It's a shame that the spacial seems to be Apple hardware specific. I'm sure other headphones that support Dolby Atmos could easily do it too if allowed.
It's a shame that the spacial seems to be Apple hardware specific. I'm sure other headphones that support Dolby Atmos could easily do it too if allowed.
Well, for some, anything Apple does, says, or produces is a shame, a disappointment, behind the curve, too late, etc.
I assume it will be supported by Apple TV connected via HDMI to a Dolby Atmos AV receiver too - that’s the obvious use case but not mentioned here.
Waiting for this to be cleared... When it is working for movies, hope it will do the same for Music... Would be another great usage of my sound system...
Also quite curious, if I have the songs downloaded in my iPhone, if they update automatically, will there be some pop-up asking to download the better quality version or if this doesn't apply and I will have to check manually etc...
It's a shame that the spacial seems to be Apple hardware specific. I'm sure other headphones that support Dolby Atmos could easily do it too if allowed.
All Apple Music subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV7 can listen to thousands of Dolby Atmos music tracks using any headphones. When you listen with compatible Apple or Beats headphones,8 Dolby Atmos music plays back automatically when available for a song. For other headphones, go to Settings > Music > Audio and set Dolby Atmos to Always On. You can also hear Dolby Atmos music using the built‑in speakers on a compatible iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, or HomePod,9 or by connecting your Apple TV 4K to a compatible TV or audiovisual receiver.
Note: The headphones audio output from Dolby Atmos works the same as output from a binaural recording, a technology that's been around for decades. It will work in any stereo headphones. (It's the back end tech that is completely new.)
Note to the note: Dolby Atmos for movies requires AirPods Pro because they have gyroscopes. Watching a movie on your iPhone, you're oriented toward the screen. If you hear an airplane coming from behind you and flying over and you turn instinctively turn your head, you still want the sound to be oriented to the screen as it would be if you were sitting in a movie theater. For listening to music, not so much, because you'll often be walking around doing other things while listening, and it's just as well to have the soundstage remain oriented to your ears as there's no screen involved.
The transition time for ALL of the tracks available in Apple Music to meet the new standards is a lot faster than I would have expected. End of 2021 is pretty quick.
Boy, this is going to be really off-topic, but I hope all these companies going hi-res makes SiriusXM update their streaming quality. It's been stuck at about 128k or so since day one. Not talking about their satellites, which broadcast sound at 96k or less.
1) How are they getting surround sound? There are some really good SACDs available, e.g. Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" - where the SACD-recording gives a much better soundstage than the normal CD (which is also obviously amazing).
2) Lossless (or better) sound available through Sonos. Lossless sounds a tiny bit better on my Play:5s[*], but I'm more interested in lossless sound output from my Sonos Port connected to my Denon/B&W system.
[*]Tidal today sounds slightly better than Spotify, which again is slightly better than Apple Music on my Play:5s... lossless should level the playing field.
1) How are they getting surround sound? There are some really good SACDs available, e.g. Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" - where the SACD-recording gives a much better soundstage than the normal CD (which is also obviously amazing).
2) Lossless (or better) sound available through Sonos. Lossless sounds a tiny bit better on my Play:5s[*], but I'm more interested in lossless sound output from my Sonos Port connected to my Denon/B&W system.
[*]Tidal today sounds slightly better than Spotify, which again is slightly better than Apple Music on my Play:5s... lossless should level the playing field.
1) They are using source material mixed for surround sound. Music mixed for stereo will remain stereo if no one creates a new surround mix of the content.
Back in the 70s some labels created records with "simulated stereo," where they ran old mono recordings through some effects and put that out on a record. It was terrible, kind of like when widescreen TV entered the mainstream and everybody kept stretching and distorting old 4:3 content to fill the screen. That was terrible, too. I think Apple will have the good sense not to do something dumb like that to auto-generate surround sound from tracks mixed for stereo. If the source material is available to remix, the results can be amazing. If not, just leave it as stereo (or mono!) with its integrity intact.
Really pleased to hear lossless audio and Atmos Support is coming to Apple Music - but without a way to get it on your hifi, amp, or receiver natively - like Spotify connect does, then Apple Music is always going to be on the back foot. Airplay is not a solution for getting Lossless audio on your AMP as it won't be lossless anymore.
