Skip to main content

Netflix’s sound quality just got a major boost thanks to Stranger Things

Announcing High-Quality Audio at Netflix

Netflix has added a brand-new feature that will appeal to those with nice soundbars or surround sound setups: High-quality audio.

It all started with season 2 of the company’s popular series Stranger Things, which begins with a car chase. When watching the first episode in a living room environment, show creators Matt and Ross Duffer noticed that the audio wasn’t coming through as crisply or cleanly as it did on the final sound stage in which it was mixed.

They turned to Netflix to solve this problem, and the streaming giant not only obliged, but put a team of engineers on the task of improving sound quality throughout the company’s programming.

It took a while, but today the high-quality audio feature has been given to the masses, allowing those of us who take sound quality as seriously as we take image quality an even more immersive listening experience when watching our favorite flicks.

The high-quality audio feature works by improving the bit rate at which the company streams audio to TVs and connected devices with support for 5.1 or Dolby Atmos audio. Devices that support 5.1 audio (the traditional surround-sound setup for most) will get between 192 and 640 kilobit per-second audio, and premium subscribers with Dolby Atmos devices will get between 448 and 768 kbps.

The differences between the older, lower bitrate audio and the newer, high-bitrate audio will be somewhat subtle to most, but higher bitrate sound will add increased nuance and subtlety to the sound of films and TV shows, allowing you to feel even more immersed in the story.

As with most things to do with the way Netflix delivers content to your screens and speakers, the company says that it will continue tweaking the encoding and compression algorithms behind its audio, meaning that the high-quality audio feature will likely improve over the coming months and years.

For now though, it’s nice to know that the company is taking the sound quality of its original creations as seriously as it is taking the image quality. After all, what is an awesome action sequence like a car chase without tire squeals, crumpling bumpers, and the roar of engines?

Editors' Recommendations

Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
An unexpected character could return in Stranger Things season 5
A girl cries next to an older man in a scene from Stranger Things.

With Stranger Things renewed for a fifth and final season, Matthew Modine  is campaigning for his character, Dr. Martin Brenner, to return to the Netflix series. On the BAFTAs red carpet, Modine suggested that his character may not be dead after the events of season 4.

"Is he dead?" Modine asked when questioned by Radio Times about Brenner's fate. "I wish I knew. I love Millie Bobby Brown. I love the Duffer brothers and Shawn Levy. And it was such a wonderful show to go to work on. It was fun every day that I worked on the show. I hope that there's some way to resuscitate Dr. Brenner and put him in season 5 because it would be wonderful to be part of the last season."

Read more
There’s a Stranger Things prequel, and you’ll never guess what it’s about
Logo for the "Stranger Things: The First Shadow."

Stranger Things on Netflix may be coming to an end after season 5, but the spinoffs have only just begun. The first one is heading to the stage as Stranger Things: The First Shadow is going to London's West End later this year.

The play is set 25 years before the events of Stranger Things season 1 "before the world turned upside down." The play will focus on younger versions of four characters from the series: Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado, Bob Newby, and Henry Creel.

Read more
Stranger Things tops Nielsen’s 2022 streaming charts
The cast of Stranger Things season 4 is standing in front of a field looking surprised.

2022 belonged to the Upside Down as Netflix's Stranger Things occupied the top spot on Nielsen's 2022 streaming rankings. Thanks to its record-breaking fourth season, Stranger Things was the most-streamed television show of 2022, with 52 billion minutes viewed.

The nine-episode fourth season catapulted Stranger Things to the top of the charts. The science fiction drama was also number one for the most-streamed original program of 2022. To this day, Stranger Things season 4 remains Netflix's most popular television program of all time. The fourth season accumulated 1,352,090,000 minutes streamed in the first 28 days.

Read more