Dolby Atmos is Coming to Cars in a BIG WAY!

[gene]

In 2021, we got a few glimpses of what an in-car Dolby Atmos experience might look and sound like. Now Dolby has teamed up with with Cinemo, a leading provider of automotive infotainment middleware, to accelerate the integration of Dolby Atmos into vehicles. Together, the two companies are “set to drive a revolution for in-car entertainment.”

The business benefits of adopting the Dolby/Cinemo solution reportedly include the following:

1. The Dolby Atmos solution for cars does not require extra computational hardware. Existing CPUs (an infotainment system might include several) are able to process Dolby Atmos music just as easily as other audio formats. That’s good news for OEMs who don’t want to shell out more cash for number-crunching that goes on behind the scenes
2. No extra speakers are required in order to adopt the Dolby/Cinemo Atmos solution. This is great news for the OEMs, but it’s of questionable benefit to the audio enthusiast because it means that some car systems will have to use Dolby Atmos virtualization to approximate the effect of height channels using existing speaker layouts. (In luxury cars, we can expect more premium audio packages that use additional height speakers to deliver the best experience. But Dolby and Cinemo have chosen not to make the use of in-ceiling speakers a requirement.) From a business perspective, it may make sense for Dolby to put some form of Atmos into as many cars as possible. Still, there are some audio enthusiasts who fear that Dolby is actually diminishing the Atmos “brand” by delivering a diluted experience to folks who may never actually hear what Atmos is capable of. Nevertheless, it makes adoption of the Dolby/Cinemo solution more appealing to OEMs who may not be able or willing to redesign their speaker layouts and amplification systems.
3. It is guaranteed to work, first time, every time. Dolby and Cinemo have done the hard work, so the OEMs can feel confident that the end user will have a reliably smooth experience.
4. By delivering a premium experience, the OEMs can justify charging a premium price. Dolby says that “a premium, immersive audio experience makes (car buyers) feel that their time behind the wheel is time well spent. They will pay for a better experience and have a better perception of the brand.”

With expected growth of $50 billion in the OEM car audio business over the next few years, and the fact that Atmos is NOW streaming natively on major platforms like Tidal, Apple Music and Amazon HD, are we witnessing a revolution of multi-ch spatial audio?

Read: Dolby Atmos to Revolutionize OEM Car Audio

 

[j_garcia]

The EV I am looking at says it has Atmos on board. I was wondering what that actually meant.

 

[ryanosaur]

Not gonna lie... this seems like a foolish choice and a really bad idea. The last thing we need is to be driving and get distracted by spacial cues coming from all around our little bubble of isolation that the modern car is.

It's bad enough listening to some Hip Hop and you here a police siren! Or worse, that one classic rock track that does the quadraphonic spin around the four main speakers.

 

[Pogre]

Not gonna lie... this seems like a foolish choice and a really bad idea. The last thing we need is to be driving and get distracted by spacial cues coming from all around our little bubble of isolation that the modern car is.

This is the exact first thought I had!

Then my second thought was "oh! I wanna check that out!".

 

[Eppie]

Not gonna lie... this seems like a foolish choice and a really bad idea. The last thing we need is to be driving and get distracted by spacial cues coming from all around our little bubble of isolation that the modern car is.

It's bad enough listening to some Hip Hop and you here a police siren! Or worse, that one classic rock track that does the quadraphonic spin around the four main speakers.

My initial thought as well but then I considered that more and more EVs are incorporating self-driving features. As more self-driving vehicles get on the road, I can see automotive entertainment systems becoming a selling feature, so the concept of ATMOS in vehicles may take hold in the long run.

 

[MalVeauX]

I had to check the date, I thought it may have been an article for April 1.

Very best,

 

[ryanosaur]

My initial thought as well but then I considered that more and more EVs are incorporating self-driving features. As more self-driving vehicles get on the road, I can see automotive entertainment systems becoming a selling feature, so the concept of ATMOS in vehicles may take hold in the long run.

But we all know self drive isn’t there yet. No matter what Musk says.

 

[snakeeyes]

If it works ya I would want it. Not sure I necessarily want 31 tiny speakers though. What are they the size of a quarter? LOL

 

[WookieGR]

Besides rich corinthian leather, I have thouroghly enjoyed 3D spatial audio in my cars for generations, i lovingly call it road noise.

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

Not gonna lie... this seems like a foolish choice and a really bad idea. The last thing we need is to be driving and get distracted by spacial cues coming from all around our little bubble of isolation that the modern car is.

It's bad enough listening to some Hip Hop and you here a police siren! Or worse, that one classic rock track that does the quadraphonic spin around the four main speakers.

On top of that, I have no need, use, want or desire for this. Who is going to be spending that much time in their vehicles that they'd want or need this type of technology in there?

 

[Big-Q]

Interesting article. It is not an upgrade I would drop my coin on. If it came with the car with no upcharge, that would be fine. In the end, I listen to CDs or stream from USB or the hard drive, so I will not be pulling that content anyway.

 

[highfigh]

Cars aren't expensive enough?

 

[Epsonfan]

Why for what stupid reason ...