My editor has insisted that I can not name Atmos in a automotive “Catmos.” So anyway, Catmos is the newest implementation of Dolby’s object-based encompass know-how. We have talked earlier than about how properly it may possibly add top to film sound in theaters, how most mid- and high-end soundbars have some Atmos performance and the way even some headphones have it in-built. However in a automotive?
Properly, sure really. As of late the automotive is the place most individuals hearken to essentially the most music. In some methods it is also a fantastic place to convincingly create encompass audio, because the listening positions are fastened, and a system is designed to include and compensate for precisely the place the audio system are positioned. Neither of these issues are potential at residence, and even in a theater it is not as centered.
One of many largest points with most automotive audio constancy is ambient noise. One method to drastically scale back that subject is by eradicating the engine fully. A high-end electrical car makes for a best-case state of affairs in a cell encompass sound system, and to that finish I used to be invited by Rivian and Dolby to listen to their practically 1,000-watt, 18-driver Atmos-enabled system within the R1S SUV at an occasion in Venice, California, conveniently 15 miles from the place I stay. It is LA, so simply shy of two hours later, I used to be all ears.
Atmos-to-Go
With Atmos (on the suitable), sound designers can pinpoint precisely the place in a theater, any Atmos theater, they need a sound to “seem.” This consists of overhead, or actually, nearly anywhere in your complete area of the cinema.
Let’s again up a second and speak about Atmos. It is a captivating know-how, and its “object-based” strategy offers a distinct method to combine films and music. The standard method of audio mixing, which has been round for many years, was to assign a sound or instrument to one in all 5 encompass channels or the subwoofer — also referred to as 5.1. Three up entrance, two within the again or sides. Some films had much more channels, with seven channels turning into pretty frequent, permitting for facet and rear channels.
Atmos modifications all that up with the power to deal with a sound or instrument as an “object.” Within the mixing course of, the sound designer can transfer that object anyplace, and the Atmos encoder would perceive the place in bodily area the sound designer meant. An Atmos decoder, in a theater, say, creates a digital map of the system’s audio system and may translate “door creak in again left nook” so the viewers hears it come from that place. This accuracy was tough, if not inconceivable, earlier than Atmos. A designer might need to place a sound in a particular location, however there’d be no method to modify what that meant in a theater with 5 seats, 50 or 500.
The Rivian R1S SUV.
Due to this extra exact method of shifting sounds round, top audio system had been far simpler to make use of. Now sounds might extra convincingly go from behind the display screen, up over your head, and “land” someplace behind you. Accomplished proper, it is extraordinarily immersive. If a theater did not have top audio system on the ceiling, the Atmos would nonetheless work, with the decoder shunting the sounds off to the perimeters. So it might nonetheless whoosh previous you, simply not as convincingly as it might have in a extra elaborate system. The Atmos decoding course of is “good,” primarily understanding what the audio system and area had been, and adjusting so it might do one of the best it might with what it had.
Constructed on the identical platform and sharing a majority of elements, the R1T is principally the identical because the R1S minus a roof over the rear. It loses 2 audio system within the audio system too.
The double-edged sword on this case is that Atmos can work, at some stage anyway, with far much less elaborate programs. That is why there are single-unit soundbars and even TVs with “Atmos.” They’ve upward-firing audio system at finest — and, extra usually, in depth processing to simulate that top sound with various ranges of success.
Which brings us again to Atmos within the automotive. The listeners are all in recognized locations, there may be top audio system, and it is simple to have rear audio system since all trendy automobiles — particularly SUVs — are auditorium-sized anyway.
Rivian Premium Audio with Dolby Atmos
The driving force areas within the Rivian R1S. The woofers are positioned within the doorways, the tweeters on the pillars and above. The subwoofer is within the trunk, above and behind the suitable rear wheel.
The 2025 R1S Gen 2 I noticed boasted a Dolby Atmos system with 18 drivers, which had been powered by 960 watts of amplification. Placement for many of those audio system was pretty typical, with some within the sprint, together with a middle channel within the center, woofers within the doorways and a subwoofer within the trunk.
What’s much less frequent is the tweeters on the roofline, above the doorways however under the glass roof. The R1S is a big car, so that they may very well be thought of top audio system for just about everybody, and for those who’re tall sufficient that these are ear stage, you would not be capable to see out the windshield.
