Released in 1995, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is one of Michael Jackson s most ambitious projects. This double album combines a greatest hits compilation with a second disc of new material, featuring strong personal and social themes through songs such as “Scream“, “Earth Song“, and “You Are Not Alone“.
With this Dolby Atmos release, History joins Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous, completing the set of Michael Jackson s five major studio albums now available in 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 synthesis of the review are available here
The album is composed of 15 tracks:
- Scream (Dolby Atmos Version)
- They Don’t Care About Us (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Stranger in Moscow (Dolby Atmos Version)
- This Time Around (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Earth Song (Dolby Atmos Version)
- D.S. (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Money (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Come Together (Dolby Atmos Version)
- You Are Not Alone (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Childhood (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Tabloid Junkie (Dolby Atmos Version)
- 2 Bad (Dolby Atmos Version)
- History (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Little Susie Pie Jesu (Dolby Atmos Version)
- Smile (Dolby Atmos Version)
Summary, scoring and Samples
Ed 1: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026
Presentation
This is the Tidal Dolby Atmos presented in Dolby Digital Plus at 768 kbits/s. This is also available on Amazon Music an Apple Music.
Spatialization:
The spatialization SP of Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026 version varies from track to track, with values between SP 2,7 and SP 9.
The spatialization SP of Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026 version varies from track to track, with values between SK 4.5 and SK 7.
Spatialization SP: ●●●●●●●ooo (6.9) , SK: ●●●●●ooooo (5)
Below the spatialization for all tracks. Click on the images to zoom in.
Waveform and Spectrum: DR16
The waveform of the Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026 shows a very high range confirmed with DR16.
The spectrogram of the Tidal Dolby Atmos track in 9.1.6 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 filtered at 120Hz filtering.
The graph below represents the spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026.
The spectrum of the Tidal Dolby Atmos track in 7.1.4 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 green arrow shows the 120Hz filtering of the bass channel (LFE).
The spectrum also shows that the rear channels are used less extensively, as clearly confirmed by the waveform.
Synthesis and listening
The Dolby Atmos mix of History stands out for its immersive approach, which varies from track to track. Each song receives a treatment tailored to its musical character, ranging from a more restrained, front-focused presentation, as heard on “Come Together,” to a far more enveloping use of the soundstage on tracks such as “They Don’t Care About Us” and “D.S.”. Overall, this is a highly successful mix that offers a fresh way to experience the album. To fully appreciate its immersive qualities, a Dolby Atmos system with a 7.1.4 speaker configuration or better is highly recommended.
Rating:
- Dynamic: ●●●●● (5)
- Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4)
- Spatialization SP: ●●●●●●●ooo (6.9)
- Spatialization SK: ●●●●●ooooo (5)
- Restitution: ●●●●o (4)
The Dolby Atmos mix of History offers an immersive approach that varies from track to track, alternating between a more front-focused presentation and a more enveloping use of the soundstage. Overall, it is a successful mix that allows the album to be rediscovered in excellent listening conditions.
To fully appreciate it, a Dolby Atmos setup with a 7.1.4 configuration or higher is recommended. With this release, History joins Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous, completing the set of Michael Jackson s five major studio albums now available in Dolby Atmos.
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 1 editions reviewed have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR) :
| Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026 | |
| Global | DR16 |
| Min | DR13 |
| Max | DR20 |
| Scream (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR17 |
| They Don’t Care About Us (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR16 |
| Stranger in Moscow (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR16 |
| This Time Around (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR18 |
| Earth Song (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR15 |
| D.S. (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR16 |
| Money (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR20 |
| Come Together (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR18 |
| You Are Not Alone (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR14 |
| Childhood (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR13 |
| Tabloid Junkie (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR18 |
| 2 Bad (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR18 |
| History (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR15 |
| Little Susie Pie Jesu (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR13 |
| Smile (Dolby Atmos Version) | DR15 |
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 :
- Significant dynamic compression, DR less than 7
- Compression of the present dynamics, DR between 7 and 9.
- Correct piece DR >=10
- No dynamic compression (DR >12), dynamic rendering
- No dynamic compression, high DR and very dynamic sound rendering
- Spectrum :
- Spectrum cut and less than 15 khz
- Spectrum cut at 15 khz
- Spectrum not conforming to the original and cut (not HD) or original but limited bandwidth (but less than 20 kHz)
- Spectrum conforming to the original (but not HD)
- Spectrum conforming to the original with HD resolution (higher than 24kHz)
- Surface noise (only for vinyl):
- Continuous audible noise
- Audible surface noise except on passages with a high level of noise
- Reduced surface noise, barely audible on low level crossings
- Low surface noise, very good quality
- 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 :
- Low quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
- Average quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
- Quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Good record.
- High quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Very high level disc.
- Maximum quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Exceptional disc.