Biggleswade, UK (April 24, 2023)—Aptly named, Studio Immersive in Johannesburg, South Africa, is outfitted with a PMC 7.1.4 monitor system and is protecting busy with Dolby Atmos tasks for Apple Music and Netflix.
The system put in at Studio Immersive consists of PMC8-2 XBD displays for left and proper channels, a PMC8-2 for the middle channel, two PMC8 subs and PMC Ci65 displays pushed by Line Research 88C03 amplifiers for encompass and peak.
The key gamers behind Studio Immersive are Adam Howard, head of audio and music put up facility Howard Audio, and Robin Kohl, proprietor of music recording firm Jazzworx. Howard had been trying to increase his personal audio facility when he was approached by Kohl who had offered his personal studio and needed to lease house in Howard’s premises.
“We didn’t have room for him, so I instructed another—that we each tackle the 300-square-meter workplace suite subsequent to mine, which had been empty since lockdown, and use the house to create the best-sounding recording studio we probably might,” explains Howard, a classically skilled musician who moved from the UK to South Africa in 1997. “Studio Immersive is our lovechild—costly however very stunning! Although Howard Audio and Jazzworx stay separate corporations, this facility is a pure coming collectively that enables us to deal with new immersive audio work and bigger ensemble recordings.”
Alongside the ultimate mixing and music composition work it tackles daily, the power, which has a reside room that may home as much as 24 musicians, has delivered greater than 300 tracks to Apple Music for artists comparable to Tresor, Black Coffee, Lojay and the late South African rapper AKA. In addition, it has turn out to be one of many first South African sound studios to combine a regionally produced Netflix collection—Ludik, directed by Giant Films’ Ian Gabriel—in Dolby Atmos.
A key particular person within the design and construct of the power was Jacob van der Westhuizen, CEO of South African gear distributor Benjamin Pro Audio. It was Jacob who really useful PMC audio system for the power. “I’ve listened to many PMC programs in different studios, together with among the high audio homes on the planet,” Howard says. “PMC simply appear to be the selection of most of the musicians, composers, and producers that I respect. Jacob has a PMC system in his demo room in Cape Town so I went to have a hear and it was a no brainer. They sounded wonderful.”
By now you may be aware of the fact that a number of music streaming services are offering high-res options for those of us who still care about audio quality. Amazon Music HD, Qobuz, Tidal and Apple Music’s Lossless Tier all offer CD-quality (lossless) streaming at 16-bit/44.1 kHz, with high-res options up to 24-bit/192 kHz—the latter typically at additional cost.
Unsurprisingly, Amazon Music HD is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, boasting a high-res library of more than 75 million songs. Notably absent from this list is Spotify, which announced lossless music streaming two years ago for Spotify Premium users but has yet to deliver on the promise. Nonetheless, it looks like high-quality music streaming has finally arrived.
That’s great news for listeners who want high-res audio and are willing to go the route of adding a network streaming device to their home entertainment setup. Streaming devices such as the Bel Canto e.One Stream Network Streamer provide audio outputs (analog and/or digital) that can be connected to a hi-fi preamp, which is probably the way to go if your goal is to listen to music at the highest quality possible. Others, like the Bluesound VAULT 2i, provide hardwired audio outputs, as well as the option to stream via Bluetooth. And that’s where audio quality comes into question.
It’s tough to debate the convenience of connecting a music player to loudspeakers via Bluetooth. The concept of not having to run wires inevitably evokes a response of “sign me up!” among most users, understandably so. But the sad truth is that for many listeners, the last step in the signal chain is Bluetooth, whether it be a powered BT speaker or BT headphones. Unfortunately—while BT Classic does support audio streaming and employs codecs such as SBC, aptX or LDAC to improve audio quality—its bandwidth limitations were never intended to support high-res streaming. Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) is of no more use to audiophiles than Classic, as it too was never designed for audio streaming.
