Re: What are you listening to? (Music)
My understanding is that Apple spatial audio is rendered to whatever you have. So if you have 2-channel (e.g., headphones) it'll compute a rendering for that. And if you have 12-channel Atmos, it'll render across all 12 channels.
My experience (running off an Apple TV) with my Atmos setup is that it's really hit or miss. Some things don't make much use of the spatial, or worse, make bad use of it; it can be just a gimmick. And some of it is really sublime, just a much different experience. It really depends on the mixing/mastering.
I just upgraded from 5.2.2 to 5.2.4 (and went to better height speakers) and have been doing a bunch of spatial listening lately. Peter Gabriel's most recent i/o album is truly excellent in this regard. He's kind of known as a perfectionist so it's not a surprise, but it really is great.
Luna Duo V2 LR, Titan Horizon V2, and Rythmik L22 & L12 in HT, Sierra-LXs in study, S-2EXs and Duo V2 C in bedroom, S-1 NrTs in dining room, S-1s at work, HTM-200s in kitchen. Brother owns CMT-340s and dad has a pair of CBM-170s.