Play Dolby Atmos tracks in Surreal Sound Pro

[Bunnylebowski]

I just realized there’s no thread describing how to get the most out of surreal sound pro/Dolby Atmos, and there’s been some complaints about SS pro that are mostly due to owners not actually using it correctly or understanding the unique implementation of audio in the Lucid:

There are currently only two ways to hear actual Dolby Atmos tracks in the car:
1- subscribe to Tidal HiFI Plus or activate the free trial (you have to do this on your phone or home computer), enable it in the settings menu, and correctly find Dolby Atmos tracks.
2- subscribe to Amazon Music unlimited (or free trial)

Once you’ve done that, only the native apps in the car software can play Atmos. Your phone cannot stream Atmos to the car.

Apple CarPlay does NOT play back true Dolby Atmos tracks in the car, or in any other car despite what some websites and forums say. It DOES play back Apple Lossless, and you need to turn that on in your settings in your phone. It sounds great depending on the track, although I’ve done side by side comparisons of identical tracks in Apple Music and Tidal and to my ear, Tidal sounds better if the tracks have been remastered, but non-remastered originals are indistinguishable between the two streaming services.

Sometimes Atmos tracks are tricky to search for, as typing in “Atmos” won’t bring them up. For example one of the greatest Atmos mixes I’ve ever heard is Devo Whip It, but you can’t find it unless you search for Devo Whip It (Atmos Mix) because many Atmos mixes have a parenthesis around the word Atmos.

You cannot hear Atmos tracks over Bluetooth in the car. You also cannot hear Atmos tracks over USB audio drives.

Some owners have also mentioned or complained you need to turn the volume up louder than other cars. This is by deliberate design in the Lucid. Professional mixing studios are calibrated such that zero on the fader =
79dB SPL. This represents about 80% of the maximum amplitude of the system, so to hear songs in the Lucid as mixed, guess what, you need to put the volume close to about 80% max, which is LOUD. I’ve confirmed this by playing back calibration noise tones. One click on the Lucid volume wheel below the right screen is equal to about 2db, and guess what, there’s 48 clicks between zero and 100% meaning max volume is about 96dB SPL.

This post is purely meant to be educational. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, this is not for commenting on the bass in the car which is quite an accurate reproduction of how the songs were mixed but nonetheless may not be what owners want out of a car audio system. And Mods if I have duplicated another better placed thread please remove or move this one. If anyone wants step by step pictures to help I’m happy to do that.

 

[chinesejpl]

Re: your comment about

I just realized there’s no thread describing how to get the most out of surreal sound pro/Dolby Atmos, and there’s been some complaints about SS pro that are mostly due to owners not actually using it correctly or understanding the unique implementation of audio in the Lucid:

There are currently only two ways to hear actual Dolby Atmos tracks in the car:
1- subscribe to Tidal HiFI Plus or activate the free trial (you have to do this on your phone or home computer), enable it in the settings menu, and correctly find Dolby Atmos tracks.
2- subscribe to Amazon Music unlimited (or free trial)

Once you’ve done that, only the native apps in the car software can play Atmos. Your phone cannot stream Atmos to the car.

Apple CarPlay does NOT play back true Dolby Atmos tracks in the car, or in any other car despite what some websites and forums say. It DOES play back Apple Lossless, and you need to turn that on in your settings in your phone. It sounds great depending on the track, although I’ve done side by side comparisons of identical tracks in Apple Music and Tidal and to my ear, Tidal sounds better if the tracks have been remastered, but non-remastered originals are indistinguishable between the two streaming services.

Sometimes Atmos tracks are tricky to search for, as typing in “Atmos” won’t bring them up. For example one of the greatest Atmos mixes I’ve ever heard is Devo Whip It, but you can’t find it unless you search for Devo Whip It (Atmos Mix) because many Atmos mixes have a parenthesis around the word Atmos.

You cannot hear Atmos tracks over Bluetooth in the car. You also cannot hear Atmos tracks over USB audio drives.

