How to… Play Atmos
First things first, what’s Atmos and why should you care?
Glad you asked! Because there CAN be a lot to absorb and fret about. And unless you’re an audiophile who spends large sums of $$$ and lives in a home without neighbors who can hear your pristine music, you probably don’t really care.
But you should!
Atmos, so what is that?
Atmos is a brand name from Dolby for an immersive audio format. Yes, these are the same folks who you probably remember from back in the 90s when your rich uncle put a surround speaker movie theater system in his home full-on with reclining leather seats that had cup holders and a LaserDisc player and central AC.
Well, Atmos is definitely an audio format in surround, but not just around you in a circle like it used to be. Now, it’s half a sphere around you like you’re in a dome.
And that can make for some really cool listening experiences. Now that roaring jet can do a flyby over your head. Or that haircut can sound like… you’re really getting a haircut.
That’s because Atmos can be played back in 12 or 16 speakers. But if you don’t have that many speakers, you can hear it on headphones.
That’s right! Regular old headphones will allow you to hear Atmos-encoded music and Atmos sound in movies.
That’s because it plays in what’s called binaural. Get it? Two ears?
Binaural is sound that comes from headphones but makes you feel like it’s coming from next to you or behind you or over you. And for that to work best, you want that sound close to your ears. Playing binaural audio over your laptop speakers or your Sonos system is like taking a bath in a puddle. You can, but you’ll just feel dirty afterwards.
My ears are not your ears
Two of the most popular headphones you can buy right now do a little trick called head-tracking.
Everyone has different ears and differently shaped heads and we all hear things differently from each other. But if you turn your head and the sound stays fixed (like it does in the real world), you get a sense of reality you can’t get from a stereo speaker system.
And that’s the cool part.
Because if you start to feel like the sounds are real, you can easily feel transported to somewhere else. Like the club, or sitting in with the band, or out in the woods where no one else can see you and those wolves howling sure do sound like they are getting closer, was that the wind or someone breathing, SNAP omg did you hear that, who’s there, Samantha?
Atmos it’s flexible. You can play a single Atmos sound file over your headphones in binaural, your stereo speakers, or your massive entertainment speaker array. The player adjusts to what you are listening on automagically!
The “quick” answer:
Put headphones on and listen to binaural audio tracks like this and this.
The “you-got-some-money” answer:
Buy Apple Airpod Pros OR Maxes OR Sony WH-1000XM5’s because they can do head tracking.
To stream music, turn on Atmos in Apple Music or Tidal, or get Amazon Music Unlimited.
Alternatively, download .mp4 files encoded for Dolby Atmos and Mac users can play them in Apple Music or VLC player and Windows users can use Kodi or VLC player. Windows folks may also want to get the Dolby Access app for your PC.
The “you-like-movies-and-have-some-money-and-no-neighbors” answer:
Get a sound bar that emulates surround in your TV room like this or this.
The “you-appreciate-the-finer-things-in-life” answer:
Invest in an acoustician to evaluate and build your listening room with proper absorptive and reflective surfaces, buy a ludicrously expensive AV receiver that supports Dolby Atmos, Auro 3D, DTS:X, and MPEG-H (to be safe) and at least 12 speakers for a 7.1.4 array, or 16 for 9.1.6 if you be ballin’ like that.
Also, a fine cognac.
But I’m still intimidated
Don’t worry, it’s a lot. And it’s constantly changing as technology improves. For example, in Japan, they broadcast 8k TV with surround sound to folks with 24-speaker arrays. 🤯
But you don’t need to buy that many speakers just yet. Just put on the headphones and listen and enjoy!
For more info:
Dolby Atmos on Windows laptops, a How-To