Here is the album of Saint Saens’ Symphony No. 3 with organ performed by the Kansas City Symphony under the direction of Michael Stern and recorded by Reference Recordings. Reference Recordings is a publisher that works with the audiophile in mind. For this 2015 album (recorded: June 20-21, 2013), the recording was made in high resolution digital 24 bits 176.4 kHz. It is available in stereo and also in 5.1 surround version which is a specialty of Reference Recordings for many years. One of the particularities of classical music is that there are different interpretations of the same score depending on the orchestra and the conductor. This symphony n°3 of Saint Saens will be completed by other albums presenting a different interpretation.

For this review, we will compare 5 versions, the SACD 5.1 and stereo versions, the HDCD version, the Qobuz version in Hi-Res and the vinyl.

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 6 tracks:

Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Adagio – Allegro moderato
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Poco adagio
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Allegro moderato – Presto
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Maestoso – Allegro
Introduction et rondo capriccioso in A Minor*
La muse et le poète*

* not available on vinyl

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 – 2015

Presentation

The vinyl is available as a LP in 45 RPM (ref RM-1514), it was made from the 24 bits 176.4 kHz digital master from Reference Recordings

Ed 2: SACD – 2015

Presentation

The SACD (ref RR-136) is a hybrid version with an SACD 2.0 and 5.1 layer, and an HDCD layer. It is the stereo SACD track that is tested in this Ed 2

Ed 3: HDCD layer from SACD – 2015

Presentation

The SACD (ref RR-136) is a hybrid version with an SACD 2.0 and 5.1 layer, and an HDCD layer. It is the CD layer that is tested with the HDCD decoding allowing to have a 20 bits 44.1 kHz track.

Ed 4: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2015

Presentation

The Qobuz version is presented in Hi-Res 24 bits 176.4 kHz, as indicated by Reference Recordings, this version corresponds to the Master version.

Ed 5: SACD 5.1 – 2015

Presentation

The SACD (ref RR-136) is a hybrid version with an SACD 2.0 and 5.1 layer, and an HDCD layer. It is the stereo 5.1 track that is tested in this Ed 5

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents the 6 tracks of the original album, except for the vinyl which contains only 4 tracks.

The graphs below represent the waveform of the vinyl version with only 4 tracks. This version is very dynamic, like the other editions.

The waveforms of the three digital stereo versions (SACD, HDCD and Qobuz) are very dynamic, without any trace of clipping or dynamic range limitation.

Waveform Ed 3 : HDCD layer from SACD – 2015

As with the digital stereo versions, the waveforms of SACD 5.1 are very dynamic on all channels. All channels are exploited, but the bass channel.

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

	Vinyl – 2015	SACD – 2015	HDCD layer from SACD – 2015	Qobuz Hi-Res – 2015	SACD 5.1 – 2015
Global	DR15	DR15	DR15	DR15	DR14
Min	*DR13*	*DR11*	*DR11*	*DR11*	*DR11*
Max	*DR16*	*DR18*	*DR17*	*DR18*	*DR17*
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Adagio – Allegro moderato	DR16	DR16	DR16	DR16	DR16
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Poco adagio	DR13	DR11	DR11	DR11	DR11
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Allegro moderato – Presto	DR16	DR16	DR16	DR16	DR14
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ”: Maestoso – Allegro	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR13	DR12
Introduction et rondo capriccioso in A Minor*		DR17	DR16	DR17	DR17
La muse et le poète*		DR18	DR17	DR18	DR17

We find for all the editions a very high dynamic with a DR15 or DR14. We notice that the vinyl has the same dynamics as the digital stereo versions which confirms the beautiful work of cutting of the vinyl.

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 vinyl and Qobuz Hi-Res spectra are superimposed (except for a gap below 60 Hz, green zone) until about 10 kHz, beyond this frequency the vinyl level is higher (yellow zone), beyond 30 kHz, the vinyl level remains higher than the digital version in 24 bits, this is due to the background noise of the vinyl reading.

Spectrum Ed 1 Vinyl – 2015 (white) vs Ed 4 Qobuz Hi-Res – 2015 (blue)

The spectra of the stereo SACD layer and the HDCD decoded CD layer are almost perfectly superimposed up to 22 kHz (yellow arrow), the limit of the CD due to the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency. There is a very slight variation (max 1 dB) between 1 kHz and 5 kHz (yellow zone).

Spectrum Ed 3 HDCD layer from SACD – 2015 (white) vs Ed 2 SACD – 2015 (blue)

The spectra of the SACD stereo layer and the Qobuz Hi-Res version are perfectly superimposed up to 25kHz. Beyond 25 kHz, there is the rise of noise in the high frequencies (yellow arrow) due to the principle of DSD64 used in the SACD.

Spectrum Ed 2 SACD – 2015 (white) vs Ed 4 Qobuz Hi-Res – 2015 (blue)

The spectra of the SACD 5.1 layer show a use of the whole of the channels with a filtering of the bass channel (LFE) towards 120 Hz (green arrow). Beyond 25 kHz, there is the rise of noise in the high frequencies (yellow arrow) due to the principle of DSD64 used in the SACD.

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 spectrogram below represents the vinyl edition with frequencies that rise above 20 kHz (yellow arrow). Above this frequency (white arrow), we find a signal which is composed by the music and the distortion generated by the vinyl playback principle.

The spectrogram below represents the SACD stereo layer. The yellow arrow shows that the signal rises well above 20 kHz. We also find the characteristic noise of DSD64 beyond 25 kHz (white arrow).

The spectrogram below represents the CD version decoded in HDCD. This spectrogram shows a frequency limitation at 22 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the 44.1 kHz sampling rate of the CD. There is no signal above this frequency (white arrow).

Spectrogram Ed 3 : HDCD layer from SACD – 2015

The spectrogram below represents the Qobuz Hi-Res version. It is the cleanest spectrogram with frequencies that go up beyond 20 kHz (yellow arrow), and even to more than 30 kHz (white arrow) without any noise in the high frequencies like SACD.

The spectrogram of the SACD 5.1 track is in conformity with the spectrum. We find a frequency that rises above 20 kHz (white arrow) for all channels except the LFE which is filtered around 120 Hz (green arrow). As for the stereo SACD, we find the noise beyond 25 kHz specific to the DSD64.

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 spatialization represented below is a measurement on the whole SACD album in 5.1. The surround channels bring a complement of spatialization which we find on the whole of the pieces allowing an immersion in the concert.

Distribution of the channels of the SACD layer 5.1

Spatialization : ●●●●o (4.1)