I spent out on a pair of Sonos Era 100 speakers and a Sonos Beam ( soundbar) some months back. They really are pretty bloody good. Anyway, i've only just got round to trying an Apple Music subscription so i could check out these new New Order in Dolby Atmos mixes . Had to add the Apple Music app into the Sonos player to be able to play Apple Music through my Sonos speakers. Looked up and found the Movement and Low Life Dolby Atmos mixes ( and also the Blue Monday one) . Have listened to Blue Monday and some of Low Life so far.

Yep, interesting to hear what Steve Wilson has done ( with Steve Morris overseeing ) . On Blue Monday, the synth comes in specifically it seems concentrated on the right speaker. That's a good example of what Steve Wilson has done with these mixes, he'll take a particular part of the music and concentrate it to a particular side. To some success with a lot, but maybe not with some ( IMHO). Then on the TSCH-TSCH-TSCH-TSCH/TSCH-TSCH-TSCH-TSCH break on BM he put the final TSCH to the right hand speaker.Okaaay...

Overall on Blue Monday it's a noticeable difference in listening experience. The Kraftwerk 'Uranium' sample takes on a slightly different sound to my ears.

Perfect Kiss, the cowbell flies from speaker to speaker and those main synth flourishes have a slightly different feel and seem concentrated to the 2 side speakers. Bernard's voice is clearer and dead centre coming from my Sonos Beam soundbar

This Time Of Night, Steve's drums seem more prominent , almost live sounding. They seem to dominate on the fade out more than i'm used to. Again, lots of synth detail is concentrated to the side speakers, enabling me to appreciate them more clearly.

But the sound can tread a thin line between getting a little chaotic at times. . Be interested to hear what Elegia sounds like, not got that far yet.

But yeah, overall quire a different listening experience!

Edited by user 08 August 2025 07:01:48(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Had a listen on headphones ( i have a pair of Sony WH1000-XM5's that also support Dolby Atnos) and found listening on them isn't as great as it is on my Sonos speaker set up. It's nice but the sound detail seperation isn't as interesting, it's more or less the same as listening to the old standard mixes. So i'd definitely say listen on a Dolby Atmos speaker set up rather than headphones.

One thing i've found with the Dolby Atmos mixes is Stephen Wilson has ended up making Bernard's vocal much clearer but they suffer at times with being kind of a little too dry. Still, i'm sure i've picked up on one or two vocals from Bernard on Movement that i'd never heard before. Same goes for a lot of the sounds, too.

Movrment maybe is a great album afterall. It was indeed just the production that plagued it ( of course, the live and session versions always were phenomenal).This Dolby Atmos mix definitely gives me a great new appreciation . I'll be listening to this a lot more than the Dolby Atmos mix of Low Life.



Yep, agreed.



Haha! I see what you did there. Yes, maybe the, ahem, novelty wiĺ wear off.

Edited by user 08 August 2025 09:58:28(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified