Katie Melua – Golden Record – review of the first song of the new album Love & Money (Qobuz, Apple, Dolby Atmos, Youtube)

Katie Melua is back with a new single “Golden Record”, first single from her new album “Love & Money” which will be released on March 24th 2023. After “Album No. 8”, this album is the 9th of Katie Melua, it will contain 10 tracks, and 4 more in the Deluxe version.

You can find the review of the Acoustic Album No. 8 here.

For the review of this single, we will compare the Qobuz Hi-Res, Apple Lossless and Apple Dolby Atmos versions.

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.

Waveform and dynamic

The waveforms of the Qobuz and Apple Lossless versions are dynamic but with a limitation of the dynamic that appears from the second half of the song, and characterized by the limitation of the level of the peaks in comparison with the Apple Dolby Atmos Binaural version. This is confirmed by the DR measurement, which is DR8 for Qobuz, Apple Lossless and Youtube, vs DR11 for the Apple Atmos Binaural version.

This is a different stereo mastering choice than the one made with the Acoustic Album No. 8 which is not compressed in dynamics with its DR14!

The waveform below of the Apple Dolby Atmos Binaural version is more dynamic than the 2 previous stereo versions as confirmed by the DR11.

Below is a zoom on the waveforms of the Dolby Atmos Binaural and Stereo versions adjusted to the same level (-14.2 LUFS) which shows the impact of the dynamic limiter on the stereo.

Spectrum comparisons

The spectrum below compares the stereo versions of Qobuz and Apple Lossless. We notice a perfect superposition of the curves due to the use of the same master. The maximum frequency (yellow arrow) is 22 kHz in accordance with the 44.1 kHz sampling rate. The white arrow shows a very narrow 10 dB dip around 300 Hz, a dip that is only present on the stereo versions.

The spectrum below compares the stereo versions of Qobuz and Apple Dolby Atmos Binaural. We can see a similarity between the two versions, but with differences in the bottom of the spectrum (yellow zone) and in the top of the spectrum due to the difference in mixing and the use of binaural rendering. The maximum frequency in Dolby Atmos (yellow arrow) is 20 kHz, this is due to the Dolby Digital Plus encoding which limits the frequency to 20 kHz to allow for greater encoding efficiency. The white arrow shows a very narrow 10 dB dip around 300 Hz which is only present on the stereo version.

The spectra below are almost identical, except in the yellow areas where we see the impact of AAC compression.

Spectrogram comparaisons

The spectrograms below are similar, especially the first two (Qobuz and Apple Lossless) which go up to a frequency of 22 kHz (yellow arrow) while the spectrogram of the Apple Dolby Atmos Binaural version is limited to 20 kHz (limit due to the Dolby Atmos encoding) like the youtube version limited to 20 kHz due to the AAC compression. Above these limits, there is no signal (white arrows).

Spatialization

Listening and Samples

The stereo version of Qobuz proposes a good retranscription of the voice on the first part of the song, but, when one passes in the second part where the compression of dynamics is more active, one loses in precision and in sharpness on the sound rendering.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●ooo (2)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3)

No surprise, the Apple Music Lossless version is similar to the Qobue Hi-Res version in terms of sound quality.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●ooo (2)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3)

The Apple Dolby Atmos version brings in its binaural version a more open and precise listening than the previous stereo versions, but with a lower bass level, which is not the case with the 7.1.4 listening where, the mix brings a very wide sound scene, which is not only frontal, but which goes from the right side to the left side while filling the space above the head. It is an approach that we find more and more for the Atmos mixing of this kind of music.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (3.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●ooo (7.2)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

The Youtube version is similar to the lossless stereo versions with the addition of AAC compression.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●ooo (2)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3)

Katie Melua is back with a first track that is available in Stereo and Dolby Atmos. We regret that the choices made in the Acoustic Album No. 8 in term of treatment of the dynamics are not found for the stereo version of this piece. The compression of dynamics remains reasonable, but it is the Dolby Atmos version which shows the example in spite of a less bass than the stereo version but a greater precision of the voice. Listening in 7.1.4 brings a nice balance, a nice opening of the sound scene and a very nice presence of the voice.

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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.