Today, Netflix announced that it is bringing spatial audio to all devices with the aim of enhancing the listening experience throughout its catalog of original titles. Currently, the content that supports spatial audio includes the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” “The Adam Project,” “Red Notice,” “The Witcher,” “Locke & Key,” among others.
For those who don’t know, spatial audio is designed to provide theater-like sound from a movie or TV show. Whatever it is you’re watching at home, there will be sounds that appear from all around you.
Users can type “Spatial Audio” into Netflix’s search bar to find all the movies and series that support the option. The number of titles compatible with spatial audio will depend on your streaming device.
The rollout means users with devices that do not normally support spatial audio can now use it. Also, all subscribers, regardless of which Netflix subscription plan they have, will be able to use spatial audio.
Netflix licensed Sennheiser’s AMBEO tech for delivering spatial audio via any 2-channel stereo hardware, which provides three-dimensional positional audio without the need for additional surround sound speakers or home theater equipment. The purpose of AMBEO is to provide an “improved audio experience wherever stereo is delivered today, be it standard TV sets, stereo systems, headphones, tablets, or laptops,” Sennheiser said in a statement.
For users watching on an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV, Netflix says that streaming quality needs to be set to “High” or “Auto” in order to watch spatial audio-compatible content.
It also should be pointed out that for those who already have spatial audio-compatible Apple devices — like the third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and Beats Fit Pro — nothing will change as spatial audio support has already been available.
