Peter Gabriel released his tenth solo studio album, i/o, on December 1, 2023. This is his first album of original songs since Up, released in 2002. The album features 12 tracks, available in three versions: a Bright mix by Mark “Spike” Stent, a Dark mix by Tchad Blake and an In Side mix by Hans-Martin Buff in Dolby Atmos.
We’ll be comparing these mixes on different media, such as CD, Hi-rez and Dolby Atmos streaming and Blu-ray audio containing all 3 versions.
Each sound engineer has done his utmost to ensure that each mix brings his own personality, with renderings that can serve as a reference for testing his system.
That’s what we’re going to find out in this review.

For this review, you will find 8 versions tested: CD Bright mix, CD Dark mix, Blu-ray Bright mix, Blu-ray Dark mix, Blu-ray Dark in side mix Dolby Atmos TrueHD, Tidal Bright mix 24/96, Tidal Dark mix 24/96, and Amazin In Side Mix 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 12 tracks:

1. Panopticom
2. The Court
3. Playing For Time
4. io
5. Four Kinds of Horses
6. Road to Joy
7. So Much
8. Olive Tree
9. Love Can Heal
10. This Is Home
11. And Still
12. Live and Let Live

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 Bright Mix – 2023

Presentation

This is the CD Bright Mix presented in 16 bits 44.1 kHz included in the box (2Cd ans blu-ray).

Ed 2: CD Dark Mix – 2023

Presentation

This is the CD Dark Mix presented in 16 bits 44.1 kHz included in the box (2Cd ans blu-ray).

Ed 3: Blu-ray Bright Mix – 2023

Presentation

This is the Blu-ray track Bright Mix presented in 24 bits 48 kHz included in the box (2 CD and blu-ray). (ref: 88410801455)

Ed 4: Blu-ray Dark Mix – 2023

Presentation

This is the Blu-ray track Dark Mix presented in 24 bits 48 kHz included in the box (2 CD and blu-ray). (ref: 88410801455)

Ed 5: Blu-ray in side Mix Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the Blu-ray track in side Mix presented in Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos included in the box (2CD and blu-ray). (ref: 88410801455)

Ed 6: Tidal Bright Mix MAX Flac- 2023

Presentation

This is the Tidal Bright Mix presented in 24 bits 96 kHz.

Ed 7: Tidal Dark Mix MAX Flac- 2023

Presentation

This is the Tidal Dark Mix presented in 24 bits 96 kHz.

Ed 8: Amazon in side Mix Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the Amazon In Side Mix presented in Dolby Digital Plus Atmos.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents tracks of the album.

The waveforms of the stereo versions in CD, Blu-ray and Tidal format show the use of a dynamic limiter, which is confirmed by the Dynamic Range measurement. We can see that the level of the stereo versions of the Blu-ray is lower than that of the CD and Tidal versions, in order to avoid a volume difference with the Dolby Atmos track on the Blu-ray. Rather than lowering the volume, it would have been more interesting to present a stereo version on the Blu-ray without a dynamic range limiter.

