to say some might sneak through but it would be a violation of the terms to put an Atmos mix on Apple Music.
That may be their policy, but I suspect they’re not checking it, let alone enforcing it.

Either that or a significant chunk of atmos mixes of legacy material (and even some new stuff) is just wham-bam super quicky atmos mixes with little real artistic input or thought going into them.
 
Does anyone else hear the underlying pulse sound of Second Hand News (starting with the first verse and ending with the outro chorus) as distorted? - for me its isolated in the right surround speaker and sounds really bad on my system, like it has an inherent mastering error.
 
That may be their policy, but I suspect they’re not checking it, let alone enforcing it.

Either that or a significant chunk of atmos mixes of legacy material (and even some new stuff) is just wham-bam super quicky atmos mixes with little real artistic input or thought going into them.


^THIS

it's no different than Facebook/Instagram using an algorithm to do their marketing and advertising for them. Why, cause it's cheap labor. Software programs cost NOTHING to run once they are built and they are cheap to build in the first place, so is it any wonder that the studios, bands, apple are using algorithms to cheaply upmix existing 5.1 mixes?

It's the new mp3 IMO and it stinks.
 
^THIS

it's no different than Facebook/Instagram using an algorithm to do their marketing and advertising for them. Why, cause it's cheap labor. Software programs cost NOTHING to run once they are built and they are cheap to build in the first place, so is it any wonder that the studios, bands, apple are using algorithms to cheaply upmix existing 5.1 mixes?

It's the new mp3 IMO and it stinks.

Would love to see evidence of this, instead of just conjecture stated as fact.

Apple does not create the mixes (so at least that part of your statement is guaranteed false) and expressly forbids algorithmically created Dolby Atmos/Audio mixes. So, if you have evidence that it is being done, report the studio/label/artist to Apple.
 
Would love to see evidence of this, instead of just conjecture stated as fact.

Apple does not create the mixes (so at least that part of your statement is guaranteed false) and expressly forbids algorithmically created Dolby Atmos/Audio mixes. So, if you have evidence that it is being done, report the studio/label/artist to Apple.
Is there a link where it states that Apple expressly forbids algorithmically created Atmos mixes? I googled it and nothing comes up.
 
Would love to see evidence of this, instead of just conjecture stated as fact.

Apple does not create the mixes (so at least that part of your statement is guaranteed false) and expressly forbids algorithmically created Dolby Atmos/Audio mixes. So, if you have evidence that it is being done, report the studio/label/artist to Apple.
It’s fair enough to ask for evidence. But short of a whistleblower somewhere in the chain, I’m not sure how you gather evidence.

I just frequently hear a “generic-ness” to a number of atmos mixes. Is it because they’re computer generated or minimal assembly line effort or just plain bad mixing? Or all of the above? I certainly don’t definitively know, but I have a strong feeling there’s something going on (or not going on, as it were...)
 
Would love to see evidence of this, instead of just conjecture stated as fact.

Apple does not create the mixes (so at least that part of your statement is guaranteed false) and expressly forbids algorithmically created Dolby Atmos/Audio mixes. So, if you have evidence that it is being done, report the studio/label/artist to Apple.
Why does Apple hold a spatial audio upmixing patent? While the mixes we currently have access to may not be created via technology noted in the patent, it's just evidence (IMO) that Apple is not opposed to the idea of upmixes.
https://patents.justia.com/patent/11102601
In addition, the Dolby Atmos mixes that are not platform specific appear to be the same on Apple Music vs. Tidal, etc. Do the other platforms have a prohibition on spatial audio mixes that are upmixes?
 
Does anyone else hear the underlying pulse sound of Second Hand News (starting with the first verse and ending with the outro chorus) as distorted? - for me its isolated in the right surround speaker and sounds really bad on my system, like it has an inherent mastering error.
I don’t hear distortion.
 
The streamed mixes I've heard so far are heavily lossy. To the point that them being surround format is almost a moot point! If this was a video service, the video equivalent would be black and white and 240p. On the other end, we've sure heard enough botched surround releases! Faux surround mixes on one hand that are really only stereo up front and reverb in the back. Accomplished mixes on the other hand thoroughly ruined in "mastering" with moves like turning up the fronts and brick walling them and turning down the surround channels. (Perhaps so music mixes with full surround content don't make the inevitable farting sounds with shitbars and other suspect devices? Got to wonder about this aesthetic.) Trashy stuff. Lots of opportunity to put this all to shame.
 
Why does Apple hold a spatial audio upmixing patent? While the mixes we currently have access to may not be created via technology noted in the patent, it's just evidence (IMO) that Apple is not opposed to the idea of upmixes.
https://patents.justia.com/patent/11102601
In addition, the Dolby Atmos mixes that are not platform specific appear to be the same on Apple Music vs. Tidal, etc. Do the other platforms have a prohibition on spatial audio mixes that are upmixes?
It’s because AirPod Gen 3, AirPod Pros, and AirPod Max’s all have a “spatialize Stereo” feature that generates spatial/Atmos-y upmixes of whatever you throw at it. And they’re baking Spatial audio into the core of anything that does video and audio (even FaceTime), because they’re working on an AR/VR headset and 3D audio is the killer app for that type of device.
 
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