Some owners have also mentioned or complained you need to turn the volume up louder than other cars. This is by deliberate design in the Lucid. Professional mixing studios are calibrated such that zero on the fader =
79dB SPL. This represents about 80% of the maximum amplitude of the system, so to hear songs in the Lucid as mixed, guess what, you need to put the volume close to about 80% max, which is LOUD. I’ve confirmed this by playing back calibration noise tones. One click on the Lucid volume wheel below the right screen is equal to about 2db, and guess what, there’s 48 clicks between zero and 100% meaning max volume is about 96dB SPL.

This post is purely meant to be educational. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, this is not for commenting on the bass in the car which is quite an accurate reproduction of how the songs were mixed but nonetheless may not be what owners want out of a car audio system. And Mods if I have duplicated another better placed thread please remove or move this one. If anyone wants step by step pictures to help I’m happy to do that.

thank you for this explanation! Clears some things up for me

Re: your comment about CarPlay, is the only way to get Atmos playing to use native apps in other cars as well? I have an EQS with Atmos but the native Tidal app is terrible when using my phone as a hotspot and getting a data package on that car is not easy

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Re: your comment about

thank you for this explanation! Clears some things up for me

Re: your comment about CarPlay, is the only way to get Atmos playing to use native apps in other cars as well? I have an EQS with Atmos but the native Tidal app is terrible when using my phone as a hotspot and getting a data package on that car is not easy

Yes, CarPlay does not stream true Atmos to any vehicle. The Mercedes EQE SUV DOES implement a native Apple Music app in which you can play true Dolby Atmos tracks and the EQE does support Atmos. The Maybach S Class also does. I’m actually still not entirely sure the EQS does. Does your EQS have a native AppleMusic app?

 

[billvb]

I just realized there’s no thread describing how to get the most out of surreal sound pro/Dolby Atmos, and there’s been some complaints about SS pro that are mostly due to owners not actually using it correctly or understanding the unique implementation of audio in the Lucid:

There are currently only two ways to hear actual Dolby Atmos tracks in the car:
1- subscribe to Tidal HiFI Plus or activate the free trial (you have to do this on your phone or home computer), enable it in the settings menu, and correctly find Dolby Atmos tracks.
2- subscribe to Amazon Music unlimited (or free trial)

Once you’ve done that, only the native apps in the car software can play Atmos. Your phone cannot stream Atmos to the car.

Apple CarPlay does NOT play back true Dolby Atmos tracks in the car, or in any other car despite what some websites and forums say. It DOES play back Apple Lossless, and you need to turn that on in your settings in your phone. It sounds great depending on the track, although I’ve done side by side comparisons of identical tracks in Apple Music and Tidal and to my ear, Tidal sounds better if the tracks have been remastered, but non-remastered originals are indistinguishable between the two streaming services.

Sometimes Atmos tracks are tricky to search for, as typing in “Atmos” won’t bring them up. For example one of the greatest Atmos mixes I’ve ever heard is Devo Whip It, but you can’t find it unless you search for Devo Whip It (Atmos Mix) because many Atmos mixes have a parenthesis around the word Atmos.

You cannot hear Atmos tracks over Bluetooth in the car. You also cannot hear Atmos tracks over USB audio drives.

Some owners have also mentioned or complained you need to turn the volume up louder than other cars. This is by deliberate design in the Lucid. Professional mixing studios are calibrated such that zero on the fader =
79dB SPL. This represents about 80% of the maximum amplitude of the system, so to hear songs in the Lucid as mixed, guess what, you need to put the volume close to about 80% max, which is LOUD. I’ve confirmed this by playing back calibration noise tones. One click on the Lucid volume wheel below the right screen is equal to about 2db, and guess what, there’s 48 clicks between zero and 100% meaning max volume is about 96dB SPL.

This post is purely meant to be educational. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, this is not for commenting on the bass in the car which is quite an accurate reproduction of how the songs were mixed but nonetheless may not be what owners want out of a car audio system. And Mods if I have duplicated another better placed thread please remove or move this one. If anyone wants step by step pictures to help I’m happy to do that.

