LATEST ADDITIONS

It’s interesting how some people refer to certain summertime activities as either “hot” things to do, or “cool” things to do. When it comes to summertime listening, I tend to think it’s an intersection of both concepts. And when it comes to what I listen to for review in each weekly Spatial Audio File column during these summertime months, I consider certain tracks to be “smokin’ hot” and others to be as “cool as can be”—and sometimes, they’re actually some combo of both ideas together.

As always, each of the five hot/cool tracks that follow has been thoroughly spec’ed and checked by way of my personal deep-dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find access to each and every one of them, alongside a gaggle of other stellar Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos cuts, within the ever-expanding Apple Music library.

And now, I give you this week’s hot-and-cool combo platter of five wonderfully immersive tracks, which are as follows. . .

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Full P3 color
Inky blacks
High brightness
Minus
Cluttered WebOS
eARC usability inconsistent

THE VERDICT
With its upgraded evo technology and new heat sink, the G2 Gallery Edition punches through the brightness limitations associated with OLED displays while retaining the vivid color, stunning blacks, and off-center viewing that have long been the prime appeals of OLED.

LG's new G2 OLED evo Gallery Edition is the replacement for last year's G1 and the flagship offering in LG's 2022 OLED lineup—excluding the $100,000 OLED R(ollable) model, which sits in a class all by itself. Like the G1, the G2 is designed to hug the wall and features a Gallery mode that, if selected, can display a revolving range of still images and artwork when it's not being used as a television. The set ships with only a slim wall-mount bracket but LG offers a conventional tabletop stand for $100 and, if you want a full-on Louvre vibe, an easel-like Gallery Stand for an extra $350.

If you think about it, the fireworks many of us will be experiencing this upcoming long weekend are actually Dolby Atmos primers on a much bigger scale. Essentially, you will hear those fireworks and their related sonic effects going off way above you, all around you, somewhat off in the distance, some of them much closer, some to the left of field, some to the right—in effect, fireworks are a primer of sorts for how 360-degree sound works out in the world. Now imagine getting similar dramatic results listening to great Atmos mixes—which is where your trusty weekly Spatial Audio File comes into play.

This week’s Spatial Audio File contains a number of firecrackin’ tracks of varying degrees of intensity and depth. As always, each of the five cuts that follow has been thoroughly spec’ed and checked by way of my personal deep-dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find all of them, along with scores of other stellar Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos tracks within, the always expanding Apple Music library.

With sparklers in hand (figuratively speaking), I now present to you this week’s five-spot of explosively enjoyable immersive tracks, which are. . .