Tears For Fears is back, after Everybody Loves a Happy Ending released in 2004, The Tipping Point is the 7th studio album. The album features 10 tracks, and the limited deluxe edition includes 3 bonus tracks.
Updated review with Bluray Audio and Tidal Atmos which now includes 11 editions (Vinyl black and green , CD, Streaming Qobuz, Tidal and Amazon , Amazon Dolby Atmos Binaural, Tidal Dolby Atmos Binaural, Bluray-audio and Atmos) of this album.
Below you will find the description of the different editions, as well as the measures of each edition in the different chapters and the samples of them here.
This album includes 10 tracks and 3 Bonus tracks* for the CD reviewed:
- No Small Thing
- The Tipping Point
- Long, Long, Long Time
- Break The Man
- My Demons
- Rivers Of Mercy
- Please Be Happy
- Master Plan
- End Of Night
- Stay
- Secret Location*
- Let It All Evolve*
- Shame (Cry Heaven)*
First we will analyze each edition in detail (technical and qualitative analysis) then we will compare the successive editions with their dynamics and assign a final score and you will be able to listen some samples.
The streaming versions may evolve over time, those presented here correspond to the version tested at the date of publication, or update of the review.
Review of the editions:
Part 1: Presentation of the editions
Part 2 : Waveform and dynamique comparaison
Parts 3 : Spectrum comparisons
Part 4 : Spectrogram comparaisons
Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Sample
Part 1: presentation of the editions
Ed1 : Vinyl ref 888072404137 – 2022
Presentation
This is the black vinyl of this album.
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | 888072404137 |
| Format (speed) | Vinyl lp 33rpm |
| Type | LP 180g |
| Master | Digital |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Charlton Pettus, Tears For Fears, Tim Palmer Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed2 : Vinyl Green ref 888072411005- 2022
Presentation
This the special vinyl in green color.
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | 888072411005 |
| Format (speed) | Green vinyl lp 33rpm |
| Type | LP 180g |
| Master | Digital |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Charlton Pettus, Tears For Fears, Tim Palmer Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed3 : CD with Bonus ref 888072408869 – 2022
Presentation
This is the CD in Limited edition with 3 bonus tracks and a 32 page booklet.
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | 888072408869 |
| Format (speed) | CD with 8 panel fold out Digisleeve and a 32 page booklet. Limited edition |
| Type | CD 16 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Master | Digital |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Charlton Pettus, Tears For Fears, Tim Palmer Mastered by Ted Jensen Bonus Track mastered by Justin Shturtz |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed4 : Qobuz Hi-Res – 2022
Presentation
This is the streaming Qobuz presented in Hi-Res 24 bits 44.1 kHz (10 tracks).
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | Qobuz Hi-Rez |
| Format (speed) | Streaming 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Type | 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Master | Digital 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Charlton Pettus, Tears For Fears, Tim Palmer Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed5 : Tidal Master – 2022
Presentation
This is the streaming Tidal presented encoded in Master MQA 24 bits 44.1 kHz (10 tracks).
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | Tidal Master |
| Format (speed) | Streaming MQA 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Type | MQA 24 bits 44.1 kHz decoded by Audirvana in 24 bits 88.2 kHz |
| Master | Digital 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Charlton Pettus, Tears For Fears, Tim Palmer Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed6 : Amazon UltraHD – 2022
Presentation
This is the streaming Amazon UltraHD presented in 24 bits 44.1kHz (10 tracks).
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | Amazon UltraHD |
| Format (speed) | Streaming 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Type | 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Master | Digital 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Charlton Pettus, Tears For Fears, Tim Palmer Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed7 : Amazon Atmos Binaural – 2022
Presentation
This is the streaming Amazon Dolby Atmos binaural for headphone listening (10 tracks).
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | Amazon Dolby Atmos Binaural |
| Format (speed) | Streaming Atmos |
| Type | Atmos Binaural |
| Master | Atmos |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Steven Wilson Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed8 : Tidal Atmos Binaural – 2022
Presentation
This is the streaming Tidal Dolby Atmos binaural for headphone listening (10 tracks).
