5 easy ways to consume Spatial Audio
The days of 2-dimensional media is subsiding. Spatial Audio technology and consuming capability is growing faster than ever. Beyond Stereo Entertainment has been relentlessly researching, learning, and working towards a way for us to utilize these achievements to bring you the best ways to consume immersive entertainment. Starting with this list of 5 easy ways to consume spatial audio today!
- Movie Theaters/ Clubs
- Gaming & Game Headsets
- Music in Headphones/Earbuds
- Spatial Audio enabled Soundbar
- Car Audio
1. Movie Theaters and Clubs
Persistence is fundamental for achieving breakthrough. The COVID Pandemic of 2020 has certainly put a damper on the ways we can consume media or entertainment at all. Although in a world of technology, Ambisonics and Spatial Audio are allowing us an opportunity to be in a space of our choosing, where ever we desire to be.
First on the list is movie theaters and night clubs. AMC and Dolby have recently added their Dolby Cinema Experience to a few AMC branches throughout the US. Dolby has been a leader in high performance visuals for movies and has recently added yet another improvement to their arsenal. With the new Dolby Vision HDR, you can achieve up to 500 times the contrast ratio compared to a standard movie which allow pure black levels, an expanded color spectrum and twice the amount of brightness. This is uniquely achievable due to the dual-4K Christie laser projection system, designed to support movies in Dolby Vision. To compliment this breath taking experience Dolby has also utilized their Dolby Atmos audio system in conjunction to remove you from reality and place you within the story.
Dolby Atmos renders audio as objects in real time and allows you to clearly hear specific elements moving around you as if they were actually present in your reality. Dolby Atmos uses 48 surround sound speakers, 4 ceiling mounted sub woofers, and 5 in screen speakers. On top of that they have also added transducers within the leather seats to replicate deep rumbles or explosions that you observe on the screen. You can find and experience one of your favorite Marvel movies or other in a Dolby Cinema near you, here.
Dolby did not stop at the screens though. They were persistent with bringing its captivating audio experience to clubs around the world. With only a few on hand, you can level up your club experience with sound that dances with you!
Halcyon in San Francisco has recently implemented 14 additional PIONEER PROAUDIO speakers along with the Dolby Atmos processing technology alongside its bespoke lighting environment to capitalize on being one of three truly immersive night clubs in the world including The Ministry of Sound in London.
“At Halcyon, we’ve always been proud to push the boundaries and pioneer new clubbing experiences,” said Gina Milano, Halcyon owner. “By partnering to bring Dolby Atmos to our space, our guests will be amongst the first clubbers in the world to experience this revolutionary new sound technology.“
– Halcyon x Dolby Atmos
2. Gaming
Games like Assassins Creed: Origins, Battlefield 1, and For Honor all have implemented Spatial Audio via Dolby Atmos or another Spatial Audio developers plugin. Gaming has had a rapidly growing community within the past few years and they have all been a strong support to bringing spatial sound to all media users. Since spatial awareness is essential when you are on a battlefield or trying to discreetly follow an enemy, game developers have utilized the capabilities of spatial audio in gaming headsets and consoles to bring an addictive and captivating experience to your next mission.
Available on Xbox One X, Xbox One S, Windows 10 enabled Laptop or desktop, and multiple gaming headphones, you can unlock Dolby Access now to experience a new way of gaming.
These Gaming headphones are all Atmos capable:
ASTRO A50
RIG 400HX
RIG 500 Pro
3. Music in headphones/Earbuds
This year, Apple has released not only their brand new AirPod Pros, but also the ios 14 update which allows users to toggle on Spatial Audio and take advantage of the HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function) or as Apple calls it, “Dynamic Head Positioning” which allows you to move your head and feel the environment of your music or movie move with you.
