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jn_p

macrumors newbie
Jun 11, 2021
4
0
im using AirPods Pro, its horrible
I’m on Pro too, but in iOS15 beta. Sounds really superb. All the songs in the Made for Spatial Audio playlist sounds pretty awesome. On my other device with iOS14.6, the sound quality is really bad.
 

Ledsteplin

macrumors 65816
Oct 23, 2013
1,290
856
Florence, AL
A few I like.

Lunatic Fringe - Red Rider
CHOKE - The Warning
Winter (2020) - The Rolling Stones
Alright - Pearl Jam
What's Up? - 4 Non Blondes
Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
 

chiefdave

macrumors member
Sep 12, 2012
46
30
Well, I was initially very underwhelmed listening to some of these Atmos songs. Then I started playing with the setting and realized I didn’t have spatial audio turned on for my Air Pod Pros.
Don't think they could have made this more confusing if they tried. Having read several posts and articles I still have no idea on the difference between Atmos and Spatial.

Similarly the difference between Automatic and Always On. Surely only Atmos tracks can be played in Atmos so what benefit is Always On over Automatic? Is Automatic just a gimmick to make those of us who paid out for AirPods think we're getting something better than everyone else?
 

chiefdave

macrumors member
Sep 12, 2012
46
30
Also if it's already in your library it may need deleting and adding from Apple Music.
This is driving me mad. I've got over 3,500 am I really supposed to go through and check each one to see if there's an Atmos version. And even if I do that and remove and re-add them thats going to destroy my playlists.

Not like they're even ripped albums or anything like that. For example Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour show as Apple Digital Master in my library but not Lossless or Atmos.
Now if I was to listen to the whole album it's a little spoilt by the change from stereo to Atmos between tracks.
Suspect the difference in volume is going to annoy me to the point of making Atmos unusable. Tried enabling sound check but it just drops the volume of everything to a low level.
 
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verdi1987

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
656
418
Don't think they could have made this more confusing if they tried. Having read several posts and articles I still have no idea on the difference between Atmos and Spatial.

Similarly the difference between Automatic and Always On. Surely only Atmos tracks can be played in Atmos so what benefit is Always On over Automatic? Is Automatic just a gimmick to make those of us who paid out for AirPods think we're getting something better than everyone else?
Atmos is the Dolby trademark for spatial audio. On Apple Music, all spatial is Atmos.

From my understanding, Automatic outputs Atmos for Atmos-encoded tracks when it can determine the connected device supports Atmos (headphones with an H1 or W1 chip).

Always On outputs Atmos for Atmos-encoded tracks regardless of whether it can determine the connected device supports Atmos.

Neither setting alters stereo tracks, although apparently they are working to simulate spatial for stereo.
 

verdi1987

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
656
418
This is driving me mad. I've got over 3,500 am I really supposed to go through and check each one to see if there's an Atmos version. And even if I do that and remove and re-add them thats going to destroy my playlists.
You can try disabling Sync Library and then re-enable it. That worked to fix content in my library that wasn’t showing up as Lossless or Atmos for me.
 
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JippaLippa

macrumors 68000
Jan 14, 2013
1,701
2,069
Is there an actual dolby atmos icon on macOS when playing dolby atmos content?
I can only see the lossless logo

Screenshot 2021-06-12 at 07.12.56.png

Atmos is set as "Always on"
 

Julien

macrumors G4
Jun 30, 2007
11,859
5,445
Atlanta
On macOS Spatial Audio/Atmos/Lossless is a hot mess of bugs, mistagging, random displaying and playing. As of now you can't reliably tell what is or will be playing on your Mac.

Until we get an macOS update seems you need to stick with iOS or tvOS if you want to be sure of what you are listening to.


 

JippaLippa

macrumors 68000
Jan 14, 2013
1,701
2,069
Atmos is only supported on MBP/MBA 2018 and later and iMac 2021. Is your Mac one of those?
I have a mac mini M1.
If the M1 MBpro, MBair 2020 and iMac 2021 work, I don't see why the mini shouldn't, as it's the exact same M1 chip.
 

verdi1987

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
656
418
I have a mac mini M1.
If the M1 MBpro, MBair 2020 and iMac 2021 work, I don't see why the mini shouldn't, as it's the exact same M1 chip.
It’s not the chip; it’s the speakers. It wouldn’t work with the built-in speaker but should if you’re connecting to a DAC (or using compatible headphones, I imagine). How are you outputting the audio?
 

dannyyankou

macrumors G5
Mar 2, 2012
13,836
29,839
Westchester, NY
Tiny complaint. All the songs sound great on their own. But it seems like Dolby Atmos creates tiny gaps between songs where they’re not intended. Try listening to the Abbey Road melody.
 

verdi1987

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
656
418
Tiny complaint. All the songs sound great on their own. But it seems like Dolby Atmos creates tiny gaps between songs where they’re not intended. Try listening to the Abbey Road melody.
Do you mean there are longer gaps of silence in between tracks? I’m not hearing anything amiss on Abbey Road.
 

dannyyankou

macrumors G5
Mar 2, 2012
13,836
29,839
Westchester, NY
Do you mean there are longer gaps of silence in between tracks? I’m not hearing anything amiss on Abbey Road.
There’s like almost a millisecond gap at the end of each track. It’s very brief, and maybe most people wouldn’t notice it at first but it makes it not seamless. This is with the 2019 remaster. The pre-2019 version doesn’t have these issues.
 

verdi1987

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
656
418
There’s like almost a millisecond gap at the end of each track. It’s very brief, and maybe most people wouldn’t notice it at first but it makes it not seamless. This is with the 2019 remaster. The pre-2019 version doesn’t have these issues.
I see. I tried to compare the remaster against the pre-2019 version and didn’t notice a difference, but I’m sure if you’ve listened to it a ton of times it stands out.
 

Apleeseed84

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2020
902
644
On macOS Spatial Audio/Atmos/Lossless is a hot mess of bugs, mistagging, random displaying and playing. As of now you can't reliably tell what is or will be playing on your Mac.

Until we get an macOS update seems you need to stick with iOS or tvOS if you want to be sure of what you are listening to.


I feel that this has to be a server issue on Apple’s End. I had a problem like this with a few movies I purchased through itunes were it would stop playing on all devices on my Apple TV, itunes for pc and iphone, it would freeze. Sure enough they managed to fix it.
 
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