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | Tidal Dolby Atmos Binaural |
| Format (speed) | Streaming Atmos |
| Type | Atmos Binaural |
| Master | Atmos |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Steven Wilson Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed9 : Bluray Audio DTS HDMA ref 888072425255 – 2022
Presentation
This is the DTS HDMA Track of the Bluray Audio presented in 5.1 24 bits 48 kHz (10 tracks).
DTS HDMA is a lossless audio data compression format like FLAC. The mixing was done by Steven Wilson.
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | 888072425255 |
| Format (speed) | Blu-ray Audio track DTS HDMA 5.1 |
| Type | Multichannel , Limited Edition to 2000 copies |
| Master | Digital |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Steven Wilson Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed10 : Bluray Audio Dolby True HD Atmos ref 888072425255 – 2022
Presentation
This is the Dolby True HD Atmos Track of the Bluray Audio presented in 24 bits 48 kHz (10 tracks). The Dolby True HD proposes natively a listening in 7.1 if you did not have an amp with Dolby Atmos decoder, in Atmos listening, we use a configuration 7.1.4 for the review.
Dolby True HD is a lossless audio data compression format like FLAC. The mixing was done by Steven Wilson.
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | 888072425255 |
| Format (speed) | Blu-ray Audio track Dolby True HD (with Atmos) at 6506 kb/s |
| Type | Multichannel , Limited Edition to 2000 copies |
| Master | Digital |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Steven Wilson Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Ed11 : Tidal Atmos – 2022
Presentation
This is the Tidal Atmos presented in Dolby Digital+ 48 kHz (10 tracks). The Dolby Digital+ proposes natively a listening in 5.1 if you did not have an amp with Dolby Atmos decoder, in Atmos listening, we use a configuration 7.1.4 for the review.
Dolby Digital+ is a compressed format with loss of data, the rate is 768 kb/s compared to 6506kb/s of Dolby True HD. The mixing was done by Steven Wilson.
| Label | Concord Records |
| Reference | Tidal Dolby Atmos |
| Format (speed) | Streaming Atmos Dolby Digital+ at 768 kb/s |
| Type | Dolby Atmos |
| Master | Digital 24 bits 44.1 kHz |
| Mastering/Pressing | Mixed by Steven Wilson Mastered by Ted Jensen |
| Original recording | Digital |
| State | Europe |
| Year original | 2022 |
| Year production | 2022 |
Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons
Waveform
The waveform represents all the 10 tracks of the album, and the 3 bonus tracks of the CD.
For the stereo versions, we can classify the editions in two categories:
- The dynamic versions that present a significant variation of the waveform level, such as the vinyls (Ed1 and Ed2), Ed7 Amazon Atmos binaural and Ed8 Tidal Atmos binaural. Atmos binaural seems to be slightly limited in level as shown by the yellow area.
- The compressed versions (Ed3, Ed4, Ed5 and Ed6) which present a saturation of the signal (yellow zone) and which reduce the dynamique compared to Atmos and vinyl.
The stereo versions below are even more compressed as show by the large presence of the signal at the maximum level, flat as show by the yellow area.
The DTS HDMA 5.1 version below is very dynamic with a good level on all front and rear channels, indicating a good spatialization.
The graph below represents Dolby Digital True HD in 7.1 without Atmos decoding. We notice a good dynamic range of the tracks on all the front and rear channels.
The graph below represents the Tidal Dolby Digital+ in 5.1 without Atmos decoding. We notice a good dynamics of the tracks on all the front and back channels.
Dynamic
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).
