BUYING SMART
Beautiful
NOISE
Spatial audio takes the concept of surround sound to new heights.
BY CHRISTINE PERSAUD
You might have heard of spatial audio and wondered what it is. It’ s a technology that processes audio to create the illusion that sounds are coming from all around, including from above.
You’ ll hear it in an action movie with planes flying overhead or cars zooming by in every direction; a romantic comedy with a sappy scene in the pouring rain; a horror flick with scary sounds in every corner; or a musical track with distinctly placed instruments. It can be found in video games, too, like first-person shooters, keeping you apprised of your in-game surroundings.
The term was coined in 2020 by Apple at its developers’ conference to describe the company’ s implementation of immersive audio. But it has since become more generally used to refer to any type of immersive, three-dimensional sound( not unlike how we refer to coolers as Eskies or adhesive bandages as Band-Aids). Spatial audio is often cited interchangeably with similar technologies, such as Dolby Atmos, DTS: X and Sony 360 Reality Audio. All of these technologies, which come from different companies, accomplish the same thing and fall under the umbrella of‘ immersive audio’.
The idea with spatial audio, available in products like soundbars, wireless speakers and headphones, is to replicate an immersive audio experience without the use of multiple speakers around you. For a home theatre, spatial audio is a step up from surround sound because you will feel like you’ re right in the action. It is available for music, movies, TV shows and video games, though not all titles are mixed for it.
Here’ s a look at what you will need to enjoy this technology.
Supporting products
Products that support immersive audio playback are labelled as such, with words like spatial audio, Dolby Atmos, DTS: X, 360 Reality Audio or another similar term. Spatial audio speakers are made by brands such as Apple and Sonos, 360 Reality Audio headphones from Sony, and Atmos soundbars from Samsung. Even some premium smartphones claim to support spatial audio or 3D audio playback.
Compatible content
Video streaming platforms will label the spatial audio content they have available in a similar way. When you go to Netflix, type‘ spatial audio’ into the search bar to find TV shows and movies that currently support the feature. On the Disney + website scroll to the‘ Details’ tab and look under‘ Available in the following formats’. Not all content is mixed for spatial audio, however. For example, on Netflix at the time of writing, The Witcher is available in spatial audio, but Titans is not.
Not all music streaming platforms support spatial audio. Spotify, for example, does not yet support it. However, Apple Music has a dedicated category for spatial audio content. Amazon Music and TIDAL offer some spatial audio content, too. Just type‘ spatial audio’ or‘ Dolby Atmos’ in the general search bar to isolate applicable search results.
12 | SEP / OCT 2024 COSTCO CONNECTION