There was a time when we all used wired headphones for our smartphones, but those days are mostly gone. Wireless headphones and earbuds have become so good that many of us don’t miss the wires. And some of the best wireless headphones you can buy offer excellent quality and convenience that pair nicely with your smartphone. And one new thing that headphone makers and the industry are adopting is called spatial audio. It improves your audio experience by making it more immersive, and we explain how in the article below.

What is spatial audio?

Stereo as we know it today is a standard two-channel audio implementation — one left and one right signal. Only two speakers or physical audio sources limit its ability to simulate proper surround sound. The next step is where traditional surround sound comes into play. Surround sound setups, like 7.1 channel audio, typically involve positioning multiple physical speakers around you for an immersive audio experience. It can work well if done correctly but requires extra setup time to fine-tune everything to that listening environment. And this isn’t something that most people are willing to do.

The newest audio technology in town is spatial audio, often called 3D or 360-degree audio. Spatial audio is similar to surround sound because it offers an immersive audio experience. However, unlike traditional surround sound, spatial audio uses on-device computational processing for simulating 360-degree audio. Rather than positioning many physical speakers around you, which can be a pain, spatial audio does this like magic without many extra speakers. At the same time, you get the best and most personalized spatial audio experience with dedicated headphones or earbuds.

Two common types of spatial audio techniques are in use today, and we briefly go over them in the sections below.

Binaural spatial audio

It’s a simple idea regarding how binaural spatial audio works, but the technique used is fascinating. Similar to that of stereo, it has two separate audio channels. But that’s where the similarities between the two end. The initial audio source is recorded using two microphones simultaneously in binaural spatial audio. The two microphones used are often placed about the same distance apart from ear to ear as the average human. This allows the audio to more accurately simulate what our human ears can hear and works well when applied to headphones or earbuds.

Object-based spatial audio

Binaural spatial audio has its uses and does what it’s supposed to do. However, it involves a particular method of recording with two microphones beforehand. The newer audio technique of the two, object-based spatial audio, offers more advanced features and flexibility. It uses a per-object basis of specific data points to simulate 360-degree audio. This means each object or on-screen item can have its own unique audio source, offering a listening experience that gives greater depth perception. In other words, you can more accurately hear exactly how far or close something is regarding its on-screen position.

Popular spatial audio implementations

With all the different companies and device makers out there, it’s safe to expect various implementations of spatial audio. There isn’t a universal standard at this time. As such, we go over a few key players in the spatial audio industry to give you a better understanding of what to expect. The sections below cover proprietary or unique spatial audio implementations for smartphone companies, headphone makers, and the PlayStation 5 gaming console.

Dolby Atmos

Dolby, one of the most well-known companies in the audio industry today, is a crucial player in spatial audio. The company constantly pushes the industry forward with new audio experiences, from movie theaters and home sound systems to headphones and earbuds. Dolby Atmos is a proprietary sound engine that uses object-based spatial audio with support for up to 128 independent audio channels. This gives you 128 separate object sound sources in a 3D environment, allowing for more immersive surround sound. Regarding 7.1 surround sound, there would be 118 channels for objects and 10 reserved for the physical speakers.

The audio technology is unique to the Dolby company. This means they charge a royalty fee to other companies that want to use Dolby Atmos in their products. Because of that, not every movie, TV show, or video you come across supports Dolby Atmos entirely by default. Still, it will continue to gain traction as the consumer adoption rate increases. For example, the more Dolby Atmos officially certified soundbars and sound systems in people’s homes, the more Dolby Atmos content we’ll see. Shifting the entire audio industry to a new universal standard takes time.

Dolby Atmos works universally across various officially supported audio devices, such as soundbars, TV speakers, headphones, earbuds, and smartphone speakers. For example, Samsung partnered with Dolby to ship Dolby Atmos audio features built into its latest Galaxy smartphones. Even though most of these devices have one front-firing speaker and one down-firing speaker, having Dolby Atmos activated allows the supported audio to feel like it’s coming from around you. Check out the audio example in the official video below and experience Dolby Atmos for yourself.