For our 11 editions we have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR):
| Ed1: Vinyl | Ed2:Vinyl Green | Ed3: CD | Ed4: Qobuz | Ed5: Tidal | Ed6: Amazon | Ed7: Amazon Atmos Binaural | Ed8: Tidal Atmos Binaural | Ed9: Bluray DTS HDMA | Ed10: Blu-ray Dolby True HD | Ed11: Tidal Atmos | |
| GLOBAL | DR10 | DR10 | DR6 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR10 | DR10 | DR13 | DR13 | DR13 |
| Min | DR9 | DR9 | DR4 | DR4 | DR5 | DR4 | DR9 | DR9 | DR12 | DR12 | DR11 |
| Max | DR11 | DR11 | DR8 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR10 | DR10 | DR14 | DR15 | DR15 |
| No Small Thing | DR9 | DR9 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR10 | DR10 | DR13 | DR14 | DR13 |
| The Tipping Point | DR11 | DR11 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR10 | DR10 | DR12 | DR12 | DR12 |
| Long, Long, Long Time | DR9 | DR9 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR9 | DR9 | DR12 | DR12 | DR11 |
| Break The Man | DR10 | DR10 | DR5 | DR5 | DR6 | DR6 | DR10 | DR10 | DR13 | DR14 | DR13 |
| My Demons | DR10 | DR10 | DR5 | DR5 | DR6 | DR6 | DR10 | DR10 | DR13 | DR14 | DR14 |
| Rivers Of Mercy | DR10 | DR10 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR5 | DR10 | DR10 | DR12 | DR12 | DR13 |
| Please Be Happy | DR10 | DR10 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR9 | DR9 | DR12 | DR12 | DR12 |
| Master Plan | DR10 | DR10 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR10 | DR10 | DR12 | DR13 | DR13 |
| End Of Night | DR10 | DR10 | DR4 | DR4 | DR5 | DR5 | DR10 | DR10 | DR13 | DR15 | DR15 |
| Stay | DR9 | DR9 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR6 | DR9 | DR10 | DR14 | DR14 | DR14 |
| Secret Location | DR7 | ||||||||||
| Let It All Evolve | DR8 | ||||||||||
| Shame (Cry Heaven) | DR6 |
As the waveform curves show, we have two categories for the stereo versions. The dynamic versions that we find with a DR10 (vinyl, green vinyl , Amazon Atmos binaural and Tidal Atmos binaural ) and the compressed versions with a bad DR5 for the 16/24 bits 44.1 kHz (CD and streaming Qobuz Hi-Res, Tidal Master and Amazon Ultra HD).
The multichannel versions (Ed9, Ed10 and Ed11) are distinguished by a greater dynamic range than the stereo versions with DR13.
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.
Part 3 : spectrum comparisons
Spectrum
The Spectrum allows to check the tonal balance of the music (balance between treble, medium and bass sounds) and to detect process that may have been carried out during the recording, the mixing, mastering or manufacturing phases. It is also possible to detect frequency interference issues.
The curve represents the average frequency distribution over the sample “The Tipping Point”.
The interesting features on this curve Ed1 Vinyl (white) vs Ed3 CD (blue) are the following:
- The two curves are superimposed up to 16 kHz.
- The yellow area shows a faster decay above 16 kHz of the vinyl version compared to the CD with just over 6 dB difference at 20 kHz.
The curves of the two vinyl versions almost perfectly match, with a small difference in the high frequencies of about 1 dB (yellow arrow)
The surface noise depends on many parameters, like the engraving, the pressing and the materials used, here the difference of color has no impact, the two curves are very similar to each other.
The frequency response curve of the Ed4 Qobuz Hi-Res and Ed3 CD editions perfectly match.
The frequency response curve of the Ed5 Tidal and Ed3 CD editions is perfectly smooth up to 22 kHz, which is the limit of the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency. However, for the Tidal version, the red zone shows the phenomenon of spectrum folding due to the MQA format which imposes decoding in 88.2 kHz, for more details on this phenomenon, you will find all the details here.
The spectrum of the original CD version (Ed2) and the Amazon version (Ed6) are exactly the same, but with a small difference in level above 20 kHz. The yellow arrow shows the limit at 22 kHz, which is normal with the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency.
