Listening to in Dolby Atmos Streaming, via Tidal/Apple/Amazon

[ted_b]

At least for me, and my SVS sub, it is certainly not lacking bass. It rocks my sub just fine.

I guess it all depends on one's bass management. Weird that this subject is coming up cuz I was wondering the same thing last night about this MJ release; my main sub is purely an LFE sub (managed by the pre/pro, no other redirected bass other than the .1 channel) and it was pretty quiet during this album (I have a pair of other subs that take redirected bass and they were doing their job but, again, not a lot of energy frankly). Concerned that maybe my newish LFE sub was somehow miscalibrated or incorrectly cabled I put on various lossless .mkvs from another source and VOILA!

So, yes, I'd agree that this release (and too many other streamed Atmos mixes) sounds slightly thin to my tastes. I need to see if its an ATV4K setting, but I doubt it, cuz there are several notable Atmos streams (Kraftwerk, for example) that are just fine.

 

[Oldschoolsoundengineer]

Is it just me or is this mix lacking in bass? Just the main album tracks though, once all the stereo extras start there's plenty of bass...

I agree. That was my first thought too. Apart from one song (was it P.Y.T.?) they all could do with some more bass/sub bass. Wonder what the verdict from the late great and bass loving Bruce Swedien would have been? I really liked Bernie Grundman's remaster of the 25th anniversary Thriller. Have to compare the next time I listen. Maybe the Atmos mix just needs a proper mastering before we get it on Blu-Ray Audio?

 

[GOS]

LOL! It's also possible that the Cabernet I was enjoying was clouding my thoughts. Probably need to give it a listen this afternoon and see if I still feel the same about the bass.

 

[olgitnorm]

Two tracks so far

 

[humprof]

Accordng to this little trailer/documentary, 128 channels of audio recorded.

Technically this is a "live album," but as with all of Snarky Puppy's recordings, it's really more of a hybrid approach, one that I think is pretty much unique to them. They play the album in a live music venue (in this case the Deep Ellum Art Co.) in front of a crowd, but there's no PA system. It's done like a "silent disco" - that is, everyone wears headphones, both the musicians and the audience, which means there's no sound leakage between the PA or the instruments. As a result you get an album that is (ideally) the best of both worlds: the excitement of a live recording with the sonics of a studio recording.

These guys are one of my favourite bands of recent years, and I've touted them on here a number of times so I was incredibly excited to see this album getting the Atmos treatment. 2015's Sylva (with the Metropole Orkest) and 2016's Culcha Vulcha are amazing albums - I didn't like their last album, Immigrance (from 2019) nearly as much, but Empire Central is a real return to form, my ears.

This album is also notable that it features that last recorded performances of Bernard Wright, who came out of the same Jamaica area of Queens in the early 80s that produced Marcus Miller and Tom Browne (and whose 1981 album 'Nard spawned the jazz-funk classic Haboglabotribin') and who was Snarky Puppy founder Michael League's mentor. He died in a car accident just a couple of months after this album was recorded.

If you like jazz-funk or jazz-fusion of the '70s and early '80s you must give this album a spin.

They've just released a 3-part podcast on the making of the album:
https://www.osirispod.com/podcasts/snarky-puppy-transmissions-from-deep-ellum/

 

[perzon57]

Full album now up on Tidal: ID 261139167

Chicago - The Very Best of Chicago - Only the Beginning (Atmos Mix) - 39 tracks in Atmos!

View attachment 85412

I've been listening to this tonight I must say I'm very pleased with these mixes. Lots of strong use of the heights just as it should be in Atmos. Maybe not better than the quads, but different, and I prefer a good Atmos mix like this to quad anyday.

 

[humprof]

Joni is today's featured "Spatial Audio" artist on Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/curator/apple-music-spatial-audio/1564180390

 

[humprof]

A couple more Coltranes added today. The classic quartet: Coltrane and Crescent. "Big ambience" in the rears and next to nothing in the overheads, but that's okay; it still opens them up a little. (Edit: the "Expanded" version of Coltrane is also Atmos.)

 

[Bretho72]

I agree with most that the MJ Thriller atmos is lacking in bass just a touch but this is the case with 99% of Apple atmos releases, just need to compare with their stereo counterparts to realise that the bass must be what suffers when lossy atmos is used.

 

[ted_b]

I agree with most that the MJ Thriller atmos is lacking in bass just a touch but this is the case with 99% of Apple atmos releases, just need to compare with their stereo counterparts to realise that the bass must be what suffers when lossy atmos is used.

Not to get too OT but here is something:

 

[humprof]

Not to get too OT but here is something:

Yet another quirk of mixing for Atmos (and Atmos for Apple Music, and . . . ).

Even further off topic: interesting links in the full description of the video on YouTube, including one for Steve Genewick's $97 course on mixing Carole King's "This Christmas" in Atmos. The course fee includes multitracks!

 

[Oldschoolsoundengineer]

First Shania album now available in Atmos:

https://tidal.com/album/261038108
Also preview of new album on Apple Music:

 

[LennonCobain]

I agree with most that the MJ Thriller atmos is lacking in bass just a touch but this is the case with 99% of Apple atmos releases, just need to compare with their stereo counterparts to realise that the bass must be what suffers when lossy atmos is used.

There might be some impact as well when a 360 Reality Audio mix gets converted to Dolby Atmos.

On a related note, I don’t think 360 RA mixes utilize the LFE channel.

 

[Bretho72]

But… stereo doesn’t have a dedicated LFE channel but I still get more bass from them on Apple, I get plenty and full bass on 5.1 and Atmos physical media music .

 

[himey]

But… stereo doesn’t have a dedicated LFE channel but I still get more bass from them on Apple, I get plenty and full bass on 5.1 and Atmos physical media music .

Most streaming Atmos titles have excellent bass.

 

[PurpleMoustache]

HOLY COW! First time hearing of this artist, but this was getting a lot of buzz in my music circles out this morning. Wide wide mix on this one. Hints of Joni Mitchell and ambient. Apparently this is the second in a trilogy she’s doing with the first (stereo only) entry being Titanic Rising.

Poking around online it looks like it has contributions from Oneohtrix Point Never, and a harpist I love; Mary Lattimore!

 

[humprof]

Newly unearthed Elvin Jones album:

https://www.jazzwax.com/2022/11/elvin-jones-revival-live-at-pookies-pub.htmlI've come to the very belated realization that the Blue Note house Atmos style--especially as applied to "vintage" recordings like this--sounds more impressive on AirPods or a MacBook than it does on a home system.

 

[LennonCobain]

 

[humprof]

Not my kind of thing. (And that's all I'll say about that.) But it was recorded and mixed by the great Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Sound, and it won the 2021 Grammy for Best Immersive Album:

 

[J. PUPSTER]

good?