World-renowned pianist Yuja Wang continues to captivate audiences with her latest album “The Vienna Recital”. Recorded during a recital in Vienna in 2022, this album features an eclectic selection of works, from complete sonatas by Beethoven and Scriabin to individual pieces by Albéniz and etudes by Ligeti and Glass. Wang’s technical mastery and profound interpretation shine through this program, offering a listening experience as rich as it is varied, reminiscent of traditional program structures up to the mid-20th century.

Recordings sometimes hold unexpected surprises (a gap in the spectrum!), and that’s what we’re going to find out in this test.

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested: Tidal MAX Flac and Tidal 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 album is composed of 18 tracks:

1. Albéniz- Iberia, T. 105 – Book 4 – No. 10, Málaga
2. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – I. Drammatico
3. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – II. Allegretto
4. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – III. Andante
5. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – IV. Presto con fuoco
6. Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 11
7. Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 10
8. Albéniz- Iberia, T. 105 – Book 3 – No. 9, Lavapiés
9. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – I. Allegro
10. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – II. Scherzo. Allegretto vivace
11. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – III. Minuet. Moderato e grazioso – Trio
12. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – IV. Presto con fuoco
13. Ligeti- Études, Book 2 – No. 6, Automne à  Varsovie
14. Ligeti- Études, Book 2 – No. 13, L’escalier du diable
15. Glass- Études – No. 6
16. Márquez- Danzón No. 2 (Transcr. Gómez-Tagle for Piano)
17. Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117 – No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor. Andante con moto
18. Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice, Wq. 30 – Melodie dell’Orfeo (Arr. Sgambati for Piano)

Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Tidal MAX Flac – 2024

Presentation

This is the Tidal Max presented in FLAC 24 bits 96 kHz.

Waveform and Spectrum: DR14

The waveform of the Tidal Max shows high dynamic range, as the graphs below confirm, with a dynamic range of at DR14, with values between DR10 and DR16 depending on the track.

The spectrogram of the stereo version of Tidal Max shows that the signal rises above 20 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is indeed signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 96 kHz sampling frequency used.

But the surprise on this recording comes from a frequency hole at 10 kHz (between 9700 to 10700 Hz) indicated by the red arrow (also visible on the spectrum analyzed below)! We always say that we don’t record and mix with measuring instruments, but a simple check may be necessary to avoid this kind of incident.

Synthesis and listening

The superiority of the lossless high-resolution stereo version (24/96) in terms of finesse, nuance and dynanamics over the Dolby Atmos version is evident. The narrow hole at 10 kHz is hardly perceptible.

Rating:

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

Sample : ”Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 10 ” 24 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024

Presentation

This is the Tidal Dolby Atmos presented in Dolby Digital Plus or AC-4.

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

Waveform and Spectrum: DR13

The waveform of the Tidal Atmos version downmixed in 2.0 shows good dynamics, as the graphs below confirm, with a dynamic range of at DR13.

The spectrogram of the Dolby Atmos track downmixed in stereo is limited to 20 kHz (yellow arrow) with no signal above (white arrow). This limitation is due to Dolby Digital Plus encoding, which is a lossy encoding that limits bandwidth in order to optimize data size for a bit rate of 768 kbits/s.
We also note the presence of a gap in the frequencies around 10 kHz (red arrow), as on the stereo version, which could indicate that the problem tracks from the recording step.

Synthesis and listening

A Dolby Atmos mix that reproduces the concert soundstage, extending from the front speakers to the side speakers, with the ambience and volume of the hall. Dolby Atmos brings another dimension to listening to this album, but the use of Dolby Digital Plus, which is a lossy format, doesn’t provide all the finesse of the stereo version. A Dolby Digital TrueHD broadcast would be a plus for this Atmos album.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●●oo (8.2)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : ”Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 10 ” 7.1 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 : ”Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 10 ” Dolby Atmos (Downmixed 2.0) :

The stereo version brings more finesse and nuance with the high-resolution lossless flac format, compared with the Dolby Atmos version, which brings a beautiful spatial dimension to multichannel listening.
It’s a pity that Dolby Digital TrueHD is not available in streaming for Atmos listening.

Dynamic Range measurements and spectra are shown below.

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Measurements

Dynamic Range comparaisons

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 reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	Tidal MAX Flac – 2024	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024
Global	DR14	DR13
Min	DR10	DR11
Max	DR16	DR16
Albéniz- Iberia, T. 105 – Book 4 – No. 10, Málaga	DR13	DR13
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – I. Drammatico	DR13	DR12
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – II. Allegretto	DR12	DR11
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – III. Andante	DR14	DR13
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 – IV. Presto con fuoco	DR13	DR12
Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 11	DR15	DR14
Kapustin: 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53 – No. 10	DR14	DR13
Albéniz- Iberia, T. 105 – Book 3 – No. 9, Lavapiés	DR14	DR12
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – I. Allegro	DR16	DR15
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – II. Scherzo. Allegretto vivace	DR16	DR15
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – III. Minuet. Moderato e grazioso – Trio	DR16	DR16
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 “The Hunt” – IV. Presto con fuoco	DR13	DR13
Ligeti- Études, Book 2 – No. 6, Automne à  Varsovie	DR14	DR13
Ligeti- Études, Book 2 – No. 13, L’escalier du diable	DR10	DR14
Glass- Études – No. 6	DR11	DR11
Márquez- Danzón No. 2 (Transcr. Gómez-Tagle for Piano)	DR13	DR13
Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117 – No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor. Andante con moto	DR16	DR15
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice, Wq. 30 – Melodie dell’Orfeo (Arr. Sgambati for Piano)	DR13	DR13

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.

Spectrum comparisons

The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal MAX Flac – 2024.
The yellow arrow shows the maximum frequency up to 20 kHz, consistent with the 96 kHz sampling frequency used, with the signal above 20 kHz (white arrow) showing that harmonics rise well above 20 kHz. The red arrow also shows the frequency hole present at 10 kHz. The problem is also present on other streaming services.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024.
The spectrum of Tidal’s Dolby Atmos version decoded in 7.1 shows that not all channels are used (the bass channel is not used ). 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 sampling frequency used, confirming that it is the Dolby Digital Plus encoding algorithm that cuts the 20 kHz frequencies to reduce data size in order to maintain the 768 kbits/s bit rate.

The red arrow also shows the frequency hole present at 10 kHz.

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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