The difference in mixing and process with binaural show differences between the Ed7 Atmos Binaural and the Ed3 CD. It is not possible to compare these two versions which have the same overall appearance. The yellow arrow shows that there is no signal above 20 kHz, this limit of the Dolby Atmos binaural edition due to the Dolby format encoding.
The spectrum of the two Atmos Binaural Tidal and Amazon versions overlap completely, showing the application of the same binaural filter. The maximum horizontal value in the graph below is 24 kHz and not 48 kHz as in the previous graphs.
The spectrum below represents the 6 channels of DTS HDMA 5.1 bluray. You can see that the maximum frequency is 22 kHz (yellow arrow) and not 24 kHz, which indicates that the music was recorded with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz and not 48 kHz as used for the DTS format for Bluray. The green arrow shows that the LFE signal has very little or no filtering à 120 Hz, it is recommended to have a subwoofer that applies filtering at 120 Hz to suppress the higher frequencies.
The spectrum below represents the 8 channels of the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 bluray without ATMOS decoding. As with DTS HDMA, you can see that the maximum frequency is 22 kHz (yellow arrow) and not 24 kHz, which indicates that the music was recorded with a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz and not 48 kHz. You can also see the LFE channel which is not filtered at 120 Hz (green arrow).
The spectrum below represents the 6 channels of Tidal Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 without ATMOS decoding. Unlike Dolby TrueHD, you can see that the maximum frequency is 20 kHz (yellow arrow) and not 22 kHz like Dolby TrueHD. This is due to the data compression with loss of information of Dolby Digital Plus (bit rate of 768 kb/s) compared to Dolby True HD (bit rate of 6500 kb/s). We also find the LFE channel (green arrow), but which is filtered in the 120 Hz unlike the Dolby True HD and DTS versions.
Part 4 : Spectrogram comparaisons
Spectrogram
Spectrogram is another representation of frequency versus time of a track. For each channel (right and left), horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents frequency. The amplitude is represented by the intensity (brightness) of the color of each point in the image.
The spectrum of the two vinyl versions (Ed1 and Ed2 green) are similar. The yellow arrow indicates the limit at 22 kHz. There is some signal above 22 kHz (white arrow) which does not come from the original master limited to 22 kHz (44.1 kHz sample rate) but from the distortion produced by the vinyl playback principle.
For Ed3 cd, Ed4 Qobuz Hi-Res and Ed6 Amazon UltraHD, we find the same representation with a maximum frequency limited to 22 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. And a black area above 22 kHz (white arrow) which shows the presence of no signal above 22 kHz.
For the Ed7 Amazon Atmos Binaural, we find a maximum frequency limited to 20 kHz (yellow arrow) due to dolby compression. And a black area above 24 kHz (white arrow) which shows the presence of no signal above 24 kHz (due to the use of a 48 kHz sampling rate). The green area shows an unavailable signal between the 20 kHz limit (Dolby compression) and 24 kHz (48 kHz sampling rate).
As with the vinyl, the Ed5 Tidal Master shows an extension of the spectrum above 22 kHz (white arrow, red rectangle) which is due to the MQA sampling rate at 88.2 kHz which generate aliasing. You can find all the details here.
The spectrograms below of the Ed9 Bluray DTSHD and Ed10 Bluray Dolby True HD are similar. The yellow arrow indicates the limit at 22 kHz. There is no signal above 22 kHz (white arrow). This is in coherence with the representation of the spectrum.
In the spectrograms below of the Ed11 Tidal Doby Digital+, the yellow arrow indicates the limit at 20 kHz. There is no signal above 20 kHz (white arrow). This is in coherence with the representation of the spectrum. The blue arrow shows the LFE channel filtering at 120 Hz, unlike the Ed9 DTSHD and Ed10 Dolby True HD versions. There is also a lot of darker area (black) compared to the DTSHD and Dolby True HD version, this is due to the Dolby Digital+ compression which makes a cleaning of the signal to compress the sound more easily with a low bit rate of 768 kb/s.