Like most electrical autos, the R1S has few knobs or dials. Nearly all the pieces is managed through a touchscreen.
You want Atmos-encoded content material to get an actual Atmos expertise. To that finish, the in-car leisure system has built-in Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music and Audible. Throughout my demo, we listened to a number of tracks, together with Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings and As It Was by Harry Kinds.
The observe that took full benefit of Atmos was Pink Floyd’s Cash: The enduring money register opening distinctly began someplace behind the rear passenger-side door, then progressed to above the dashboard, then working its method across the inside. The precise devices then crammed the area in a method that conventional stereo would have struggled with (this Atmos combine was painstakingly accredited by the band). I can not absolutely decide the sound high quality based mostly on a demo of pre-chosen music, however total the treble was clear and the bass punchy, particularly with the Kinds observe.
One of many top audio system, notice its location close to the seize deal with. The “sky” on this picture is actually the sky, as seen by way of the panoramic roof.
Whereas there are elements of a automotive which can be good for encompass sound, and others that are not. I discussed above about street noise. Provided that the R1S is electrical, I assume street noise is lower than, say, my Miata. The opposite is each a constructive and a destructive. On one hand, engineers know precisely the place the potential listeners are and, roughly, what number of. The truth that they’re unfold aside, near the “partitions,” and to not point out extensively totally different distances to the audio system, all add a not insignificant problem. The combination within the R1S is biased towards the driving force and entrance passenger, which is not too shocking since you may all the time have not less than a kind of. Rear listeners will nonetheless get the impact, there are top audio system again there too, however to a lesser extent. A budget seats, if you’ll.
Drivers within the A-pillar and sprint.
Primarily based on my three-song demo, I can not say the place the Rivian’s system stacks among the many high-end automotive audio programs I’ve heard (which is sort of a couple of). Nevertheless, I can say the encompass side was pronounced and extra natural-sounding than something I’ve heard earlier than. So, maybe unexpectedly for some, it was one of many higher demos of Atmos I’ve heard exterior a theater.
The settings display screen. I did not have an opportunity to mess with the sound throughout my demo.
They hear me rollin’, they curious
Rivian is not the one firm together with in-car leisure with Dolby. There are additionally Atmos programs put in in, or deliberate for, fashions by Cadillac, Lotus, Lucid and Chinese language automaker Li. One apparent pattern amongst all of these is that Dolby Atmos would not come low-cost. Rivian’s R1S car is within the “premium SUV” class and may simply value over $100,000 (which is, in equity, what most of those huge electrical vans value). The Premium Audio system is mixed with the glass roof as a part of the $2,500 Sound + Imaginative and prescient bundle. You want a subscription to one of many aforementioned streaming providers and Rivian Join Plus, which prices $15 a month or $150 a 12 months. This additionally features a knowledge connection and may flip your R1S right into a hotspot, in addition to another options. For such a sophisticated car, it is disappointing that there isn’t any Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
Again seat (or, technically, center row), listeners can have some management over what the pilot and co-pilot are listening to.
So is it price it? I solely had a short demo, in a stationary automotive. I am additionally too low-cost, to not point out being a broke author (purchase my guide!), to spend round $100K on a car, however $2,500 for some nice sounding audio, to not point out a glass roof I can not think about not having in a truck like this, looks like an inexpensive add-on for ~2.5% of the whole worth. So, most likely?
Will we see Atmos in lower-end autos? Maybe. Automotive corporations have been partnering with audio corporations for a very long time, and whereas as of late it is often Bose or some taste of Harman, automakers know there is a revenue alternative in higher sound. Will they pay for the additional engineering and tuning to get Atmos working appropriately? And even simply working? The upper-end manufacturers would possibly, nevertheless it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see an Atmos system with top audio system in one thing like a Nissan Versa.
Then once more, if there is a demand, who is aware of. I am certain there’s some exec on the market who loves Atmos and needs to place it in a extra budget-friendly automotive. Form of a contemporary Pontiac GTO — besides as an alternative of an enormous V8, it has Catmos. [You’re fired. —Ty]
In addition to overlaying audio and show tech, Geoff does photograph excursions of cool museums and areas all over the world, together with nuclear submarines, plane carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile street journeys and extra.
Additionally, try Finances Journey for Dummies, his journey guide, and his bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines. You may observe him on Instagram and YouTube.
