To play back your Dolby Atmos mix as Apple Spatial Audio on an Apple device for QC or artistic review/approval, you can export an MP4 from the Dolby Atmos Renderer and listen to it on a compatible device, OS version and a pair of headphones that support Spatial Audio.

Additionally, Apple Logic Pro 10.7.3 and later and the Audiomovers Binaural plug-in provide a way to audition Apple Spatial Audio without using an MP4 file exported from the Dolby Atmos Renderer.

With the release of macOS Sequoia you can now audition the speaker-based playback of a Dolby Atmos MP4 using a home theater playback device (such as an AVR or soundbar) connected to your Mac via HDMI. For more information on this feature refer to the macOS Sequoia documentation. 

Choose a compatible device setup

The current list of Apple/Beats headphones that support Spatial Audio is as follows: 

• AirPods Max
• AirPods Pro
• AirPods (3rd generation)
• Beats Fit Pro

For Spatial Audio listening over headphones, you can play back an MP4 exported from the Dolby Atmos Renderer on the following devices:

• 2016+ iPhone model (iPhone 7 or later)
• 2018+ iPad model (iPad 6^th gen or later)
• 2020+ Mac model (Macs with Apple Silicon processors)
• 2017+ Apple TV model (Apple TV 4K or later)

Make sure the device is running the most recent version of the Apple operating system:

• iOS/iPadOS 15.1 or later
• macOS 12.x (Monterey) or later
• tvOS 15 or later

Transfer the exported MP4 to a compatible iOS device

• Use AirDrop or iCloud Drive to transfer the file from the Mac to the iOS device and into the Files app on iOS.
  • If using AirDrop, use the the "Save to Files" feature to avoid stereo playback from the Photos.app
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Share the exported MP4 with using iMessage

It is also possible to share the exported MP4 file via the Messages app (iMessage) by first compressing it as a ZIP file. Compressing as a ZIP file is important to prevent transcoding.

• Right-click on the exported MP4 file in the macOS Finder and choose “Compress <exported_file>” to create a ZIP-compressed archive.

• Send the compressed ZIP file as an iMessage using the Messages app.

• The recipient should tap on the ZIP file within Messages, click "Share" in the lower left and "Save to Files" for playback

• If playing back on a compatible setup (device, OS version, headphones that support Spatial Audio), the recipient will be able to monitor the Dolby Atmos mix using Apple’s Spatial Audio playback.

 Listen to the Dolby Atmos mix on a compatible Mac

• Playback your exported Atmos MP4 file directly from the macOS Finder using QuickLook, by opening the file in the QuickTime Player or by dragging from Finder to the address bar of Safari.
• Ensure you are using compatible headphones, e.g. AirPods Max or AirPods Pro 
• You can control whether headtracking is active or not by accessing the headphone settings via Control Center:
  • Open Control Center in macOS
  • To listen to spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, choose “Head Tracked”. To listen to spatial audio with no head tracking, chooser “Fixed”

 


Listen to the Dolby Atmos mix on Apple TV 4K

• On MacOS devices open your exported Atmos MP4 file in QuickTime Player or drag it from Finder to the address bar or Safari and click the “AirPlay” icon next to the playback controls.
• Pick a compatible Apple TV 4K as the AirPlay sharing destination.
• Ensure the Apple TV 4K is connected to a Dolby Atmos enabled speaker setup that has been correctly positioned and calibrated. 
• You can listen over speakers or also connect compatible Spatial Audio-enabled headphones to Apple TV (e.g. AirPods Max or AirPods Pro) to monitor the headphone experience with Spatial Audio.