Anna Lapwood is a British organist, choral conductor and television and radio presenter. After 4 albums produced by Signum Classics, Anna Lapwood is releasing the album “Midnight Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall” recorded at the Royal Albert Hall by Sony in 2023.
It was in this same venue that Anna Lapwood recorded her new album “Luna”, due for release on September 29. For this album, a great deal of work went into the recording, with numerous microphones placed at strategic points to capture all the music of the organ, as well as the ambience of the venue. You can find Anna Lapwood on Youtube presenting her album “Luna”.

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested: Amazon Music UltraHD in 24 bits 96 kHz and Tidal Dolby Atmos.

For this album, the first 6 tracks are reviewed:

1. Flying (From -Peter Pan- Soundtrack)
2. Grain Moon
3. Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2*
4. Dreamland*
5. On the Nature of Daylight
6. Experience

*not available in Tidal Dolby Atmos at the time of this review.

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.

Waveform and dynamic

The waveform represent 6 tracks for Amazon Music and 4 tracks for Tidal Dolby Atmos (see list above).

The waveform of the Amazon UltraHD and Dolby Atmos version, downmixed in stereo, shows good dynamics DR11.
Differences between the two waveforms are due to the different mixes used for these two versions.

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) :

	Amazon UltraHD – 2023	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023
Global	DR11	DR11
Min	DR8	DR10
Max	DR12	DR12
Flying (From -Peter Pan- Soundtrack)	DR8	DR10
Grain Moon	DR10	DR09
Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2*	DR11
Dreamland*	DR13
On the Nature of Daylight	DR12	DR11
Experience	DR12	DR12

The DR measurement confirms the dynamics visible in the waveform analysis, with an average DR11 for the two versions.

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.

Spectrum comparisons

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 shows the spectrum of part of the extract (from 24 s). The yellow arrow indicates that the signal rises above 24 kHz in frequency.
In the extreme low frequency range, the organ is capable of producing 26 Hz, as shown by the peak at 26 Hz indicated by the green arrow.
This is an excellent indicator of your system’s ability to reproduce extreme low frequencies with energy.

The spectrum of the Dolby Atmos version decoded in 5.1 shows that the front and surround channels are well stressed.
The yellow arrow indicates the high-frequency limit of 20 kHz for the front channels and 24 kHz for the other channels, due to frequency optimization and Dolby Digital Plus encoding, which performs processing to optimize bitrate reduction to 768 kbit/s.
The green arrow indicates the 26 Hz peak generated by the organ on this section. The bass channel (LFE) is not used.

Spectrogram comparaisons

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 represent 6 tracks for Amazon Music and 4 tracks for Tidal Dolby Atmos (see list above).

The spectrogram of the stereo version shows that the signal rises above the 22 kHz frequency (yellow arrow), with the signal exceeding this frequency (white arrow). This is due to the 96 kHz sampling frequency used.

The spectrogram of the Dolby Atmos track downmixed in stereo is limited to 20kHz (yellow arrow) with no signal above (white arrow). This limitation is due to Dolby Digital Plus encoding, which is a lossy encoder that limits bandwidth to optimize data size for a bit rate of 768 kbits/s.

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.

Spatialization is available for Tidal Dolby Atmos .

Below the spatialization for all tracks. Click on the images to zoom in.

Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Amazon UltraHD – 2023

The stereo version provides a very fine reproduction of the organ, with a wide soundstage that reproduces the listening environment. We find the finesse and power of the organ, which delivers great energy down to 26 Hz (listen to the sample at the end). The reproduction of this very low frequency with energy lends realism to the recording.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : ”Flying (From -Peter Pan- Soundtrack)” 16 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

The stereo version provides a beautiful sound image, but the dolby Atmos version immerses us totally in the concert venue. You’re really there, immersed in the soundscape, almost physically experiencing the hall. We can see all the work done during the recording with numerous microphones.
As with the stereo version, there’s plenty of energy and an extreme low end, albeit a little less precise than the PCM stereo version. Dolby Digital Plus has its limits, particularly in the extreme bass, where Dolby Digital trueHD excels in reproducing more finely and with more energy (as in PCM). No pure-audio Blu-ray is planned, however, as this would also enable better rendering of immersion and the lower end of the spectrum.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●ooooo (5.6)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : ”Flying (From -Peter Pan- Soundtrack)” 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.

The stereo version reproduces the organ very well in its sound space. There’s plenty of energy, with deep, powerful bass. The Dolby Atmos version extends this stereo listening experience by totally immersing us in the recording space, so that we close our eyes and find ourselves on the spot. However, there’s a slight loss of nuance compared to the stereo version. You’d need a Dolby Digital TrueHD edition (on Blu-ray or streaming) to enjoy the same sound quality in Atmos as in Stereo.

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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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