Apple Music DJ Mixes take you clubbing with Spatial Audio

Immersing you in the beat, Apple Music DJ Mixes take advantage of Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio to create a virtual dance club experience.

Apple’s Spatial Audio is a 360-degree sound format which is compatible with AirPods and Beats headphones featuring Apple’s H1 or W1 chip. Going beyond traditional surround sound, Spatial Audio also takes advantage of dynamic head tracking, thanks to accelerometers and gyroscopes built into the headphones. 

By tracking your head movements in real time, Spatial Audio can continually adjust the sound to allow for the direction you are facing – so certain sounds always appear to come from the same direction. The subtle shift in the sound establishes fixed audio points in the room, to create a more life-like listening experience.

For example, if the vocals are coming from the front of the room, when you face the front the vocalist sounds as if they are standing directly in front of you. If you turn your head to the right, the vocals grow louder in your left ear and softer in your right ear – tricking your brain into thinking the sound is still coming from the front of the room.

The effect isn’t limited to the horizontal plane. Like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, spatial audio can also add a sense of height to make content even more immersive. Spatial audio leverages the strengths of Atmos, as the content was originally mastered for Dolby’s platform.

Spatial Audio gives artists the opportunity to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with “true multidimensional sound and clarity,” according to Apple. It is already compatible with a wide range of audio sources, including music and movie soundtracks. Now it is coming to Apple Music DJ Mixes, with monthly releases on the revamped One Mix series.

The new Apple Music DJ Mixes begins with ‘Outer to Inner Atmosphere: The Escape Velocity Mix’ by acclaimed DJ and producer Jeff Mills, with the hour-long set available on the Apple Music app. There are also 15 Boiler Room sets from stars like Boys Noize, India Jordan, Analog Soul and The Blessed Madonna.

More DJ sets will be released throughout the year as part of the overall Boiler Room collection on Apple Music, with Apple promising the “finest DJs” from the dance and electronic music realms.

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