Amazon Music Unlimited users can now stream spatial audio on any pair of headphones

Amazon announced that starting today, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can stream spatial audio with their current headphones on its Android and iOS apps. The company currently supports two forms of spatial audio: Sony’s Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos.

Amazon first introduced spatial audio in 2019, but it was limited to a small number of devices. With this latest expansion, spatial audio will work with any pair of headphones that a user owns.

“We’ve always believed that the highest-quality audio possible should be the norm for streaming music, and that’s why today, we’re making spatial audio available to our customers without any special equipment needed, and no upgrade required,” said Steve Boom, the vice president of Amazon Music, in a statement.

Users also can now stream spatial audio with Alexa Cast on select devices, including the Echo Studio. Additional devices that support 360 Reality Audio with Alexa Cast include Sony’s SRS-RA5000 or SRS-RA3000 wireless speakers, and home theater systems such as HT-A9, HT-A7000, or HT-A5000.

Further, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers with an Individual, Family or Student Plan will now automatically have access to HD and Ultra HD music at no extra cost.

Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plans cost $7.99/month for Prime members and $9.99/month for Amazon customers. Family Plan customers can stream Amazon Music Unlimited on up to six devices for $14.99/month.

Amazon Music isn’t the only music streaming service to leverage spatial audio, as Apple Music launched spatial audio for iOS in June and for Android in July. In order to compete with Apple Music and Amazon Music, Spotify said earlier this year that it would roll out a high-end subscription service called “Spotify HiFi,” which would enable lossless audio.

It’s worth noting that music streaming services aren’t the only platforms looking to leverage spatial audio, as Clubhouse recently introduced spatial audio for Android last month. Additionally, Netflix recently announced that spatial audio is coming to its iPhone and iPad apps.