Released on December 15, 1982, l’Aventurier is the first mini album of the group Indochine. Initially left to record a title in the studio of Aguesseau of Paris, it is finally 6 titles which will be on the vinyl and an additional title Françoise (Qu’est-ce qui t’a pris ?) which will be available on the cassette then on the CD. The final mix was done in London at the Red Bus studio. Indochine celebrates the 40th anniversary of the band with a series of concerts that took place in the biggest stadiums, like the Stade de France with more than 87000 people, it’s also the 40th anniversary of the album in this month of November. For this anniversary, Indochine will release in theaters from November 23 its concert recorded to be shown in IMAX.

We will review 8 versions including vinyl, CD, Cassette , SACD for stereo and 5.1, with exceptionally the premix and the final mix available on vinyl in comparison.

Below you will find the description of the different editions, as well as the measurements of each edition in the following chapters.
The synthesis of the review and the samples are available here

The album is composed of 7 tracks:

1. L’Aventurier**
2. L’Opportuniste
3. Leila
4. Docteur Love
5. Indochine “Les 7 Jours De Pekin”
6. Dizzidence Politik**
7. Françoise “Qu’est-ce Qui T’as Pris ?”*

* only on CD, Qobuz and cassette, ** Also tested on the SACD in 5.1

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 5 : Spatialization

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Sample

Part 1: presentation of the editions

Ed 1: Vinyl – 1982

Presentation

This is the original vinyl producted in 1982.

Label	Clemence Melody
Reference	201959
Format (speed)	Vinyl Mini Album
Type	LP 33 1/3 rpm
Master	Analog
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios
Original recording	Analog
State	France
Year original	1982
Year production	1982

Ed 2: Vinyl remastered – 2015

Presentation

This vinyl remastered in 2015 from the analog tape,

Label	Clemence Melody
Reference	88875084781
Format (speed)	Vinyl Mini Album
Type	LP 33 1/3 rpm
Master
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios
Original recording	Analog
State	France
Year original	1982
Year production	2015

Ed 3: Vinyl 45 rpm – 1983

Presentation

This is a Swedish edition of this album in 45 rpm, there are several versions under the same reference but with different mixes, this version contains the final mix. The only way to distinguish between the final mix and the premix is to compare the width of the silent zone in the center of the record (see pictures).

Label	Stranded Rekords
Reference	KOD 119
Format (speed)	Vinyl Mini Album
Type	LP 45 rpm (Original mix)
Master	Analog
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios Mixed By Simon Skofield
Original recording	Analog
State	Sweden
Year original	1982
Year production	1983

Ed 4: Vinyl 45 rpm (premix) – 1983

Presentation

This is a Swedish edition of this album in 45 rpm, there are several versions under the same reference but with different mixes, this version contains the pre-mix of the album. The only way to distinguish this version is to look at the size of the areas without music near the center of the disc, see the pictures for more details.

Label	Stranded Rekords
Reference	KOD 119
Format (speed)	Vinyl Mini Album
Type	LP 45 rpm (pre-mix)
Master	Analog
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios Mixed By Simon Skofield
Original recording	Analog
State	Sweden
Year original	1982
Year production	1983

Ed 5: CD – 1988

Presentation

The CD edition of this album released in 1988. The CD contains a bonus track : Françoise “Qu’est-ce Qui T’as Pris ?”.

Label	Ariola
Reference	251959
Format (speed)	CD Mini Album
Type	PCM 16 bits 44.1 kHz
Master	Digital
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios
Original recording	Analog
State	France
Year original	1982
Year production	1988

Ed 6: Cassette – 1982

Presentation

Very used in the 80’s, the album is also available on cassette. The cassette contains a bonus track : Françoise “Qu’est-ce Qui T’as Pris ?”.

Label	Clemence Melody
Reference	401959
Format (speed)	Cassette Mini Album
Type	Cassette
Master	Analog
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios
Original recording	Analog
State	France
Year original	1982
Year production	1982

Ed 7: Qobuz

Presentation

This is the streaming release of this album in quality CD (16 bits 44.1 kHz). Qobuz release contains a bonus track : Françoise “Qu’est-ce Qui T’as Pris ?”.