Part 5 : Spatialization
Spatialization allows you to define the sound distribution of the music on all the channels. The spatialization indicator and the description of the graph are described here.
As the graphs below show, the spatialization of the music is very good for all the editions, and particularly for the Dolby Atmos versions.
Representation of the DTS HDMA 5.1 track of the audio bluray (ED9). The rear channels are present and well used by the music.
Spatialization : ●●●●o (4)
Representation of the Dolby True HD 7.1 track without ATMOS decoding of the audio bluray (ED10). The 7.1 version brings a more important spatialization with the presence of surround channels.
Spatialization : ●●●●o (4.5)
Representation of the Dolby True HD track with ATMOS decoding of the audio bluray (ED10). The Atmos version is fully exploited here, all channels are fully used, the music fills the room with 3D movements.
Spatialization : ●●●●●●●●●o (9.1)
Representation of the Tidal Dolby Digital+ with ATMOS decoding of the Tidal Streaming (ED11). The Atmos version is fully exploited here, like the bluray version.
Spatialization : ●●●●●●●●●o (9.1)
Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples
Ed1 : Vinyl ref 888072404137 – 2022
Here we find the vinyl album which has a greater dynamic range than the digital stereo versions like the CD.
That is felt with listening with more dynamics, of precision, a better spatialization of the music. It is the most pleasant version in stereo listening.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Surface noise: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:
Ed2 : Vinyl Green ref 888072411005 – 2022
We find the same characteristics for this green vinyl compared to the black vinyl. The quality of pressing is similar and we find an almost identical surface noise.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Surface noise: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 24 bits 88.2kHz:
Ed3 : CD with Bonus ref 888072408869 – 2022
The CD brings us 3 bonus tracks compared to the normal edition. This is the advantage of this CD Deluxe with a very nice presentation. But, when listening, the compression is important with only a DR5. We are always in the loudness war, which is a pity, because basically the CD has a bigger dynamic capacity than the vinyl!
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●oooo (1/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Restitution: ●●●oo (2.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 16 bits 44.1kHz:
Ed4 : Qobuz Hi-Res – 2022
The streaming Qobuz version is identical to the CD with its DR5, that is felt in the listening in the same way. It is all the more a pity, because the use of 24 bits allows a theoretical dynamics more important than the CD.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●oooo (1/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Restitution: ●●●oo (2.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 24 bits 44.1kHz:
Ed5 : Tidal Master – 2022
The Tidal version is similar to the CD and Qobuz with a DR5. The difference is due in particular to the MQA compression which modifies the rendering above 22 kHz and imposes a higher sampling frequency.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●oooo (1/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Restitution: ●●●oo (2.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 24 bits 88.2kHz:
Ed6 : Amazon UltraHD – 2022
The Amazon UltraHD version is similar to the Qobuz Hi-Res version.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●oooo (1/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Restitution: ●●●oo (2.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 24 bits 44.1kHz:
Ed7 : Amazon Atmos Binaural – 2022
The Dolby Atmos Binaural version distinguishes itself from the previous versions by its DR10 dynamics and its 3D mixing.
Designed for headphone listening, we find all the dynamics, the details of the instruments and the space of the music. The Atmos is very well exploited with the use of the displacement of certain sounds. It is a new approach of the music which really immerses us in the music and gives the best experience to the headphones for this album.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” Dolby Atmos Binaural for headphone listening:
Ed8 : Tidal Atmos Binaural – 2022
The Dolby Atmos Binaural version distinguishes itself from the previous versions by its DR10 dynamics and its 3D mixing.
Designed for headphone listening, we find all the dynamics, the details of the instruments and the space of the music. The Atmos is very well exploited with the use of the displacement of certain sounds. It is a new approach of the music which really immerses us in the music and gives the best experience to the headphones for this album.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” Dolby Atmos Binaural for headphone listening:
Ed9 : Bluray Audio DTS HDMA ref 888072425255 – 2022
The version in DTSHD MA is very good, we find all the dynamics of the music with all the finesse of the instruments.
