The Best Dolby Atmos Experience Could Be Waiting in Your Driveway

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It’s fair tosay that no five people crammed into a compact SUV have been more blissfully enthralled on a country drive than my wife’s family and I on one particular mid-summer Sunday. It wasn’t just the silky smooth performance of theCadillac Optiq, or even its incredible 19-speaker AKG sound system, but an x-factor pushing our driving experience beyond the sum of their parts: Dolby Atmos Music.

If you haven't heard it in a vehicle like this, you might think I'm joking. Everyone has probably had some experience with Dolby Atmos for movies and TV shows, maybe with asoundbaror in a high-end theater. It uses “object based” surround sound to place effects like a helicopter or a buzzing bee as “sound objects” that move virtually anywhere within a three-dimensional space.

Atmos Music lets producers move instruments in 3D, with virtually no limit to where or how they’re placed. It’s an exciting format, but it's been severely limited by access: It's basically only been accessible in headphones like theAirPods Maxuntil recently. With car-based Dolby Atmos and the silence of modern EVs, we finally might be seeing a real audiophile evolution.

Real audio nerds know how good it can be. My first real Atmos Music experience was at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. There in a backroom of the lavish Wynn Casino, I got a taste of the format’s true potential, courtesy of a carousel of high-end Focal towers and height speakers. From Prince to Elton John, I was engulfed in my favorite tunes like never before. It was glorious.

That’s also when I realized that it's music—not movies or TV—that has the potential to fully unlock the power of the format. While Atmos for film can be thrilling, especially in a multi-speaker theater, it’s constricted by the need to put dialog front and center. With the freedom to place and move dozens of instruments all around you, Atmos Music goes further, giving producers and musicians a new creative outlet with possibilities that go beyond anything before it. Have you ever noticed how the soundtrack to a movie sounds particularly good in a theater? That's often because of a multi-channel upmix.

It's not just listeners who like the new format. In the last five years, Atmos Music has spread through the music industry like wildfire. Creatives from all corners have sung its praises, from Abbey Road Studio’sGiles Martin(son of George Martin) to Finneas of Billy Eilish fame. At the launch event for the Atmos Music–readySonos Era 300 (9/10, WIRED Recommends), Martin said alongside a panel of industry leaders that nearly all new pop music is mixed in Atmos. Dolby claims 1,200 Atmos-ready studios in 50-plus countries, with 93 of 2024’s Billboard Top 100 songs mixed in the format, while services like Amazon Music, Tidal, and Apple Music have made streaming increasingly available.

Despite industry interest, widespread consumer adoption of Dolby Atmos music remains elusive. Even as a professional audio reviewer who’s tested dozens of Dolby Atmos soundbars and speakers, my Atmos Music experience is limited, with nothing coming close to that 2020 listening session in my testing room yet. That is, until Dolby came knocking again at CES 2025, showcasing the fruits of its latest Atmos Music frontier: a Cadillac Optiq loaded to the gills with speakers, and Amazon Music at the helm.

We all are riding around in portable sound domes several days a week, confined to stereo music like Luddites, never knowing what we’re missing. Has Dolby finally found the perfect delivery system to actualize Atmos Music’s true potential?

Two weeks of cruising with Atmos Music as my soundtrack left me with no doubt that not only does Dolby have something special here, but also that a car, particularly an electric car, is the ultimate vehicle (literally and figuratively) to deliver it. Carmakers worldwide seem to be in on the secret: Dolby cites over 130 Atmos-ready models already available.

Like dialog in cinematic Atmos mixes, Atmos Music’s one unspoken rule is that a song’s lead vocals need to (mostly) remain at the center of the mix. From there, almost nothing is off limits. During my time with the Cadillac’s fantastic AKG system, I experienced just about every instrumental mixing style you could imagine, and each had something to offer.

Effects-laden tracks are easy targets for the more intrepid Atmos mixers. Pink Floyd’s “On the Run” fromDark Side of the Moonis a prime example, with the song’s echoed footsteps bouncing around the car’s interior, laser effects strafing from front to back, and voices popping out from the top left speaker or rolling overhead and back. “Money,” from the same 2023 remaster, makes a similar meal out of cinematic effects with cash register dings, clicks, and bells at the intro. Soon, though, it was the rest of the instruments that made the biggest impact, as the multiple guitar solos and tones were brought forth with even more flair and efficacy.

