After having made us dance with Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter comes back for an original composition for the ballet of Angelin Preljocaj in classical music. This album has been interpreted by the Orchestre Nationale Bordeaux Aquitaine (Romain Dumas) with a sound capture realized with an array microphones “Minotaure 3D”. This capture immerses us totally in the concert as we will see in this test.

For this review, you will find 3 versions tested: vinyl, Qobuz Hi-Res and Tidal Dolby Atmos.

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 23 tracks:

1. Mythologies: I. Premiers mouvements
2. Mythologies: II. Le catch
3. Mythologies: III. Thalestris
4. Mythologies: IV. Les Gémeaux I
5. Mythologies: V. Les Amazones
6. Mythologies: VI. L’arrivée d’Alexandre
7. Mythologies: VII. Treize nuits
8. Mythologies: VIII. Danae
9. Mythologies: IX. Zeus
10. Mythologies: X. L’accouchement
11. Mythologies: XI. Les Gorgones
12. Mythologies: XII. Renaissances
13. Mythologies: XIII. Le Minotaure
14. Mythologies: XIV. Eden
15. Mythologies: XV. Arès
16. Mythologies: XVI. Aphrodite
17. Mythologies: XVII. Les Naïades
18. Mythologies: XVIII. Pas de deux
19. Mythologies: XIX. Circonvolutions
20. Mythologies: XX. Les Gémeaux II
21. Mythologies: XXI. Icare
22. Mythologies: XXII. Danse funèbre
23. Mythologies: XXIII. La guerre

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 – 2023

Presentation

The autographed vinyl edition is presented in a beautiful 180g LP box set. We only regret that there is no booklet that comes with the box.

Ed 2: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023

Presentation

This is the streaming Qobuz presented in Hi-Res 24 bits 96 kHz.

Ed 3: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the streaming Tidal Dolby Atmos of this album.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents all the tracks of this album.

The waveforms below represent the vinyl, Qobuz Hi-Res and Tidal Dolby Atmos binaural versions. We find very big difference of dynamics with different levels according to the tracks which characterize this classic work.

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

	Vinyl – 2023	Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023
Global	DR13	DR13	DR12
Min	DR8	DR8	DR8
Max	DR15	DR16	DR14
Mythologies: I. Premiers mouvements	DR14	DR15	DR14
Mythologies: II. Le catch	DR13	DR13	DR12
Mythologies: III. Thalestris	DR12	DR12	DR11
Mythologies: IV. Les Gémeaux I	DR9	DR9	DR9
Mythologies: V. Les Amazones	DR13	DR14	DR13
Mythologies: VI. L’arrivée d’Alexandre	DR13	DR13	DR13
Mythologies: VII. Treize nuits	DR15	DR15	DR14
Mythologies: VIII. Danae	DR13	DR13	DR12
Mythologies: IX. Zeus	DR15	DR15	DR15
Mythologies: X. L’accouchement	DR12	DR12	DR12
Mythologies: XI. Les Gorgones	DR13	DR13	DR13
Mythologies: XII. Renaissances	DR14	DR14	DR14
Mythologies: XIII. Le Minotaure	DR14	DR13	DR12
Mythologies: XIV. Eden	DR12	DR12	DR11
Mythologies: XV. Arès	DR11	DR10	DR11
Mythologies: XVI. Aphrodite	DR12	DR13	DR13
Mythologies: XVII. Les Naïades	DR13	DR13	DR12
Mythologies: XVIII. Pas de deux	DR13	DR13	DR13
Mythologies: XIX. Circonvolutions	DR14	DR14	DR12
Mythologies: XX. Les Gémeaux II	DR8	DR8	DR8
Mythologies: XXI. Icare	DR13	DR13	DR12
Mythologies: XXII. Danse funèbre	DR12	DR12	DR12
Mythologies: XXIII. La guerre	DR15	DR16	DR14

Mythologies is an album with an average dynamic range of DR12/13 found on all media.

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 graph below compares the vinyl spectrum (white curve) to the Qobuz Hi-Res spectrum (blue curve). The curves are very similar, with a little more bass for the vinyl (~ 1dB) with the white curve being above the blue curve (green area). There is also a small variation above 4 kHz where the white (vinyl curve) is slightly below and then above until 17 kHz where a rise of 5 dB is present to fade at 20 kHz (yellow area).

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Dolby Atmos Binaural version (white curve) to the Qobuz Hi-Res spectrum (blue curve). The curves are very similar, with a difference in the bottom of the spectrum (green zone) and in the top of the spectrum (yellow zone), this is due to the difference in mixing and the binaural encoding. The yellow arrow shows that the Dolby Atmos Binaural version is limited to 18 kHz, this is due to the Dolby AC-4 encoding. The red arrow indicates a spurious frequency peak above 40 kHz which is also visible on the spectrogram of the Qobuz version.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Dolby Atmos version decoded in 5.1. We find a similar sound level for the front right and left channels than the rear right and left channels (white arrow). The level of the central channel is lower. The yellow arrow indicates the maximum frequency around 20 kHz due to the Dolby Digital Plus encoding to optimize the data size. The green arrow shows that the bass channel is well filtered at 120 Hz.

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 of the vinyl has a signal that rises above 20 kHz (yellow arrow) with a signal above 30 kHz (white arrow) which is composed of music and distortions due to the vinyl playback principle.

The spectrogram below of the Qobuz Hi-Res version has a signal that rises above 20 kHz (yellow arrow) with a signal above 30 kHz (white arrow). The red arrow indicates the presence of spurious frequency peaks above 40kHz on some tracks.

The spectrogram below of the Dolby Atmos Binaural has a signal that does not exceed 20 kHz (yellow arrow), with no signal above (white arrow). The green arrow shows that the maximum frequency can be limited in frequency and below 17kHz, this is due to the optimization of the Dolby AC-4 encoding.

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 use of the Microphone array brings here a total immersion in the orchestra, as shown by the very high average spatialization value of 9.2! We are really in the middle of the orchestra, immersed in it.

Below the spatialization for the 23 tracks of Tidal Dolby Atmos version. Click on the images to zoom in.

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Vinyl – 2023

The box of 3 vinyls of 180g brings a quality pressing for this album of classical music with low surface noise, with a beautiful stereo immersion in the music, compared to the digital version, we find a listening a little warmer.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Mythologies: III. Thalestris” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 2: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2023

The Qobuz Hi-Res version brings a very beautiful dynamic with a stereo immersion in the music. We find a lot of details and precisions of the orchestra.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Mythologies: III. Thalestris” 24 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 3: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

Because of the technique used for the recording, the array microphone brings an immersion in the orchestra. I recommend listening to the multichannel version, in 7.1.4 for example, which immerses us totally in the music. It is a real sound experience.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●●o (9.2)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5)

Sample : ”Mythologies: III. Thalestris” Dolby Atmos:

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.

For a first classical composition, Thomas Bangalter offers us a superb ballet interpreted by the Orchestre Nationale Bordeaux Aquitaine. The recording is very well done with a technique of microphone array which brings a very successful sound immersion with a very beautiful stereo rendering in digital with the Qobuz Hi-Res version which remains of share the technique of the digital more silent than the superb vinyl edition. The version to discover is the Dolby Atmos version which literally immerses us in the music, here, no particular sound effects, but a real immersion in the music, it is a real experience to listen if you can in 7.1.4.

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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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