Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos: I’m turning it off

I’ve already written about my thoughts regarding Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and how I thought things were about to change as Apple brought it to the Apple Music app. I’ve also written about the apparent inconsistency from one song to the next. It’s been about a month since I’ve written each of these posts. In that month I have patiently checked the Apple Music app, searching to see if they’ve added the technology to songs I like in my favorite genre; Rock.

NOTE: I understand that Apple Music is not tailored to “olds” like me and is more focused on a “younger” audience. That said there have been some additions to the Rock playlist and Rock genre; some artists I’m interested in, others; not so much.

Last week I noticed that a Beatles album was added to the Rock genre; Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Finally I thought, a Classic Rock album worthy of this new technology. I eagerly took out my iPods Pro, inserted them into my ears, and pressed play to start listening.

What a disappointment! I thought for a moment, maybe just the first song got messed up and the second song will be better; wrong. The whole album sounds different and not in a good way. I was left wondering, like the botched attempt at Buddy Holly by Weezer, do Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr know or have anything to do with this? I find it highly unlikely that either one of them would let such a dumpster fire “out the door.” Then, I listened to last week’s episode of the Connected podcast. In that episode one of the hosts, Federico Viticci spoke about an article he read on chorus.fm. Hearing Viticci mention how Ryan Key, of Yellowcard, did not know who created the mix for his band’s song “Ocean Avenue” validated my thinking about what had to have happened with Sgt. Pepper’s. The fact that these “special mixes” are being created without some sort of artist oversight is alarming to say the least.

For this reason, I have turned off the Spatial Audio/Dolby Atmos option in the Setting app, under Audio, in Apple Music. Call me “old,” call me a purist. I refuse to listen to music from artists I love knowing that they, or someone representing them, was not involved somehow with the implementation of this promising technology. There must be some way that Apple can let us know who was involved in the process prior to listening. I shouldn’t have to find articles, buried in Apple News, about R.E.M’s “Automatic for the People,” to learn that some artists have people close to them involved in the process. Still, knowing that the original producer and engineer of a group like R.E.M. were involved still does not guarantee that the listener will like the outcome.