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Quick summary

Samsung has acknowledged that the One UI 6.1.1 update may have affected audio on some devices.

Designed to enhance the Dolby Atmos experience, it seems other music modes now sound worse.

Although many updates will bring new features to your phoneIt’s not uncommon to encounter an update that makes your phone worse. Of course, no one wants that, but it happens – and Samsung appears to be the latest victim of the update curse.

The One UI 6.1.1 update appears to have caused some issues with Dolby Atmos on devices, as the Galaxy S23with users turn to Reddit to highlight the problems. While the Dolby Atmos update was intended to improve the spatial audio experience, it appears to have had a knock-on effect in other modes, reducing sound quality.

If you think something was wrong, you’re not alone. According to SamMobileSamsung users providing feedback through the Samsung Members app have now received a response from Samsung confirming there was an issue.

According to Samsung, the update changed the Dolby Atmos library from version 3.10 to version 3.12, but it changed sound quality in other areas. Samsung says Dolby has been notified and another release is in the works to correct the issue.

Currently, there is no timetable for the patch and it did not arrive with the November 2024 security update, leaving users with inferior audio.

What is Dolby Atmos and spatial audio?

Samsung has long supported Dolby Atmos in its devices, aiming to provide more immersive sound when listening to music or watching a movie. Dolby Atmos aims to create an expanded soundstage, with the ability to place audio in different positions, rather than just using left and right like a stereo soundtrack.

Dolby Atmos is best known in cinema and has traditionally been created using height speakers in addition to a surround sound setup with rear channels. However, more recently, virtualization of Dolby Atmos has become more common, allowing for a more immersive soundstage from headphones, sound barsphones and tablets – without the need for discrete audio channels.

Dolby Atmos in music is a newer addition, designed to provide a more immersive experience, but the results can be rather variable. Dolby isn’t the only company offering immersive audio: Sony’s Reality 360 Audio is one of the best-known solutions, while many companies simply refer to spatial audio when talking about a more immersive audio experience.