After performing in the biggest stadiums and showing it in IMAX cinemas to best reproduce the concert atmosphere (more information here), it’s now time to test the concert at home and see if we can recreate the same atmosphere as in the IMAX theater.
To do this test, we will be comparing different versions that have been released (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming), and in addition to comparing the technical aspect, we will primarily be looking for the version that best reproduces the concert atmosphere at home.
It is worth noting the pleasant surprise upon the release of the Blu-ray, which was initially announced as DTS-HD MA 5.1, it was finally released in Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos, and this has a major impact on the rendering of the Blu-ray.

If you want to go directly to the conclusion, click here, I recommend listening to the sample from the CD and the sample from the Apple Music Atmos Binaural version, the difference is really striking.

Before starting the test, here is a summary of the group Indochine:

Indochine is a French rock band formed in 1981. Since their formation, they have released 14 studio albums, becoming one of the most popular and influential bands on the French music scene.
Their musical style is a blend of rock, new wave and pop, with influences of electronic music and punk.
Their first album, “L’Aventurier”, was released in 1982 and immediately achieved great success with songs such as “L’Aventurier” and “Canary Bay”.
Their second album, “Un Été Français”, was released in 1983 and also saw commercial success with songs like “Un été français” and “J’ai demandé à la lune”.
Over the years, Indochine has continued to release albums which have all seen great commercial and critical success, such as “7000 Danses” (1987), “Le Birthday Album” (1989) and “Paradize” (2002). Their latest album to date, “13”, was released in 2018 and received positive reviews.
In addition to their successful music career, Indochine is also known for their commitment to social and humanitarian causes. They have taken a stance against school bullying and have organized benefit concerts for charitable organizations such as UNICEF.

For this review, you will find 9 versions tested: CD, stereo DVD, 5.1 DVD, stereo Blu-ray, Atmos Blu-ray, Apple Music Lossless, Apple Music Atmos, Tidal 360RA, and Qobuz Hi-Res.

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 26 tracks:

1. Intro*
2. Nos célébrations
3. Station 13
4. Marilyn
5. Miss Paramount
6. Canary Bay
7. Punishment Park
8. Les tzars
9. Paradize
10. Le baiser
11. Tes yeux noirs
12. 7000 danses
13. La chevauchée des champs de blé
14. Little Dolls
15. 3SEX
16. Alice & June
17. Un été français
18. Trois nuits par semaine
19. Central Club
20. Interlude 40
21. J’ai demandé à la lune (avec la Musique de la Garde Républicaine)
22. La vie est belle (avec la Musique de la Garde Républicaine)
23. College Boy
24. L’aventurier
25. Karma Girls
26. Central Final

* only on DVD and Blu-ray

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: CD – 2023

Presentation

Available in individual CD edition or included with the Special Edition containing the book (ref : 19658781822), the concert of over 2 hours and 30 minutes is divided into 3 CDs in 16-bit 44.1 kHz format from the digital master.

Ed 2: DVD Stereo – 2023

Presentation

Available in individual DVD edition or included with the Special Edition containing the book (ref : 19658781822), the concert in video of more than 2h45 is cut on 2 DVD with stereo (PCM 16 bits 48 kHz) and 5.1 (Dolby Digital at 448 kbits/s in 48 kHz) audio tracks. The Ed2 corresponds to the PCM stereo track.

Ed 3: DVD 5.1 – 2023

Presentation

Available in individual DVD edition or included with the Special Edition containing the book (ref), the concert in video of more than 2h45 is cut on 2 DVD with stereo (PCM 16 bits 48 kHz) and 5.1 (Dolby Digital at 448 kbits/s in 48 kHz) audio tracks. The Ed3 corresponds to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

Ed 4: Bluray stereo – 2023

Presentation

The blu-ray version (ref: 19658773669) contains the concert on a single disc with two sound tracks, the 24-bit 48 kHz PCM track and the Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos track. It is the stereo track that is tested in the Ed4.

Ed 5: Bluray Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

The blu-ray version contains the concert on a single disc with two sound tracks, the 24-bit 48 kHz PCM track and the Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos track. As said before, it was a surprise when I first listened to the disc, indeed, I was expecting to have a DTS-HD 5.1 track, but the room was filled with Atmos sound! A booklet is present in the Blu-ray.

Ed 6: Apple Music Lossless – 2023

Presentation

This is the Apple Music lossless stereo version presented in 24 bits 44.1 kHz.

Ed 7: Apple Music Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the Apple Music lossless Dolby Surround encoded in Dolby Digital Plus at 768 kbits/s.

Ed 8: Tidal 360 RA – 2023

Presentation

This is the Tidal version presented in SONY 360 Relality Audio format.

