Tidal is the first music streaming service to launch Dolby Atmos music for TVs, streaming players and soundbars. Only a handful of devices are supported at launch.
Dolby Atmos music
You may have experienced Dolby Atmos movies in the cinema or at home. Dolby and Tidal are now partnering to bring Dolby Atmos music to the living room, saying that it lets listeners experience their "favorite music in a whole new way".
- "Dolby Atmos Music allows people to connect with their favorite music in a whole new way, pulling listeners into a song and revealing what was lost with stereo recordings. Listeners can discover hidden details and subtleties with unparalleled clarity. Whether it’s a complex harmony of instruments placed around a listener, a legendary guitar solo that fills a room, a massive bass drop that washes over the audience, or the subtle breath a singer takes between lyrics, Dolby Atmos gives music more space and the freedom to unleash every detail and emotion as the artist intended," the company said in its announcement.
At launch, only a handful of TV devices are supported. Supported streaming players include Apple TV 4K, various FireTV models, and Nvidia Shield 2019. These allow you to output Atmos music to a compatible TV, soundbar, music system or receiver. Supported TVs include select Android TVs from Sony and Philips. These can also output Atmos to an external speaker system.
A list of compatible devices can be found in the table below.
No support for LG, Samsung TVs
There is no Atmos support in Tidal for Samsung TVs due to Samsung not having licensed Atmos for TVs, and there is no support for Atmos-compatible LG TVs due to webOS not offering a Tidal app.
To experience Dolby Atmos music you need music tracks created in the object-based audio format. On Tidal, such tracks include Ariana Grande’s 7 rings, The Weeknd’s After Hours, and Kanye West's Heartless. There is also a Dolby Atmos playlist and an 'Available in Dolby Atmos' section on Tidal - or you can simply search for it.
Tidal is the first music streaming service to launch Dolby Atmos music for TV devices but it is not the first player to dip its toes in the water. Peal Jam recently made its visual album Gigaton available as a Dolby Vision + Atmos experience through the movies section on Apple TV 4K. Other companies, including Sony and Fraunhofer with its MPEG-H technology, are similarly exploring using object-based audio technology in music space.
As part of the launch Tidal is offering a 60-day free trial to those interested in Dolby Atmos music. You can learn more here.
Tidal & Dolby Atmos - compatible devices
| You can stream music in Dolby Atmos on your Dolby Atmos compatible sound bars, TVs, and AVRs, in addition to your Dolby Atmos compatible Android mobile devices.
Compatible TV-connected devices include:
Apple TV 4K (running tvOS 13 or later)
Fire TV (Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 2016, Fire TV Gen 3 2017, Fire TV Cube 1st Gen or 2nd Gen)
Nvidia Shield TV and Shield TV Pro (2019 and newer models)
The updated Tidal app is also available on Dolby Atmos enabled Android TVs (with Android 9 Pie) from Sony and Philips. |
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