iOS 15's new 'Spatialize Stereo' feature adds 3D sound to any content

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iOS 15'southward new 'Spatialize Stereo' feature adds 3D sound to any content

(Image credit: Apple)

WWDC 2021 saw Apple announce iOS 15, macOS Monterey and a host of AirPods upgrades, but it seemingly held off announcing a particular audio feature: one that could add Dolby Atmos-way surround audio to any piece of media.

As spotted by reddit user u/hzfan, the current iOS 15 programmer beta version includes a new "Spatialize Stereo" setting in Control Middle. This apparently recreates the 360-degree sound upshot of Apple Music's spatial audio, even if the track wasn't originally mastered for Atmos; this was previously a requirement.

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Farther investigation by 9to5Mac found that not but Spatialize Stereo available on macOS Monterey every bit well, only the feature reportedly works for both music and video. In the latter's example that includes Apple tree's 3D caput-tracking capabilities, too. You'll need the AirPods Pro or AirPods Max for this particular function, but, once again, it will manifestly work without the video having Atmos back up.

Information technology sounds like the Spatialize Stereo choice essentially just uses upmixing, a long-established technique for enhancing stereo and even mono audio up to v.1 surround sound. But while the concept isn't new, this feature could provide a major heave to how you lot tin relish music and video on your Mac or iPhone.

(Paradigm credit: Apple)

The main upshot with Apple's spatial audio tech is a relative lack of supportive content. For both video and Apple Music content, the vocal, Idiot box episode or movie must be encoded for Atmos. While not particularly rare, such encoding is far from the norm. When spatial audio launched for Apple tree Music on June 7, merely thousands of the service'due south 75 1000000-strong song library were available in the Atmos format.

An easy toggle setting that spoofs the consequence, but can apply itself to any rail or video, has obvious benefits. u/hzfan said that they'd "option Atmos spatial audio mixes over Spatialized Stereo every fourth dimension," so it'south rubber to say the latter's 3D effect might not be as disarming every bit true Atmos content. But hey, if information technology works well enough, it could be worth using until more than content becomes available with Dolby mastering.

You'll probably be able to try Spatialize Stereo for yourself come July, when both iOS fifteen and macOS Monterey enter public beta alee of their respective full releases this fall.

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James is currently Hardware Editor at Rock Paper Shotgun, but before that was Sound Editor at Tom's Guide, where he covered headphones, speakers, soundbars and annihilation else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he as well wrote computing and gaming news for TG, commonly relating to how hard it is to discover graphics card stock.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/ios-15s-new-spatialize-stereo-feature-adds-3d-sound-to-any-content

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