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

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The Beach Boys - Sounds of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys (30 Atmos tracks)

Tidal ID: 233057596

View attachment 80366

It is a curious Atmos mixing style.

Main content/volume is in Surrounds and Top Rear speakers. Some content also at Surround Backs.
The rest of speakers, including Fronts and Center are only low echoes.

Instead of the typical Front stereo with echo/reverb in the rears, we have here something like Surround Stereo (binaural) with echo/reverb in the Fronts.

It sounds immersive but discreteless.

I wonder if this would be the Atmos mixing style optimized for binaural headsets.
 
That is my understanding as well. I told my millennial son this was available on Apple in Atmos, and his eyes got very big. He says it was a seminal release.

I can't listen to it in Atmos rn, but I am listening to it. So far, I like what I hear.

i gave it a try earlier on, i'm no prude, far from it and i like to think i have pretty broad tastes in music but i just wasn't in the mood tonight for the foul language, i had to move on after the 3rd round of “mother****er"s being shouted out in my face! 😅
i'll give it another go over the weekend when i'm less hot and bothered 👍
 
It is a curious Atmos mixing style.

Main content/volume is in Surrounds and Top Rear speakers. Some content also at Surround Backs.
The rest of speakers, including Fronts and Center are only low echoes.

Instead of the typical Front stereo with echo/reverb in the rears, we have here something like Surround Stereo (binaural) with echo/reverb in the Fronts.

It sounds immersive but discreteless.

I wonder if this would be the Atmos mixing style optimized for binaural headsets.

tried a couple of tracks all the way through and flicked through another few but i just couldn't get into any of it at all.. i'll hit the Beach with the Boys again tomorrow and see if its a sunnier outcome! ☀️🤞
 
tried a couple of tracks all the way through and flicked through another few but i just couldn't get into any of it at all.. i'll hit the Beach with the Boys again tomorrow and see if its a sunnier outcome! ☀️🤞
I was really impressed by the Heroes and Villains mix downmixed to 5.1. I mean I love the song already but there’s some cool active panning between the rears during one section (sounds like a tambourine and something else??). Harmonies were nice and clear and separated. This is a ‘67 track so they probably had some little more to work with, 4-track I’m guessing?
 
It is a curious Atmos mixing style.

Main content/volume is in Surrounds and Top Rear speakers. Some content also at Surround Backs.
The rest of speakers, including Fronts and Center are only low echoes.

Instead of the typical Front stereo with echo/reverb in the rears, we have here something like Surround Stereo (binaural) with echo/reverb in the Fronts.

It sounds immersive but discreteless.

I wonder if this would be the Atmos mixing style optimized for binaural headsets.

After going quickly over the whole 30 tracks, All of them have exactly the same pattern of the Atmos channels distribution: Main in Surrounds/Top Rears / little in Surround Backs / All the rest minimal echo.

I wonder if all these tracks have been automatically upmixed from stereo.
 
I was really impressed by the Heroes and Villains mix downmixed to 5.1. I mean I love the song already but there’s some cool active panning between the rears during one section (sounds like a tambourine and something else??). Harmonies were nice and clear and separated. This is a ‘67 track so they probably had some little more to work with, 4-track I’m guessing?

Heroes and Villains has the same pattern that I say in the post before: Main Stereo moved to the Surrounds/Top Rears --> You will hear it in the rears

But yes, the alternating tambourine in the rears is in the Surround Backs (7.1.4) instead of in the Surrounds --> You will hear also in your same rears (5.1)

Good, at least something discrete. Perhaps a human mixer moved that sound...
 
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After going quickly over the whole 30 tracks, All of them have exactly the same pattern of the Atmos channels distribution: Main in Surrounds/Top Rears / little in Surround Backs / All the rest minimal echo.

I wonder if all these tracks have been automatically upmixed from stereo.

that channel layout description unnerves me! it all sounds back to front! or is it front to back! either way... 🤔🤷‍♀️👀😅😂
 
More likely someone mixed to incorrect channels
I can't figure how that'd be possible with Atmos, as you can't manipulate the channel mapping within an ADM file after it's been exported. The mistake would have to be made during the actual mix process (which seems pretty hard to do, the Dolby Renderer actually shows a neat little graphic of the object positions within the room).
 
I can't figure how that'd be possible with Atmos, as you can't manipulate the channel mapping within an ADM file after it's been exported. The mistake would have to be made during the actual mix process (which seems pretty hard to do, the Dolby Renderer actually shows a neat little graphic of the object positions within the room).
I also don't think it has been a channel error transcription. I think it was intended. The mixer had to listen to it and, at least, see some graphics as I see on my DIY 13 Channels VUMeter: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/th...2ch-flagship-avr-thread.2952552/post-60361895

When a mixer just upmix a stereo recording by just adding echo/reverb in the rears, we get the kind of mix that we denigrate and we found in some live concerts and some not creative mixes.

BUT if they just moves the stereo to the (side) surrounds and add echo/reverb to the fronts and heights, we really can get a binaural effect that really sounds more immersive.

I think it is intentional, and I also would think it is done for the headset binaural listening, assuming that it should be the main target market.
 
George Michael x 5 Atmos now on Tidal:

Title -- Tidal ID
Older 233817725
Faith 233817844
Listen Without Prejudice 233806998
Symphonica 233822956
Songs from the Last Century 233817908

Thanks!

Unfortunately these seem to be region locked (at the moment at least) for those in the US
 
The Roxette EP/singles mentioned earlier this week on Apple are now of Tidal

I think these may be region locked too to those in the US, but would need the IDs to confirm, can't seem to find them via search?
 
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