Apple Music's Spatial Audio feature will soon be available in some Mercedes-Benz's cars
Mercedes-Benz has just announced that Apple Music's Spatial Audio feature will soon be available on a select number of its cars.
Apple introduced Spatial Audio last year alongside Apple Music Lossless but this is the first time it will be supported in any car.
While this is exciting, the bad news is that it will only be supported by a handful of Mercedes-Benz's newest and most high-end vehicles.
According to Mercedes-Benz Spatial Audio will be supported on the following vehicles:
- Mercedes-Maybach S-Class
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class
- Mercedes-Benz EQE
- Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV
- Mercedes-Benz EQS
- Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV
Do you see a commonality here? All these cars cost well over S$300,000.
Another requirement is that these cars must be outfitted with the optional Burmester 3D or 4D sound systems. The cost of the sound system varies depending on the model, but the Burmester 3D sound system is a S$5,900 option on the EQE sedan and it's a S$26,000 option on the Mercedes-Maybach S580 4Matic.
Mercedes-Benz did not specify how spatial audio will be supported by cars already on the road, though it's likely this feature could be easily added via an over-the-air update. We've reached out for clarification and will update the article as soon as we hear from them.
The general reception to Spatial Audio has been mixed. Personally, I found that Spatial Audio sounds best when tracks have been specifically mastered with the feature in mind. Those that do have the potential to sound great, while those that haven't often end up sounding unnatural and weird.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