Apple Spatial

Another proprietary spatial audio feature, but this time from the makers of the iPhone, is Apple Spatial. It’s unique to AirPods Pro and AirPods Max headphones. Apple Spatial combines object-based spatial audio and head tracking to keep the audio in sync with your movements. Head tracking is a newer addition to improve spatial audio overall. The sound travels with you, and audio surrounds you from every direction. This creates a truly immersive listening experience for your favorite songs, TV shows, and movies as long as they officially support the feature.

Google

AirPods and Apple devices are popular, but that doesn’t mean Google isn’t doing anything for spatial audio. Android 13 and above supports all spatial audio features by default and can be used by supported headphones. As long as you have Android 13 and a supported device, you can experience spatial audio, head tracking included. Google also started experimenting with head tracking via its Pixel Buds Pro earbuds, but only for select movies, TV, shows, and services. Music isn’t supported. Google is working on bringing more spatial audio support to its devices.

Bose

Bose, another popular and well-known headphone manufacturer, recently introduced some interesting spatial audio features to its product line. Known as the QuietComfort Ultra, these headphones come with Bose Immersive Audio, a proprietary spatial audio system with game-changing features. It uses on-device processing to activate spatial audio support on any Bluetooth-compatible device, even if it doesn’t support spatial audio features. It also has two listening modes for sitting or moving, allowing for a more immersive spatial audio sound profile. As more headphone makers adopt spatial audio, it’ll become the new audio standard.

Jabra

Jabra has created a name for itself in the headphone industry that often rivals the big-name brands. With that in mind, you expect something great when talking about Jabra earbuds and spatial audio features. The Jabra Elite 10 earbuds sport its unique ComfortFit technology, allowing a comfortable and pressure-free fit for the entire day. Aside from that, they support spatial audio via Dolby Atmos and work with Dolby Head Tracking. The Jabra Elite 10 offers all-day comfort and industry-leading spatial audio features at a competitive price in a single package.

PlayStation 5

Video games have also seen a significant leap forward in the spatial audio department with the support of Dolby Atmos for gaming. For example, the newest Xbox gaming consoles support Dolby Atmos by default. And with a recent system update, the PlayStation 5 also officially supports Dolby Atmos. But that’s not the most exciting part. We want to discuss the PS5 and its unique day-one approach to spatial audio for gaming.

Rather than relying on Dolby Atmos, Sony used its own audio engine and custom sound chip built into the PS5 for gaming. Known as Tempest Engine, it uses object-based spatial audio but at a higher specification than what Dolby Atmos offers. Gaming is more dynamic and interactive than watching a movie or TV show, so you’ll have more real-time audio going on at once. As such, the PS5 and its powerful built-in audio processing allow for up to 1,000 separate object audio channels simultaneously, providing an extreme level of audio game immersion.

The Tempest Engine technology is proprietary to Sony’s PlayStation 5 gaming console, but game developers can tap into its features at no cost. Since it’s up to the individual game developers to implement the spatial audio features into their games, only some games support it by default. Tempest Audio works with the official 3D audio-certified PS5 headphones and other certified third-party headphone partners. The spatial audio features also work on many TV speakers and soundbars. If implemented into a game properly, Tempest Engine changes how you experience 3D sound in standard flat-screen and virtual reality games.

Spatial audio is an immersive experience

Modern audio systems have come a long way, from stereo and traditional surround sound setups to more advanced spatial audio techniques. Spatial audio isn’t new, but the processing power required for more advanced object-based on-device computations is now a reality. As more headphone and sound system makers adopt spatial audio by default, we’ll start seeing more content to support the features. At the same time, the growth of spatial audio features for music, movies, TV shows, and games will take off more as the consumer adoption rate of compatible devices increases.

Spatial audio may be changing the entertainment game, but hearables are like super-powered hearing aids with a few fancy features. From enhancing your hearing to streaming music via Bluetooth, hearables are in a unique category by themselves.