OPINION : The big news this week came from the music streaming service Tidal as it started a clean and jerk of its service by sweep a few feature .
MQAwill be formally remove from the service , which I think we all see coming after a ) MQA drop dead into administration and b ) it started using FLAC as a successor for it .
What was a surprise is that on July 24 Tidal will also cleanse sign of its program library of360 Reality Audiotracks . That I did not see coming .
360 Reality Audio is Sony ’s take on the spatial audio ‘ gyration ’ that ’s currently sweeping the audio landscape . It launched back in 2019 with the aim of position the auditor in the centre of a 360 - stage soundfield with music positioned all around you .
It has , however , rather sputter for traction and comportment in the market despite Sony ’s efforts . Sony has been force the cognisance of the 3D audio data formatting with its popularWF- and WH- wireless headphone . You ca n’t help but note the presence of 360 Reality Audio trademark on the box and Sony ’s been stepping up its ‘ education ’ by including trial codes with its headphones .
Clearly, something has gone awry
The Atmos music catalog is bad and creative person adoption is growing . There is new and legacy music available in 360 Reality Audio ( Usher , Prince , Justin Timberlake , Miley Cyrus , and RUN - DMC to name a few ) but Atmos gets mouth about a lot more than I ’ve ever heard 360 Reality Audio name .
It ’s a boastful blow to Sony ’s inspiration in the 3D audio frequency market . I write a few years ago that spatial sound was becoming the next battlefield for phone and music and now it seems that Dolby has pulled ahead and is the spatial audio format of alternative .
The fundamental advantage is that Dolby views itself as a provider of services , a collaborator that render tools for content creators . It ’s uncommitted onsoundbars , mobile phones , headphones , wireless speakers , streaming service – the reach is far more encompass than Sony ’s , which has develop an ecosystem around 360 Reality sound recording but uptake from other brands is n’t anywhere near as vast as Dolby Atmos . It ’s simply not been able to drive the spatial audio recording conversation .
Is 360 Reality Audio ultimately a failure?
It could well be another Sony technology that appear and disappears but I think Sony will puzzle with it . I do n’t think it ’ll compete directly with Atmos in the medicine space , but at an effect I assist in Amsterdam a few years ago , the focus was on assisting and piggyback on Atmos to produce a more immersive soundscape with its calibration technology .
I see Sony stick with it as a differentiator from rival products , but finally 360 Reality Audio has drop off the battle to become the spacial sound recording magnate . It ’s no longer the future of medicine and it got beaten not just by Dolby , but by Apple too .
