It is with pleasure that we welcome Anne Bisson’s 8th album “be my lover”. Anne Bisson is a pianist and songwriter who always takes great care in the making of her albums with a quality recording and mastering working with a high quality format in high resolution 24 bits 192 kHz. The vinyl is also a double LP edition of 180g in 45 rpm.

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested: vinyl and the Qobuz Hi-Res (24 bits 192 kHz). This album is also available in UHQCD, in USB key (HD) and tape.

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 12 tracks:

1. Moondance
2. Blue Bayou
3. I Wake up (The Nightmare)
4. Are you Sure you want me?
5. From the Beginning
6. I need Protection
7. The Four Horsemen
8. Bridge over Troubled Water
9. The Seabreeze
10. A Million Dreams
11. Nature Boy
12. Be My Lover

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 : Summary, scoring and Sample

Part 1: presentation of the editions

Ed 1: Vinyl Double 45rpm – 2023

Presentation

This is the double LP vinyl in 45 RPM pressed by RTI in HQ-180 (180g) and materised an cutted by Bernie Grundman, ref : CAM5 5297. The order of the tracks is different between the vinyl and the digital version.

Ed 2: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023

Presentation

This is the Qobuz Hi-Res version presented in 24 bits 192 kHz.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents all the tracks of this album.

For this album of Anne Bisson, we find a dynamic music as testified by the measurement of the DR (Dynamic Range), which reveals a good sound dynamics.

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

	Vinyl Double 45rpm – 2023	Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023
Global	DR13	DR12
Min	DR11	DR11
Max	DR14	DR13
Moondance	DR13	DR12
Blue Bayou	DR12	DR12
I Wake up (The Nightmare)	DR13	DR14
Are you Sure you want me?	DR12	DR11
From the Beginning	DR12	DR12
I need Protection	DR14	DR14
The Four Horsemen	DR11	DR11
Bridge over Troubled Water	DR11	DR11
The Seabreeze	DR12	DR12
A Million Dreams	DR11	DR12
Nature Boy	DR14	DR13
Be My Lover	DR12	DR12

The Qobuz Hi-Res digital editions and the double vinyl 45RPM offers a nice dynamic with a DR12/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 spectra of the 45 RPM vinyl and Qobuz Hi-Res are similar up to 12 kHz, with small variations of the order of a dB below 500 Hz. Above 12 kHz, we find the level variation with an accentuation of 10 dB at 16 kHz, followed by a drop of 25 dB at 18 kHz and a rise of 10 dB at 19 kHz. This variation characterizes the mastering and cutting done by Bernie Grundman. On the digital version, most of the information is below 25 kHz.

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 is quite classic for a vinyl, we find a signal that shows above 20 kHz with the presence of horizontal lines (yellow arrow) representing the variation of level above 12 kHz due to mastering and cutting. Above 30 kHz (green arrow) we find a signal that is due to the distortion generated by the vinyl’s operating principle.

The spectrogram of the Qobuz Hi-Res version presented in 24 bits 192 kHz shows that the majority of the signal is concentrated above 30 kHz (yellow arrow).

Part 5 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Vinyl Double 45rpm – 2023

Very nice pressing of this double vinyl in 45 RPM 180g with a reduced surface noise. We find a dynamic listening with a very beautiful rendering of the voice and the instruments. The sound is a little bit warmer than the digital version.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Are You Sure You Want Me” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 2: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023

Very beautiful digital version presented in Hi-Res 24 bits 96 kHz with a beautiful dynamic and a very great smoothness of reproduction bringing clarity and details for the voice of Anne Bisson and for the various instruments on the whole sound spectrum.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Are You Sure You Want Me” 24 bits 96 kHz:

For this new album of Anne Bisson, the music is dynamic with a warm and intimate atmosphere between the instruments and her voice. A great attention paid to the audio quality, with a precise recording and a post-production realized without loudness war. The digital and vinyl editions bring their specificities with a very precise and detailed rendering of the voice and the instruments for the digital version, and a slightly warmer sound, more “analog” some would say for the vinyl which is the object of a high quality pressing in 45 RPM. It’s up to each one to make his choice according to his tastes, the extracts will give you an idea of the 2 versions. The album is also available on UHDCD, on USB card in High resolution and on tape.

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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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