Thankfully, help is on the way. In July 2022, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group completed a full set of specifications for LE Audio, opening the door for development of the next generation of BT audio devices, and promising increased audio quality due in large part to the implementation of two new codecs.
Developed by Fraunhofer IIS and Ericsson, the Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3) and LC3plus codecs enable high-quality audio streaming on wireless headsets or speakers via BTLE. All reports indicate that the LC3 codec sounds much better than SBC, aptX or LDAC, while at the same time reducing power consumption and latency.
LE Audio also incorporates Auracast, a feature that enables an audio source transmitter (e.g., a smart TV) to transmit to an unlimited number of audio receivers—so now you can have a silent binge party for your favorite show.
Using LC3, audio can be streamed via BTLE at resolutions up to 96 kHz/32-bit, with relatively low (125 to 250 kbps) bit rates. The reduced bitrate required by LC3 and LC3plus will provide higher audio quality at lower power requirements, facilitating high-res music streaming, as well as allowing development of smaller, more efficient and more accurate hearing aid devices. Products incorporating the technology are already available, spearheaded by the release of the Sennheiser RS 120-W wireless headphones released last August.
Stephen and David Dewaele are familiar to millions as 2manydjs, a project which undoubtedly moved the needle for modern DJing. Alongside like-minded allies such as Erol Alkan, Tiga, and Jacques lu Cont, 2manydjs swept international dancefloors into delirium, gifting a rock ‘n roll attitude to club culture.
In 2002, after a string of creative broadcasts on the radio while still known primarily as a rock band, they released As heard on Radio Soulwax for the first time ever, a collection of their innovative, genre-blurring, and ground-breaking mixes, including live recordings at this years Barcelona’s Primavera and revered Ghent nightclub Kompass plus an hour of Soulwax remixes from 2020-2022 will be inducted onto global platforms to stream on-demand. Whether played out live or painstaking recorded, a 2manydjs mix set really is like listening to ‘The Best of Music’. The live sets chosen for inclusion have been cherry-picked from what must have been a thousand nights reaching a million people. The recorded mixes jump genre from techno to disco to loungecore library music all selected from of the world’s great vinyl record collections.
As the Dewaele’s continue to push their much-loved, unique musical curiosity deep into cutting-edge electronic music and relentlessly forge new benchmarks, the liberation of electronic music history to DSPs and Apple Music subscribers across the globe is sure to spark a new generation of fans. This month, AHORS will also receive the deluxe reissue treatment, with Richard Young’s iconic original photography restored from the depths of legal trouble (thanks to a certain someone for allowing it). To ring in the 20th anniversary celebrations of AHORS, The Belgian brothers prepare for a sold-out date on Saturday December 17th at London’s O2 Brixton Academy alongside performances from Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, Erol Alkan, Kittin and Mixhell.
They have also kept up a hot streak as remixers, applying their signature jagged-yet-refined electro touch to the likes of Róisín Murphy, Peggy Gou, Robyn, Sylvester, Fontaines D.C., Marie Davidson and the freshly Grammy nominated remix of Wet Leg’s “Too Late Now”. Their long-awaited DSPs drop, streaming DJ Mixes and 20th anniversary party in London will rubber-stamp over two decades’ worth of work. As ever, it’s Stephen and David Dewaele connecting the past, present, and future like no-one else; as they say, “doing it the hard way since 2002.”
Stephen and David Dewaele are familiar to millions as 2manydjs, a project which undoubtedly moved the needle for modern DJing. Alongside like-minded allies such as Erol Alkan, Tiga, and Jacques lu Cont, 2manydjs swept international dancefloors into delirium, gifting a rock ‘n roll attitude to club culture.
