Over the past decade, Spotify has emerged as the most-used music streaming platform in the world, with more users than Apple Music, Tidal, and any of its other competitors.
Does Spotify have Dolby Atmos?
Spotify does not have Dolby Atmos, despite many users calling for Spotify to support Dolby Atmos. Spotify has stated that it recognizes the demand from users to achieve compatibility with Dolby Atmos, but it has so far failed to follow in the footsteps of other streaming platforms.
Dolby Atmos is supported by the vast majority of Spotify’s main competitors, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal.
It allows its users to experience music and audio in a more immersive way and has proven to be a very popular feature on these streaming platforms.
This has led many Spotify users to call for Dolby Atmos to be made compatible with the hugely popular platform.
Does Spotify Support Dolby Atmos?
When streaming platforms like Amazon Music or Apple Music announced that they would be integrating Dolby Atmos into their features, Spotify users were left wondering whether their favorite streaming service would follow suit.
As of yet, the music and podcasting giant has decided against doing so.
There have been many rumors circulating in the tech world in recent years that Spotify is planning to make its platform compatible with Dolby Atmos. This would surely be a popular move amongst its loyal users, who would benefit from the immersive listening experience that Atmos provides.
You only need to look at the Spotify Community forums to see that this request has been made by many of its users. Some berate the fact that other platforms are offering Dolby Atmos audio, and ask for an explanation as to why Spotify seems reluctant to do this.
In June of 2021, over a year since the thread was first opened, Spotify replied to the demands for Dolby Atmos compatibility. They stated that the idea had “gathered the votes necessary and your feedback is now reaching the internal teams at Spotify.”
This response excited a lot of Spotify users who wanted Dolby Atmos to be made available on the streaming platform. However, since then, there have been no further updates given about any plans to bring Dolby Atmos to Spotify, leading to more frustration amongst users.
Many Spotify users prefer it to Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, and other streaming platforms for various reasons. It is renowned for having an exceptionally smooth display, and the app works very well to simplify the process of listening to audio.
Furthermore, it’s impossible to deny that Spotify’s playlists are amongst the best if not the best in the industry. For artists, it’s an incredible platform to gain exposure and even make a living from their music or content.
Despite all of these undeniable qualities that Spotify possesses, the fact that it hasn’t yet integrated Dolby Atmos into its features leaves it open to some criticism from users who want to experience 3D audio.
Many feel that if Spotify has Dolby Atmos, this would firmly cement its place as the best streaming platform in the world. Time will tell whether they choose to listen to many of their customers and make this happen.
How Do I Activate Dolby Atmos on Spotify?
Although it’s not possible to activate Dolby Atmos on Spotify, there are some alternative methods you can potentially use to achieve a similar effect.
This is only possible if you are an Apple user, who has a device with iOS 15 installed and a set of AirPods that facilitate Spatial Audio. The AirPods that have this feature installed are:
If you’re using iOS 15 and you have any of the three AirPods listed above, you can use the Spatial Audio feature on Spotify. To do this, you first need to open the Settings menu on your iOS device.
Then, tap Remotes and Devices, which should open a new menu. You can then tap Bluetooth, which will present you with a list of all the devices you’ve paired with your iOS device via Bluetooth connectivity.
Locate your AirPods Pro, AirPods 3, or AirPods Max from the list, and then tap the circled “i” next to them. This will open the device settings, and if you scroll down you should see the Spatial Audio feature, which you can then activate.
Although Spatial Audio is not the same as Dolby Atmos, it can certainly provide you with a more immersive, dynamic experience when listening to the audio on Spotify. It must be reiterated that this is only possible on iOS 15, and will not work on any older versions of Apple’s operating system.
Hopefully, Spotify will fully integrate Dolby Atmos into its platform sooner rather than later, or at least offer an alternative. Until it does, the method I’ve outlined here may satisfy your need for 3D audio.
Check out this YouTube video that shows how to get the best possible sound quality from Spotify.
Is Dolby 7.1 Better Than Atmos?
If you’re familiar with Dolby Atmos and different types of surround sound systems, you’ve probably also heard of Dolby 7.1. This surround sound technology is commonly used in high-end home theatres and features seven speakers which are positioned around the space, joined by a subwoofer for bass projection.
Dolby 7.1 is a significant improvement on standard 2-channel audio systems. With 7 channels, it can bring the audio from movies and TV shows to life, especially if the speakers are positioned correctly around the room.
Dolby Atmos, on the other hand, works by incorporating what is known as “overhead sounds” into the system. Compared to 7.1 surround sound, Atmos is more complex, effective, and immersive.
Dolby 7.1 surround sound can be used with a maximum of 7 speakers, while Dolby Atmos has the potential to be used with up to 34 speakers. This is considered overkill for most home theatre setups, though, and would be more effective in a cinema.
In terms of the processing of sounds, Dolby Atmos is superior to 7.1 surround sound. This is because it utilizes a unique approach that consists of placing sound objects in different positions within a 3D sound space.
7/1 surround sound works by mapping specific sounds to certain speakers, which is based on the panning settings chosen by the mixing engineers when the music or film audio is created.
With Dolby Atmos, the mixing engineer can deliberately position the sounds in a 3D space, so that they feel like they’re coming from all directions. For this reason, Atmos is one of the most immersive audio technologies in the world.
Does Tidal Have Dolby Atmos?
Tidal announced that it would be supporting Dolby Atmos from December of 2019, becoming one of the first streaming platforms to do so. This excited Tidal users who would now be able to experience the immersive audio that Atmos offers.
However, this initial excitement was limited when Tidal users realized that Dolby Atmos would only be available on specific Android devices. The phones and tablets needed to be compatible with Dolby’s technology, leaving iOS users and some Android users heavily disappointed.
The Amazon Echo Studio was initially the only non-mobile device that had the capability of playing audio from Tidal using Dolby Atmos, which further frustrated Tidal users who wanted to experience the technology.
In June 2020, Tidal addressed the issue of compatibility with Dolby Atmos when they announced that they were introducing the full Dolby Atmos Music catalog, which would allow users to enjoy the feature on most devices.
Tidal users needed to simply update the software of the app, and this would cause Dolby Atmos music to be sent via HDMI to any soundbar or AV receiver that is Atmos compatible.
Some of the devices that are compatible with Tidal and Dolby Atmos include the Apple TV 4K (tvOS 13 or later), the Amazon Fire Stick 4K, Fire TV (3rd generation) and the Fire TV Cube, and a range of Android TVs made by industry giants, Phillips or Sony.
Related Questions
Does Spotify support Dolby surround sound?
Spotify, unfortunately, doesn’t support any version of Dolby Surround sound, such as Dolby 7.1 or Dolby 5.1. There have been rumors that the streaming platform could support this technology in the future, and many of its users have requested it.
Do YouTube videos have Dolby Atmos?
It’s currently not possible to get Dolby Atmos on YouTube videos. This is because YouTube videos are encoded to stereo 2.0 sound when they are uploaded to the platform. YouTube doesn’t support surround sound technologies, except for YouTube TV which supports 5.1 audio.
Is Dolby Atmos good for audiophiles?
Audiophiles are likely to be very impressed by Dolby Atmos if they enjoy spatial audio effects. If they are more interested in achieving a pure, unaltered sound, Dolby Atmos probably won’t be something they will enjoy.
