Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon – Review updated with 50th anniversary BOX and streaming (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Vinyl – Stereo, 4.0, 5.1, Dolby Atmos)

After the unpacking of the 50th anniversary box (Youtube), here is the comparison of the 2023 versions: vinyl, CD, DVD stereo (24 bits 48 kHz) and 5.1, Bluray Stereo (24 bits 192 kHz), 5.1 (24 bits 96 kHz) and Dolby Atmos. With in addition the Qobuz Hi-Res version (24 bits 192 kHz) and the Tidal Dolby Atmos version which does not seem to be available today.

The box is really beautiful with a very successful combination of box, but not practical to access the vinyls, because you have to open everything.

The great novelty is the Dolby Atmos track available on the bluray, it is a track encoded in Dolby Digital TrueHD, so without loss, with a bitrate that can exceed 8000kbits/s, compared to atmos in Dolby Digital Plus which is in 768 kbits/s. We find here a bandwidth up to 24 kHz in coherence with the 48 kHz sampling frequency. In listening, we find a real spatial extension of the 5.1 version with a better immersion while keeping the spirit of the album. This is the great plus of this box.

The high resolution stereo version is closer to the original version unlike the version released in 2011 which had an accentuation of the highs as shown in the spectra below, so we have a sound balance that certainly makes it the best high resolution digital version of the album.

Finally, the vinyl, given the price of the box, we can be demanding and expect a superb pressing, and no, we have a bandwidth that collapses above 17 kHz as shown in the red area of the graph below which compares the vinyl of the box with the original Japanese version, it is disappointing, especially since the vinyl of the Wembley concert does not have this problem. Apart from this technical defect, the listening experience does not equal the other versions.

You can find more details and information as well as samples of all supports (30 versions) with all measurements here.