Last week's release of tvOS 15, the beta, gave us our first taste of Apple's spatial audio. This is when an Apple TV 4K is combined with a large-screen TV and the head tracking built into the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro. What is the result? The result? A virtual home theater experience that will make you smile from 65 inches away.In 2020, Apple introduced spatial audio to the AirPods Pro. It used head-tracking technology at the time to create a convincing 3D effect that transformed your iPhone's or iPad's screen into an immersive movie theater. You could hold your iPhone in front of your face and move your head to the right to see key sound effects and dialogue. These sounds would still seem to be coming from your iPhone if you turned your head to the left.This trick works now on an Apple TV 4K with tvOS 15. It is the largest screen in the house. Is Apple's virtual surround sound effect as effective on larger screens (55 inches or greater)? Simply put: Yes.With a pair of AirPods Max (which also works with AirPods Pro), and an Apple TV 4K second-generation, I was able to fire up several movies from Apple TV+, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Apple claims the feature works with Dolby5.1, but Dolby Atmos content will provide the best experience. When I started watching Avengers: Endgame on Disney+ I was instantly struck by the quality of the spatial audio sounds.Enjoy surround sound in your headYou're used to hearing the sounds from different speakers in surround sound if your home theater system is 5.1 or higher. Two small speakers are attached to your head to create a similar sensation to head-tracking spatial audio. It was so convincing that I kept taking my AirPods Max off in order to verify that the sound was being piped through regular speakers.It's not only sound direction that is preserved, but spatial audio does an excellent job of creating a sense distance from the source of sound. The big screen is the best place to use spatial audio. You can get the same immersive effects using spatial audio on an iPhone. However, your brain perceives a mismatch between what you see and what you hear.This mismatch can be resolved by using an Apple TV 4K and a large TV. Your brain will believe that the sound is coming from the normal places in the room.It is not a substitute for the original.This is not an ideal substitute for traditional speakers. It is difficult to recreate the subwoofer's bass and Dolby Atmos height channel sounds (the classic helicopter overhead effect) aren't as exciting. On the other hand, it is much easier to understand the dialogue and the AirPods Max or Pro offer excellent active noise cancellation.You may live in a condo with thin walls or prefer to watch movies at night. I highly recommend spatial audio for Apple TV 4K. Private listening is possible for as low as $729 ($180 for Apple TV 4K and $549 for AirPods Max). This price is comparable to a sound system that could cost thousands.Head-tracking spatial audio is currently required:Apple TV 4K (gen 1, gen 2)tvOS 15 beta and higherAirPods Pro and AirPods MaxDolby 5.1 and Dolby Atmos content available from: Apple TV+ Disney+ Amazon Prime VideoNetflix?Spatial audio will likely be a benefit to Netflix, but tvOS 15 beta is doing something strange with Netflix content. No matter if the movie is in Dolby Atmos or 5.1, it will be converted to stereo via AirPods. Although spatial audio will be indicated by the Apple TV control center, it doesn't appear to make any difference. Also, there is no relative change of audio direction when you move your head.Are you curious about Dolby atmos Music on Apple Music? Apple claims it will add head-tracking spatial audio for this content but that won't happen until the fall. I have had mixed experiences with Apple's spatial audio treatment for Dolby Atmos music. So, Im curious to see if head-tracking will be as effective for immersive music as for movie soundtracks.Editors' Recommendations