It's a shame that the spacial seems to be Apple hardware specific. I'm sure other headphones that support Dolby Atmos could easily do it too if allowed.
All Apple Music subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV7 can listen to thousands of Dolby Atmos music tracks using any headphones. When you listen with compatible Apple or Beats headphones,8 Dolby Atmos music plays back automatically when available for a song. For other headphones, go to Settings > Music > Audio and set Dolby Atmos to Always On. You can also hear Dolby Atmos music using the built‑in speakers on a compatible iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, or HomePod,9 or by connecting your Apple TV 4K to a compatible TV or audiovisual receiver.
Note: The headphones audio output from Dolby Atmos works the same as output from a binaural recording, a technology that's been around for decades. It will work in any stereo headphones. (It's the back end tech that is completely new.)
Note to the note: Dolby Atmos for movies requires AirPods Pro because they have gyroscopes. Watching a movie on your iPhone, you're oriented toward the screen. If you hear an airplane coming from behind you and flying over and you turn instinctively turn your head, you still want the sound to be oriented to the screen as it would be if you were sitting in a movie theater. For listening to music, not so much, because you'll often be walking around doing other things while listening, and it's just as well to have the soundstage remain oriented to your ears as there's no screen involved.
My ancient ears don’t really care about lossless audio. They just aren’t capable of hearing the difference anymore. Dolby Atmos, on the other hand, should be noticeable and much appreciated, especially when listening via Apple TV and my surround system.
Does lossless apply to iTunes Match, too? While I've appreciated iTunes Match, keeping my lossless files from getting corrupted by iTunes Match has become a nightmare.
I assume this won't be applicable to iTunes store purchases, and they will still be 256 AAC?
It really should be an option to be able to purchase, even if at extra cost, a higher grade of file than a 256 AAC. It needs to be noted that if Apple is touting it as a meaningful upgrade that it will offer higher bitrate files on its streaming service, that’s an admission that 256 AAC can be improved upon. It is the case, even now, that movies are offered in SD and HD versions with different price points and yet we don’t get the same choice with music files. I have purchased music from other sources in recent years mainly because I could acquire better quality files from those other sources. Apple is losing sales by acting as if AAC 256 is equivalent to higher-bitrate lossless formats but not everyone agrees with that premise. Now even Apple is acting as if the premise is faulty.
I’m sure that Apple would prefer to just steer everyone into the streaming model but the reality is that you will always have a percentage of people who want to own their content rather than having to forever pay into a streaming service to access a decent collection of music. That group of consumers would be even more likely to be interested in a higher grade of source material. After all, once you acquire a version of music, you can convert it as needed, hence you would want a file suitable to a range of uses. My guess is also that if Apple offered an upgrade option for a modest cost for already purchased files, there would be significant money to be made.
Makes me even sadder about the HomePod demise though - such a perfect match.
I dunno - would a HomePod be capable of rendering the difference between a high-quality stream vs a lossless? And think about how many HomePods are used. They do a good job of optimizing audio and giving good quality audio in a room, but lossless and Dolby Atmos are a step above that.
I wonder there will be the ability to automatically switch between a lossless and a lower fidelity stream depending on the device? Bluetooth has 2 different codecs that I’m aware of and if you’re using a device with the older, lower quality codec then lossless doesn’t matter. (Even with the newer codec, most BT gear won’t provide enough fidelity anyway.)
Really pleased to hear lossless audio and Atmos Support is coming to Apple Music - but without a way to get it on your hifi, amp, or receiver natively - like Spotify connect does, then Apple Music is always going to be on the back foot. Airplay is not a solution for getting Lossless audio on your AMP as it won't be lossless anymore.
Apple TV connected to you receiver would be lossless. I think some other devices (TVs) have Apple Music built in so those connected via HDMI or optical to a receiver would be lossless. Airplay 2 supports 44.1K 16bit lossless audio - possibly 48K 24bit but I am not sure on that. You could also get a USB to optical adapter for your computer to connect to your receiver. We are talking about CD quality audio that has been around for like 40 years!
