The audio industry is changing very frequently with a number of advanced technologies indicating the next big announcement in the near future. Most recently the Dolby Atmos technology has made its impact in the industry. Big studio movies and songs are now created for the most immersive sound experience of all time. People are now enjoying the 3-D voice effects while watching the movie. However, that’s not all we have today.
Dolby Atmos took almost 30 years to come into the mainstream industry as it takes a huge modification in the setup. But that’s not the case with the new Apple sound technology- ‘Spatial Audio’.
What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is an immersive sound experience equipped with several speakers. Each one of them is to send a specific sound as a separate element. This setting offers the experience of the most accurate live effect of sound while watching or listening to audio.
Each sound is treated as an individual element equally important for creating an almost real sound experience for the audience. Though the Dolby Atmos sound was invented almost 2 decades ago, the industry is accepting this now as they lacked the right technology and budget previously.
The recent adoption of the technology is now becoming the mainstream audio version and is heavily liked by audiences around the globe.
Also Read more – how-to-identify-the-dolby-atmos-sound-tracks
What is Spatial Audio?
Not very similar but the Spatial Audio technology is also there to improve the listener’s experience. This audio technology takes your head movement into consideration and releases the fragments of audio accordingly through each end of the earplugs or ear pods.
The technology is developed by Apple and is still in its early phases. It currently comes free with an Apple Music subscription. The technology also claims to give you an immersive experience. However, it is very different from Dolby Atmos.
The technology uses sensors to decide the frequency one earplug should work on. If a listener rotates his head, the technology will sense it and manipulate the sound such that the listener will always feel the sound coming from the device at all times. Spatial audio may not have a wide open domain like the Dolby Atmos. But it may help you enjoy the movie or music.
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Difference between Dolby Atmos & Spatial Audio:
Dolby Atmos creates a 3-D immersive audio experience by using speakers at different heights and different places. Each speaker holds its grip on specific audio elements to give sound motion effects to each piece of the audio present in the scene.
Note that Dolby Atmos is not the audio but only the manipulation of the information associated with the audio. It is a collection of metadata to produce certain frequency sounds with the help of speakers.
The spatial Audio experience is a manipulation of frequency not based on the sound elements but on the listener’s head movement with the help of inbuilt sensors, accelerometer and gyroscope inside the airport to track the head movement. ( Read More – everything-you-require-to-make-a-dolby-atmos-requirement )
The movement sensors, when captured, manipulate the audio frequency in each pod and make the sound seem like coming from the direction of the device. It doesn’t work on a 3-D model of the sound elements but considers the head’s movement.
Note that spatial audio is only effective when used in earpod. Without earphones, the technology is of no use. But Dolby works in all conditions whether in a theatre or with earphones on.
Collaborating Dolby Atmos & Spatial Audio:
Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio both offer an immersive audio listening experience but both have huge differences. The Apple team of developers says that one would experience the best of audio technology while using both at the same time. And we see them coming together in the very near future too. However, that requires a completely new set of equipment compatible with both. Notably, Spatial Audio was not created to be a competition to Dolby Atmos but to be a collaborator of it.
Dolby Atmos offers you a 3-D experience of sound. You will experience helicopter sounds moving over your head, snake hissing beside your legs, and insects here & there. On the other hand, spatial audio will always keep the sound coming from the direction of the device, leading you to experience the real-life movement effect during a movie.
( Also Read About – how-to-mix-and-master-in-dolby-atmos-for-headphones )
What’s the Future of the Audio Industry?
The audio industry started with the invention of the Phonograph in 1877. It is used to convert sound vibrations into electrical signals and then transmit them through speakers. From then till now, we have come a long way. The latest technology we have is Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. Both of them are ready to shake the market very soon. Spatial Audio is still in its early development and will take some time to reach out to the public. On the other hand, Dolby Atmos is all-ready for theatres, tablets, mobile phones, and home theatre.
The lineup is Virtual Reality technology, AI & Machine Learning, and Cloud Based Audio Production technology. Virtual Reality stimulates your physical presence in a 3-D environment and lets you enjoy the sound like you’re actually there.
AI technologies are now making a huge impact in audio production with their time-effective work. You can now complete your work months in just a few hours with the help of AI. Though it is now only for the tedious work, giving the engineers enough time for other creative aspects.
Cloud technologies are now offering you to work remotely. Since the covid-19 global crisis, cloud-based collaboration technology is helping people across the globe to work from anywhere.
Conclusion:
Dolby Atmos is making the audio industry more realistic than ever. And we now have the spatial audio from Apple that has something to offer to us. While Spatial Audio claims to give a great impact on sound, it is specially made to work with Dolby Atmos only. Both technologies have their special qualities that will help us to feel the sound better. But that’s not the end. The future holds a very advanced era of audio technology that will not only allow us to feel more but to work with more freedom.
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