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Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos

Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos

Sally Durant Plummer Profile Photo
Sally Durant Plummer
#1Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/29/23 at 2:01pm

With the release of Apple Music Classical earlier this week, I randomly saw that Apple has released  the original cast recording of Assassins in their remixed Dolby Atmos format. On a lark, I listened to this new version of the recording and was stunned at the new detail I was able to hear in the expanded Starobin orchestrations - especially compared to the version I've been listening to since 2012.

Just wanted to flag this recording for those of you on here who have Apple Music, and I'd be interested to see if they intend to remix more musical theatre albums in the Dolby Atmos format. Assassins never struck me as an album that had particularly bad mixing, but hearing the detail of the strings and percussion was almost revelatory. I'd love to compare on other recordings, especially since Apple Music keeps the original mix available to listen to in case you end up preferring that.


"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
Updated On: 3/30/23 at 02:01 PM

chrishuyen
#2Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 2:25am

Thanks for the heads up!  I didn't spend a lot of time on Apple Music Classical, but I did see that some cast albums seemed to be on there, so I wonder if the same has happened to others.

CATSNYrevival Profile Photo
CATSNYrevival
#3Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 2:36am

I guess I should have expected Apple not to know the difference between cast albums and classical.

ardiem
#4Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 8:11am

The album is on the standard Apple Music app. I'm a Spotify user who also looked into Apple Music this week after the news of Apple Classical launching.

I'll stick with Spotify because I'm too invested in the library and playlists I've built up over the years, but the Atmos mixes are especially fun to listen to if you listen with something that supports spatial audio. OP, thanks for the heads up!

Updated On: 3/30/23 at 08:11 AM

CarlosAlberto Profile Photo
CarlosAlberto
#5Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 10:04am

The original Broadway cast album of Assassins is also available in Dolby Atmos on the Apple Music app. No need to subscribe to their Classical service to obtain it. That is if you already subscribe to Apple Music.

ErmengardeStopSniveling Profile Photo
ErmengardeStopSniveling
#6Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 11:15am

Thanks for the tip. Sounds terrific.

Is there any kind of database for other cast albums remastered in Dolby Atmos?

Sally Durant Plummer Profile Photo
Sally Durant Plummer
#7Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 12:27pm

CarlosAlberto said: "The original Broadway cast album of Assassins is also available in Dolby Atmos on the Apple Music app. No need to subscribe to their Classical service to obtain it. That is if you already subscribe to Apple Music."

Just for awareness since we may have some classical fans on this board, if you subscribe to regular Apple Music, your subscription includes Classical, albeit just in a new app.

ardiem said: "The album is on the standard Apple Music app. I'm a Spotify user who also looked into Apple Music this week after the news of Apple Classical launching."

Yes, sorry if my original post was confusing. When the Classical app launched, it showed some of my cast recordings in the library - Assassins is the one I noticed first, as it starts with "a" and I was investigating why it appears on this app, which showed me that the recording was available in Dolby Atmos. Since I've had this cast recording on my iPhone since I bought it in 2013, I hadn't noticed it was available so it made me intrigued to listen - and I'm very glad I did.

On the related note, many musical theatre composers are included in the Classical app - Sondheim and Webber have their own pages with a list of significant "works" and popular recordings. An interesting choice, I agree.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Is there any kind of database for other cast albums remastered in Dolby Atmos?"

As far as I know, no. Which is unfortunate. I've been looking up individual albums to see if there are Dolby Atmos versions available for comparison. I think Assassins is one of the first cast recordings I've listened to in this format, as apple seems to prioritize popular pop recordings and new releases. I haven't dug much deeper into what cast recordings are available in Dolby - but I looked at most of the original Sondheim cast recordings, and didn't see any that had been remixed.


"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
Updated On: 3/30/23 at 12:27 PM

HeyMrMusic Profile Photo
HeyMrMusic
#8Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 1:57pm

Others off the top of my head are WickedHamilton, and the most recent Into the Woods. I’d love a comprehensive list of the albums available in Dolby Atmos.

CarlosAlberto Profile Photo
CarlosAlberto
#9Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 2:17pm

HeyMrMusic said: "Others off the top of my head are Wicked, Hamilton, and the most recent into the Woods. I’d love a comprehensive list of the albums available in Dolby Atmos."

So would I. Maybe I will compile one myself and share it here with you all. Off the top of my head the West Side Story (2021) soundtrack is in Dolby Atmos and sounds spectacular. 

chrishuyen
#10Assassins Original Cast Recording in Dolby Atmos
Posted: 3/30/23 at 3:18pm

From what I understand, everything on Apple Classical also appears on Apple Music proper, but the Classical app just provides a better interface for browsing/finding classical music, as it's able to aggregate by composer across multiple performers/albums.  So I guess in that sense it kind of makes sense for cast albums to be there too.