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Spatial Audio

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Re: Spatial Audio

#11

Post by tpush »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #4
allears wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people like gimmicky things better, just like lots of people like to turn up the bass and treble all the way. But lots of us (and I'm a musician and audio engineer) appreciate high quality balanced distortion free audio, and want to hear the music the way the original artist intended. Just because you can make sounds bounce around in space doesn't make the music better, especially if the original recording wa…

> I would always prefer listening to the original intent of the artist. I always prefer listening to the thing that sounds better to me. I don't care about what the artist wants.

You’re downvoted, but enjoyment of music is obviously subjective. There is no “wrong” way to listen to music (or anything really).

Re: Spatial Audio

#12

Post by tinus_hn »

Cybotron5000 wrote: post #7

Spatial audio per se is not a scam, but its effective simulation is actually potentially rather complicated and I too worry about its successful implementation by Apple… Funnily enough, I had plans for a system to implement spatial audio using smartphones/headphones originally back in 2006 and more recently wrote an app for iOS trying to implement it (…prototype/demo. that I made worked pretty well - used what I lear…

As far as I remember it’s a patent minefield

Re: Spatial Audio

#13

Post by tinus_hn »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #4
allears wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people like gimmicky things better, just like lots of people like to turn up the bass and treble all the way. But lots of us (and I'm a musician and audio engineer) appreciate high quality balanced distortion free audio, and want to hear the music the way the original artist intended. Just because you can make sounds bounce around in space doesn't make the music better, especially if the original recording wa…

> I would always prefer listening to the original intent of the artist. I always prefer listening to the thing that sounds better to me. I don't care about what the artist wants.

Chances are the artist has no idea what kind of speakers you are using anyway

Re: Spatial Audio

#14

Post by r618 »

ntSean wrote: post #10
ntSean wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a musician, I agree that there is a level of respect required for the original mix. Though, in the case of Spacial Audio, this isn't a matter of "gimmicky" sound, this is headphones reproducing the effect that loudspeakers already have. This isn't new and has been in audio engineering circles for a long while ( https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio/ ) but Apple has added 6dof head tracking which makes the…

I just noticed that the author wasn't using the AirPods Pro / Max which Spacial Audio was designed in tandem with. No wonder they didn't find it impressive and are calling it a scam. TBH, I'm sad I wasted my time reading such an uninformed opinion piece.

you're conflating unrelated things

6dof has nothing to do with SpaTial audio and no AirPods Pro/Max weren't designed 'in tandem with' it

you'll get Apple's positional audio (6dof) only with supported hardware - which includes AirPods Pro/Max, iPads and AppleTV - and is designed for positional listening relative to source/device, which has nothing to do w/ Atmos mixed Apple Music spatial tracks discussed here

(and it actually might be 3dof only, not sure since i've never listened to it)

Re: Spatial Audio

#15

Post by matwood »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #2

I listened to the tracks. I like the spatial versions better. What are you going to do?

I have listened to a lot of the spatial audio songs from AM on my AirPod Pros. It's a mixed bag. Some I think are really good, some not so much. But, the good/great ones are enough to make me excited about the potential. I feel like the bad ones might be from people still figuring out how to best master them.

Re: Spatial Audio

#16

Post by drcongo »

ntSean wrote: post #10
ntSean wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a musician, I agree that there is a level of respect required for the original mix. Though, in the case of Spacial Audio, this isn't a matter of "gimmicky" sound, this is headphones reproducing the effect that loudspeakers already have. This isn't new and has been in audio engineering circles for a long while ( https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio/ ) but Apple has added 6dof head tracking which makes the…

I just noticed that the author wasn't using the AirPods Pro / Max which Spacial Audio was designed in tandem with. No wonder they didn't find it impressive and are calling it a scam. TBH, I'm sad I wasted my time reading such an uninformed opinion piece.

I think you're missing one of the main points, which is someone using other headphones is still getting the atmos version, but in normal stereo - and when that happens, large parts of the balance of the mix are lost as he explains in the section on What's Going On. So it's not the original track as the artist, mix engineer and masterer intended you to hear.

Re: Spatial Audio

#17

Post by matwood »

allears wrote: post #3
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #2

I listened to the tracks. I like the spatial versions better. What are you going to do?

Lots of people like gimmicky things better, just like lots of people like to turn up the bass and treble all the way. But lots of us (and I'm a musician and audio engineer) appreciate high quality balanced distortion free audio, and want to hear the music the way the original artist intended. Just because you can make sounds bounce around in space doesn't make the music better, especially if the original recording wa…

> and want to hear the music the way the original artist intended

Curious how you know what the artist intended. Did they intend for the track to sound like you're at a stadium show or sitting in a small music studio with headphones on?

Re: Spatial Audio

#18

Post by t_von_doom »

ntSean wrote: post #10
ntSean wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a musician, I agree that there is a level of respect required for the original mix. Though, in the case of Spacial Audio, this isn't a matter of "gimmicky" sound, this is headphones reproducing the effect that loudspeakers already have. This isn't new and has been in audio engineering circles for a long while ( https://goodhertz.co/canopener-studio/ ) but Apple has added 6dof head tracking which makes the…

I just noticed that the author wasn't using the AirPods Pro / Max which Spacial Audio was designed in tandem with. No wonder they didn't find it impressive and are calling it a scam. TBH, I'm sad I wasted my time reading such an uninformed opinion piece.

I initially thought the same on another article, however it turns our spatial audio in the apple music sense, is not exclusive to the pros/max - despite sharing the same name as the head tracking-esque feature in those headphones.

Quite disappointed as it is quite obviously confusing

Re: Spatial Audio

#20

Post by scoot »

danappelxx wrote: post #8
joeel84 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What speakers did you listen back on? I don't know anybody with a setup to play these back and I know some crazy audiophiles.

From footnote 8 on https://www.apple.com/apple-music/ > Works with AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, BeatsX, Beats Solo3 Wireless, Beats Studio3, Powerbeats3 Wireless, Beats Flex, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro. Am I missing something?

So, works with any headphones, as long as they have an apple brand sticker attached?

There's nothing technologically special about most of these.

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