Community

Lukalumen

So, there have been some articles about the new 360 reality audio by Sony...

Now, I have the Xperia 1, the WH-1000XM3 and WF-1000XM3, but the Headphone connect app has no option to adjust it to my ears and I'm not sure how I can try it out. For now it's only on Deezer and Tidal? Who uses that... Why don't they team up with the one that matters - Spotify?

It's a great idea that leverages and adds value to existing Sony products, but it's just a bit vague for now...

Jonas

Hi @LukaStemberger,

I think the best idea is that you get in touch with Sony Electronics as they can provide both information and support the service, the app and the headset/headphones.

At least as far as I understand, the device doesn't really matter and it's more about the headset/headphones and the streaming service in question, but I have pretty limited information about the 360 reality audio service.

Go the link below, choose your country and on the new website for your country/market, you should have "Contact us" at the bottom right of the page and there you can find a phone number and an Email template.

https://www.sony.com/locale-selector

Let me know if you get any cool information!

RottenFoxBreath

It can't be any clearer...it's new, not long been unveiled, and is rolling out soon. Most of the articles you can read say it's coming in November, and this is October.

You need a compatible set of headphones which you have, you need a premium subscription to one of the 3 services, either Deezer, tidal, or the other, and once you take the shots of your ears and go through the headphone connect app setup, the app will then send a cypher to the app and this will allow you to access the 360 reality audio.

For Deezer, you need to download the 360 by Deezer app.

The rollout should have started now or very soon.

RuneJ

It seems like this 360 Audio is designed to be more of a new standard/codec or protocol in sound coding, similar to for example Dolby Atmos in movies.

If it catches on, it will be numeorus headsets, receivers, etc, that will support this standard.

Pretty cool that the X1 is the first handset to support it.

RuneJ

Btw, the ear-analyzer feature came to Sony Headphones Connect app today. (Nordic region)

Jonas

Hello everyone and sorry for the late reply. I was out of office due to sickness.

@RottenFoxBreath, Oh, I wasn't sure if it was released or not yet, but that would explain why it wasn't available to @LukaStemberger. According to @RuneJ it is now available in the application, at least for Nordic customers.

It's a bit tricky since it's 3 different supports. One for Xperia devices, one for Playstation and the last one for Sony Electronic products/apps. Most of the time users seems to end up at this forum and it's the same for local customers that calls us, our number seems to be easier to find compared to the other two supports, not sure why though!

@RuneJ, awesome news and hopefully it will catch on and more and more devices/accessories will be supported in the future.

I haven't read much about it since I don't have a headset that currently supports the feature, but it seems to be pretty limited for now, in regards to available songs.

I haven't used Deezer myself so I'm not sure if they are like Tidal and Amazon Music HD and offers music in higher quality and that is why it doesn't work in for example, Spotify as they don't offer the extra high quality like Tidal and other services do.

I do however remember that some Spotify users were offered some higher quality subscription for double the cost a few years ago, but I haven't heard anything about it since then.

Thanks for the update and have a nice day!

@LukaStemberger, can you check if it is available to you know in the Sony Connect app?

Strampke

The threehundredsixtieish sound thing has landed in the Netherlands too.

It took a long update on the app plus on the MDR1000 headset.

The sound is fantastic, the songs offered on Deezer to experience the sound aren't.

Lukalumen

Yes, the app now has the ear analysis after the update a couple of days ago...

I installed and registered for 360 Deezer Premium and for now there is only one album on it that I would want to listen to. Literally one album. The rest are obscure and ancient artists. Anyone else who has tried it will know what album, it's the only famous artist available

Mostly this sounds like a very fine 3D effect on the music, but I wouldn't call it 360, it's 100% stereo. Heavily processed and extreme stereo separation. Reminds me of the 3D effect button on a lot of Sony products over the years.

I genuinely thought Sony did something new here, but it's just a gimmick to me. When I compare that one album that I heard in "360" to the original version, unfortunately I prefer the original one.

What I was really excited about and imagined 360 audio to be is the device using the gyroscope to place the sources of music around you in real-time. Kind of like VR music. Then it would have the right to call itself 360, now it's just a heavy stereo separation effect.

One thing that I'm noticing the most is a very strong "eq" effect on the music that makes the bass muddled and quieter and the highs very harsh and irritating. I listened to all the tracks side by side in Spotify and 360 Deezer. I prefer the regular Spotify 😕

I will not be paying for 360 Deezer based on one album and it wasn't what I expected anyway.

Jonas

@Strampke, perfect!

The availability for songs will probably be pretty limited as it mentioned 1000 songs or so in the official statement. Not sure if this will increase later on or not though as the "support" for the service is not handled here at our Xperia forum.

@LukaStemberger, I'm glad to hear that you got it working at least even though you aren't very pleased with the feature/service.

I can't try it on my own as I don't have the fancy headphones required and the range of songs does not include what I usually listen to.

Thank you though for your honest review and have a nice day!