Late on Monday night, Apple added two new features for its Apple Music subscription service: immersive Dolby Atmos spatial audio and lossless-quality streaming.
WHAT IS SPATIAL AUDIO FOR MUSIC?
It makes you feel like you’re onstage, standing right next to the singer, it makes you feel like you might be to the left of the drummer, to the right of the guitarist. On its website, Apple says “music created in Dolby Atmos is freed from channels, allowing artists to place individual sounds all around you.”
Spatial audio gives music a unique feeling. And it’s in a different way than a high-end pair of headphones might bring the most out of a stereo track’s soundstage. In particular, vocals often have a very distinct placement in the mix and cut through better than on traditional stereo tracks.