{"id":86990,"date":"2021-08-03T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=86990"},"modified":"2022-02-22T16:28:38","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T16:28:38","slug":"apple-music-spatial-doesnt-sound-quite-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/apple-music-spatial-doesnt-sound-quite-right\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beatles producer Giles Martin says the Apple Music spatial mix “doesn\u2019t sound quite right to me”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Image Credit: Rolling Stone; Alex Lake; PA Wire\/AP<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giles Martin talks about Apple Music’s spatial audio and the experience on The Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Loney Hearts Club Band’ album.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, alongside lossless audio, Apple Music introduced spatial audio with Dolby Atmos on the music streaming service.<\/a> Spatial audio brings a 360\u00b0 surround experience to music on the platform.<\/a> Unlike lossless audio,<\/a> the advantage of spatial audio is, it doesn’t require specialist hardware to experience it,<\/a> but that’s not to say everyone hears the same thing, even on identical equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Rolling Stone,<\/a> The Beatles producer Giles Martin commented on the spatial audio mix of Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Loney Hearts Club Band<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sgt. Pepper\u2019s, how it\u2019s being presented right now, I\u2019m actually going to change it. It doesn\u2019t sound quite right to me. It\u2019s out in Apple Music right now. But I\u2019m gonna replace it. It\u2019s good. But it\u2019s not right. Sgt. Pepper\u2019s was, I think, the first album ever mixed in Dolby Atmos. And we did that as a theatrical presentation. I liked the idea of the Beatles being the first to do something. It\u2019s cool that they can still be the first to do something. So Sgt. Pepper\u2019s is a theatrical mix that\u2019s then being converted into a smaller medium. Therefore, it\u2019s not quite right.<\/p>Giles Martin – Rolling Stone interview<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

When asked what he would change about the album’s listening experience, Martin said “It seems to lack a bit of bass and a little bit of weight behind it. Abbey Road is a much better-functioning Atmos mix because it\u2019s much closer to the stereo mix, sonically.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The producer was also asked how he approaches mixing for the spatial audio experience. “We start off with the stereo. I feel immersive audio should be an expansion of the stereo field, in a way. I like the idea of a vinyl record melting and you\u2019re falling into it.” Later adding “And we are by our nature, forward-facing individuals who don\u2019t like too many things creeping up behind us. If you have a lot of sound coming behind you, you want to turn your head. I get criticized sometimes for not being expansive enough with these mixes, but it\u2019s what I believe. I like the idea of falling in the record as opposed to just being circled around.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin says getting the spatial audio mix just right is important as even the average person can hear the difference. “You can hear the difference with spatial audio. It may not always be better, but there\u2019s a difference.” Continuing “Spatial audio in headphones is hugely variable, depending on the size of your head, the way your neck is on your shoulders. Where we perceive sound coming from varies with our physical bone structure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n