In 2002, after a string of creative broadcasts on the radio while still known primarily as a rock band, they released As heard on Radio Soulwax for the first time ever, a collection of their innovative, genre-blurring, and ground-breaking mixes, including live recordings at this years Barcelona’s Primavera and revered Ghent nightclub Kompass plus an hour of Soulwax remixes from 2020-2022 will be inducted onto global platforms to stream on-demand. Whether played out live or painstaking recorded, a 2manydjs mix set really is like listening to ‘The Best of Music’. The live sets chosen for inclusion have been cherry-picked from what must have been a thousand nights reaching a million people. The recorded mixes jump genre from techno to disco to loungecore library music all selected from of the world’s great vinyl record collections.
As the Dewaele’s continue to push their much-loved, unique musical curiosity deep into cutting-edge electronic music and relentlessly forge new benchmarks, the liberation of electronic music history to DSPs and Apple Music subscribers across the globe is sure to spark a new generation of fans. This month, AHORS will also receive the deluxe reissue treatment, with Richard Young’s iconic original photography restored from the depths of legal trouble (thanks to a certain someone for allowing it). To ring in the 20th anniversary celebrations of AHORS, The Belgian brothers prepare for a sold-out date on Saturday December 17th at London’s O2 Brixton Academy alongside performances from Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, Erol Alkan, Kittin and Mixhell.
They have also kept up a hot streak as remixers, applying their signature jagged-yet-refined electro touch to the likes of Róisín Murphy, Peggy Gou, Robyn, Sylvester, Fontaines D.C., Marie Davidson and the freshly Grammy nominated remix of Wet Leg’s “Too Late Now”. Their long-awaited DSPs drop, streaming DJ Mixes and 20th anniversary party in London will rubber-stamp over two decades’ worth of work. As ever, it’s Stephen and David Dewaele connecting the past, present, and future like no-one else; as they say, “doing it the hard way since 2002.”
The xx return today with a brand new episode of Interludes Radio on Apple Music 1, hosted by all three members of the band. In the fourth episode of the special series, Romy, Jamie xx and Oliver Sim host the show together for the first time after hosting the first three episodes solo. In the episode they discuss their favorite summer gigs this year, Jamie reveals his vocals are on new single ‘KILL DEM’, they talk about how their solo projects have influenced the future sound of the band, getting back into the studio together, Romy testing out new music in Pacha in Ibiza, and more. The episode features music by The xx, their solo projects, TSHA, Jockstrap, I. Jordan and more.
Launched earlier this year, the first three episodes of Interludes Radio was hosted by a different member of The xx and featured an eclectic mix of music, special messages from notable friends in music and culture, fan interactions, exclusive new music, and insights into the group’s creative process.
Listen to the new episode of Interludes Radio anytime on-demand on Apple Music at apple.co/_InterludesRadio.
Jamie xx on his favourite show this year and revealing his vocals are on new single ‘KILL DEM’…
A lot of good, really big festival shows felt great and I had all these dancers with me, which was really fun, but maybe the most special was being able to play at Carnival. I’d never been invited to play at proper Carnival and I was on Shy FX’s stage and it was super-scary, but it felt like an honour. I played it [new single ‘KILL DEM’] at Carnival and it seemed to go down really well and it kind of felt like I’d finally finished it … I really tried to make it not sound like me [on the male vocal on the track].
Oliver on future music from the band and what it will sound like…
I think all three of us are going to very different parties in the music we’re making individually, but it makes me excited to work with you both. Jamie making his solo record changed the band. It brought so many new ideas and ways of working and it changed the meeting point between the three of us. Now with what all three of us are doing, what is the meeting point? What is that going to sound like? I have no idea, but I’ve never been more excited to find out.
Jamie and Romy on getting back into the studio…
Jamie xx: I’m just excited to get back together in the studio at some point, which we have been talking about.
Romy: I’m looking forward to not reflecting so much on the past. I’m very proud of the music we’ve made, but I think we are really excited to not dwell too much on the past and make new music and keep moving things forward as well.