Thanks for this @Bunnylebowski! So, does Lucid have a native Amazon Unlimited Music app?

 

[joec]

I just realized there’s no thread describing how to get the most out of surreal sound pro/Dolby Atmos, and there’s been some complaints about SS pro that are mostly due to owners not actually using it correctly or understanding the unique implementation of audio in the Lucid:

There are currently only two ways to hear actual Dolby Atmos tracks in the car:
1- subscribe to Tidal HiFI Plus or activate the free trial (you have to do this on your phone or home computer), enable it in the settings menu, and correctly find Dolby Atmos tracks.
2- subscribe to Amazon Music unlimited (or free trial)

Once you’ve done that, only the native apps in the car software can play Atmos. Your phone cannot stream Atmos to the car.

Apple CarPlay does NOT play back true Dolby Atmos tracks in the car, or in any other car despite what some websites and forums say. It DOES play back Apple Lossless, and you need to turn that on in your settings in your phone. It sounds great depending on the track, although I’ve done side by side comparisons of identical tracks in Apple Music and Tidal and to my ear, Tidal sounds better if the tracks have been remastered, but non-remastered originals are indistinguishable between the two streaming services.

Sometimes Atmos tracks are tricky to search for, as typing in “Atmos” won’t bring them up. For example one of the greatest Atmos mixes I’ve ever heard is Devo Whip It, but you can’t find it unless you search for Devo Whip It (Atmos Mix) because many Atmos mixes have a parenthesis around the word Atmos.

You cannot hear Atmos tracks over Bluetooth in the car. You also cannot hear Atmos tracks over USB audio drives.

Some owners have also mentioned or complained you need to turn the volume up louder than other cars. This is by deliberate design in the Lucid. Professional mixing studios are calibrated such that zero on the fader =
79dB SPL. This represents about 80% of the maximum amplitude of the system, so to hear songs in the Lucid as mixed, guess what, you need to put the volume close to about 80% max, which is LOUD. I’ve confirmed this by playing back calibration noise tones. One click on the Lucid volume wheel below the right screen is equal to about 2db, and guess what, there’s 48 clicks between zero and 100% meaning max volume is about 96dB SPL.

This post is purely meant to be educational. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, this is not for commenting on the bass in the car which is quite an accurate reproduction of how the songs were mixed but nonetheless may not be what owners want out of a car audio system. And Mods if I have duplicated another better placed thread please remove or move this one. If anyone wants step by step pictures to help I’m happy to do that.

Thank you for this thread. So important for folks to understand these subtle nuances. Bottom line: the Lucid sound system is amazing as far as “stock” sound systems go. But the source of your audio is so vital to getting the best out of this system. And it can be very confusing to people who don’t live and breathe these details.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Thanks for this @Bunnylebowski! So, does Lucid have a native Amazon Unlimited Music app?

The answer is both yes and no, it does not have one you can access on the screen, BUT if you ask Alexa in the car to play something from Amazon music, it will, and will display it on the screen so it must have some sort of rudimentary app function. I find this totally bizarre, it’s like they put it in there to add to the “this car does Alexa” selling point, but they never built a full featured Amazon Music app into the vehicle. It will only play audio from Amazon music if you ask it to via Alexa. In any case it is extremely frustrating to try and get Alexa to play the Atmos mixes of certain songs from Amazon music, as most of the time it doesn’t know what you’re talking about and will just play the stereo version.

 

[billvb]

The answer is both yes and no, it does not have one you can access on the screen, BUT if you ask Alexa in the car to play something from Amazon music, it will, and will display it on the screen so it must have some sort of rudimentary app function. I find this totally bizarre, it’s like they put it in there to add to the “this car does Alexa” selling point, but they never built a full featured Amazon Music app into the vehicle. It will only play audio from Amazon music if you ask it to via Alexa. In any case it is extremely frustrating to try and get Alexa to play the Atmos mixes of certain songs from Amazon music, as most of the time it doesn’t know what you’re talking about and will just play the stereo version.

