Dua Lipa, the celebrated Anglo-Albanian singer, released her third studio album entitled “Radical Optimism” on May 3, 2024. The album marks her comeback after four years since the release of her acclaimed previous album, “Future Nostalgia”. With “Radical Optimism”, Dua Lipa explores new musical horizons, moving away from the disco sounds of “Future Nostalgia” to embrace a psychedelic pop aesthetic influenced by British rave culture. The album is described as a tribute to pure joy and happiness.

Is this album still in the loudness war, giving way to the dull dynamics of Dolby Digital? Let’s find out.

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested: Tidal MAX, and Tidal Dolby Atmos.

Below you will find the description of the different editions, as well as the measurements of each edition in the following chapters.
The album is composed of 11 tracks:

1. End Of An Era
2. Houdini
3. Training Season
4. These Walls
5. Whatcha Doing
6. French Exit
7. Illusion
8. Falling Forever
9. Anything For Love
10. Maria
11. Happy For You

Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Tidal MAX – 2024

Presentation

This is the Tidal presented in FLAC 24 bits 44.1 kHz.

Waveform and Spectrum: DR5

The Tidal Max waveform shows a very low dynamic range due to the dynamic limiter used, as confirmed by the graphs below, with a dynamic range from to DR5.

The spectrogram of the stereo version of Tidal shows that the signal goes up to 22 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is no signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency used.

Synthesis and listening

No surprises with this mix and a mastering that is impacted by loudness war. The result is a sound that is severely limited in terms of dynamic range (DR5), which brings a lot of power, but lacks the dynamic range of the Dolby Atmos version if you listen to the 2 versions at the same sound level.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●oooo (1)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2)

Sample : “Training Season” 24 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024

Presentation

This is the Tidal Dolby Atmos presented in Dolby Digital Plus or AC-4.

Below the spatialization for all tracks. Click on the images to zoom in.

Waveform and Spectrum: DR13

The waveform of the Tidal Atmos version downmixed in 2.0 shows good dynamics, as the graphs below confirm, with a dynamic range of at DR13.

The spectrogram of the Dolby Atmos track downmixed in stereo is limited to 20kHz (yellow arrow) with no signal above (white arrow). This limitation is due to Dolby Digital Plus encoding, which is a lossy encoder that limits bandwidth to optimize data size for a bit rate of 768 kbits/s.

Synthesis and listening

The Dolby Atmos version focuses primarily on expanding the sound space, with intensive use of the front and side speakers. The result is a spatialization that immerses us in the music, giving a more ambient rendering. Compared with the stereo version, the result is a more immersive and dynamic experience, particularly when the volume is turned up, with the difference in dynamics favoring the Dolby Atmos version. The Dolby Atmos mix is still rather restrained compared to what you’d expect from this style of music.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●ooooooo (2.9)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : “Training Season” Dolby Atmos (Downmixed in 7.1) :

The sample is in 7.1 wav format, if you can not play the sample in your navigator, you can save it, right button menu and Save Audio As and play it with an external player.

Sample : Training Season” Dolby Atmos (Downmixed 2.0) :

Dua Lipa returns with a new album that technically conforms to the current trend of dynamic compression for the stereo version (loudness war) and a Dolby Atmos version that brings a pleasant, dynamic listening experience.

Dynamic Range measurements and spectra are shown below.

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Measurements

Dynamic Range comparaisons

Dynamic represents the ability to reproduce a wide range of sounds from the softest to the loudest. The target is to compare the dynamics of the music and not of the media (CD, digital files or vinyl).

A comparison of waveforms adjusted to -18 LUFS integrated clearly shows the impact of limiting dynamics on the stereo version (DR5).

For our 2 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	Tidal MAX – 2024	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024
Global	DR5	DR13
Min	DR4	DR11
Max	DR6	DR14
End Of An Era	DR5	DR13
Houdini	DR6	DR13
Training Season	DR5	DR14
These Walls	DR5	DR13
Whatcha Doing	DR5	DR14
French Exit	DR5	DR11
Illusion	DR4	DR13
Falling Forever	DR5	DR12
Anything For Love	DR6	DR13
Maria	DR6	DR13
Happy For You	DR4	DR12

As a reminder, the scale goes from 0 to more 20, but the dynamics are considered good from 12, quite good between 10 and 11, and deteriorate below 10.

Spectrum comparisons

The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2024.
The yellow arrow shows that the maximum frequency is 22 kHz (yellow arrow), consistent with the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency used. No signal above 22 kHz (white arrow).

The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024.
The spectrum of Tidal Dolby Atmos version decoded in 7.1 shows that all channels are used. The yellow arrow indicates the high-frequency limit at 20 kHz due to Dolby Digital Plus encoding. The white arrow indicates the high-frequency limit at 24 kHz due to encoding at the 48 kHz sampling frequency used, confirming that it is the Dolby Digital Plus encoding algorithm that cuts frequencies at 20 kHz to reduce data size in order to maintain the bit rate of 768 kbits/s.The bass channel is filtered at 120 Hz (green arrow).

Detail of the ratings :

• Dynamic :
  1. Significant dynamic compression, DR less than 7
  2. Compression of the present dynamics, DR between 7 and 9.
  3. Correct piece DR >=10
  4. No dynamic compression (DR >12), dynamic rendering
  5. No dynamic compression, high DR and very dynamic sound rendering
• Spectrum :
  1. Spectrum cut and less than 15 khz
  2. Spectrum cut at 15 khz
  3. Spectrum not conforming to the original and cut (not HD) or original but limited bandwidth (but less than 20 kHz)
  4. Spectrum conforming to the original (but not HD)
  5. Spectrum conforming to the original with HD resolution (higher than 24kHz)
• Surface noise (only for vinyl):
  1. Continuous audible noise
  2. Audible surface noise except on passages with a high level of noise
  3. Reduced surface noise, barely audible on low level crossings
  4. Low surface noise, very good quality
  5. Very low surface noise, no defects, almost inaudible on the quiet passages (exceptional disc)
• Spatialization :
  • Between 0 and 5 for 5.1 or 7.1 channels configuration
  • Between 0 and 10 for Atmos configuration (7.1.4)
  • For more information on spatialization, you can read the article describing this parameter here.
• Restitution :
  1. Low quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
  2. Average quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
  3. Quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Good record.
  4. High quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Very high level disc.
  5. Maximum quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Exceptional disc.

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