Google has started rolling out spatial audio on its high-end wireless headphones, the Pixel Buds Pro. Be careful, spatial audio with Google sauce only concerns some content.
During the launch of Google’s high-end wireless headphones, the Pixel Buds Pro, the manufacturer communicated on many features coming after the launch. After the equalizer, it is now the turn of spatial audio, to be deployed.
Spatial audio allows users to be more immersed in content, whether it’s movies in Dolby Atmos or DTS:X or, increasingly, music titles thanks to Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 Reality Audio within music streaming platforms like Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal.
Now, Google Pixel Buds Pro users can take advantage of this feature as the firm announced on Tuesday March 7 in a blog post. To take advantage of it, owners of Pixel Buds Pro headphones will only have to update the firmware of their models to version 4.30. This can be downloaded directly from the Pixel Buds application on a smartphone. If the deployment began on March 7, it will however take some time before all users are entitled to it, since it should extend until next week.
A function limited to video applications only
Be careful though, the management of spatial audio on the Pixel Buds Pro is much more limited than on the Apple AirPods Pro 2 for example. It does not apply to music streaming applications and is currently only supported on a few video applications, provided that the videos in question are available in Dolby Atmos or Dolby Surround. This is particularly the case with Netflix, YouTube or the HBO Max application. It is therefore impossible to use this spatial audio function on music applications such as Tidal or Amazon Music. Also impossible to use this function to virtualize spatial audio from a stereo track.
Remember also that the Pixel Buds Pro are not the first headphones to integrate this feature developed by Google. Indeed, OnePlus had the first of this function with its latest OnePlus Buds Pro 2, launched last month.
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