Tidal Adds Dolby Atmos Music

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In answer to the questions about down-sampling to 5.1 or 7.1 if your AVR etc. is not Atmos-compatible, I found this on the Tidal FAQ site:

How does Dolby Atmos Music on TIDAL work for devices that are not Dolby Atmos enabled?

When a device and/or connected playback system is not Dolby Atmos enabled, the TIDAL app will recognize this and the stereo version of the track will be played. The user will be notified with an in-app notification.



If that is the case, that unfortunately is a deal-breaker for me for now, at least until I make the upgrade to an Atmos-capable AVR.

The link to the FAQ is here:

https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004255778-Dolby-Atmos-Music
 
i'm a classic rock fan, so only about 2 hours of music available using lossy Dolby Digital Plus codec. no indication if it is REAL atmos or just upmixed.

for $20/month doesn't seem like a great deal.
 
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It’s very interesting. There’s certainly not enough for me to maintain a subscription, but it is an interesting peek at where things could go.

I have all of the Rush surround releases, so their songs in Atmos weren’t too exciting. There were a few treats I didn’t already have in surround that were fun, though:

Styx: Renegade
This is a very different mix than the stereo. Harmonies, organ, and synth are deemphasized vs. guitar and lead vocal. The big synth is relegated to low volume in the rear left, for some reason. It’s an odd take. Mostly, I was happy for an indication that the Styx masters from that era may have survived.
Note: This is actually a different take of at least the vocals. Listen around 1:15 for instance and you’ll hear “oh, mama” in the Atmos vs. “Dear mama” in the original album version. (Edit: Wondering now if this is based on the Regeneration re-recording?)

Pat Benatar: We Belong
This was lushly mixed in the original and sounded very nice In Atmos, if not super discrete.

Prince: When Doves Cry
Lots of movement in the guitar. Surround mixes of 1999 and Purple Rain albums could be great.

One frustration is that the audio often doesn’t kick in on my Onkyo until a few seconds into the song.

I briefly had the majority of my surround collection accessible in 5.1 via the Computer app on Apple TV, but a series of Apple upgrades, and some flaws in the way DVD Audio Extractor was arranging and tagging ALAC, led to channels being mismapped over the last year, so I gave up and just listen from disc images on my studio iMac. This Tidal session is making me want to get my collection working in the living room again.
 
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i'm a classic rock fan, so only about 2 hours of music available using lossy Dolby Digital Plus codec. no indication if it is REAL atmos or just upmixed.

for $20/month doesn't seem like a great deal.

Might be worth the 60 day free trial though. And, I always feel that once they start charging me, the $20 is going towards supporting Atmos/immersive music. If it weren't for the Atmos music on Tidal, I wouldn't be carrying both Tidal and Qobuz now.
 
They have some Blue Note titles in Atmos so I have a couple a listen and to be honest they sound a little weird! Maybe I am just really used to listening to them is stereo but they definitely sounded very fake and echo’y.
 
Might be worth the 60 day free trial though. And, I always feel that once they start charging me, the $20 is going towards supporting Atmos/immersive music. If it weren't for the Atmos music on Tidal, I wouldn't be carrying both Tidal and Qobuz now.
60 day free trial huh? I downloaded the Tidal app for PC, and all it mentions is a 30 day trial.
 
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I’m wondering how they got a legitimate discrete multi- track Atmos mix out of an early Grant Green recording like Idle Moments, would that have even been recorded on a 4 track machine?

Probably the sort of immersive mix of Kind of Blue that Steve Genewick talked about in the special "Atmos" issue of Mix that came out a few weeks ago. (Aargh--I can't find the thread!) IIRC, the process includes "tuning" the room and recording room ambience as the tracks play in-studio. They did a similar sort of thing even for the 5.1 mixes of KOB, In a Silent Way, etc., right?
 
Thanks so much for the preview, @MrSmithers! And @Krmt : I appreciate the list of albums, too. Small selection so far, but I like seeing those classical Blue Note titles. (@guybrown 's report is not encouraging, though....)

I think some of the songs are going to be weird or odd..."Renegade" as @pti discussed above, definitely sounded different, it was not bad, but it was different than the standard 2.0 mix that I and probably others are accustomed to.
 
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