Label	Indochine Records
Reference	Qobuz
Format (speed)	Streaming Mini Album
Type	PCM 16 bits 44.1 kHz
Master	Digital
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed at Red Bus Studios
Original recording	Analog
State	France
Year original	1982
Year production

Ed 8: Le Birthday Album 5.1 – 2004

Presentation

This is not the original album but the compilation on SACD with a 5.1 mix that includes the tracks “L’Aventurier” and “Dizzidence Politik” from the first Indochine album. Only these 2 titles are reviewed.

Label	Ariola
Reference	82876612802
Format (speed)	Double SACD
Type	DSD64 stereo and 5.1
Master	Digital
Mastering/Pressing	Mixed and mastered by Ronald Prent
Original recording	Based on Analog and Digital
State	France
Year original	1981-1996
Year production	2004

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents sample of ” titre”

The graphs below represent the waveforms of the vinyl versions (Ed1 to Ed4). These versions are dynamic without any effect of compression of the dynamics.

As for the vinyl versions, the digital CD and Qobuz versions are very dynamic without any sign of dynamic limitation. The CD and Qobuz contain an additional bonus track.

The cassette is the least dynamic version, but still dynamic for a cassette with DR11 sound. The cassette contains an additional bonus track.

The SACD 5.1 waveform represents only two tracks “L’Aventurier” and “Dizzidence Politik”. We find a dynamic signal with a distribution on all the channels and a very present bass in the LFE channel (bass).

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 8 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	Vinyl – 1982	Vinyl remastered – 2015	Vinyl 45 rpm – 1983	Vinyl 45 rpm (premix) – 1983	CD – 1988	Cassette – 1982	Qobuz	Le Birthday Album 5.1 – 2004
Global	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR11	DR13	DR13
Min	DR12	DR12	DR12	DR12	DR11	DR9	DR11	DR13
Max	DR14	DR14	DR14	DR14	DR14	DR12	DR14	DR14
L’Aventurier**	DR13	DR14	DR12	DR13	DR13	DR10	DR13	DR13
L’Opportuniste	DR12	DR12	DR12	DR13	DR12	DR9	DR12
Leila	DR14	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR11	DR13
Docteur Love	DR12	DR12	DR13	DR12	DR11	DR10	DR11
Indochine “Les 7 Jours De Pekin”	DR14	DR13	DR14	DR13	DR13	DR11	DR13
Dizzidence Politik**	DR14	DR14	DR13	DR14	DR14	DR12	DR14	DR14
Françoise “Qu’est-ce Qui T’as Pris ?”*					DR14	DR12	DR14

The result is homogeneous and dynamic for all the editions with DR13, except the cassette which is also dynamic with its DR11.

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 spectrum of the 2015 remastered vinyl version compared to the original 1982 vinyl has a bass boost of more than 5 dB (green area) and a treble roll-off (yellow area) that increases above 10 kHz to 7 dB at 20 kHz. This is a mastering that brings a sound balance more adapted to today’s listening, with more present bass and less present treble.

The spectra of the vinyl in 45 rpm and the vinyl 33.33 rpm of 1982 are rather close. For the 45rpm edition, there is an accentuation of the bass below 100hz (green zone) with +5 dB at 60 Hz, and an accentuation of the treble (yellow zone) with 4 dB at 15 kHz, and almost 10 dB at 20 kHz (yellow arrow) with a drop at 20 kHz.

The spectra of the 45 rpm vinyl premix and the 45 rpm vinyl differ below 400Hz (green area) and above 4 kHz (yellow area), this is explained by the difference in the mixing of the two 45 rpm vinyls.

The spectra of the cassette and the vinyl of 1982 are similar, with for the cassette an accentuation of the bass below 150 Hz of 5 dB (green zone) and an attenuation of the highs beyond 10 kHz (yellow zone). The yellow arrow shows the frequency limit of the cassette which is around 18 kHz.

The spectra of the 1988 CD and the 1982 vinyl are similar, with a slight difference (about 2-3 dB) below 200 Hz (green area) and above 10 kHz (yellow area). The yellow arrow shows the limit at 22 kHz due to the 44.1 kHz sampling rate of the CD.

