Hello,
After testing the 2023 reissue of THE BEATLES: the 1962-1966 (The Red Album), here’s the perfect opportunity to delve into The Beatles: 1967-1970 (The Blue Album).
This new edition features new mixes of the songs, available in stereo and Dolby Atmos, including 9 additional titles compared with the original editions.
For this review, you’ll find 4 versions tested: CD 1992, CD 2010, Streaming Tidal MAX Flac in 24-bit 96 kHz and Tidal Dolby Atmos.
As with the red album, the new masterings and remixes result in increasingly present dynamic compression (yellow zone), as shown by the waveforms of the 1993 CD and the 2023 Tidal version.
The waveform of the Dolby Atmos version shows that it remains more dynamic than the stereo versions, notably the CD 2010 and remix 2023 versions.
Dolby Atmos waveform downmixed to 2.0
The graph below compares the spectrum of the Tidal MAX version (white curve) with the spectrum of the 1993 CD (blue curve).
spectrum : Tidal MAX version (white curve) vs CD 1993 (blue curve).
From 2 different mixes, the equalizations made in the lower spectrum (green zone) and in the upper spectrum (yellow and violet zones) will provide a less aggressive, more precise sound, more in line with 2023 standards.
The spatialization of the Dolby Atmos version varies from track to track, with values ranging from 4.6 to 9.4.
Compared with the RED album, there’s a greater homogeneity, due in part to the fact that the recordings are more recent, allowing for more tracks on the multitrack tapes. A common thread runs through all the songs, namely the widening of the soundstage through the use of side speakers. Dolby Atmos mixing, when fully exploiting all channels, distributes instruments and backing vocals over all channels.
Average album spatialization (6.8)
You can compare stereo and multichannel samples to see the impact of 2023’s mastering and remixing. You’ll also find all the measurements (waveform, spectrogram, spectrum and spatialization) HERE.
A Blu-ray edition with the stereo track and the Dolby Atmos track losslessly encoded in Dolby Digital TrueHD would provide all the dynamics and finesse of Atmos, and the high resolution (24/96) of the stereo version. But no Blu-ray has been announced, unlike previous reissues.
Enjoy listening,
Jean-François
This is really interesting work. I think I’ve come across some of your previous posts.
Are we correct to assume that the Tidal HIGH version will be most similar to the MAX version in terms of dynamic range?
Also have you looked at the 2009 remasters on Tidal?