Romy on her track ‘Lights Out’ and how it started out as a demo by the band…
So a song I put out called ‘Lights Out’ with Fred Again and HAAi. The original song was a demo from us [The xx] and is, to be honest, still a song that I really love and maybe one day we can finish it as a band and is something that I really love. Sounds completely different. But I had played it to Fred and he really loved the vocal melody and he asked me if we could kind of develop it.
Romy on trying out new music at shows this summer and then editing them…
You get such a good bit of perspective when you play something out and you can see how people react. Even if people are not reacting at all, I think you have your own internal dialogue. But I’ve had that quite a lot over the summer, playing some of my new music and then just watching, “Are people dancing? Are people into this? Have I lost everyone?” And then kind of going away and then making changes and that’s been something that I really value because I want people to be able to dance to it, the music I’m making.
Romy on testing her music in an empty Pacha in Ibiza …
We [the three members of the band for Oliver’s 30th birthday] went to Pacha and I remember going to that club and just being like, “Oh my God, I just love this place.” And so when I got an offer to play there, I was incredibly excited and I took that opportunity to play out a lot of new music and I had a sound check there and I basically just stood on my own in the middle of Pacha and just played back some of the music I’ve been working on and it was very, very exciting.
Romy on wanting to play Oliver’s solo track ‘Fruit’ with the whole band…
I remember when I heard that song I was blown away. I loved the kind of euphoria and the uplifting poppiness of it, but then lyrically, you really are able to articulate some things that are actually very difficult to articulate in the way that you have. It really blew me away. And I think that it’s a song that really stands out for me. And can I ask if we get to play a song from ‘Hideous Bastard’ live when we tour as The xx, can we play that song?
Ahead of the release of his new album ‘Actual Life 3’, Fred again joins Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 for an extensive conversation about his musical craft and live performance. He tells Apple Music about being “enormously changed” by the outpouring of support from his fans, reflects on his blockbuster viral Boiler Room set, being mentored, and pushed creatively by Brian Eno, working with Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy, and channelling the human experience with his music. He also discusses the challenges of capturing electronic music live and blows Zane’s mind with a must-see spontaneous demo of how he creates in a live setting.
Fred again Tells Apple Music He’s Been “Enormously Changed” by the Outpouring of Support From Fans…
I’ve been enormously changed by all the messages I’ve read and seeing people at shows and the way people have kind of let the music in. It’s totally changed me and I’m immeasurably grateful for it. all I can say is, it’s just totally changed the way in which I make music, which is all I do. So, it changed my life. I’m just very, very grateful. And you can see it when you play shows.
On The Challenges of Capturing Electronic Music Live and Blows Zane’s Mind with a Live Demo…
Zane: So let’s talk about life, for a second because people really want to see you live. I think tickets are selling out in minutes now. So what is it for you?
Fred: Well, we spent a long time trying to hone the way we wanted to do it. The fundamental thing to me is having the big portrait screen that represents an iPhone that just shows all the bits from my phone and other people’s. So that’s to me… I play with Tony, but I also play with that. That is very much a part of the DNA of the music. And then on a musical thing, it was found… Because I’ll use this thing a lot for the studio as well, just because of the way it chops up samples. This is a machine, so it’s like an MPC but a modern one. So it’s a native instruments one, but it’s based on the old things Dylan used and stuff. Essentially it’s 16 drum pads. You can put anything on it. It’s so infinitely powerful. The thing that is so exciting about this to me is with electronic music, it’s often almost impossible to get it live. I by no means mastered this. There are guys who I follow, shout out to Justin Aswell, who I’ve learnt loads from. I’m really keen to try and make it so that this can be a way of making it… Because there’s some moments when we do this shit, it’s like, “Totally we can go totally live.”
