Coldplay continue to explore the musical universe with their latest album “Moon Music”, an ambitious follow-up to their “Music of the Spheres” project. Featuring tracks such as “Jupiter” and “Aeterna”, the album offers an intergalactic sonic experience, blending celestial orchestrations and introspective piano melodies. With artistic collaborations including Little Simz and Burna Boy, Coldplay invites us on a musical journey through a variety of genres.

Another Coldplay review:

For this review, you will find 4 versions tested: Tidal Max and Dolby Atmos, translucent yellow vinyl record and CD.

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 10 tracks in the standard version:

1. MOON MUSiC
2. feelslikeimfallinginlove
3. WE PRAY
4. JUPiTER
5. GOOD FEELiNGS
6. Rainbow
7. iAAM
8. AETERNA
9. ALL MY LOVE
10. ONE WORLD

Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Tidal MAX – 2024

Presentation

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

Waveform and Spectrum: DR6

The waveform of TIDAL max 24 bits 48 kHz shows a low dynamic range confirmed with album’s DR6.

The spectrogram shows that the signal rises above 24 kHz (yellow arrow) without signal above 24 kHz (white arrow) .

Synthesis and listening

The Tidal Max version presented in 24-bit 48kHz is impacted by the loudness war with its DR6 (tracks between DR5 and DR6,, with the exception of the first track). The 8 dB gain in level compared to the Dolby Atmos version (DR12 downmixed to stereo) has an impact on dynamics, which is particularly audible when the listening level is raised. Fortunately, low-level passages remain detailed and more precise than the Dolby Atmos version, but there are few of them.

Rating:

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

Sample : “JUPiTER” 24 bits 48 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 Tidal Dolby Atmos shows a good dynamic range confirmed with DR13 (Atmos in 7.1.4), DR12 (Atmos downmixed in 2.0)

The spectrogram of the Tidal Dolby Atmos track downmixed in 7.1 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 LFE channel is used with 120 Hz cut-off frequency (green arrow)

Synthesis and listening

This is the version that immerses you totally in the music, forming a bubble with more frontage (using the top and side speakers) and with an extension on the other channels that varies according to the instruments and backing vocals, giving you all the dynamics of the music. “Moon Music” plunges us straight into space, with music presented mainly in a bubble plus frontage, complemented by all the channels. The piano and voice remain in frontage. “Jupiter” begins more frontally, occupying the whole space with instruments and vocals.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●●●ooo (7.5)
• Restitution: ●●●●o (4)

Sample : “JUPiTER” Dolby Atmos :

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 : “JUPiTER” Dolby Atmos (Downmixed 2.0) :

Ed 3: Yellow Vinyl Eco Record – 2024

Presentation

This is the spetial edition of the vinyl composed with 1 translucent yellow LP records in 33 1/3 rpm 140g made from 9 recycled plastic bottles (ref : 5021732278944). Includes a 28-page booklet with lyrics, images and a pair of glasses for lunar moongoggles.

Waveform and Spectrum: DR10

The vinyl waveform shows a correct dynamic range with DR10. The recording level is more than 5 dB lower than usual for a vinyl record. This is due to the length of side A (over 23 minutes) and the use of an equally low dynamic range compared to Dolby Atmos mixes, which require a lower recording level. These two characteristics seem to confirm the use of the digital master with dynamic compression as a source for the vinyl record. The same phenomenon can be found as for the David Gilmour album “Luck and Strang”, which does not take full advantage of the capabilities of vinyl, requiring specific mastering to comply with this analog medium.

The spectrogram shows that the signal rises above 20 kHz (yellow arrow) with signal above this frequency (white arrow) containing musical information and distortion due to the vinyl record’s operating principle.

Synthesis and listening

Technically speaking, the transition from digital to analog vinyl does not respect the characteristics of analog cuting (with the use of a dynamically compressed master). But, when you listen to it, the result is more pleasant than the digital stereo version. It’s a bit like the magic of the vinyl record, which ends up transforming the signal during cuting, while remaining more pleasant to listen to. But, despite this pleasant listening experience, we mustn’t forget that we’re farther away from the studio master than with real mastering adapted to vinyl records.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●oo (3)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Surface noise: ●●●oo (3.5)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : “JUPiTER” 24 bits 96 kHz:

Ed 4: CD – 2024

Presentation

This is the CD presented in PCM 16 bits 44.1 kHz (ref:5021732278807).

Waveform and Spectrum: DR6

The waveform of CD shows a low dynamic range confirmed with album’s DR6.

The spectrogram of the CD shows that the signal goes up to 22 kHz (yellow arrow) and that there is no signal above this frequency (white arrow), due to the 44.1 kHz sampling frequency used.

Synthesis and listening

No pleasant surprises here: the CD version features the same marked dynamic range compression (DR6) as the Tidal Max version, with similar sound rendering.

Rating:

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

Sample : “”JUPiTER” 16 bits 44.1 kHz:

Not surprisingly, this album is impacted by the loudness war with its DR6 (around -9 LUFS), a phenomenon that persists as streaming services adjust the level to the reference of -13 or -14 LUFS, making it unnecessary to push the loudness so hard for streaming.
As for the vinyl record, as with David Gilmour’s “Luck and Strange”, we find a quality pressing (see spectrum analysis), but based on a dynamically compressed master. This is technically unfortunate, even if the rendering is more pleasant than the digital stereo version.
It’s the Dolby Atmos version that delivers the most dynamic rendering, with successful spatialization, but without offering a Bluray audio version (or download) using the lossless Dolby Digital True HD format, which would have made it possible to gain in restitution finesse.

Update: As the article was written a few days ago, the Dolby Atmos version no longer seems to be available today on Tidal, to be continued.

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).

The waveforms of the samples below illustrate differences in the dynamics of the audio signal, and show the effect of the limiter on the Tidal Max.

For our 4 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :

	Tidal MAX – 2024	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2024	Yellow Vinyl Eco Record – 2024	CD – 2024
Global	DR6	DR13	DR10	DR6
Min	DR5	DR12	DR10	DR5
Max	DR8	DR15	DR11	DR8
MOON MUSiC	DR8	DR13	DR11	DR8
feelslikeimfallinginlove	DR5	DR12	DR10	DR5
WE PRAY	DR5	DR14	DR10	DR5
JUPiTER	DR6	DR13	DR10	DR6
GOOD FEELiNGS	DR5	DR15	DR10	DR5
Rainbow	DR6	DR13	DR11	DR6
iAAM	DR5	DR12	DR10	DR5
AETERNA	DR5	DR13	DR11	DR5
ALL MY LOVE	DR6	DR12	DR11	DR6
ONE WORLD	DR6	DR12	DR10	DR6

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 compares the spectrum of the Yellow Vinyl Eco Record – 2024 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2024 (blue curve).The two spectra overlap perfectly from 40Hz to 14 kHz, with a small drop in level at 30 Hz (2 dB) for the vinyl record (green zone), and an accentuation of the treble beyond 14 kHz for the vinyl record (yellow zone) with a maximum of 4 dB. This graph shows the quality of the lacquer cut for the vinyl record, without any accident in the spectrum.

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 all channels are used. The LFE channel is used with 120 Hz cut-off frequency. The white arrow indicates the high-frequency limit at 20 kHz due to Dolby Digital Plus encoding. The yellow arrow indicates the high-frequency limit at 24 kHz due to encoding at the 48 kHz sampling frequency used.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the CD – 2024 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2024 (blue curve).The two curves are perfectly superimposed due to the use of the same master.

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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