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Spatial Audio

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Spatial Audio for video calls now works in Microsoft Teams as well as FaceTime

Spatial Audio for video calls | Microsoft Teams screen on a Mac

Apple introduced Spatial Audio for video calls to FaceTime with macOS Monterey back in 2021 – and the same feature is now available on both Macs and PCs in Microsoft Teams. The full rollout follows earlier testing.

Spatial audio creates the illusion that individuals are physically positioned in the space in which they are shown on your screen, their voice appearing to originate from that location. Microsoft says that this is more than just a gimmick …

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Spatial Audio transforms music, says Alicia Keys and Springsteen recording engineer

Spatial Audio transforms music | Recording studio

Bob Clearmountain, the US recording engineer who mixed Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. album, says that he hopes Spatial Audio will bring back the days when people sat down and actively listened to music – instead of it simply being a background soundtrack to their lives.

Artist Alicia Keys says that it should, as it completely transforms the experience of listening to an album …

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Comment: I didn’t expect to like Spatial Audio, but I’m a convert

Spatial Audio works

When Apple announced that it was bringing lossless music and Spatial Audio to Apple Music, it majored on the latter and mentioned lossless almost in passing. That struck me at the time as the wrong way around, but listening to Spatial Audio tracks has changed my mind.

Spatial Audio – aka Dolby Atmos – had obvious appeal for movies, but with the possible exception of recordings of live performances, I couldn’t see much point in it for music …

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New Spatial Audio ad (fake) demos the tech on Apple Music’s YouTube channel [U]

Spatial Audio ad

A new Spatial Audio ad (embedded below) has just been posted to the Apple Music YouTube channel, featuring the Masego & Don Toliver track Mystery Lady.

Update: Bizarrely, the ad itself doesn’t use Spatial Audio, just a lot of stereo channel separation. You need to listen to the separate Behind the Sound video in the Apple Music app to hear the real thing …

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