The Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio is back with a new album, “A Shade Of Blue”.
After releasing their “Misty for Direct Cutting” album as a Direct to Disc album in analog and digital, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio returns with a captation designed for space sound recording.
The aim is to deliver a sound similar to that found in a concert hall.
The album is available in Dolby Atmos TrueHD (lossless format), 5.1 and stereo versions.

As Hideo Irimajiri (Recording Engineer and Mixing Engineer) explains :
” ‘A Shade Of Blue’ was created as an immersive (3D audio) work. To capture this, we used eight microphones for the piano, three for the bass, twelve for the drums, and 16 for the whole tones.

The stereo and 5.1 channel products were mixed to incorporate the experience of the immersive recordings as much as possible so that when you listen to the album, it feels as realistic as possible – as if the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto trio were performing right in front of you.

If you enjoy this immersive experience, try out the 3D audio on the Blu-ray, and turn your living room into a concert hall.”

The album is available on SACD (stereo and 5.1), as a download in mkv (Dolby Atmos TrueHD), mp4 (Dolby Digital Plus Atmos 768 kbits/s) and Flac 5.1 format in 24-bit 96 kHz for sale on the immersiveaudioalbum.com website. It is also available on vinyl. It will be available in blu-ray audio format in 2024.
A modern jazz recording designed for Dolby Atmos, with the aim of truly reproducing the ambience of the hall and listening to it live, that’s what I’m offering you to discover in the different formats, and I can already tell you that it’s a wonderful surprise.

For this review, you will find 8 versions tested: vinyl record, SACD (stereo and 5.1), CD, Tidal max and Downloaded FLAC 5.1 24 bits 96 kHz, MP3 Dolby Digital Plus Atmos and MKV Dolby Digital TrueHD 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 10 tracks:

1. Speed Ball Blues
2. Speak Low
3. The Way We Were
4. Like Someone In Love
5. Black Is The Color
6. Girl Talk
7. Midnight Sugar
8. Last Tango In Paris
9. Misty
10. Bye Bye Blackbird

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

This is the double audiophile vinyl record présented in 180g LP included a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes (ref: 4895241 425042)

Ed 2: SACD – 2023

Presentation

This is the SACD presented with the stereo track (ref: 4 895241 425059)

Ed 3: SACD 5.1 – 2023

Presentation

This is the SACD presented with the 5.1 track (ref: 4 895241 425059)

Ed 4: CD Track from SACD – 2023

Presentation

This is the CD layer of the SACD (ref: 4 895241 425059) presented in 16 bits 44.1 kHz.

Ed 5: Tidal MAX – 2023

Presentation

This is the Tidal Max presented in FLAC 24 bits 48 kHz.

Ed 6: FLAC 5.1 24-96 – 2023

Presentation

This is the FLAC downloaded version presented in 5.1 24 bits 96 kHz from immersiveaudioalbum.com.

Ed 7: MP4 Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the MP4 downloaded version presented in Dolby Digital Plus Atmos from immersiveaudioalbum.com.

Ed 8: MKV Dolby Atmos – 2023

Presentation

This is the MKV downloaded version presented in Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos from immersiveaudioalbum.com.

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents tracks of the album.

The waveforms of the stereo versions in vinyl, CD, SACD and Tidal MAX formats show very fine dynamics for all these media. We’ll just note that on the digital stereo versions, the very slight use of a limiter or compressor on the right channel is more pronounced.

The waveforms of the multichannel versions (SACD 5.0, FLAC 5.1, MP4 Dolby Digital Plus Atmos and MKV Dolby Atmos TrueHD) show high dynamics for all these media.

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) :

	Vinyl – 2023	SACD – 2023	SACD 5.1 – 2023	CD Track from SACD – 2023	Tidal MAX – 2023	FLAC 5.1 24-96 – 2023	MP4 Dolby Atmos – 2023	MKV Dolby Atmos – 2023
Global	DR14	DR13	DR16	DR13	DR13	DR16	DR16	DR16
Min	DR13	DR12	DR15	DR12	DR12	DR15	DR15	DR15
Max	DR16	DR16	DR16	DR15	DR15	DR16	DR16	DR16
Speed Ball Blues	DR13	DR12	DR15	DR12	DR12	DR15	DR15	DR15
Speak Low	DR14	DR13	DR16	DR13	DR13	DR16	DR16	DR16
The Way We Were	DR13	DR13	DR15	DR13	DR13	DR15	DR15	DR15
Like Someone In Love	DR13	DR13	DR15	DR13	DR13	DR15	DR15	DR15
Black Is The Color	DR14	DR14	DR16	DR14	DR14	DR16	DR16	DR16
Girl Talk	DR14	DR14	DR16	DR14	DR14	DR16	DR16	DR16
Midnight Sugar	DR14	DR13	DR15	DR13	DR13	DR15	DR15	DR15
Last Tango In Paris	DR14	DR12	DR15	DR12	DR12	DR15	DR15	DR15
Misty	DR16	DR16	DR16	DR15	DR15	DR16	DR16	DR16
Bye Bye Blackbird	DR14	DR12	DR15	DR12	DR12	DR15	DR15	DR15

The Dynamic Range measurements confirm the results observed on the waveforms of the various editions. The dynamic is present on all stereo versions (DR13) and for all multichannal versions (DR16).