On His Viral Boiler Room Set…
Boiler Room was for sure…was definitely…I was very helplessly present almost. That wasn’t an option. I was pretty nervous before that, yeah. I’ve been going to Boiler Room since I was a kid. It’s just quite chaotic because you’re there thinking …you know when you watch a Boiler Room, there’ll just be like some person. The way the camera is set up is so random. I always thought, well, when I do mine, I don’t know, something will happen and it will be my best friend here or my other mate here. But inevitably you’re just in a crowded club and everything’s chaos. Then they go, “All right. Your time for the set,” and you’re like, “But.” Then it was so rammed that all of my best friends couldn’t even get close anyway. So, I was like, “Bye, guys.” Then you’re looking at these people around you like, “All right. Well, so you’re all my crew for the next thing.” Then it naturally cross-pollinates and permeates into different humans. It was very, very present tense. I was forced right into the present tense.
On Being Mentored by Brian Eno and Pushed by Him To Take His Own Music More Seriously…
I was doing my own music, and then with no intention, I just ended up working with others… It just kind of is what naturally took place. And so then, but there was a slight feeling of, after a few years there was a feeling that there was something I needed to make that I wasn’t making. By beautiful serendipity or maybe something bigger than that, Brian messaged me at the same time saying like…he was like, “I’m cleaning my kitchen and I’ve left all of my iTunes on loop, and it keeps going to… Every time it goes to a song that I run into the room and I see it’s an old sketch of yours,” and it was very sweet of him to say that. So he was like, “You’ve got to go back to doing this now.” Yeah, it was like I was already at the cliff and then it was just like… The older I get, the luckier I realize I am to even be in the same time as him, let alone be great friends. Yeah. So we worked together since we were 16. I kind of started just trying to… Going to his singing group and trying to do everything I could to get in. But yeah, he’d been mentoring me since then. When I met him, the way in which his mind works, I don’t think a 16-year-old is primed to fully appreciate. I mean, that’s why I say I’m just increasingly, increasingly, increasingly grateful for his genius. But essentially I think, and I’ve said this to Brian, it’s meant entirely as a compliment. But I think, in one word, it’s because he’s a kid and in a way that is just so rare and so admirable, he’s retained just this childish, wide-eyed fascination with things.
On Working with Ed Sheeran…
We were very sort of twins from the beginning. We have a very similar tastes and upbringing in music. So it was very natural and effortless. And we both like to write quickly. And the thing I would say mostly from… it’s similar to Burna Boy actually. And it’s the instincts thing. He’s just instinct, instinct, instinct, instinct. Every time he is writing it’s just like,” Go, go, go, go, work it out later.” And sometimes there’ll be a little tweak you make later, but fundamentally the thing is born from instinct and then you can fine-tune the thing beyond that.
On Working with Burna Boy and Why He Loves Him…
I think probably the things that have affected me the most are the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with. Because that’s a human thing, it becomes so much more profoundly affecting, I think. I would say Burna Boy is, I just adore him. He’s just a fucking G, and sorry, can I swear? I love him. So, I first met him, God, I don’t know, seven years ago now, something. And he came into my studio randomly and his presence, he didn’t sort of, I mean he was very much already Burna Boy, but he wasn’t publicly known as what is Burna Boy. But my God. He already was. Yeah, the man is a dragon in a human form. Yeah, he’s just. He rolls in, he was wearing this bright silver polystyrene to-the-floor puffer jacket and these shades. And he was like, “What’s good?” And I was like, “Everything is good.”… but the way he writes is very inspiring to …he just becomes it, and the ideas just flow out for him. The only thing you have to do. Is hit record, and you really do have to make sure you hit record because he will just go and go and go. It’s so inspiring to me that level of, and he also knows himself so deeply that you can throw anything at him. That’s the people who I love working with the most, because when there’s that level of I know me, then actually they’re up for doing anything. It doesn’t mean they are entrenched in me; it means the opposite. It means they’re like, I know what I’m going to do me, so you bring whatever you bring and we’ll see what happens.
