Quality in-car audio has a new ally
It seems that in-car audio is improving with each passing day. Audi announced today their new partnership with Dolby to bring Dolby Atmos to the Audi Q7, Q8, A8, and e-tron GT starting July 2025. A number of audio streaming services, including Amazon Music, Audible, and TIDAL, will take advantage of this new partnership.
Audi’s Bang & Olufsen Premium 3D Sound System is already pretty notch, and has been specifically adapted to work with Dolby Atmos. According to the two companies’ press release, 93% of Billboard’s 2024 Top 100 Artists are releasing music in Dolby Atmos, so if you’re a subscriber of the aforementioned streaming services, you’ll have plenty to listen to.
Dolby x Audi
“The Bang & Olufsen Premium 3D Sound System has been specially adapted to integrate Dolby Atmos. The driver and front passenger can play tracks in Dolby Atmos directly and intuitively via the multimedia interface (MMI) using the Audi Application Store and integrated apps such as Amazon Music, Audible, and Tidal,” the press release reads.
Audi is not the first automaker to embrace Dolby Atmos
Back in March of this year, Cadillac invited me to San Francisco to showcase its partnership with Dolby and the introduction of Dolby Atmos into its Cadillac Optiq SUV. Paired with the 19-speaker AKG system, the system truly turned the Optiq into my personal concert hall, and I imagine that Audi’s system is equally as capable. In fact, it might be a little more capable, as the automaker’s advertising on its website touts that the system can be equipped with up to 23 speakers and houses specially-designed tweeters in the dashboard.
Kyle Edward
Final thoughts
Given how much time we spend in our cars on daily commutes, trips, and everything in between, it’s a welcome sight to see automakers treat the in-car listening experience so seriously. My only gripe is the focus on platforms like Amazon Music and Tidal rather than more commonly used ones like Apple Music and Spotify. I understand that both Amazon Music and Tidal use lossless codecs for songs that Spotify has yet to offer, but for me, this severely limits my music choices.
Hopefully, if enough automakers omit Spotify integration from their high-tech in-car audio systems, the streaming service will get its act together and finally offer lossless codecs on its platform as well. Here’s to hoping!
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