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 Vinyl – 2023 (white curve) with the spectrum of the SACD – 2023 (blue curve).The 2 curves overlap up to 6 kHz, with an increase in the level of the vinyl record reaching 5 dB at 10 kHz (yellow zone), then a drop in frequency around 22 kHz (yellow arrow), compared with the SACD version, which decreases gently up to 30 kHz.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the SACD – 2023 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2023 (blue curve).The 2 curves overlap up to 22 kHz, the maximum frequency of the Tidal version, which uses a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz (yellow arrow). The SACD version rises above 22 kHz (white arrow), with a rise in noise above 30 kHz due to the use of DSD64 for SACD.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the SACD 5.1 – 2023.
The spectrum of the SACD 5.1 version rises well above 24 kHz, as does the spectrum of the Flac 5.1 version (yellow arrow), confirming that the recording was made in higher resolution. There is a rise in noise above 30 kHz for the SACD version (yellow arrow), due to the DSD64 principles used for this media. The green arrow shows that the bass channel is not used in these 2 versions.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the CD Track from SACD – 2023 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2023 (blue curve).The 2 curves overlap up to 22 kHz, showing the use of the same master.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the FLAC 5.1 24-96 – 2023.

The spectrum rises above 24 kHz (yellow arrow) due to the 96 kHz sampling frequency. No rise in background noise above 30 kHz, unlike the SACD 5.1 version.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the MP4 Dolby Atmos – 2023.
The spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos version decoded in 5.1 shows that all channels are well used.
The bass channel is not used in this sample.
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.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the MKV Dolby Atmos TrueHD – 2023.
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 not used, 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.

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 vinyl record shows that the majority of the signal is below 22 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is some signal above this frequency (white arrow), which is mainly due to distortion linked to the operating principle of the vinyl record.

The spectrograms of the SACD stereo and 5.1 versions show that the signal rises above 24 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is signal above this frequency as well as a rise in noise above 30 kHz (white arrow), due to the use of DSD64.

The spectrograms of the CD and Tidal MAX 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.

The spectrogram of the Flac 5.1 version shows 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 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 spectrogram of the 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.

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.

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 in.

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

Part 6 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Vinyl – 2023

The vinyl record is beautifully pressed, with reduced surface noise, and sounds very similar to the SACD version, with a sound that could be described as more “analog”, a little softer than the SACD version, which has sharper piano attacks. All in all, a very fine rendering.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Misty” 16 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 2: SACD – 2023

The SACD version is the only high-resolution stereo version in this review, bringing more finesse and impact to the piano, for example. The rendering is more precise and detailed than the vinyl version and other digital stereo versions (CD and Tidal). The front soundstage is nicely spatialized, and the dynamic range of the recording is excellent.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Misty” 16 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed 3: SACD 5.1 – 2023

The 5.1 SACD expands the soundstage of the SACD 2.0 version, bringing the room’s ambience to life. The rendering remains dynamic and immersive. The rendering is very similar to the FLAC 5.1 version, with the difference in the listening experience coming from the DAC’s processing between a DSD64 signal and a 24-bit 96 kHz PCM signal.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●● (5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Spatialization: ●●●oo (3)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5)

Sample : ”Misty” 5.1 16 bits 88.2 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 4: CD Track from SACD – 2023

The SACD CD layer offers a 16-bit 44.1 kHz version of very good quality, but without the finesse and dynamic rendering of the piano attacks of the SACD version.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : ”Misty” 16 bits 44.1kHz:

Ed 5: Tidal MAX – 2023

The Tidal MAX version is very similar to the CD version, and also a little behind the SACD version.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : ”Misty” 16 bits 44.1kHz:

Ed 6: FLAC 5.1 24-96 – 2023

The 24-bit 96 kHz FLAC 5.1 version is similar to the SACD version in terms of sound rendering, dynamics and spatialization. There may be differences depending on the DAC used, and differences in the internal processing of DSD64 and PCM 24/96 formats.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●● (5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●● (5)
• Spatialization: ●●●oo (3)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4.5)

Sample : ”Misty” 5.1 16 bits 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: MP4 Dolby Atmos – 2023

Close to the Dolby Atmos MKV version , this version is in Dolby Digital Plus at 768 kbits/s, cannot equal the precision and finesse of the Dolby Digital TrueHD MKV version, which has a bit rate that can exceed 7300 kbits/s.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●● (5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8.4)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : ”Misty” 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 8: MKV Dolby Atmos – 2023

The Dolby Atmos version in Lossless quality is the most accomplished in terms of sound rendering.
In stereo, the sound image reproduces the piano played by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on the left, Hiroshi Kagawa on bass in the center and Toshio Osumi on drums on the right.
When you switch to the 5.1 version, the sound space increases, and you have the impression of having added the rendering of the walls around you.
The switch to Dolby Atmos immediately brings a notion of sound volume, of 360-degree rendering. You feel as if you’re back at the Gotanda Cultural Center Music Hall in Tokyo.
A great deal of work went into creating a realistic rendering of the recording hall.
Each instrument is perfectly in its place, with a sense of depth and space in their positioning.
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto’s delicate, precise and dynamic piano playing can be heard in the track “Misty”.
The drums are also very realistic, especially on “Last Tango In Paris”.
This recording is a real success, showing that Dolby Atmos can bring a new dimension to the sound reproduction of an album and a venue like the Gotanda Cultural Center Music Hall.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●● (5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8.4)
• Restitution: ●●●●● (5)

Sample : ”Misty” 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.

After offering us a live cutting album in both pure analog and digital formats.
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio offers us a new experience with a recording in spatial sound and offers us one of the best Dolby Atmos recordings in terms of sound reality and immersion within the concert hall.
It’s a real success, and a reference album for Dolby Atmos.
There’s also a very nice 5.1 version for those not equipped with Atmos.
Sacd also offers a beautiful stereo version, even if it doesn’t provide such a complete immersion of the musicians in the hall.

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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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