Muse is back to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Absolution (2003) with a remastering, bonus tracks and a Dolby Atmos version. Is the new anniversary version really better than previous releases? That’s what we’re going to find out.

For this review, you will find 4 versions tested: CD 2003, Streaming Tidal MAX Flac in 24 bits 96 kHz 2003, Streaming Tidal XX Anniversary MAX Flac in 24 bits 96 kHz 2023 and Tidal Dolby Atmos 2023.

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 15 tracks:

1. Intro
2. Apocalypse Please
3. Time is Running Out
4. Sing for Absolution
5. Stockholm Syndrome
6. Falling Away with You
7. Interlude
8. Hysteria
9. Blackout
10. Butterflies & Hurricanes
11. The Small Print
12. Fury*
13. Endlessly
14. Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
15. Ruled by Secrecy

* not available on the 2003 CD (standard edition)

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: CD – 2003

Presentation

This is the CD presented in 16 bits 44.1 kHz (ref: 5046751112).

Ed 2: Streaming Tidal MAX – 2003

Presentation

This is the Tidal MAX version presented in Flac 24-bit 96 kHz streaming format.

Ed 3: Streaming Tidal XX Anniversary MAX – 2023

Presentation

This is the Tidal XX Anniversary MAX version presented in Flac 24-bit 96 kHz streaming format with bonus tracks :

• Apocalypse Please (Vocals and Keyboard only)
• Time is Running Out (Recorded Live at The Wiltern Theater 2004)
• Sing For Absolution (Recorded Live at The Antic Arena, Vienne 2004)
• Falling Away With You (Demo 2002)
• Hysteria (Demo 2002)
• Hysteria (Recorded Live at Earl’s Court 2004)
• Blackout (Recorded Live at the Antic Arena, Vienne 2004)
• Butterflies & Hurricanes (Vocal, Keyboard and Strings Only)
• Endlessly (Recorded Live at the Columbiahalle, Berlin 2003)
• Thoughts of a Dying Atheist (Recorded Live at the Wiltern Theater 2004)
• Ruled By Secrecy (Vocals and Keyboard only)

Ed 4: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the version remixed in Dolby Atmos. The Tidal Dolby Atmos version is presented in Dolby Digital Plus 768 bits/s) or Dolby AC-4.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents tracks of the album.

Over the years, new masterings have resulted in an increasingly present compression of dynamics, as shown by the waveforms of the 2003 CD (DR7), the 2003 Tidal version (DR6) and the 2023 Tidal version (DR5). There’s more and more signal (blue), showing the effectiveness of the processing in raising the average volume.

The waveform of the Dolby Atmos version shows that it remains more dynamic than the stereo 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 4 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	CD – 2003	Streaming Tidal MAX – 2003	Streaming Tidal XX Anniversary MAX – 2023	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023
Global	DR7	DR6	DR5	DR11
Min	DR5	DR4	DR4	DR8
Max	DR12	DR12	DR12	DR13
Intro	DR12	DR12	DR12	DR11
Apocalypse Please	DR5	DR4	DR4	DR11
Time is Running Out	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR11
Sing for Absolution	DR6	DR5	DR5	DR12
Stockholm Syndrome	DR5	DR5	DR4	DR12
Falling Away with You	DR7	DR5	DR5	DR12
Interlude	DR7	DR7	DR5	DR8
Hysteria	DR5	DR5	DR5	DR11
Blackout	DR8	DR6	DR6	DR12
Butterflies & Hurricanes	DR7	DR5	DR5	DR10
The Small Print	DR5	DR4	DR4	DR12
Fury*		DR6	DR5	DR11
Endlessly	DR5	DR5	DR4	DR11
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR13
Ruled by Secrecy	DR7	DR6	DR5	DR12

The Dynamic Range measurements confirm the results observed on the waveforms of the various editions. Dynamic compression increases with each new stereo version of the album. We start with a DR7 for the 2003CD and end with a DR5 for the 2023 XX Anniversary .
The Dolby Atmos version remains dynamic with a DR11 (measured in 7.1.4, DR10 measured in 2.0).

