The folks at Netflix and Sennheiser in two separate blog posts announced that they are bringing spatial audio to subscribers of the popular streaming service around the world.
In simple terms, spatial audio turns two-channel audio (stereo) into a cinematic surround sound system. It could also be described as virtual reality for your ears. It creates the illusion that you’re surrounded by speakers by only using two speakers.
This is made possible thanks to Netflix licensing the AMBEO tech from Sennheiser.
Spatial audio is nothing new to Apple fans. In fact, those who have a third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, or Beats Fit Pro and watch Netflix on their apple device, they’d already experience spatial audio. The difference is that Apple devices track the movements of the listener’s head as well, so the spatial audio sounds like it’s coming from a stationary source.
However, according to Sennheiser, their tech would work not only with headphones and earbuds but also improve sound on TV sets, stereo systems, tablets, or laptops.
To experience spatial audio on Netflix for yourself, just go on to the subscription service and search for “spatial audio”.
Currently, in the Malaysia Netflix catalogue, there are 21 Netflix original shows and movies that have the spatial audio feature