As studios phase out Dolby Atmos, Sonical is bringing personalised spatial audio to listeners

As news circulates that some studios are beginning to phase out Dolby Atmos support, the conversation around spatial audio has reignited. While immersive audio has become a creative playground for artists and engineers, the question remains: can the average listener actually experience it as intended?

For Gary Spittle, CEO of Sonical, that gap between the studio and the listener isn’t a failure of spatial audio itself, but a sign that the ecosystem isn’t yet complete. Sonical’s CosmOS platform, designed as an operating system for hearables, aims to bridge that divide – enabling artists, engineers and fans to experience sound that’s both personal and true to its original intent.

Headliner sat down with Spittle to talk about the reality of spatial audio adoption, the future of immersive formats, and why personalisation doesn’t have to mean compromising the artist’s vision.

Studios phasing out Dolby Atmos support sparked quite a debate online. What’s your take on that decision, and what does it say about the state of spatial audio right now?

I think some music production studios are simply stating a very honest reflection of where the market is today. There’s no question that spatial audio has become creatively exciting for artists and engineers – but the infrastructure that allows listeners to experience it properly still isn’t mature enough.

When studios pull back from supporting Atmos, it’s rarely about the format’s creative potential; it’s about economics and accessibility. There’s a gap between what creators can make and what listeners can realistically consume. 

The playback environments, the hardware, even the awareness among listeners – all of that is fragmented. So in many ways, this kind of decision highlights not a weakness in spatial audio, but a need for better technology and integration to connect those dots. That’s where we at Sonical see opportunity.

What, in your view, are the biggest barriers preventing spatial audio from reaching mainstream listeners?

The main issue is compatibility. People are listening on such a variety of devices – headphones, earbuds, soundbars, car systems, and not all of them are capable of reproducing spatial mixes accurately. You can spend hours crafting an immersive experience in the studio, but when it collapses down to stereo on someone’s phone, the magic disappears.

There’s also a lack of awareness. A lot of people don’t even realise they’re listening in spatial audio when it’s available. Add to that the technical complexity of the formats, the licensing, the metadata, and the cost of producing high-quality spatial mixes – it’s no surprise adoption has been slow and end user experiences have fallen flat.

And finally, there’s the question of control. Right now, listeners don’t have the ability to tailor the experience to their own hearing or preferences. That’s a huge part of what we’re trying to change.

Let’s talk about that. Sonical’s technology focuses on personalisation. How does CosmOS bridge the gap between the studio’s intent and the listener’s experience?

CosmOS is designed as an operating system for hearables – headphones, earbuds, and other wearable audio devices. The idea is that these devices can run apps and adapt intelligently to each listener.

We’ve built a rendering engine that can take a spatial master and adapt it dynamically for the device and the individual. We are working with industry experts to create software plugins that consider everything from the characteristics of the headphones to the listener’s preferences and even their ear geometry. That means the spatial intent of the mix can be preserved while the listening experience is tuned for each person.

We also focus on ultra-low latency and high-fidelity streaming, so multi-channel immersive audio feels natural and responsive. The end goal is to make sure that if an artist spends time crafting a spatial mix, the fan actually hears it as intended – not a compressed, compromised version.

There’s an interesting philosophical question here. When you start personalising audio, is there a risk that the artist’s intent gets lost?

That’s a really good point, and it’s something we think about constantly. The goal isn’t to override the artist’s intent – it’s to adapt the experience without changing the creative design. Think of it like viewing a painting under the best possible lighting for your eyes, not repainting the picture.

The artist creates the spatial master, which defines where everything sits in space and how it moves. The personalisation we add is about ensuring those spatial cues translate perfectly for each listener. We can set boundaries so adjustments never break the integrity of the mix. 

In fact, I’d argue that personalisation enhances the artist’s intent, because it ensures their creative decisions survive across all listening environments.

Some studios are clearly sceptical about whether spatial audio will ever go fully mainstream. Do you think it will become a standard part of music production, or will it remain a niche format?

I’m optimistic. I think spatial will become an expectation rather than a novelty – though not necessarily in the same way stereo did. It’ll take time, but as more streaming services, gaming platforms, and AR or VR experiences demand spatial audio, artists will naturally start delivering it as standard, instead of creating a stereo mix and then considering how to upmix it to multi-channel spatial. I think the artists will start with spatial and then compress it down to stereo.

Right now, the ecosystem is still fragmented, but we’re already seeing open, royalty-free formats like IAMF and Eclipsa emerge, which could make immersive audio far more accessible. Once the licensing barriers fall and playback becomes seamless, I think it’s inevitable that spatial will move from being a premium option to an everyday part of listening.

We also have to remember that for many fans, the first time they really feel a song is in a spatial mix. It’s emotional. It’s physical. It gives music that sense of presence we’ve been missing in compressed digital playback. That’s not going away.

How does Sonical fit into that bigger picture – particularly with all these competing formats and standards?

We see Sonical as the connective tissue between all of these worlds. We’re not trying to create another proprietary format. Our approach is to be format-agnostic – we can ingest mixes in Dolby Atmos, Ambisonics, object-based formats, and translate between them if needed.

The idea is to give creators and listeners freedom. Artists can choose how they want to produce; we’ll make sure the end result sounds great on any device. We’re also strong believers in open collaboration – we think the industry should be working towards interoperability, not fragmentation.

Ultimately, our job is to ensure that the artist’s spatial vision survives the journey from the studio to the listener’s ears, no matter what hardware or platform sits in between.

What’s next for Sonical? How are you helping accelerate the adoption of spatial audio, particularly in music?

In the short term, we’re focusing on partnerships. We’re working with DAW and plugin developers to make it easier for engineers to create spatial content that translates well on our platform. We’re also collaborating with artists and labels to produce showcase releases that demonstrate how immersive and personal the experience can be.

On the hardware side, we’re integrating CosmOS into hearing computer systems like Remora PRO, headphones and earwear so that spatial audio is supported straight out of the box. And we’re supporting third-party calibration tools that let listeners tune their experience in seconds.

Ultimately, our mission is simple: to make immersive listening accessible and meaningful, not just technically impressive. We want people to hear what artists actually intended them to hear.

Finally, what would you say to engineers and producers who are questioning whether to continue investing in spatial audio?

I’d say this: keep going. Every major shift in audio – from mono to stereo, from analogue to digital – took time to mature. Spatial is no different.

The most important thing is to design with spatial intent from the start. Think about space as a creative element, not an afterthought. Test your mixes on different renderers and devices, and collaborate with technology partners who care about preserving your work.

If we keep refining and pushing forward, spatial audio will redefine how people experience music – not as something they listen to, but something they’re inside of.