What Is Spatial Audio?

The term “spatial audio“ is becoming more and more prevalent with companies like Apple and Sony embracing this technology in their products. That said, what exactly is spatial audio, and does it really make that much of a difference? In this video, Sweetwater‘s Mitch Gallagher dissects spatial audio while noting key differences between this impressive audio experience and other comparable systems. Check it out!

0:00 — Intro
0:34 — Spatial Audio Formats
1:11 — How to Listen to Spatial Audio
1:36 — Dynamic Head Tracking
1:55 — Spatial Audio Content Playback
2:20 — My Spatial Audio Experience
2:52 — Spatial Audio Mixes for Video
3:22 — Spatial Audio Mixes for Music
4:01 — How Spatial Audio Works
4:32 — The Future of Spatial Audio
4:49 — The Wrap-up

#Sweetwater

[sweetwater]

Explore the bold new horizons of music production! What tracks are you hoping get remastered in a spatial audio format? Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to stay in tune with the latest innovations in music!

[CyberianWind]

Pink Floyd has used an early 3d sound tech for many decades in their live shows via the azimuth coordinator. Also the old high end discrete quad systems, with proper speaker placement, plus the hard to find discrete quad records and tapes, did a decent job of giving a 3d sound environment even back in the 70's. And all analog! With digital... wow! Virtual soundscaped environments. Hear and feel the actual sound(s) of With VR, scent tech, and ect. another step closer to an actual holodeck, or maybe the matrix... I dig it!

[ForzaRoma]

Awesome video. You explained everything to a T. Well done sir 👏

[mimidhof]

Spacial audio is the file type name for the consumer, but the real technology internationally involved in that is dolby atmos right?

[nrikhy]

Great amazing explanation in a short video

[MHale-]

Didn’t carver audio make a rack unit for the home system call a “ homophonic graphics imager”. Pink Floyd also recorded in this format in the day. Or I’m the only guy who knows thiS.?

[Nightjar]

But bands and orchestras play in front of us.
I don’t get it.
Ok a center channel would help for sure.
But what is supposed to be coming from the speakers behind us?
Or above us?

Unless they are sound effects.

I don’t get it

[guswaves]

Spatial Audio = Dolby Atomos, but ad real-time position for AirPods Pro users.

[adamsonlinearrayspeakersha]

With PA speakers, you have the option of the paper cone woofer, or the paper cone woofer, or the paper cone woofer, BORING.

[WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

Absolutely ridiculous. We have been to surround before back in the 1970s with quadraphonic. Look how well that did! We don't need surround/spatial/quad/or high tech multi-channel and decoding for music. Music comes from a stage with left/right and front to back; the rest is just reflections of the hall. I can easily create this with ALL 2 channel stereo recordings using an additional stereo amplifier, two speakers and a reverb/delay unit. And I can use this system for any recording ever made, no special encoding and extra channels needed. We should be concentrating on getting a more accurate reproduction of our instruments in the recording studio and playback home stereo systems...NOT....creating bigger more expensive and incompatible/proprietary systems. We are decades or centuries away from this accurate recording of instruments with all the limitations of electronics today. Take the innocent lone acoustic grand piano....not a single recording/playback of this majestic instrument has been engineered yet. Every recording since the beginning of recording has not come close to reproducing a grand piano in the home of a stereo owning listener. Not even close. It is these solo instrument recordings of a piano that illustrate how much more innovation and engineering remains necessary.