Following the review of the first two tracks, “Economies of Scale” and “Impossible Tightrope”, here is the review of Steven Wilson’s album “The Harmony Codex”, released on September 29, 2023. This is an experimental and varied album designed for space audio, containing 10 tracks.
Steven Wilson offers us a beautiful Blu-ray edition with Dolby TrueHD Atmos (lossless) and also on vinyl record, which is included in this album review.
Steven Wilson is also known for his progressive rock projects such as Porcupine Tree, No-Man and Blackfield. Steven Wilson is also a sound engineer who, for some years now, has been mixing stereo and, above all, multichannel versions of new albums, including Dolby Atmos, such as “The Tipping Point” (Tears For Fears), “The Hurting” (Tears For Fears), “Suede”, “The Lexicon of Love” (ABC)…..

For this review, you will find 7 versions tested: Amazon Music UltraHD in 24 bits 96kHz, Tidal Dolby Atmos, Coke Bottle Clear vinyl record, Deluxe Digital and Blu-ray in stereo, 5,1 and 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 18 tracks:

1. Inclination
2. What Life Brings
3. Economies of Scale
4. Impossible Tightrope
5. Rock Bottom
6. Beautiful Scarecrow
7. The Harmony Codex
8. Time Is Running Out
9. Actual Brutal Facts
10. Staircase
11. What Life Brings (Aug 22 Mix by Roland Orzabal)*
12. Time Is Running Out (Mikael Akerfeldt version)*
13. The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 1*
14. The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 2*
15. The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 3*
16. The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 4*
17. The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 5*
18. The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 6*

* only on Deluxe Digital

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: Amazon UltraHD – 2023

Presentation

The stereo version of Amazon Music is presented in UltraHD in 24 Bits 96 kHz.

Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

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

Ed 3: Vinyl record – 2023

Presentation

The vinyl record is packaged as a limited edition 2 LP Coke Bottle Clear including Includes printed inner sleeves containing lyrics and artwork (ref: 00044003353008).

Ed 4: Deluxe Digital – 2023

Presentation

The Deluxe Digital stereo version is available for purchase as a download. This version features 8 bonus tracks. This version is available in 16-bit 44.1 kHz Flac (tested version) and MP3 (untested version).

Ed 5: Blu-Ray Stereo – 2023

Presentation

The Blu-ray features 3 audio tracks, including the DTS-HD Master Audio version in 96 kHz stereo presented here with a bit rate of up to 4608 kbits/s.Ref : 00044003357907.

Ed 6: Blu-Ray 5.1 – 2023

Presentation

The Blu-ray features 3 audio tracks, including the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 96 kHz version presented here with a bit rate that can exceed 7000 kbps. Ref : 00044003357907.

Ed 7: Blu-Ray Atmos – 2023

Presentation

The Blu-ray features 3 audio tracks, including the Dolby Atmos version presented here in Dolby Digital trueHD with a bit rate that can exceed 5,000 kbits/s compared with 768 bits/s for Dolby Atmos streaming. Ref : 00044003357907.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents tracks of the album.

The waveforms of the Amazon UltraHD, Deluxe Digital and Blu-ray stereo versions show good dynamic range, as shown in the graphs below, with very little use of the limiter, as confirmed by the DR10.

The waveforms of the Tidal Atmos and Blu-ray Atmos versions downmixed in 2.0, as well as the vinyl record, show good dynamics, as the graphs below confirm, with a dynamic range of at least DR12.

The waveforms from the Blu-ray 5.1 version below show good dynamics and exploitation of all the channels with different signals, highlighting a mix that distributes the music spatially, as confirmed by the dynamic range of at least DR13.

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 record).

For our 7 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	Amazon UltraHD – 2023	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023	Vinyl – 2023	Deluxe Digital – 2023	Blu-Ray Stereo – 2023	Blu-Ray 5.1 – 2023	Blu-Ray Atmos – 2023
Global	DR10	DR14	DR12	DR11	DR10	DR13	DR14
Min	DR9	DR12	DR11	DR9	DR9	DR11	DR12
Max	DR11	DR15	DR13	DR14	DR11	DR14	DR15
Inclination	DR10	DR15	DR13	DR10	DR10	DR13	DR15
What Life Brings	DR10	DR14	DR12	DR10	DR10	DR13	DR14
Economies of Scale	DR10	DR12	DR11	DR10	DR10	DR11	DR12
Impossible Tightrope	DR11	DR15	DR12	DR11	DR11	DR14	DR15
Rock Bottom	DR11	DR13	DR12	DR11	DR11	DR13	DR13
Beautiful Scarecrow	DR9	DR14	DR11	DR9	DR9	DR13	DR14
The Harmony Codex	DR11	DR13	DR11	DR11	DR11	DR12	DR13
Time Is Running Out	DR10	DR13	DR11	DR10	DR10	DR12	DR14
Actual Brutal Facts	DR10	DR13	DR12	DR10	DR10	DR13	DR13
Staircase	DR10	DR14	DR12	DR10	DR10	DR14	DR14
What Life Brings (Aug 22 Mix by Roland Orzabal)*				DR11
Time Is Running Out (Mikael Akerfeldt version)*				DR12
The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 1*				DR13
The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 2*				DR13
The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 3*				DR12
The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 4*				DR13
The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 5*				DR14
The Harmony Codex – Audio Play – Part 6*				DR13

The DR measurement confirms the dynamic range visible in the waveform analysis, with a DR10 for the stereo versions and at least a DR12 for the other versions (vinyl record, 5.1 and Atmos). Very fine mastering work for this type of music produced in 2023.

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 Amazon version (white curve) with the spectrum of the stereo blu-ray version (blue curve). The curves are perfectly superimposed across the whole spectrum, and these two versions are taken from the same master.

The spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos version decoded in 5.1 shows that all channels are well used, with the same sound level in the area between 300 Hz and 2 kHz.
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 graph below compares the spectrum of the vinyl record (white curve) with the spectrum of the stereo blu-ray version (blue curve). The curves overlap perfectly up to 8 kHz, and beyond this frequency (yellow zone) there is a progressive attenuation for vinyl record, reaching -8 dB at 20 kHz.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Deluxe Digitak version (white curve) with the spectrum of the stereo blu-ray version (blue curve). The curves are perfectly superimposed throughout the spectrum up to 22 kHz (yellow arrow), the limit due to the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency for the Deluxe Digital version.

The spectrum of the Blu-ray 5.1 shows that all the channels are well used. The bass channel is slightly filtered at 120Hz compared to Tidal’s Dolby Atmos version, as indicated by the green arrow.
The yellow arrow indicates that the high frequencies are not limited to 24 kHz due to the 96 kHz sampling frequency, unlike the Dolby Atmos versions which are limited to 48 kHz sampling frequency.

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

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 stereo versions (Amazon UltraHD, Blu-ray) and Blu-ray 5,1 show that the signal rises above 20 kHz (yellow arrow), with a signal that can rise up to 30 kHz (white arrow). This confirms 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.

The vinyl record spectrogram below shows that the frequencies of the audio signal rise above 20 kHz (yellow arrow). The signal above 20 kHz (white arrow) is due to the signal present above 20 kHz and to the distortion caused by the vinyl record playback principle.

The spectrogram of the Dolby Atmos track downmixed in stereo is limited to 22kHz (yellow arrow) with no signal above (white arrow). This limitation is due to the 44.1kHz sampling frequency used

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

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.

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

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Amazon UltraHD – 2023

Congratulations to Steven for this very fine stereo edition, which is not influenced by loudness war, and features a dynamic stereo version that perfectly reproduces the musical composition with dynamics and precision.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” 96 kHz:

Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2023

The Dolby Atmos version is truly exceptional. Steven Wilson has mastered Dolby Atmos perfectly, as he has shown on numerous mixes such as “The Tipping Point” (Tears For Fears). For his new album, Steven Wilson goes even further, and you can feel that his musical composition has been designed to render the music in space.
Steven plunges us into a 360-degree musical space, and on the track “Economies of Scale”, the music really is all around us, swirling and twirling through all the channels. It’s music designed for spatial rendering, with instruments and voices distributed throughout the sound space.
The first notes of the track “Impossible Tightrope” and “Rock Bottom” begin on the high speakers, then spread and descend through all the channels. This is followed by a very spatial and dynamic use of sound space. Steven has applied all his mastery of Dolby Atmos mixing to his album and composition, using it to take us into his 3D musical universe.
Once listened to in Dolby Atmos, it’s hard to go back to the stereo version.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8.2)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5)

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” Dolby Atmos 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.

Ed 3: Vinyl record – 2023

A very fine pressing of this vinyl record, with reduced background noise. Here we find a powerful mix that imposes itself a little more than on the digital stereo versions. The rendering is very pleasant, less detailed in the high end than the digital versions, which gives it a slightly different balance, with good dynamics and energy in the bass.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” 96 kHz:

Ed 4: Deluxe Digital – 2023

This Deluxe Digital version is particularly interesting for its 8 bonus audio tracks. The listening experience is similar to that of the other stereo versions. However, being in 44.1 kHz, the rendering differs from the 96 kHz versions. It also depends very much on the DAC used and how it processes 44.1 and 96 kHz signals.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 5: Blu-Ray Stereo – 2023

The 24-bit 96 kHz stereo blu-ray version is similar to the Amazon UltraHD version. We find the same desire to have a dynamic master with perfectly controlled and limited dynamic compression. Stereo rendering is very good, but still inferior to the Blu-ray’s Dolby Atmos rendering, which adds an immersion in the music impossible to reproduce on 2 channels.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” 96 kHz:

Ed 6: Blu-Ray 5.1 – 2023

The 5.1 blu-ray version presented in 24-bit 96 kHz offers a very good compromise for those not equipped with Dolby Atmos. We find a high-resolution multichannel version encoded in lossless DTS-HD Master audio that offers a very pleasant rendering, very dynamic and precise, not as open and spatial as the Dolby Atmos version, but much closer to the desire for spatialization than the stereo version. It’s an excellent 5.1 mix.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Spatialization: ooooo (0)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5)

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” 5.1 96 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.

Ed 7: Blu-Ray Atmos – 2023

While the Tidal Dolby Atmos version was really very good, the blu-ray version with Dolby Digital TrueHD lossless encoding is really a step up in terms of the precision of sound reproduction and the rendering of spatialization.
This album is a reference in the world of Dolby Atmos mixes, not just technically, but above all in terms of the coherent spatialisation of the music, which has been designed with spatial audio in mind.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8.2)
• Restitution: ●●●●● (5)

Sample : ”Economies of Scale” 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.

Steven Wilson truly immerses us in his 3D music, with a musical composition designed for spatial sound. The result is grandiose, a benchmark for the Dolby Atmos format, especially on Blu-ray. The dynamic stereo version with no volume war. A rarity these days. But that’s not all: after listening to Dolby Atmos, it’s hard to go back to the stereo version.
Here, Blu-ray is the best digital medium, offering 3 versions (stereo, 5.1 and Atmos) to suit all audio systems. This Dolby Atmos Blu-ray is a reference for spatial audio.
A surprise on vinyl record, which, far from the Dolby Atmos version, provides a very pleasant listening experience, with a very open soundstage for this support.

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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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