The spectra of the CD and Qobuz versions are perfectly identical.

The spectrum of the SACD 5.1 version shows a distribution of the sound on all the channels. The green arrow shows the limit below 200Hz of the bass channel (LFE). The yellow arrow shows the rise in noise above 20 kHz specific to the DSD64 encoding.

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 graphs below represent the spectrogram of vinyl from 1982 (Ed1), remastered in 2015 (Ed2) and 45 rpm premix (Ed4). The signal rises above 20kHz (yellow arrow). Beyond that, we find the continuity of the signal and also the distortion generated by the vinyl playback (white arrow).

The graph below represents the spectrogram of the vinyl at 45 rpm (Ed3). The yellow arrow shows the abrupt attenuation at 20 kHz on the whole record. Beyond that, we find the continuity of the signal and also the distortion generated by the reading of the vinyl (white arrow).

The spectrograms of the CD and Qobuz have a frequency limitation at 22 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. There is no signal above this frequency (white arrow). The CD and Qobuz contain an additional bonus track.

The graph below represents the spectrogram of the cassette (Ed6). The yellow arrow shows the main frequency limit around 18 kHz, despite the presence of small signal peaks rising above 20 kHz. Beyond that, we find the background noise of the cassette (white arrow). The cassette contains an additional bonus track.

The SACD 5.1 versions below show above 20 kHz (yellow arrow). However, the principle of DSD means that there is a rise in noise above 30 kHz (white arrow)

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.

The 5.1 mix of the SACD exploits all the channels with a potioning of the sounds distributed on all the 5 channels. The new mix in 5.1 brings a beautiful spatialization of the tracks L’Aventurier and Dizzidence Politik.

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Vinyl – 1982

The original vinyl is well pressed with a reduced surface noise, we find here the balance and the mix of the original version characteristic of the 80s. The mix is dynamic with a good overall balance. We can hear the work done since the premix version of the 45rpm vinyl (Ed4).

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Surface noise: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 2: Vinyl remastered – 2015

The pressing of the vinyl is of good quality. This remastered version offers a different sound balance, with more emphasis on the bass and also less brightness. It’s a totally different balance with a very present bass, it’s closer to the current standard, but it’s maybe a bit too pronounced.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Surface noise: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 3: Vinyl 45 rpm – 1983

This 45 rpm vinyl is well pressed, and remains very dynamic with a different balance than the original 33,33 rpm vinyl (Ed1). We find here a little more bass, but also more treble which makes the rendering more brilliant. The rise of more than 5 dB of the low register under 100 Hz allows to balance the rise of the high register. But this level of the highs is likely to be a little more aggressive on certain systems putting forward the high of the sound spectrum.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Surface noise: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 4: Vinyl 45 rpm (premix) – 1983

This vinyl in 45rpm of the premix is very interesting to show the different steps of the mixing of this album. I don’t know if this premix was made in France or in London, but it doesn’t have the energy and the sound balance between the voices and the instruments of the final version. It’s more of a collector’s version, because it’s less successful than the final mix.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Surface noise: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2.5)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 5: CD – 1988

The CD is similar to the vinyl version, but sounds a bit cleaner than this one. We find the same dynamics and the same global sound balance.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 6: Cassette – 1982

The cassette offers good overall dynamics, but it lacks the finesse and balance of the other versions.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 24 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 7: Qobuz

The Qobuz version is similar to the CD version in terms of dynamics and sound reproduction.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 8: Le Birthday Album 5.1 – 2004

The new mix done for the 5.1 version contains additional sounds highlighted in the mix. This allows to extend the rendering beyond the stereo version.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Spatialization: ●●●oo (2.9)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : “L’Aventurier” 5,1 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

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.

Since this album was released, the positive point is that it was not impacted by the Loudness War. The 45rpm vinyl premix version is interesting to see the progression of the mix between the pre-release and the final version. If you want to listen to the original version, the sound of the vinyl is more natural, or maybe we are just more accustomed to it? The digital versions are faithful and without compression, very good if you listen in digital. There remains the 45 rpm edition of the final mix which is more brilliant than the original, but which is a curiosity.

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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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