The mix in 5.1 is very lively and gives relief to the listening. The mix is a bit different from the stereo version, but in downmix stereo, we get the best stereo listening of this album.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Spatialization : ●●●●o (4)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 5.1 24 bits 48kHz:
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.
Ed10 : Bluray Audio Dolby True HD ref 888072425255 – 2022
Whether in 7.1 or Atmos listening, this version is the most spatial, dynamic and detailed of the versions. The mix is very successful and modern in phase with the music. The audio bluray brings sound tracks that are not available on other media with this quality.
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Atmos Spatialization : ●●●●●●●●●o (9.1)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 7.1 24 bits 48kHz, the sample corresponds to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio track without Atmos decoding :
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.
Ed11 : Tidal Atmos – 2022
The Tidal version in Dolby Atmos plays its role very well by bringing spatialization and dynamics. But, after having listened to the Atmos version of the audio bluray, we notice that the bluray is much more precise, at the level of the details, the sound and the placement of the sound objects in the space. Which is normal, there is almost a factor 8 difference between the bitrates of the Atmos tracks (Tidal and Bluray Audio).
- Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5/5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
- Atmos Spatialization : ●●●●●●●●●o (9.1)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (3.5/5)
- Sample : “The Tipping Point” 5.1 16 bits 48kHz, the sample corresponds to the Dolby Digital+ 5.1 audio track without Atmos decoding :
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.
Tears For Fears returns with a beautiful album indifferent format that would have deserved a better treatment on the digital media which undergoes a significant compression. Listening to the vinyl brings a more pleasant stereo listening. For the listening in headphones, it is the binaural version Dolby Atmos which stands out by its dynamics and its spatial mixing. It is a new approach that takes getting used to, but it really immerses us in the sound.
But the Audio Bluray brings the best rendering of the album whether in multichannel (5.1, 7.1) or Atmos and even in Downmix to stereo. We find all the dynamics, precision, spatialization and details of the album The Tipping Point.
Detail of the ratings :
- Dynamic :
- Significant dynamic compression, DR less than 7
- Compression of the present dynamics, DR between 7 and 9.
- Correct piece DR >=10
- No dynamic compression (DR >12), dynamic rendering
- No dynamic compression, high DR and very dynamic sound rendering
- Spectrum :
- Spectrum cut and less than 15 khz
- Spectrum cut at 15 khz
- Spectrum not conforming to the original and cut (not HD) or original but limited bandwidth (but less than 20 kHz)
- Spectrum conforming to the original (but not HD)
- Spectrum conforming to the original with HD resolution (higher than 24kHz)
- Surface noise (only for vinyl):
- Continuous audible noise
- Audible surface noise except on passages with a high level of noise
- Reduced surface noise, barely audible on low level crossings
- Low surface noise, very good quality
- 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 :
- Low quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
- Average quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
- Quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Good record.
- High quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Very high level disc.
- Maximum quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Exceptional disc.
Magic Vinyl vs Digital 
The Amazon HD atmos mix is also not very good (I’d say 2/5). The only version I’ve found listenable so far (blu ray on its way) is the TIDAL ATMOS MIX – this is pretty good – can you review that and add it in please (likely a 4/5)
LikeLike
I will be adding the Tidal Atmos version soon in addition to the Audio Bluray, the difference between Amazon and Tidal may also come from the way the sound device is handled.
LikeLike
What about the tidal atmos?
LikeLike
I will be adding the Tidal Atmos version and the Audio Blu-ray soon.
LikeLike
The bonus tracks were not mastered by Ted Jensen but by Justin Shturtz, and they sound better than the regular CD tracks…
LikeLike
Thanks for this clarification, I have corrected the description of the CD
LikeLike