The future of music
3D surround sound format picking up steam
Momentum is building for spatial audio in music. The 3D surround sound format got a boost last week with the launch of the Sonos Era 300 speaker. That’s the third manufacturer to have a spatial audio speaker after Apple (HomePods) and Amazon (Echo Studio). Both Amazon and Apple have selfish reasons to push spatial audio — their music services offer spatial audio. Meanwhile, Sonos believes that spatial audio is the next big thing. CEO Patrick Spence has said that this shift from stereo will happen, but not overnight.
But is spatial audio really the future of music (and not another flop like 3D TV)? The numbers would suggest that. The exact number of spatial audio tracks available in Apple Music, which is in Dolby Atmos, is unknown. But Apple says monthly plays in spatial audio have grown by over 1,000 percent in 2022. There are at least tens of thousands of songs. Amazon Music also offers spatial audio in Dolby Atmos, and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio formats.
Based on our testing with the Sonos Era 300, the best spatial audio tracks add an extra dimension to songs. Familiar tunes now sound different — mostly in a good way. You may catch new details, while everything just sounds more immersive. But not every song works well. The vocals may be too soft, or too loud. That cymbal in the background could be too distracting. These issues will likely be resolved as sound engineers become more familiar with spatial audio. Genre matters, too. Jazz, classical, and electronic music seem to work better.
But the key here is that no special glasses or headset are required, unlike 3D TV, or virtual reality. All you need to try spatial audio music is a pair of headphones, Apple Music (Amazon Music isn’t available in Singapore), and a supported device (could be an iPad, or an Android smartphone with Dolby Atmos). On the speaker front, the HomePod 2 (available in Singapore from Apr 6) is a good, reasonably-priced option (review coming soon!). Or if you’re feeling richer, the Sonos Era 300 is a big step-up.
In our latest reviews, we tested an MSI gaming laptop powered by the new RTX 40-Series graphics chip, Sonos’ spatial audio speaker, and Oppo’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
If cyberpunk is your thing, the MSI Cyborg 15 is right up your alley. It has translucent sides and bottom that gives it a unique appearance. The performance is good, too, thanks to its mid-range GeForce RTX 4060 graphics. And more importantly, it runs surprisingly cool.
Built to play spatial audio, the Sonos Era 300 packs six drivers that fire in almost all directions for immersive surround sound. A pair of them blows the competition away, and they are also the best rear surrounds for a Sonos home theatre system. However, the Era 300 is expensive, though that’s not unusual for Sonos.
Oppo takes on Samsung with its own foldable smartphone. And the Oppo Find N2 Flip is actually better in some ways, like its gapless hinge, and the larger Cover screen on the outside. Battery life is also very good. The Oppo is definitely a solid choice for a clamshell foldable now.