Ed 9: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023

Presentation

This is the Qobuz stereo version presented in Hi-Res 24 bits 44.1 kHz.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents the track of the song “L’aventurier” which is well representative of the whole album.

The graphs below represent the waveforms of the stereo versions (CD, DVD, Bluray, Apple Music and Qobuz). For all these graphs we can see that the level is maximized with the flat areas (yellow zone) showing the effect of the level limiter. It is a characteristic graph of the Brickwall limiter user as confirmed by the DR measurement.

The waveform of the 5.1 DVD below is more dynamic than the stereo versions. It can be seen that the center channel is used very little. The LFE channel which is the channel dedicated to the bass brings a reinforcement of the bass with a significant level to bring sensations in the extreme bass.

The waveform of the ATMOS bluray below represents here the 8 channels of Dolby Digital TrueHD 7.1 without decoding of the ATMOS information. This version is more dynamic than the stereo versions. The LFE channel which is the channel dedicated to the bass brings a reinforcement of the bass with a significant level to bring physical sensations in the extreme bass. All the surround channels are strongly exploited to bring a more immersive rendering of the concert.

To best compare with the stereo versions, the graphic below represents the binaural version of the Dolby Atmos track from Apple Music. You can see that the track is dynamic without the sound levels capping like the stereo tracks. This dynamic will make all the difference when listening.

The graph below represents the version Tidal 360Ra Binaural, we find a limitation of the dynamic but less marked than the stereo versions.

The waveform comparison below represents the CD and Apple Music Dolby Atmos Binaural samples. Both samples are adjusted to the same level of -12.7 LUFS to allow a better visual comparison. The difference in dynamics between the two samples is very important, it is easily visible and also audible as shown by the listening of the samples.

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

	CD – 2023	DVD Stereo – 2023	DVD 5.1 – 2023	Bluray stereo – 2023	Bluray Dolby Atmos – 2023	Apple Music Lossless – 2023	Apple Music Dolby Atmos – 2023	Tidal 360 RA – 2023	Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023
Global	DR6	DR6	DR11	DR7	DR12	DR6	DR11	DR10	DR6
Min	DR5	DR5	DR9	DR5	DR10	DR5	DR10	DR8	DR5
Max	DR8	DR7	DR14	DR11	DR13	DR8	DR13	DR12	DR8
Intro*		DR8	DR14	DR8	DR13
Nos célébrations	DR5	DR6	DR12	DR6	DR12	DR5	DR11	DR9	DR5
Station 13	DR6	DR7	DR11	DR7	DR12	DR6	DR10	DR10	DR6
Marilyn	DR6	DR7	DR11	DR7	DR12	DR6	DR12	DR11	DR6
Miss Paramount	DR5	DR5	DR9	DR5	DR10	DR5	DR11	DR8	DR5
Canary Bay	DR6	DR7	DR12	DR7	DR12	DR6	DR13	DR12	DR6
Punishment Park	DR6	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR12	DR6	DR12	DR10	DR6
Les tzars	DR6	DR6	DR13	DR6	DR13	DR6	DR13	DR11	DR6
Paradize	DR6	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR12	DR6	DR12	DR11	DR6
Le baiser	DR8	DR7	DR11	DR7	DR11	DR8	DR12	DR12	DR8
Tes yeux noirs	DR6	DR6	DR12	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR12	DR10	DR6
7000 danses	DR5	DR5	DR11	DR5	DR11	DR5	DR11	DR10	DR5
La chevauchée des champs de blé	DR6	DR5	DR11	DR5	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR10	DR6
Little Dolls	DR6	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR12	DR11	DR6
3SEX	DR6	DR5	DR10	DR5	DR11	DR6	DR12	DR9	DR6
Alice & June	DR6	DR6	DR12	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR12	DR11	DR6
Un été français	DR5	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR5	DR11	DR9	DR5
Trois nuits par semaine	DR5	DR5	DR10	DR5	DR11	DR5	DR11	DR9	DR5
Central Club	DR5	DR7	DR12	DR7	DR13	DR5	DR11	DR9	DR5
Interlude 40	DR8	DR10	DR10	DR10	DR11	DR8	DR11	DR12	DR8
J’ai demandé à la lune (avec la Musique de la Garde Républicaine)	DR7	DR9	DR12	DR9	DR12	DR7	DR12	DR12	DR7
La vie est belle (avec la Musique de la Garde Républicaine)	DR6	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR11	DR6
College Boy	DR5	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR5	DR10	DR9	DR5
L’aventurier	DR5	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR13	DR5	DR11	DR9	DR5
Karma Girls	DR5	DR6	DR11	DR6	DR11	DR5	DR10	DR9	DR5
Central Final	DR8	DR11	DR10	DR11	DR10	DR8	DR11	DR11	DR8

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 spectra of the CD and Qobuz Hi-Res are perfectly superimposed showing the use of an identical reference master with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz.

