Keys is the eighth album by Alicia Keys, released in December 2021 on digital and in August 2022 on vinyl. Here is the review of this album with the digital and vinyl versions. The album is divided into 2 parts, the Original part corresponds to the more classic vision of Alicia Keys and the Unlocked part which brings another sound approach.

The review includes 2 editions: Vinyl, Qobuz Hi-Res.

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.

This album includes 26 tracks reviewed:

1. Plentiful
2. Skydive
3. Best Of Me
4. Dead End Road
5. Is It Insane
6. Billions
7. Love When You Call My Name
8. Only You
9. Daffodils
10. Old Memories
11. Nat King Cole
12. Paper Flowers*
13. Like Water*
14. KEYS*
15. Only You
16. Skydive
17. Best Of Me
18. Lala
19. Nat King Cole
20. Is It Insane
21. Come For Me
22. Old Memories
23. Dead End Road*
24. Love When You Call My Name
25. Daffodils
26. Billions*

* Included only on Streaming release.

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 : Summary, scoring and Sample

Part 1: presentation of the editions

Ed1: Vinyl ref : 194399566411 – 2022

Presentation

This is the vinyl of this album with only 21 tracks. The vinyl edition was released after the digital version, probably due to the delay in manufacturing the vinyls. Very nice presentation of the vinyl album with a booklet in vinyl format.

Label	‎RCA
Reference	194399566411
Format (speed)	double LP 33 rpm
Type	black vinyl
Master	digital
Mastering/Pressing	Mastered By – Dave Kutch
Original recording	digital
State	EU
Year original	2022
Year production	2022

Ed2: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2022

Presentation

This is the streaming Qobuz Hi-Res presented in 24 bits 44.1 kHz.

Label	‎RCA
Reference	Qobuz Hi-Res
Format (speed)	Streaming Hi-Res 24 bits 44.1 kHz
Type	Streaming
Master	digital
Mastering/Pressing	Mastered By – Dave Kutch
Original recording	digital
State	EU
Year original	2022
Year production	2022

Part 2 : Waveform and dynamic comparaisons

Waveform

The waveform represents all the tracks of the album for each version.

The graphs below represent the waveforms of the vinyl versions (Ed1).
This version is dynamic without the excessive use of dynamic limiters as on the streaming edition.

The Qobuz version (Ed2) is strongly compressed in dynamic (yellow zone) as confirmed by its DR6.

Comparison between Qobuz and the Vinyl of the song Skydive adjusted to the same sound level. We can see the effect of the dynamic range compression which limits the sound levels, thus suppressing part of the signal. It is difficult to know which master was used to make the vinyl, whether it was compressed or not in dynamics (find all the explanations in the test “Does analog media force a dynamic on music?“).

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 we have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	Ed1: vinyl	Ed2:Qobuz
GLOBAL	DR10	DR6
Min	DR9	DR3
Max	DR12	DR10
Plentiful	DR11	DR6
Skydive	DR11	DR5
Best Of Me	DR12	DR6
Dead End Road	DR10	DR6
Is It Insane	DR12	DR9
Billions	DR10	DR5
Love When You Call My Name	DR7	DR4
Only You	DR10	DR5
Daffodils	DR9	DR5
Old Memories	DR12	DR6
Nat King Cole	DR10	DR6
Paper Flowers*		DR7
Like Water*		DR6
KEYS*		DR10
Only You	DR10	DR5
Skydive	DR10	DR6
Best Of Me	DR11	DR6
Lala	DR10	DR6
Nat King Cole	DR10	DR4
Is It Insane	DR11	DR4
Come For Me	DR11	DR7
Old Memories	DR9	DR5
Dead End Road*		DR6
Love When You Call My Name	DR10	DR3
Daffodils	DR9	DR5
Billions*		DR4

The Qobuz version is presented with a higher dynamic range compression DR6 compared to the vinyl version DR10.

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 curve represents the average frequency distribution over the sample “Skydive”.

The graph below shows the difference between the spectrum of the Qobuz version (Ed2) and the vinyl version (Ed1). The yellow area shows a higher treble level for the vinyl (up to 5 dB at 20 kHz). This difference will give more space to the vinyl version.

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 (Ed1) continues above 22 kHz (yellow arrow). The white arrow shows the distortion due to the playback of the vinyl above 22 kHz.

The spectrograms of Qobuz Hi-Res (Ed2) shows a limit at 22kHz (yellow arrow) due to the 44.1kHz sampling frequency and the absence of signal above 22 kHz (white arrow).

Part 5 : Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed1: Vinyl ref : 194399566411 – 2022

Very well presented vinyl edition with a nice cover and booklet. The vinyl is not burnt very loudly (6 dB less than other vinyls) which makes the surface noise more audible. The listening experience is dynamic with good bass and detailed highs, the listening experience is more pleasant than the streaming version with the warm character of the vinyl.

• Rating:
  • Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
  • Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Surface noise: ●●●oo (3.0/5)
  • Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5/5)

• Sample : “Skydive” 24 bits 88.2 kHz:

Ed2: Qobuz Hi-Res – 2022

The streaming version is still in the loudness war with an average DR6 and tracks going down to DR4 and DR3. The sound remains heavy without dynamics and finesse, a pity for this album which would deserve a better treatment.

• Rating:
  • Dynamic: ●●ooo (2.5/5)
  • Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Restitution: ●●ooo (2.5/5)

• Sample : “Skydive” 24bits 44.1 kHz:

This album is totally impacted by loudness war, which is common for this style of music. But listening to it, the vinyl version brings more dynamics and finesse than the streaming version. So, for this album, vinyl remains more pleasant to listen to than the digital version. The same results apply to digital versions of other streaming services (such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer).

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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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