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

[PurpleMoustache]

I’m surprised that Apple would take this approach because it seems like Spatial Audio has been widely adopted and new mixes keep coming out.

I worry about the potential for more “double stereo” or “fake” Atmos mixes to be released solely to capitalize on the additional royalties. I also hope that the higher revenue sharing doesn’t result in more Apple Music exclusives.

Well in theory the double stereo or fake mixes are not allowed under Apple’s rules… but we’ve all seen how that worked out. But they have removed the fake mixes from Warner in the past…

 

[woody]

I’m surprised that Apple would take this approach because it seems like Spatial Audio has been widely adopted and new mixes keep coming out.

I worry about the potential for more “double stereo” or “fake” Atmos mixes to be released solely to capitalize on the additional royalties. I also hope that the higher revenue sharing doesn’t result in more Apple Music exclusives.

The reverse of your theoretical fear could easily be applied using similar logic.
1. Not enough incentive so produce a fake one.
2. I can't afford to pay mixing engineers to produce decent Atmos mixes so why bother.

Apple's track record at least shows they have policies in place, have taken action to remove 'fakes', and now providing more financial reward.

This seems like a consistently positive step forward in context of these concrete actions.

 

[JoshBasswood]

Obviously, the next stap will also be that you can only listen to music in Atmos with a 'premium' plan that is more expensive... I think I already read somewhere that Apple is considering this.

 

[Misterbee]

In my opinion, they’re laying the groundwork for the VR goggles that are about to be released. I don’t expect much in the beginning, but it’s possible that this will turn into a bigger product in due time.

 

[Ick]

Not sure if this has been posted yet but ‘tis the season!!

 

[naiveteenidol]

More Bee Gees!!

https://tidal.com/album/332021738All mixes by Eric Schilling

They finally fixed the Main Course stuff that sounded like it was recorded in a cave.

 

[Franck]

Spotted - R&B
Musician friend from San Francisco, So please give it a listen as it is hard for independent musicians to get any visibility on our own on these platforms.

 

[The Bright Side]

I took a close look at this yesterday and found the same thing! After editing the files - and in some, the rears had to be pumped significantly - I'm really impressed. This is a solid mix all of a sudden!

Quick PSA for anybody who likes tinkering with surround mixes: All the Whitney Houston releases can be greatly improved by raising the volume of the rears to match the fronts. I've been listening to the 1987 and 1990 albums, the 2001 Best Of and the 2022 compilation with the remixes/revisions, collected singles and b-sides. They're all a TON of fun.

 

[LennonCobain]

https://tidal.com/album/333673263Mix by Dustin Richardson

 

[jaap74]

tvOS arrived on the 12th, has anyone installed it and if so, has it broken anything?

Thanks

 

[Misterbee]

tvOS arrived on the 12th, has anyone installed it and if so, has it broken anything?

Thanks

17.2 here. So far, so good with tvOS.

on the other hand, iOS 1 7.2 nuked the names of all six of my HomePods from the Home app. Changed them all to “speaker”. Had to figure out which one was in which room, and rename them.

 

[humprof]

D'Angelo's sophomore outing, with Roy Hargrove, Charlie Hunter, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, and a guest spot from Q-Tip. Not to mention J. Dilla's production at its peak. Definitely no "slump"; it's a stone cold classic! Just waiting for Black Messiah now:

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799077393/dangelo-voodoo-2020-anniversary-how-does-it-feelhttps://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17407-voodoo/https://webcitation.org/5uUMdbMQIhttps://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/dangelo-voodoo-20-years-later-673096/

 

[pat bateman]

Well in theory the double stereo or fake mixes are not allowed under Apple’s rules… but we’ve all seen how that worked out. But they have removed the fake mixes from Warner in the past…

I've posted about this before, but Trivium was the Featured Artist on Apple Music a few weeks ago, and all the tracks are fake, and possibly even more nefarious or stupid - take your pick - they inserted some complete non-sense in center channel in some spots, presumably to maybe fool some fake auto detection Apple may or may not use. Nikki Minaj is the Featured Artist now, and I spot checked a few, and its a similar story, albeit its not technically all channel stereo like the completely fake mixes are, they just lowered the vocals a bit in the rears and center.

You would think its in the best interest of Apple not to pay more royalties for fake mixes, but honestly they will not care as long as people are getting the warm fuzzy feeling of people thinking they are getting an Atmos mix. Also, the extremely heavy majority of folks are listening on headphones, and the Nikki Minaj tracks do indeed sound different, maybe even better in a way, in Atmos via headphones, but the explanation why is simple, as seen here (start at 1:25), it just creates a "doubling" effect.

 

[HomerJAU]

You would think its in the best interest of Apple not to pay more royalties for fake mixes, but honestly they will not care as long as people are getting the warm fuzzy feeling of people thinking they are getting an Atmos mix.

I bet a huge number listeners aren’t listening to Atmos on a multichannel speaker system (just on 2 channel or iPhones etc without spatial capable headphones), they’re just caught up in the ‘Atmos’ hysteria.

 

[mkagan2]

D'Angelo's sophomore outing, with Roy Hargrove, Charlie Hunter, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, and a guest spot from Q-Tip. Not to mention J. Dilla's production at its peak. Definitely no "slump"; it's a stone cold classic! Just waiting for Black Messiah now:

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799077393/dangelo-voodoo-2020-anniversary-how-does-it-feelhttps://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17407-voodoo/https://webcitation.org/5uUMdbMQIhttps://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/dangelo-voodoo-20-years-later-673096/

actually j dilla wasn't a part of the production, he was just an incredibly important influence on the production / drum style

 

[humprof]

actually j dilla wasn't a part of the production, he was just an incredibly important influence on the production / drum style

That's true; thanks for the correction. I was misremembering that he actually produced a couple of tracks (beyond the unrealized track with Lauryn Hill)--but it was really just that Questlove et al. were so under Jay Dee's influence at that point that it might as well have been him!

 

[LennonCobain]

https://tidal.com/album/335124368Mix by Collin Alpern

 

[Ick]

https://tidal.com/album/335124368Mix by Collin Alpern

Yuck. There’s nothing but the fronts and even that seems like it’s all in the center.

 

[humprof]

Two of Times music critic Lindsay Zoladz's latest "7 Songs You Should Hear Right Now":

 

[fredblue]

Yuck. There’s nothing but the fronts and even that seems like it’s all in the center.

weird.. ..and yucky indeed!

similar mix approach to this?

the bulk of the track's in the Front L&R, with little accents, synth pads (?) and other vocal bits in the other channels but all at much lower volume in the rest of the channels (including the Heights) than the Fronts, so the Front soundstage totally dominates.