The waveforms of the Dolby Atmos versions on Blu-ray and Amazon show that they are 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 8 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	CD Bright Mix – 2023	CD Dark Mix – 2023	Blu-ray Bright Mix – 2023	Blu-ray Dark Mix – 2023	Blu-ray in side Mix Atmos – 2023	Tidal Bright Mix MAX Flac- 2023	Tidal Dark Mix MAX Flac- 2023	Amazon in side Mix Atmos – 2023
Global	DR6	DR6	DR6	DR6	DR14	DR6	DR6	DR14
Min	DR4	DR4	DR4	DR5	DR11	DR4	DR4	DR11
Max	DR8	DR9	DR9	DR9	DR18	DR8	DR9	DR18
Panopticom	DR5	DR6	DR5	DR6	DR15	DR5	DR6	DR16
The Court	DR6	DR5	DR6	DR5	DR18	DR6	DR5	DR18
Playing For Time	DR7	DR6	DR7	DR6	DR14	DR7	DR6	DR14
io	DR5	DR5	DR5	DR5	DR13	DR5	DR5	DR13
Four Kinds of Horses	DR4	DR5	DR4	DR5	DR13	DR4	DR5	DR14
Road to Joy	DR5	DR6	DR5	DR6	DR14	DR5	DR6	DR14
So Much	DR8	DR9	DR9	DR5	DR11	DR8	DR9	DR11
Olive Tree	DR4	DR5	DR4	DR5	DR13	DR4	DR5	DR13
Love Can Heal	DR6	DR6	DR6	DR6	DR12	DR6	DR6	DR12
This Is Home	DR5	DR5	DR5	DR5	DR13	DR5	DR5	DR14
And Still	DR8	DR9	DR8	DR9	DR15	DR8	DR9	DR15
Live and Let Live	DR5	DR4	DR6	DR5	DR14	DR6	DR4	DR14

The Dynamic Range measurements confirm the results observed on the waveforms of the various editions. The reduction in dynamics is present on all stereo versions and for both mixes. The Dolby Atmos versions are the most dynamic, with a DR14 (measured in 7.1.4, DR13 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 the CD Bright mix (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX Bright mix version (blue curve). The 2 curves overlap up to 22 kHz, the maximum frequency of the CD, which uses a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. In this sample, the Tidal version is limited to 24 kHz despite the use of a 96 kHz sampling frequency.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the CD Dark mix (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX Dark mix version (blue curve). The 2 curves overlap up to 22 kHz, the maximum frequency of the CD, which uses a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. In this sample, the Tidal Dark Mix version, frequencies rise above 24 kHz, confirming the use of a 96 kHz sampling frequency.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Blu-ray Bright mix (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX Bright mix version (blue curve). The 2 curves overlap up to 24 kHz, the maximum frequency used for stereo tracks on Blu-ray, which uses a sampling frequency of 48 kHz (and not 96 kHz as advertised). In this sample, the Tidal version is limited to 24 kHz despite the use of a 96 kHz sampling frequency. The difference in the 24 kHz curves is due to the type of conversion used to go from a 96 kHz sampling frequency to 48 kHz.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the ray Dark mix (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tdal MAX Dark mix version (blue curve). The 2 curves overlap up to 24 kHz, due to the fact that Blu-ray uses a sampling frequency of 48 kHz (and not 96 kHz as advertised). In this sample, the Dark Mix Tidal version, frequencies rise above 24 kHz, confirming the use of a 96 kHz sampling frequency.

The spectrum of the Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos version of the blu-ray decoded in 7.1 shows that all channels are well utilized.the bass channel is filtered at 120 Hz, as indicated by the green arrow. The yellow arrow indicates the high-frequency limit at 24 kHz due to the 48 kHz sampling frequency used, unlike the streaming version which is limited to 20 kHz due to the Dolby Digital Plus encoding.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Tidal MAX Bright mix version (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX Bright mix version (blue curve). The 2 curves are very different (yellow and green zones) due to the different mixes used for these 2 versions. These 2 Tidal Max versions use a sampling frequency of 96 kHz, which is really exploited by the mix produced for the Dark Mix version, which has frequencies rising above 24 kHz (yellow arrow).

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 spectrograms of the CD versions show 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 CDs.

The spectrograms of the stereo versions of the Blu-ray show that the signal goes up to 24 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is no signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 48 kHz sampling frequency used, contrary to the announcement of a 96 kHz version on the Blu-Ray.

The spectrograms of the Tidal stereo versions show that the signal rises above 24 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 96 kHz sampling frequency used.

The spectrogram of the Blu-ray Dolby Atmos TrueHD track downmixed in stereo is limited to 24 kHz (yellow arrow) with no signal above (white arrow). This limitation is due to the 48 kHz sampling frequency used.

The spectrogram of the Amazon 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.