Ahh… interesting - it’s built-in Alexa baggage, but in this case it’s a bonus! Thanks for the info.

 

[Impatient7536]

why does music from usb stick not allow atmos, even if someone downloads a track in atmos quality? is there a software "handshake" aspect that must occur between the source and car that a usb won't allow? thanks

 

[joec]

why does music from usb stick not allow atmos, even if someone downloads a track in atmos quality? is there a software "handshake" aspect that must occur between the source and car that a usb won't allow? thanks

I’m not aware of any way to download an Atmos track. Apple Music, certainly, does not offer this. Atmos is available via streaming subscription only.

 

[chinesejpl]

Yes, CarPlay does not stream true Atmos to any vehicle. The Mercedes EQE SUV DOES implement a native Apple Music app in which you can play true Dolby Atmos tracks and the EQE does support Atmos. The Maybach S Class also does. I’m actually still not entirely sure the EQS does. Does your EQS have a native AppleMusic app?

Yes, I confirmed that eqs has native Apple music and Amazon music

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Yes, I confirmed that eqs has native Apple music and Amazon music

Ok great! Then as long as the car itself can process the Atmos codec (I couldn’t tell as the Dolby site mentions EQE Suv and Maybach S but not the EQS) then you should be able to play Atmos tracks on Apple Music. A good test is Prince’s When Doves Cry Atmos Mix, you’ll hear the opening guitar fly around the rear speakers to the front with Prince’s one vocal track isolated to the center channel only with other vocal tracks spread out. If the guitar doesn’t fly to the rear speakers then it’s probably not Atmos. Or just play the Solaris Dolby Atmos Theater test track, it will isolate each individual channel in the 7.1.4 format.

 

[PaulC]

I just realized there’s no thread describing how to get the most out of surreal sound pro/Dolby Atmos, and there’s been some complaints about SS pro that are mostly due to owners not actually using it correctly or understanding the unique implementation of audio in the Lucid:

There are currently only two ways to hear actual Dolby Atmos tracks in the car:
1- subscribe to Tidal HiFI Plus or activate the free trial (you have to do this on your phone or home computer), enable it in the settings menu, and correctly find Dolby Atmos tracks.
2- subscribe to Amazon Music unlimited (or free trial)

Once you’ve done that, only the native apps in the car software can play Atmos. Your phone cannot stream Atmos to the car.

Apple CarPlay does NOT play back true Dolby Atmos tracks in the car, or in any other car despite what some websites and forums say. It DOES play back Apple Lossless, and you need to turn that on in your settings in your phone. It sounds great depending on the track, although I’ve done side by side comparisons of identical tracks in Apple Music and Tidal and to my ear, Tidal sounds better if the tracks have been remastered, but non-remastered originals are indistinguishable between the two streaming services.

Sometimes Atmos tracks are tricky to search for, as typing in “Atmos” won’t bring them up. For example one of the greatest Atmos mixes I’ve ever heard is Devo Whip It, but you can’t find it unless you search for Devo Whip It (Atmos Mix) because many Atmos mixes have a parenthesis around the word Atmos.

You cannot hear Atmos tracks over Bluetooth in the car. You also cannot hear Atmos tracks over USB audio drives.

Some owners have also mentioned or complained you need to turn the volume up louder than other cars. This is by deliberate design in the Lucid. Professional mixing studios are calibrated such that zero on the fader =
79dB SPL. This represents about 80% of the maximum amplitude of the system, so to hear songs in the Lucid as mixed, guess what, you need to put the volume close to about 80% max, which is LOUD. I’ve confirmed this by playing back calibration noise tones. One click on the Lucid volume wheel below the right screen is equal to about 2db, and guess what, there’s 48 clicks between zero and 100% meaning max volume is about 96dB SPL.

This post is purely meant to be educational. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, this is not for commenting on the bass in the car which is quite an accurate reproduction of how the songs were mixed but nonetheless may not be what owners want out of a car audio system. And Mods if I have duplicated another better placed thread please remove or move this one. If anyone wants step by step pictures to help I’m happy to do that.