On Doing a House Swap with Skrillex and Spending Time in LA…
Actually, we’ve done a home swap at the moment so he’s staying at mine in London and I’m his in LA, and it’s kind of lovely, but it’s just nice having a place here that is homely-ish feeling. So, when I’m here I kind of have a base. It doesn’t feel like it’s a natural place for spontaneity. And being able to walk around and stuff like that. Which is what I love about London and… You get a sense of cars. You can’t dispute the creative impact of the city and the frequency of that energy is a powerful one. I think I’m getting to grips with it. There has been a real game… Having, as I say, somewhere that feels like… This is the home of one of my best friends, so it’s so much nicer than just being in some anonymous hotel in West Hollywood…
On Why He Films Everything on Night’s Out…
The reason why I’m the person who films everything on a night out is that when you are hungover the next morning it’s just nice to glaze through the memories and you kind of soften the blow. You’re like wiretapping yourself. When you get that lovely sort of elevated energy of a group of people when you all spend 10 hours together on a proper long night out, and by the end, you’re all kind of floating in the same ether. It’s a lovely thing. I’ve got some videos on my phone that I cherish, cherish for that reason.
On Channelling the Human Experience With His Music…
The feeling that I became really obsessed with was trying to take the very fleeting moments and trying to expose as much beauty as is in them. So you know how sometimes you see something in a normal thing and you see it in slow-mo? It’s like, “Oh wow,” there’s a whole new emotional framing for it. So I think I’m trying to… I became just very obsessed with the feeling that happens when you take something. I think that’s why the first guy I sampled was just so enamoured with it because it was that feeling, but I’d never been able to see a hummingbird in slo-mo before if you see what I mean. It’s like a diary to me. And so although I’m trying to slo-mo certain moments, it’s like that was always a very important part of it. Even though parts of the diary are from, some of its just nights out from my phone and conversations, as you say, and some of its other people dotted around the whole world. It does. It’s so linked to a time and a place to me in a way that I’ve, from the first one, yeah, I felt really… It was just what I instinctively… The whole kind of framing of every song, like how it’s named and the structure of it all, is just what happened as I was making the music because it’s what you would instinctively do because it was like, “Okay, I’m sampling this person called Clara, I’ll name the song Clara, and the date is this, and I finished the record on this date.” So I just was keen to show the diary aspect of it, I guess, as much as I could because it is, yeah, really personal.
Mercedes-Benz hat auf dem Pariser Autosalon bekannt gegeben, dass Kunden zum ersten Mal Musik in Dolby Atmos von Apple Music in ihren Mercedes-Fahrzeugen genießen können.
Mit dem Zugriff auf eine schnell wachsende Bibliothek von Songs und Alben werden Mercedes-Kunden in der Lage sein, das ultimative Audioerlebnis in Dolby Atmos von Apple Music im Auto zu genießen.
Einige zusätzliche Fakten
In den letzten Jahren hat Dolby mit Künstlern zusammengearbeitet, um eine immersivere Art und Weise der Musikproduktion zu entwickeln. Dolby Atmos ist eine völlig neue Art und Weise, Musik zu kreieren und zu erleben; es bietet künstlerischen Ausdruck in seiner vollen Kapazität, indem es der Musik mehr Raum, Klarheit und Tiefe verleiht.
Mit Dolby Atmos haben Künstler jetzt eine größere Palette, um sich auszudrücken, als es in Stereo möglich ist. Sie können zum Beispiel einzelne Instrumentenschichten um Sie herum trennen. Dadurch können Sie den Song offener wirken lassen, und den Gesang so verschieben, dass er Sie zu umspülen scheint. Was Sie in Dolby Atmos hören, spiegelt das wider, was der Künstler sich in seinem Kopf vorgestellt hat. Sie können es genau so hören, wie er es beabsichtigt.
