Have you ever tried the Spatial Audio feature on AirPods or Beats devices?
Spatial Audio is an audio technology that creates sound effects such as 3D or coming from various directions. This feature is suitable for use when listening to music or watching movies to make it feel like in a concert hall or cinema.
In this article, we will discuss Spatial Audio in full and a list of what devices support this feature.
What is Spatial Audio
Spatial Audio is a technology for filtering audio output from Apple devices to Spatial Audio-enabled headphones and creating virtual sound effects in 3D mode.
With Spatial Audio, you no longer feel the music is playing from the left and right ear earphones. But the sound effects that are heard seem to come from 4 or more directions.
Spatial Audio on Apple devices is divided into two, namely Spatial Audio Fixed or 3D sound effects permanently or Spatial Audio Dynamic Head Tracking aka Spatial Audio effects that use head motion tracking to make the resulting 3D effect more interesting.
The following is a list of headphones or earphones that support Spatial Audio output:
- AirPods Pro
- AirPods 3
- AirPods Max
- Beats Fit Pro
Here is a list of Apple gadgets that support Spatial Audio settings:
- iPhone 7 or later
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd Generation) and later
- iPad Pro 11 inch
- iPad Air (3rd Generation) and later
- iPad (6th Generation) and later
- iPad mini (5th Generation) and later
- iOS or iPadOS 14 or later
- Apple TV 4K with tvOS 15
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2021
Next you must also use content that supports Spatial Audio, for example music from Apple Music and movies on the Apple TV+ service
Trying Spatial Audio Feature on iPhone
- Connect an AirPods 3 or Beats Fit Pro device for example to an iPhone device.
- Go to Bluetooth settings.
- In the list of connected devices, press the i button on the right.
- Select the Spatial Audio list.
- Listen to the music demo playing on the Stereo Audio tab, then switch to Spatial Audio.
Listening to Apple Music with Spatial Audio
- Connect an AirPods 3 or Beats Fit Pro device for example to an iPhone device.
- Sign in to Apple Music, search for music you like and supports Spatial Audio. An example is the Made for Spatial Audio playlist from Apple.
- Enter Control Center on the iPhone, press and hold on the Volume Bar.
- Press the Spatial Audio button at the bottom right.
- Select the Off, Spatial Audio Fixed or Spatial Audio Head Tracking option according to your needs.
In addition, if the Spatial Audio feature can't be activated, maybe you're using the Mono Audio feature.
Please turn off the Mono Audio setting from the Settings - Accessibility - Audio/Visual section.