This is available for iPhones released in late 2016, or any iPad released in 2018 or later capable of the new ios 14 update. Currently Apple TV+ and Disney+ are capable of having all content heard back in spatial audio. This is caused by the ability to playback audio through the apple playback system instead of the apps proprietary playback system. For instance if you watch Dolby Atmos content on YouTube you will not be getting accurate spatial sound because YouTube’s Playback does not support it. But, a loophole to this is opening content via Safari or Google Chrome which will often bypasses the main player and allow the apple player to function.
To be sure Spatial Audio is enabled follow these steps:
- Be sure AirPods are out of case and Connected to your device.
- Open the Main Settings App
- Tap Bluetooth
- Tap the “i” next to your AirPod Pros in the list of Bluetooth Devices
- Find the switch for Spatial Audio and be sure it is enabled.
You can also find the Spatial Audio toggle switch by opening the control center (swipe down from top right corner of screen) then tap and hold the volume slider to expand it. From here you should see a new button for Spatial Audio to be enabled or disabled.
4. Spatial Audio enabled Sound bar
Over the past few years, home entertainment systems have become increasingly more popular. The ability to achieve greater audio quality and immersion continues to escalate. But what if you do not have the luxury of having a dedicated home entertainment room? Or, on the contrary, you have a dedicated entertainment room and have just discovered the power of spatial surround sound or Dolby Atmos but don’t have time, space, or money to acoustically re-treat a room for Dolby Atmos?
Well, thank yourself for making it to this page. Here you will find the best immersive soundbars on the market today with little setup requirements.
The Samsung HW-Q90R is probably the first to come across your google searches when looking for the best Dolby Atmos soundbar. It reproduces a 7.1.4 surround with 2 additional speakers and a dedicated sub woofer. RTINGS.com say it has a great audio reproduction and a wide soundstage. They also mention that it “feels high-end” although looks may be another story. This system lacks a room correction feature but does come equipped with manual sound customization. Many reviews say this devices can handle well at high volumes, the only question is how well does it handle at dynamically low volumes?
You can find this device on Amazon for a price of $1,697.00
2. NAKAMICHI SHOCKWAFE ULTRA 9.2CH
This immersive sound bar by Nakamichi, the Shockwafe Ultra is capable of 9.2.4 Surround speaker configuration. Included with 2 sub woofers and four dedicated surround speakers this system can be sure to fill your entertainment room with vibrations. It is capable to playback Dolby Atmos content as well as handling a massive amount of bass. A downside to this fulfilling system is at high volumes traces of compression artifacts can be audible in the bass range. Aside from this flaw, you will have ample HDMI ports and can be used as a hub for any connected devices. Just a note though, this system will overemphasize the bass ends of sound and lack quality in the detailed areas like music and dialog. If this device will mainly be used for movies and entertainment, this will be the perfect home entertainment immersive system.
You can find this device on Amazon for $1,399.99
Sennheiser’s AMBEO Soundbar is a standalone 5.1.4 immersive sound system. Equipped with 13 speakers that delivers a undeniably accurate immersive experience. Capable of playing back Dolby Atmos content, DTS:X content, MPEG-H content, as well as up-mixing any stereo content into AMBEO surround content with the push of a button. This Soundbar has great dynamic range as well as impressive clarity with producing dialog thanks to its dedicated center dialog speaker that will never allow bass to blanket the storyline again. This system has a smart room calibration and correction feature requiring only one microphone in the listening spot of a room to read room reflection and reproduce vibrations accurately throughout the room. It is equipped with (4x) 6 inch far-throwing subwoofers as well as supplying an additional subwoofer input slot to add any desired amount of bass to your sound. Thanks to the Sennheiser Smart Control App, it is easier than ever to EQ and tune your sound appropriately for your listening environment.
You can find the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar at Sennheiser’s website for $2,499.95
5. Immersive Car Audio
Sennheiser always reaches higher. The future always stays ahead. The latest break through for us drivers and music lovers has been covered on our last blog post about a new immersive audio solution for the car.
To read more about the latest advancements and innovations from Sennheiser and Continental, check out our last post.
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