Heute gibt es über 700 Dolby Atmos-fähige Musikstudios auf der ganzen Welt, die in Dolby Atmos produzieren. Dabei haben mehr als zwei Drittel der Top-100-Künstler von Billboard Musik in Dolby Atmos veröffentlicht.
Dolby Atmos wird zunächst in der Mercedes-Maybach S-Klasse, der Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse sowie dem EQE, EQE SUV, EQS und EQS SUV verfügbar sein.
Im Anhang und unten finden Sie detaillierte Informationen in Form der offiziellen Pressemitteilung von Mercedes-Benz und ein Foto, das Sie verwenden können. Lassen Sie uns wissen, wenn Sie weitere Fragen haben.
Über Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories mit Hauptsitz in San Francisco unterhält Zweigstellen auf der ganzen Welt. Von Filmen und Serien über Apps, Musik und Sport bis hin zu Gaming – bei Dolby verwandelt sich die Wissenschaft von Sehen und Hören in spektakuläre Erlebnisse für Milliarden Menschen weltweit. Dolby arbeitet mit Künstlern, Storytellern, Entwicklern und Unternehmen zusammen, um Unterhaltung und Kommunikation durch Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, Dolby Cinema und Dolby.io zu revolutionieren.
Apple Music issued a press release on May 17, 2021 announcing that the “next generation of sound” would arrive for subscribers in June — without any additional cost. Apple Music subscribers can listen to any track, anywhere, in CD fidelity for only $9.95 month. What Apple Music defines as the “next generation” of sound includes support for Spatial Audio in the form of Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio.
Apple introduced Spatial Audio this morning and announced a Logic Pro update that will accommodate the format. Amazon quickly responded.
Los Angeles, CA (May 17, 2021)—Apple introduced Spatial Audio this morning, bringing support for Dolby Atmos streaming at no extra cost to Apple Music subscribers — and less than an hour later, Amazon responding by making its Amazon Music HD catalog, including Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks, available for free to eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers.
Spatial Audio launches with “thousands of tracks” in Dolby Atmos, says Apple, and new songs in Dolby Atmos format will be constantly added to the catalog. According to the company, Apple Music will automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as well as on built-in speakers on the latest versions of iPhone, iPad and Mac.
For content creators, Apple is also building immersive music-authoring tools directly into Logic Pro. Later this year, Apple says, it will release an update to Logic Pro that will enable users to create and mix songs for Spatial Audio compatible with Apple Music.
Over at Amazon, the company announced that Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, France, Italy and Spain may now upgrade to Amazon Music HD, previously $5/month to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers, at no additional charge.
The Amazon Music HD catalog represents over 70 million lossless tracks at CD-quality 44.1/16. Amazon has reportedly added more than five million songs to its Amazon Music Ultra HD catalog — offering tracks at 24 bits, 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz — since launching the streaming tier in 2019, including songs remixed in immersive formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA.
Apple Music additionally announced today that it’s making its 75-million-song catalog available in lossless audio using ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec). Apple Music’s Lossless offerings, playable on any Apple device, are available in resolutions from 44.1 kHz/16-bit through 48 kHz/24-bit. For Hi-Resolution Lossless subscribers, music is available at resolutions up to 192 kHz/24-bit.
Because of the larger bandwidth requirements and file sizes, subscribers will need to opt-in to both Apple Music lossless tiers. Additional D-to-A converters are required for hi-res lossless listening.
Amazon forced competitors such as Deezer and Qobuz to lower the cost of their high-resolution streaming services to $14.99/month to match its new offering when the company launched Amazon Music HD in 2019. Tidal, the first company to get into high-res streaming, remains the exception and still charges subscribers $19.99/month for access to its Tidal HiFi service, which offers tracks in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. Deezer HiFi and Nugs HiFi also offer Sony 360RA streaming.
Spotify, late to the high-res party, only announced in February a new Spotify HiFi tier that will offer “CD-quality, lossless” music. The launch date and monthly subscription cost have not been announced.