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 spectrum of CD 2003 (white curve) with the spectrum of Tidal MAX 2003 (blue curve). The 2 curves are similar, but with 3 major differences: The mastering of the Tidal version brings a different equalization with a little less bass (green zone) and more treble (yellow zone) up to 5 dB above 15 kHz. The yellow arrow shows the frequency limit (22 kHz) of the CD due to its 44.1 kHz sampling frequency. The red arrow shows the spurious frequency peaks present slightly below 30 kHz and also below 40 kHz.

The graph below compares the spectrum of Tidal XX Anniversary MAX 2023(white curve) with the spectrum of Tidal MAX 2003 (blue curve). The 2 curves are similar, but with 2 differences:The mastering of the Tidal version brings a different equalization with more treble (yellow zone) up to 1 dB above 15 kHz. The yellow arrow indicates the frequency limit (24 kHz) of the Tidal MAX 2023, despite the 96 kHz sampling frequency. So it’s not a true 96 kHz compared with the previous Tidal version. It’s the same fault on the Amazon and Apple platforms, confirming that it comes from the master.

The spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos version decoded in 5.1 shows that all channels are well used.
The bass channel is filtered at 120 Hz, as indicated by the green arrow.
The yellow arrow indicates the high-frequency limit at 20 kHz due to Dolby Digital Plus encoding.
The white arrow indicates the 24 kHz high-frequency limit due to encoding at the 48 kHz sample rate used, confirming that it is the Dolby Digital Plus encoding algorithm that cuts frequencies at 20 kHz to reduce data size in order to maintain the 768 kbits/s bit rate.

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 of the CD version shows that the signal rises to a maximum of 22 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is no signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency used for audio CD.

The spectrogram of the stereo version Tidal Max shows that the signal rises above 24 kHz (yellow arrow).There is signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 96 kHz sampling frequency used.

The spectrogram of the Tidal XX Anniversary Max stereo version shows that the signal goes up to 24 kHz (yellow arrow) and there is no signal above this frequency (white arrow), unlike the 2003 Tidal version, despite the 96 kHz sampling frequency used. The same problem applies to Amazon and Apple Music services. This remastering therefore no longer exploits the high frequencies, limiting the interest of having a 96 kHz sampling frequency.

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.

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.

Spatialization is available for Tidal Dolby Atmos .

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

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: CD – 2003

On this CD from 2003, we find the original sound of Muse’s album, already sounding strong in 2003.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●ooo (2)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2.5)

Sample : ”Stockholm Syndrome” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 2: Streaming Tidal MAX – 2003

A beautiful high-resolution Tidal version, this version sounds a little louder than the 2003 CD, but with maximum finesse in the lowest passages, unaffected by the limiter.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●oooo (1)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2.5)

Sample : ”Stockholm Syndrome” 16 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 3: Streaming Tidal XX Anniversary MAX – 2023

This 20th anniversary version only has the advantage of the new bonus tracks, otherwise it’s a little more compressed in dynamics than the Tidal 2003 and CD versions, and above all, it’s a high-resolution version that doesn’t contain high-resolution despite the 96 kHz, unlike the Tidal 2003 version. Why didn’t you release it in 48 kHz, which given the spectrogram must be the format used?

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●oooo (1)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2)

Sample : ”Stockholm Syndrome” 16 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 4: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

Very nice Dolby Atmos mix, which is different for each track and different rhythms to be as coherent as possible with the music.
“Apocalypse Please” begins with an expanded soundstage on the side speakers, then spreads out more and more, using all channels (without the bass channel).
“Time is Running Out”: the lyrics are on the front speakers, but the music broadens out and is played on all channels, including the high ones.
“Stockholm Syndrome” begins with an expanded soundstage on the side speakers, then fills all channels, with a sound that occupies and moves through space.
“Blackout” lulls us completely into a sound space specific to the rhythm of this track, with a sound bubble that moves very smoothly with the music.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●ooo (7.6)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : ”Stockholm Syndrome” downmixed 5.1:

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.

Sample : ”Stockholm Syndrome” downmixed 2.0:

You’re going to tell me, it’s Muse, there’s no need for very high quality with this type of music. Why not, but I think all music deserves quality treatment, especially when we’re offered a 20th anniversary version with more dynamic compression and a high-resolution version truncated in frequency compared to the previous version. This is truly an example of what not to do. The Dolby Atmos version is rather successful, with an Atmos mixing style that adapts to each track, at least a positive point for this 20th anniversary edition.

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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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