Patricia Barber has announced the release of her new album Clique! for august 6th.
This album was produced in the best possible conditions, recorded by Jim Anderson in DXD ultra-high resolution (32bit/ 352.8 kHz) with Pyramix system and Horus audio interface, mixed in stereo and 5.1 by Anderson at Skywalker Sound and mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. The microphones were also chosen to have the best possible rendering, like the Brauner VM1 for the voice.
The first track “This Town” is now available in the quality of the original master in DXD (352.8kHz/32bit) in stereo and 5.1.
The analysis of the first piece highlights the quality of the production.
“This Town” in stereo
The curve is dynamic, without any trace of compression or saturation. The track has a DR13.
The analysis of the spectrum is impressive, we can see that the signal goes up regularly to more than 40 kHz (yellow arrow) with peaks at 80 kHz (green arrow). In this graph, the vertical scale goes up to more than 100 kHz (and not 40 kHz as on the graphs of other reviews). Working at 352.8 kHz also reveals small peaks at high frequencies, such as at 70 kHz (blue arrow) but without any impact on the listening experience.
The spectrum below is the average of the song. There is no gap at the high frequency of the spectrum, the spectrum gradually decreases above 40 kHz (yellow arrow). The blue arrow shows the peak indicated in the spectrogram.
“This Town” in 5.1 surround
The 5.1 version is also realized in DXD at 352.8 kHz, which is rare for multichannel.
We find the same characteristics as the stereo version, using the same technologies. The 5.1 track have a DR15.
Less visible on the graphs with the 6 channels, but we have the same frequency distribution above 40 kHz.
The spectrum below represents the 6 channels, Low frequency Effect (LFE) [indicated by the yellow arrow], center indicated by the white arrow, surround indicated by the red arrow and the R and L channels indicated by the blue arrow. The signal continues above 40 kHz like the stereo version.
Conclusion and samples
The work done on the first track of this new album is very beautiful, the stereo rendering is clean with a nice rendering of the voice, nice playing of the instruments. The 5.1 version brings an additional 3D volume to the recording.
- Rating Stereo:
- Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5/5)
- Restitution: ●●●●● (5/5)
- Rating 5.1:
- Dynamic: ●●●●● (5/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5/5)
- Restitution: ●●●●● (5/5)
Until the album is available, here is 2 samples (stereo and 5.1), reduced in 88.2kHz due of the size of the files ( 700 Mo for the song in 5.1). Ths first song is available on NativeDSD in Flac (24/352.8).
The sample is in 5.1 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.
Magic Vinyl vs Digital 