The further I moved through playlists and artists, the deeper engrossed I became with more grounded recordings, showcasing Atmos Music’s elemental ability to separate instruments with precision and clarity. Add in the smooth electric ride and you’ve got a fully mobile audiophile experience. And that’s a word I don’t use lightly.

Iconic Fleetwood Mac tunes like “Rhiannon” and “The Chain” further solidified the notion that blending siloed instruments across the car’s bounty of speakers to become a more engaging spherical whole is Atmos Music’s best talent. My favorite track of the review, Snarky Puppy’s “Trinity,” was the ultimate example, as the song’s mix of swirling bass, rich and buzzy woodwinds, soaring guitars, and punchy percussion raised my arm hairs and nearly caused my wife and me to miss an appointment. My family had a blast trying different seats, each one offering a slightly different version of each tune.

Newer pop tunes like Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” or the Weeknd’s “Too Late” were similarly potent examples, mixed in Atmos from the get-go. Prince’s classic “When Doves Cry” provided a stunning blend of immersion and audiophile clarity. The final synth track bouncing between speakers throughout the car pushed toward gimmicky, but never crossed over.

Then there were the mixes that completely changed a classic. I nearly wore out REM’sAutomatic for the Peopleon release, yet “Drive” in Atmos Music was a wholly new experience. Putting the acoustic guitar in the upper left, in this case in one small speaker above my seat, seemed too bold at first, but as the mix built around it with the vocals at center, it was another goosebump raiser. Similarly, the brushed snare drum in Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” created a totally new vibe as the other instruments rallied around it.

Not everything pops with such dramatics, and there were some tracks where something was lost (or rather gained) in translation. Reverb was one element that mixers occasionally seemed unsure how to handle in some older tracks. The snare in Elton John’s “Mellow” fromHonky Châteaufeels oddly out of place, with extra verb that clearly wasn’t meant to be isolated. As with any mix, it all comes down to choices, and not all are equal. Still, pretty much everything I listened to sounded as good or, more often, better when spread across the Optiq's system.

Speaking of said system, you may be wondering whetheranygood stereo track would sound this good over a sound system as excellent as the Optiq’s. After bouncing back and forth, I can unequivocally say no. While stereo tracks can sound very good, none had the same clarity, punch, or immersion of their Dolby Atmos counterparts. Not once did I mistake a random stereo track for Atmos. The closest was Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” which impressively expanded in space as the drums entered. By comparison, Peter Gabriel’s stereo “Sledgehammer” sounded rather flat. (Sorry, O.G. Genesis fans, I was just as surprised.)

It can’t be overstated how crucial a component the blank sonic canvas provided by the Optiq EV's whisper-quiet interior is. You’ve got to goose the volume to really feel the full Atmos Music effect, and a loud car with a burbling engine just wouldn’t hit the same, especially given how they tend to mess with the low end. Having Amazon Music locked and loaded in the dash put loads of tracks at our fingertips, while Cadillac’s fabulous Super Cruise hands-off driving system provided a breezy way to fall into the music, making every drive a unique moment.

While the Optiq is a marvel when it comes to stunning Atmos Music delivery, like the speaker setup I witnessed at the Wynn, it’s also a barrier to entry. I talked about classic rock for a reason: Not everyone can afford a new Cadillac (certainly not me). That said, Dolby says 25-plus carmakers have announced plans or are already in the Atmos Music mix, from Mercedes-Benz to Hyundai Genesis. Most are costly at present, as with any new technology.

There are some more affordable ways to get a semblance of my Optiq experience, including a few soundbars and stand-alone speakers that let you stream Atmos Music directly, like theSonos Arc Ultra (9/10, WIRED recommends)andSonos Era 300.

But even as Atmos Music has expanded to over 20-plus streaming services (Spotify is a notable holdout), getting it to the throng ofDolby Atmos soundbarscan be harder than you might expect. AirPlay added Atmos streaming to theHomePodlast year, but third-party support has fizzled. Amazon’s Echo Studio Atmos speaker was discontinued. Dolby says some devices have added casting, but the company wasn't able to provide numbers or models.

It takes time for an ecosystem like Atmos Music to gather steam. There are always hurdles as new software and hardware options expand. What was most striking about the Optiq is how easy it made it to access, helping me go from casual listener to definite Atmos Music fiend. Here’s hoping Atmos Music continues to trickle down. The music is ready, the medium is primed, now let’s get it to the people.