I only heard sound from the front speakers in my 3 wk old AT and CustomerCare indicated my configuration did not come with SSP, although I paid for it. So I had a mobile appnt today and the rear amplifier checked out as pro amplifier. Tech playing with the sound balance did trigger the rear speakers for regular stereo, but when we tried Tidal with Dolby Atmos track, no sound from rear speakers despite balance control set to rear. Mobile tech had no explanation, other than some aspect of Dolby Atmos overrode balance. ????

 

[Tesla2.0]

I wonder if one day StarLink can be ordered to be installed in all cars. I do live in an area when cellular signal is poor, so I can’t really access to Alexa, SXM or Tidal until I drive 2-3 miles away from my home.

 

[hydbob]

I only heard sound from the front speakers in my 3 wk old AT and CustomerCare indicated my configuration did not come with SSP, although I paid for it. So I had a mobile appnt today and the rear amplifier checked out as pro amplifier. Tech playing with the sound balance did trigger the rear speakers for regular stereo, but when we tried Tidal with Dolby Atmos track, no sound from rear speakers despite balance control set to rear. Mobile tech had no explanation, other than some aspect of Dolby Atmos overrode balance. ????

Dolby Atmos will override balance and faders. You can still adjust the EQ but if a song is coded as Dolby Atmos, you cannot change the balance.

 

[PaulC]

Dolby Atmos will override balance and faders. You can still adjust the EQ but if a song is coded as Dolby Atmos, you cannot change the balance.

Thanks.

 

[Canyonero!]

I still feel like Atmos tracks cram everything "forward" instead of producing "surround" sound.

I played one of the Atmos test tracks and confirmed that all the channels were working.

 

[joec]

I still feel like Atmos tracks cram everything "forward" instead of producing "surround" sound.

I played one of the Atmos test tracks and confirmed that all the channels were working.

I think this is a factor of how most music Atmos tracks are getting mixed thus far. It’s not necessarily a Lucid problem. When more producers have heard Atmos tracks in cars, we’ll probably see a shift in how these tracks get balanced.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I only heard sound from the front speakers in my 3 wk old AT and CustomerCare indicated my configuration did not come with SSP, although I paid for it. So I had a mobile appnt today and the rear amplifier checked out as pro amplifier. Tech playing with the sound balance did trigger the rear speakers for regular stereo, but when we tried Tidal with Dolby Atmos track, no sound from rear speakers despite balance control set to rear. Mobile tech had no explanation, other than some aspect of Dolby Atmos overrode balance. ????

Yeah Atmos overrides any balance control because that’s the whole point, Atmos is mixed with certain things sent discrete to individual channels at the mixer’s discretion and it would be very resource intensive to take a minimum 7.1.2 mix and make it pannable in the space. But yeah do try out the Atmos test tracks and that should isolate most of the speakers, here’s one: https://tidal.com/track/243820594

As others have stated, Atmos tracks are mixed selectively and do not always just send things to the height, woofer and surround channels. That’s up to the mixer who engineered it. Most audio engineers I know tend to use surrounds/height for room reverberation effect to make it sound more naturalistic, and often use the center channel for vocals more than left/right.

Also are you sure you’re subscribed to Tidal HiFI Plus and that you’ve turned that option on in the car? Tracks that will instantly make the surround channels noticeable are Prince’s When Doves Cry Atmos Mix (the opening guitar spins around the surround speakers, Princes lead vocal is cleanly isolated to the center channel with backing vocals spread wide) :

https://tidal.com/track/126181057

The Doors Riders On The Storm (sounds like you’re in the studio with them, and the rain storm makes excellent use of height and surround channels): https://tidal.com/track/126176118

And here’s proof the Lucid has enough bass, INXS Mediate (in Atmos you can mix a discrete subwoofer track and this definitely has discrete LFE elements): https://tidal.com/track/222435050

 

[Spin Doctor]

@Bunnylebowski I like your taste in music

 

[GoFast]

I’m not aware of any way to download an Atmos track. Apple Music, certainly, does not offer this. Atmos is available via streaming subscription only.

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