If you haven't tried listening to music mixed in Spatial Audio w/ Dolby Atmos via Apple Music, I suggest you check it out. I was big on Amazon Music because of their Ultra HD catalog, but to me this stuff sounds even better.

No, it's not discreet channels in our cars (you can get that in the house via Apple TV and a Atmos capable receiver), but mixes sound great. I typically don't enable DTS Neural Surround but it works on these mixes. There is really good separation and deep, full sound. Even a bunch of old recordings remixed sound great. There are already a bunch of songs, albums, artists, and playlists mixed in Spatial Audio and the catalog is growing.

I'm listening with a Galaxy S21 using Android Auto. It hasn't been without it's glitches (digital dropouts, at home and in the car), but it's been pretty solid. One small complaint is the sound levels vary from song to song.

As a bonus, it plays nice with Google Assistant. For example, you can ask Google to "play the Eagles on Apple Music" and it will actually play. Not the case with Amazon Music. If I asked Google the same thing but on Amazon Music, it will play some random band.

 

You're listening to Apple Music on a Galaxy phone w/AA?!!

 

I know, right?! My initial interest in Apple Music was to listen to Dolby Atmos music in my home theater. I thought to myself that there is no way Apple Music would be compatible with Android Auto, and much to my surprise it was! And it works much more smoothly than Amazon Music on AA.

Amazon music does have their "3D" music with Dolby Atmos but it will only play back on Amazon's Echo Studio speaker.

I do have some 5.1 FLAC files on USB that sound great (in the car and home theater), but you can't listen to them AND have AA or Apple Car Play going at the same time. I plug my phone in (for Waze) around 99% of the time.

 

This is interesting and I will have to give it a try. I am currently using Amazon HD but want to find the best sounding music that works the best with our cars ELS system.

I have some 5.1 flac files on a usb that sound fantastic, but have given up using it for the most part due to how difficult it is to find good 5.1 stuff that the ELS system will recognize and play.

Right now I listen to Satellite radio about 50% of the time and Amazon HD the other half.

 

You're streaming Apple Music or is this downloaded to your phone? Do you get a different quality when downloaded and thrown on a USB stick?

What genre of music are you listening to?

 

Amazon HD does sound good as well. 5.1 flac files do sound the best, but like you I've set aside the USB stick and bring it out just for demo purposes.

Yes, I'm strictly streaming at this point. I generally listen to rock music, but I'll listen to most genres (except Country & Classical) especially with the wife and kids. Apple Music has a bunch of Spatial Audio playlists for each genre.

 

I’ve tried Amazon HD and Apple Music Spatial and they sound ok, but I prefer USB with flac files ripped from CDs over both. I haven’t tried to get my hands on any 5.1 files yet, but actually I think the 2 channel flac files sound really good with the DTS Neural Surround enabled.

Edit:Would be nice though if you did not have to choose between USB audio and Car Play.

 

I know the previous gen allowed both I'm not sure if the USB allowed for 5.1 audio.

 

I've been a DVD/A, disciple, for 20 years
Miss them in my new TLX/ASPEC
Anyway, just listened to some Apple, & Amazon Music, "Spatial Classic Rock audio", on my ELS system
Verdict: Good, not great, & certainly not DVD/A, quality;(dynamic range)
Beatles, Eagles, Pink Floyd, Bryan Adams, etc., all sound better than the originals
BTW; I've also listened to them in the house, with a Dolby Atmos Sonos Arc soundbar
Again, better, but not DVD/A, or Bluray audio quality
My USB/5.1 stick, sounds way better in my car
Thoughts?

 

Yes USB sounds much better but the question is finding a good source for 5.1 flac that is free/affordable with a great selection.

So far for convenience /selection/price, Amazon hd is the best I’ve found.

 

No doubt the USB 5.1 FLAC files sound better, but a lot of stuff on Apple and Amazon Music sound great. I've listened to the same songs and compared Spatial Audio recordings vs the USB files and unless you're listening to them back-to-back you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. And the convenience of listening to the variety of music available in HD, Ultra HD, and Spatial Audio outweighs the limitations of a USB stick. Don't get me wrong, if I'm giving someone a demo of the sound system in the TLX, you know I'm popping in the USB stick.

I have a home system that I play DVD-A, SACD, DTS music. Sounds incredible, but again, I'm limited to the old media that I've accumulated over the years. And most of the music that was available in those formats aren't my cup of tea. Now I can listen to Apple Music (via Apple TV) and Amazon Music (via Denon Heos) and it sounds excellent.

 

The Apple Music through Apple TV, is good
The Amazon Atmos stuff, has to be played through an Amazon device
C'mon!

 

Correct, but Amazon just recently enabled spatial audio on it's Android an iOS apps. Hopefully, they'll expand Atmos beyond their Echo Studio in the near future.