Listening to in Dolby Atmos Streaming, via Tidal/Apple/Amazon

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Anyone else finding the Atmos mixes of these various WEA/Rhino singles half-baked? I've checked out Harry Chapin, KC & The Sunshine Band, Bread, Seals & Crofts, Dusty Springfield, etc and they sound like the original stereo mix in the front & height channels, plus some ambience in the rears. On the other hand, (half of) the Grateful Dead's American Beauty is a fully-realized Atmos mix with discrete content appearing in the rears and tops.
Yeah it certainly seems a mixed bag. Anything from the 60s (guaranteed) moving into the 70s seems to follow this 'upmix' style. Then it's a bit of a lottery. It's a real shame. I don't have access to the KC or Dusty tracks to tell, but that's very disappointing to hear that.

I guess we know how they were able to release so many new tracks in one go. Apple claimed they would only upload properly mixed Atmos tracks, but it's pretty clear that's not necessarily the case...
 
Last edited:
Yeah it certainly seems a mixed bag. Anything from the 60s (guaranteed) moving into the 70s seems to follow this 'upmix' style. Then it's a bit of a lottery. It's a real shame. I don't have access to the KC or Dusty tracks to tell, but that's very disappointing to hear that.

I guess we know how they were able to release so many new tracks in one go. Apple claimed they would only upload properly mixed Atmos tracks, but it's pretty clear that's not necessarily the case...

Imho Apple juat n probably All the streaming svcs just put out whatever the labels/artists give them. Period.
 
Imho Apple juat n probably All the streaming svcs just put out whatever the labels/artists give them. Period.
Of course. They simply get uploaded to the platform by the label or the producer. This is why Tidal has exactly the same fault with Barenaked Ladies One Week having the first half second cut off. And as well with Judy Collins Both Sides Now which has audible crackle right at the end of the song. No one checks otherwise that sort of thing would get spotted, let alone rejecting songs which they deem as an upmix. 😄

From mixonline.com "Apple does not accept upmixes from stereo masters on its platform. Apple also does not synthesize or upmix any song into the Dolby Atmos format, contrary to the rumors that spread online after the launch of Spatial Audio."

https://www.mixonline.com/recording/how-to-apple-spatial-audio-explained
And from Apple "Note: Dolby Atmos audio files generated automatically and/or algorithmically from a stereo master are not allowed."

https://help.apple.com/itc/videoaudioassetguide/en.lproj/static.html
 
Last edited:
Both Dead 5.1's are definitely an interesting listen, they remind me a bit of the way Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland was mixed for 5.1 in that most of the instruments are imaged between the speakers. Guitars sort of hang out on the sides between front & rear, with the lead vocal appearing just behind or even inside your head. The whole soundstage kinda falls apart if you're too far outside the sweet spot. The center speaker does feature eerie isolated stuff though, like the mandolin in "Friend Of The Devil" or lead acoustic guitar in "Uncle John's Band".

I think I prefer the American Beauty Atmos tracks to the 5.1, lead vocals are mixed more traditionally to center front and it's too cool hearing the harmonies come from above.
@sjcorne @bookofsaturdays

I knew I remembered this. It is on the physical disc that I own, but also found it on YouTube.
 
B8A28BA2-C13E-4AF5-BD04-C9931ED1AC20.png

For those who have been following along in this thread about the personalized spatial audio for AirPods/Beats family headphones, I’m beta testing the new iOS… largely for that feature (it’s good). Just got a new beta update, and noticed that the Atmos indicator… has changed. I quite like it, it’s now taking up less space, and the least important signifier, Apple Digital Masters, which only matters if you are downloading lossy music (if paired with a “standard” lossless tag, it also means that the lossless file has a bit depth of 24 rather than 16) is tucked away. Interestingly, you used to be able to tap each of the indicators for a brief description of what it is, and a link to an Apple FAQ page explaining it in more detail. This seems to no longer be the case… interesting.

Why is this news? Well WWDC came and went without mention of changes to Apple Music besides tagging your favorite artists, and the personalized spatial audio. While they cover most new features at WWDC, they don’t cover all. This gives me hope that when they have their new phone/watch event (which some insiders claim is being filmed this week) we’ll hear more about changes to Apple Music.

Or, this will be the extent of it, who knows.
 
View attachment 82245
For those who have been following along in this thread about the personalized spatial audio for AirPods/Beats family headphones, I’m beta testing the new iOS… largely for that feature (it’s good). Just got a new beta update, and noticed that the Atmos indicator… has changed. I quite like it, it’s now taking up less space, and the least important signifier, Apple Digital Masters, which only matters if you are downloading lossy music (if paired with a “standard” lossless tag, it also means that the lossless file has a bit depth of 24 rather than 16) is tucked away. Interestingly, you used to be able to tap each of the indicators for a brief description of what it is, and a link to an Apple FAQ page explaining it in more detail. This seems to no longer be the case… interesting.

Why is this news? Well WWDC came and went without mention of changes to Apple Music besides tagging your favorite artists, and the personalized spatial audio. While they cover most new features at WWDC, they don’t cover all. This gives me hope that when they have their new phone/watch event (which some insiders claim is being filmed this week) we’ll hear more about changes to Apple Music.

Or, this will be the extent of it, who knows.
Thanks for that report. Does the fact that an album is marked both Atmos and Hi-Res Lossless mean that Spatial Audio is also now streaming at a higher bitrate? (I.e., no more 768k?)
 
Thanks for that report. Does the fact that an album is marked both Atmos and Hi-Res Lossless mean that Spatial Audio is also now streaming at a higher bitrate? (I.e., no more 768k?)
No, I assume it’s the same as it is now: that Lossless/Apple Digital Master tags apply to stereo only, and Atmos is still lossy. Of course, that could always change in the future.
 
I'm interested to hear who enjoys listening to Apple Music thru Dolby PLII Music 5.1 on their AVR.
A lot of stereo tracks sound way better using it than the some of their poor ATMOS counterparts .
 
Back
Top