Ah you beat me to it. I was probably gonna post it in the Social Media & Streaming thread, cos I'm not sure that re-doing 40 year old records in Dolby Atmos is something we should get excited about.

Too bad Mr Monkhouse isn't active here these days, I know he loves it when NO re-issue their old stuff in a new way...
I guess they can't keep re-issuing it physically so now they've found a way to reissue it digitally!

There should be 4 (four!) tweets above this sentence, but it may take a moment for them to load.
They skipped from Movement to Low Life, so I guess KW1 won't be sounding extra special any time soon.

PS: I know the Chemical Brothers got George Martin's son, Giles to do some Dolby Atmos stuff at Abbey Road for their most recent album (although I don't think it was even the whole album, just a track or two), and I guess if NO ever release anything new, we can expect(?) it to get a Dolby Atmos iteration. But old stuff? Hmmm...

I don't subscribe to apple music, but my understanding is that if you stream/download apple music on your phone, the apple app is capable of delivering the dolby atmos stuff to your earphones. I believe airpods are compatible, you may have to check if other brands are.

But don't sue me if I'm wrong on this!

I really hope it will be available on Bray. Anyway I will not subscribe to Apple Music for that...

I've seen Atmos advertised as a feature of certain headphones, but two questions

1) presumably your phone/laptop/whatever device you connect them to has to have the Dolby Atmos decoder in-built?

2) is it any good? I struggle to understand how two in-ear buds can replicate spatial audio in any meaningful/comparable way to multi-speaker in-room setups

Thanks

I guess with the headphones it's tricking the brain through clever technology, whereas in-room multi-speaker audio, it's physically projecting the sound from different locations

I would be interested to experience/compare the two

Guess I've had a lot of Atmos exposure in the big cinemas in the last few years

An article on the process with Stephen Morris: IrishMirror.ie

I actually tweeted Steve about this and he responded.
He previously thought it was probably from the same programme as the one I suspected. However, from all accounts, it was not... and the original source remains a mystery.

I'm Apple through and through.

I've had a listen to Movement but not BM/LL.

Maybe it's my old, old years, but I haven't really noticed anything major.
It just sounds nice and clean.
There were a handful of times where I heard stuff that I don't think I've heard before. Things like backing vox being slightly more prominent in the mix.

I'm not an audiophile, so really not the best person to ask.

Still, I'm happy they've put the effort in. I'm sure it'll be worth it for younger-earred people.


PS As I've mentioned before, Movement wasn't an LP I initially loved, but I think it's awesome now.
I think I always felt the production made the sound a bit too 'dull'.
What was a real revelation to me with the LP was listening to the many brilliant live versions of the tracks. Gave me new perspective on the tracks themselves (rather than me dwelling on the production).

Oh, plus those Cargo mixes on the Definitive Edition were amazing!

I don't have an Apple subscription so no for me.

Silly question, maybe. But how do I know the mixes are Atmos, or how to find them?

This completely passed me by - I only found out about it yesterday.

I have Apple Music, played on a Mac mini that connects via HDMI to my 5.1 AV amplifier (HD only; can decode up to Dolby HD/DTS HD Master Audio). Atmos mixes are downmixed such that they come out as a 5.1 multi-channel stream. So, I gave Low Life, Blue Monday then Movement a spin this evening, and thought the mixes were excellent.

In a similar vein to other surround mixes, everything has a bit more space to exist, and the overall sound has a greater clarity. This often gets said, but I noticed things I hadn't heard before, and heard other things in a different light. For me, the dynamic range also seems much better. The placement of sounds in the mix is quite restrained, but an evolution of the original stereo mixes. I think there are many highlights, but Doubts Even Here is a particular one for me.

I think Steven and Stephen are definitely on to something here, and I hope more Atmos mixes are made available. I'd happily pay for physical copies - a decent re-mix feels like a more exciting proposition to me than another remaster (although I'm equally a fan of the excellent Definitive editions). I thoroughly recommend giving these mixes a listen if you are able.

PS it took me a while to find the mixes. Movement is on Apple Music as the 2019 Remaster, Low Life as the 2022 Master; and Blue Monday as the 2023 Digital Master (single). All show the Dolby Atmos and Lossless logos when you select them.

Movement (2019 Remaster), Low Life (2022 Master) and Blue Monday (2023 Digital Master) are available on Qobuz since 19/09/2024 but unfortunately, it seems to be stereo versions.