With Dansons, Céline Dion marks a significant return in her career: it is her first French-language track in nearly ten years, written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, a key figure behind her greatest successes. This collaboration directly reconnects with the legacy of the album D’eux (1995), while also fitting into a period of renewal after several years of absence due to health issues.

The track accompanies a true artistic comeback, with a new concert residency in Paris and the preparation of a highly anticipated album, possibly slated for late 2026 or 2027. It therefore stands as a transition between the past and the future of her discography, blending nostalgia, continuity, and a new creative phase.

In the history of Céline Dion’s albums, Dansons thus appears as a turning point: both a return to her French-language roots and the opening toward a more intimate and mature project.

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested:

• Ed 1: Tidal Max – 2026
• Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026

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 are available here.

Summary, scoring and Samples

Ed 1: Tidal Max – 2026

Presentation

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

Waveform and Spectrum: DR6

The waveform of the Tidal Max – 2026 version shows a very low dynamic range confirmed with DR6.

The spectrogram shows that the signal rises to 24 kHz with no signal above this frequency due to the 48 kHz sampling frequency.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal Max – 2026.
The spectrum shows that the signal rises to 24 kHz with no signal above this frequency due to the 48 kHz sampling frequency.

Synthesis and listening

For this first track, Dansons is no exception to today s trend: dynamic range compression directly affects the naturalness of the sound compared to the Dolby Atmos version. This is unfortunate, as the 24-bit / 48 kHz PCM version is capable of delivering much greater dynamic range and offers higher precision than the Dolby Atmos version, especially in the less compressed sections.

Rating:

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

Sample : Dansons. 24 bits 44.1 kHz:

Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026

Presentation

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

Waveform and Spectrum: DR14

The waveform of the Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026 shows a high range confirmed with DR14.

The spectrogram of the Tidal Dolby Atmos track in 7.1.4 is limited to 20kHz with no signal above ). 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 bass channel (LFE) is not used.

The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026.

The spectrum of Dolby Atmos version decoded in 7.1 shows that all channels are used with a low level for the center. The LFE channel is not used. 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.

Synthesis and listening

To fully recover the dynamics of both the track and the vocals, it is often best to turn to the Dolby Atmos version. Its more dynamic rendering provides a more natural reproduction of the voice, along with spatialization that, although it begins in the rear channels, maintains a natural front-dominant presence for the vocals.

Rating:

• Dynamic: ●●●●o (4.5)
• Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
• Spatialization: ●●●●●ooooo (5)
• Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5)

Sample : Dansons. 7.1 Dolby Atmos (Downmixed in 7.1) :

The sample is in 7.1 FLAC 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 : Dansons. Dolby Atmos (Downmixed 2.0) :

The release of the first track from Céline Dion’s upcoming album is a major event for fans, but it is clear that it is affected by the loudness war, with pronounced dynamic range compression that prevents the voice from fully expressing itself, unlike the Dolby Atmos version. It remains to be seen whether the entire album will follow this trend.

Dynamic Range measurements 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 – 2026	Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026
Global	DR6	DR14
Min	DR6	DR14
Max	DR6	DR14
Dansons	DR06	DR14

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.

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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