Netflix Introduces New Feature For More Immersive Sound

Netflix’s latest upgrade that they hope will keep you subscribed for years to come: Spatial audio.

And what, pray tell, is spatial audio? Well, according to Netflix’s own press release, it “helps to translate the cinematic experience of immersive audio to any stereo, so the work creators do to bring you into the story happens no matter what device you use to watch Netflix.” In other words, even if you don’t have a mind-blowing sound system with speakers placed at multiple points around your living room or home theater, spatial audio is supposed to do a decent job of replicating that experience.

Netflix launched their spatial audio yesterday. If you want to give it a try and see if you can hear a difference, they recommend you search the titles that offer the feature “by typing ‘spatial audio’ into the search bar and selecting a show or film that supports it in the search results.” When we did that here at ScreenCrush HQ, here’s what we got.

The two titles Netflix specifically cited in the announcement of their new spatial audio upgrade were Stranger Things and The Adam Project, and sure enough those are two of the top three names that pop up when you use “spatial audio” as a search term on the service. So far there are 23 titles with spatial audio right now (at least according to the search), with a few more on the way soon, like the upcoming Resident Evil series.

Here are all the titles with spatial audio at the moment. Not surprisingly, they’re all Netflix originals:

• The Adam Project
• Archive 81
• Back Summer
• Castlevania
• Fear Street
• Halftime
• The Haunting of Bly Manor
• Interceptor
• Kate
• Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey

• Locke & Key
• Lulli
• The Order
• Raising Dion
• Red Notice
• Selena: The SEries
• Stranger Things
• True Story
• The Unforgivable
• Warrior Nun
• The Witcher

Try one out this weekend and see if you can hear a difference… and let us know. We’re curious whether it really improves the immersive experience of watching something at home versus going to a theater.