Really pleased to hear lossless audio and Atmos Support is coming to Apple Music - but without a way to get it on your hifi, amp, or receiver natively - like Spotify connect does, then Apple Music is always going to be on the back foot. Airplay is not a solution for getting Lossless audio on your AMP as it won't be lossless anymore.
Honest question here. Say you have an ALAC or wav file on your Mac in your music library and you stream it to an AppleTV which in turn is connected to your high end audio system. What get's AirPlayed over? Is it the raw ALAC/wav file and then get's processed where? On the AppleTV or is it just a pass through to get to your audio system and its high end DAC which then comes out as analog music from your speakers?
Comments
Also quite curious, if I have the songs downloaded in my iPhone, if they update automatically, will there be some pop-up asking to download the better quality version or if this doesn't apply and I will have to check manually etc...
From Apple's FAQ:
How can I listen to Dolby Atmos music?
All Apple Music subscribers using the latest version of Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV7 can listen to thousands of Dolby Atmos music tracks using any headphones. When you listen with compatible Apple or Beats headphones,8 Dolby Atmos music plays back automatically when available for a song. For other headphones, go to Settings > Music > Audio and set Dolby Atmos to Always On. You can also hear Dolby Atmos music using the built‑in speakers on a compatible iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, or HomePod,9 or by connecting your Apple TV 4K to a compatible TV or audiovisual receiver.
Note: The headphones audio output from Dolby Atmos works the same as output from a binaural recording, a technology that's been around for decades. It will work in any stereo headphones. (It's the back end tech that is completely new.)
Note to the note: Dolby Atmos for movies requires AirPods Pro because they have gyroscopes. Watching a movie on your iPhone, you're oriented toward the screen. If you hear an airplane coming from behind you and flying over and you turn instinctively turn your head, you still want the sound to be oriented to the screen as it would be if you were sitting in a movie theater. For listening to music, not so much, because you'll often be walking around doing other things while listening, and it's just as well to have the soundstage remain oriented to your ears as there's no screen involved.
Off-topic end.
1) How are they getting surround sound? There are some really good SACDs available, e.g. Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" - where the SACD-recording gives a much better soundstage than the normal CD (which is also obviously amazing).
2) Lossless (or better) sound available through Sonos. Lossless sounds a tiny bit better on my Play:5s[*], but I'm more interested in lossless sound output from my Sonos Port connected to my Denon/B&W system.
[*]Tidal today sounds slightly better than Spotify, which again is slightly better than Apple Music on my Play:5s... lossless should level the playing field.
Back in the 70s some labels created records with "simulated stereo," where they ran old mono recordings through some effects and put that out on a record. It was terrible, kind of like when widescreen TV entered the mainstream and everybody kept stretching and distorting old 4:3 content to fill the screen. That was terrible, too. I think Apple will have the good sense not to do something dumb like that to auto-generate surround sound from tracks mixed for stereo. If the source material is available to remix, the results can be amazing. If not, just leave it as stereo (or mono!) with its integrity intact.
Nice, I am happy to stand corrected.
Nice of “greedy Apple” to not add extra tiers.
I’m sure that Apple would prefer to just steer everyone into the streaming model but the reality is that you will always have a percentage of people who want to own their content rather than having to forever pay into a streaming service to access a decent collection of music. That group of consumers would be even more likely to be interested in a higher grade of source material. After all, once you acquire a version of music, you can convert it as needed, hence you would want a file suitable to a range of uses. My guess is also that if Apple offered an upgrade option for a modest cost for already purchased files, there would be significant money to be made.
I wonder there will be the ability to automatically switch between a lossless and a lower fidelity stream depending on the device? Bluetooth has 2 different codecs that I’m aware of and if you’re using a device with the older, lower quality codec then lossless doesn’t matter. (Even with the newer codec, most BT gear won’t provide enough fidelity anyway.)
Say you have an ALAC or wav file on your Mac in your music library and you stream it to an AppleTV which in turn is connected to your high end audio system.
What get's AirPlayed over?
Is it the raw ALAC/wav file and then get's processed where? On the AppleTV or is it just a pass through to get to your audio system and its high end DAC which then comes out as analog music from your speakers?