The spectra of the DVD stereo and Blu-ray stereo are perfectly superimposed showing the use of an identical reference master with a sampling frequency of 48 kHz.

The spectrum of the Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the DVD has a maximum frequency of 20 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the Dolby Digital encoding. The center channel (white arrow) has a lower level than the other channels. The green arrow shows the filtering of the bass channel to 120 Hz.

The spectrum of the stereo versions of Blu-ray and Qobuz are similar but with differences in sound levels at the bottom of the spectrum (green zone) and also differences in level from 4 kHZ increasing above 12 kHz to have a level with 5 dB more for Blu-ray.

The spectrum of the Dolby Digital TrueHD 7.1 track (without Atmos decoding) on the Blu-ray has a maximum frequency of 24 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the sampling rate and the fact that Dolby Digital TrueHD is a lossless format that does not alter the signal. The center channel (white arrow) has a lower level than the other channels. The green arrow shows the filtering of the bass channel at 120 Hz.

The spectra of Apple Music Lossless and Qobuz Hi-Res are perfectly superimposed showing the use of an identical reference master with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz.

The spectra of the Apple Music Lossless and Apple Music Atmos binaural versions are similar but with differences (yellow zone) due to the difference of mixing (Atmos vs Stereo) and the use of binaural for headphone listening.

The spectra of the Apple Music Atmos binaural and tidal binaural versions are similar but with differences that can reach 10 dB. This is due to the difference in mixing (Atmos vs 360 RA) and to the use of binaural for headphone listening which is different between Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. We notice that the maximum frequency of the Tidal 360RA version is limited to 18 kHz (yellow arrow) contrary to Dolby Atmos. This is due to the MPEG-H encoding algorithm.

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 spectrograms below represent the stereo versions of CD, DVD, Bluray, Apple Music and Qobuz. The yellow arrow shows the limitation to 22 kHz (for CD, Apple Music and Qobuz) and 24 kHz (for DVD and Bluray). This is due to the sampling rate of 44.1 kHz for CD, Apple Music and Qobuz, and 48 kHz for DVD and Bluray. There is no signal above these frequencies of 22 kHz or 24 kHz (white arrow).

The spectrograms below represent the multichannel versions of DVD and Bluray. The yellow arrow shows the 24 kHz limitation for the bluray, which is due to the 48 kHz sampling rate, and the 20 kHz limitation for the DVD, which is due to the Dolby Digital encoding that reduces the high frequencies. There is no signal above these frequencies of 24 kHz or 20 kHz (white arrow). The LFE bass channel is cut off around 120 Hz as shown by the green arrows.

The Apple Music Dolby Atmos Binaural spectrogram has a limited maximum frequency around 20 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the Dolby Digital Plus encoding at 768 kbps. This despite the use of a 48 kHz sampling rate. There is no signal above 20 kHz (white arrow).

The spectrogram of the Tidal 360RA Binaural version has a maximum frequency limited to around 18 kHz due to the MPEG-H encoding (yellow arrow). This is despite the use of a 48 kHz sampling rate.There is no signal above 18 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.

Having a sound in multichannel or Atmos is important for reproducing the atmosphere of a music concert in order to immerse the listener in the concert experience. Multichannel sound, such as 5.1 or 7.1, provides a surround sound experience, allowing the listener to hear the music and sounds coming from different directions, creating a sense of being in the concert. Atmos, on the other hand, takes this one step further by adding a vertical dimension to the sound, making it feel as if the sounds are coming from above and all around the listener, providing an even more immersive experience. This makes it possible to reproduce the atmosphere of the concert and the feeling of being in the same room as the other spectators.

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: CD – 2023

The CD, like the other stereo versions, are compressed in dynamic to increase the sound level of the album. The use of a Brickwall limiter type is not transparent and can generate distortion as shown by the analysis in the article “Loudness war, the limit of the 0dB in digital or Analog better than Digital?“.
This distortion is clearly audible, just listen to the sample from the CD and compare it to the sample in Apple Dolby Atmos binaural.
There is an immediate loss in dynamics, a lack of precision in the atmosphere of the audience and also less clarity in the singer’s voice.
The CD is therefore directly affected by this loudness war with its DR6.
Today, the DR6 seems to become a dynamic target (or an integrated loudness around -9 LUFS) that is often pushed by the majors. Listening to the CD version is a case in point of what not to do, it is an example of the consequences of the loudness war.
It is appropriate to listen and adjust the efficiency of the limiter to obtain a correct result, we must stop targeting the DR6, it is time to return to a DR10 which would have been preferable for the quality of stereo restitution, especially since the sound quality is very good as shown by the Dolby Atmos versions.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 2: DVD Stereo – 2023