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

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: CD Bright Mix – 2023

The CD version renders similarly to the Blu-ray and Tidal versions, but may appear a little less precise depending on the DAC used.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”The Court” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 2: CD Dark Mix – 2023

The CD version renders similarly to the Blu-ray and Tidal versions, but may appear a little less precise depending on the DAC used.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”The Court” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 3: Blu-ray Bright Mix – 2023

Announced as being in 24/96, it was a surprise to discover that the bluray is in fact in 24/48, which is a real shame when the Tidal version is in 24/96 format.
As is often the case, the difference between 24/48 and 24/96 depends on the actual use of the format and the processing carried out by the DAC, which will influence the rendering. However, we regret the presence of dynamic range compression, which is unnecessary for an artist like Peter Gabriel.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●oooo (1)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2.5)

Sample : ”The Court” 16 bits 48 kHz:

Ed 4: Blu-ray Dark Mix – 2023

Same remark as for the Bright Mix version of the bluray.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●oooo (1)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●ooo (2.5)

Sample : ”The Court” 16 bits 48 kHz:

Ed 5: Blu-ray in side Mix Atmos – 2023

The Dolby Atmos mix is a great success, and the blu-ray in Dolby Digital TrueHD (lossless format) offers much greater precision in terms of spatialization and finesse of reproduction than the streaming version.
On “The court”: right from the start, the music exploits all the channels, with the vocals placed at the front and the hearts using the side channels
On “I/O”: Peter Gabriel’s voice has a strong presence, with music at 360 degrees, especially during the chorus, when the music is present on all channels, including the high ones.
On “Four Kinds of horses”: the music starts on the 3 front channels, then spreads out over all the channels.
On “Road to Joy”: the music starts on the cntral speaker and appears on all channels, with numerous spatial shifts.
On “So Much”, there’s more of an all-encompassing ambience that’s perfectly suited to this track, drawing us into the music.
On “Live and let live”: the music is alive all around us, moving from the very beginning of the track to the rest of it.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : ”The Court” Dolby Atmos downmixed in 7.1:

The sample is in 7.1 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 : ”The Court” Dolby Atmos downmixed in 2.0:

Ed 6: Tidal Bright Mix MAX Flac- 2023

This is the version that makes the most of the album’s high-resolution 24/96 format. The rendering here is similar to that of the bluray version, with a little more nuance at the top end of the spectrum, but this may depend on the DAC used.
Indeed, the processing of 48 kHz and 96 kHz sources depends on the DAC used, and may change the appreciation of music with different sampling frequencies. As the extract shows, this version is clearer than the Dark version and also less spatially marked.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”The Court” 16 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 7: Tidal Dark Mix MAX Flac- 2023

A great deal of work has gone into the sound effects on this Dark mix, in particular the spatialization of the sound, which emerges completely from the speakers and appears even on the sides of the room (to the point of wondering if the side speakers are working), as in the extract below.
It’s an excellent test for listening to how your system is able to reproduce space in this stereo mix. It’s always a pity to apply a dynamic limiter to this type of mix.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●oooo (1)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3)

Sample : ”The Court” 16 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 8: Amazon in side Mix Atmos – 2023

Close to the Dolby Atmos version on Blu-ray, this streaming version, broadcast in Dolby Digital Plus at 768 kbits/s, cannot equal the precision and finesse of the Dolby Digital TrueHD version on Blu-ray, which has a bit rate that can exceed 5900 kbits/s.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (7.9)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : ”The Court” downmixed in 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 : ”The Court” downmixed in 2.0:

Peter Gabriel is back with his new album I/O, presented in 3 different mixes, two stereo mixes and one Dolby Atmos mix. A great deal of work has gone into these mixes, particularly the Dark Mix, which uses very impressive stereo spatialization effects, as in the extract shown here, to test your system settings. However, we regret the presence of dynamic limiters on the stereo versions, compared with the Dolby Atmos version in Dolby TrueHD dormat on the Blu-ray.

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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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