If you own a Sony HT-A5000 or HT-A7000 Soundbar, you might want to manually trigger an update. When you do, you should have access to Sony’s spatial audio format, 360 Reality Audio.
Like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, 360 Reality Audio goes beyond traditional surround sound by offering a fully-encompassing bubble of sound with front height and front back audio cues.
That said, to get either of the soundbars to play 360 Reality Audio content you will need to connect your soundbar to a pair of rear speakers – in this case, either the SA-RS3S wireless rear speakers or the new SA-RS5. You might have bought them alongside your soundbar when you made your purchase, otherwise they’re currently sold separately.
In terms of app support, Sony’s spatial audio format is supported via Amazon Music Unlimited, Deezer, and Tidal, all of which should be available through Wi-Fi streaming.
Analysis: Sony’s flagship soundbar is now feature-complete
One major pain point with Sony’s AV products in the last few years is that they promise a ton of features at launch – only to delay the release of those features for months.
That’s exactly what happened with VRR support on Sony TVs that were promised last year and didn’t arrive until December and now the Sony HT-A7000 that Sony said would support 360 Reality Audio when it launched last year but didn’t get that support until mid-April of this year.
These are free over-the-air updates, so it’s not like they’re difficult to get once they become available, but it certainly would be nice to have them available when the product launches rather than several months down the road.