As with the CD, the stereo version of the DVD is highly compressed in dynamics. It is preferable to listen to the Dolby Digital 5.1 version, even for stereo listening via a downmix.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 16 bits 48 kHz:

Ed 3: DVD 5.1 – 2023

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is the best track of the DVD. It allows to recreate some of the concert atmosphere in 5.1. However, the Dolby Digital format which has a data compression system with loss, cannot compete with the Dolby Digital TrueHD track of the Blu-ray which does not result in data loss. So, there is less precision and less energy in the bass than the Dolby Digital TrueHD of the Blu-ray.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●o (4.1)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 5.1 16 bits 48 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.

Ed 4: Bluray stereo – 2023

Despite the use of 24-bit 48 kHz PCM on the stereo track of the Blu-ray, this does not change the dynamic range compression that is applied to the stereo track. The same defects present on the CD in terms of lack of dynamics, lack of precision and loss of sharpness on voices are found. For the Blu-ray, do not hesitate and switch to the Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos track.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 24 bits 48 kHz:

Ed 5: Bluray Dolby Atmos – 2023

The Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos track was a surprise upon the release of the Blu-ray, which was announced in DTS-HD 5.1.
We therefore have a track with lossless data compression with an average bit rate of around 6 MBits/s (13 times the bit rate of the Dolby Digital 5.1 of the DVD and 7 times the bit rate of Dolby Atmos streaming).
If one is not equipped with Dolby Atmos, one can benefit from retrocompatibility in 7.1 of Dolby TrueHD.
In terms of listening, we truly find the atmosphere of the concert, the audience is well present, it is really around us and we find all the ambient noises of the stadium thanks to the use of top channels. The voices are clear and precise, the bass is present and physical.
Even if the chair vibrates a little less than in the IMAX theater, we find a similar atmosphere and a very nice concert energy. This Dolby Atmos track is the one that allows us to get the closest to the concert and IMAX cinema atmosphere.
For those who are not in Dolby Atmos, the 7.1 track is also very dynamic and allows to create a beautiful atmosphere, even if the lack of top channels is felt.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8.4)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 7.1 24 bits 48 kHz:

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.

Ed 6: Apple Music Lossless – 2023

Like all stereo streaming versions, the Apple Music Lossless version is also dynamically compressed and therefore remains similar to CD in sound quality.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 24 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 7: Apple Music Dolby Atmos – 2023

The Apple Music Dolby Atmos version is one of the best versions. In 7.1.4 multichannel listening, we find all the atmosphere of the concert, with the presence of the audience and the clarity of the lyrics. Compared to the Bluray and its Dolby Digital TrueHD track, the rendering is similar, but the bluray brings a little more precision and more powerful basses, this is due to the difference in bitrate between the Bluray and streaming. The Binaural version is superb, better than the stereo versions when listening with headphones. Compare with the available samples.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●ooo (7.5)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (3.5)

Sample : ”L’aventurier” Binaural (for headphone listening):

Ed 8: Tidal 360 RA – 2023

The 360 RA version doesn’t have the ease and openness of the Dolby Atmos version, this version has a higher level and is a bit less dynamic. The spatial distribution is less homogeneous in the 3D space than the Dolby Atmos version, we find here a mixing with a different rendering.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ooooo (0)
• Bandwidth: ●●●oo (3.5)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●ooo (7.3)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3)

Sample : ”L’aventurier” Binaural (for headphone listening):

Ed 9: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023

Like all stereo streaming versions, the Hi-Res version of Qobuz is also dynamically compressed and therefore remains similar to CD in terms of sound quality. The use of 24 bits does not change anything to the sound rendering and does not bring anything more than the CD in 16 bits.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”L’aventurier” 24 bits 44.1 kHz:

To answer the question of being able to reproduce the atmosphere of a concert at home, we can say that the answer is yes, with a very good Atmos system and the concert bluray. We almost find the sound of the IMAX room.
The change of the DTS sound format of the bluray by the Dolby Atmos is the very good surprise of this edition.
We would have liked to have a version in Bluray UltraHD, it may come out later, but we must admit that the quality of the image of the bluray from the IMAX cameras is very beautiful.
The Apple Music Dolby Atmos version is also very successful, even if it is one step below the bluray version. It is a very good version to listen to on headphones in binaural.
The big disappointment comes from the different stereo versions that are compressed in dynamics with a very significant impact on the sound quality. It is better to focus on the multichannel versions, even by making a stereo downmix.

Subscribe to MagicVinylDigital

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

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.

---