Jean.Francois
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- Joined
- May 31, 2022
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Hello,
Live at Smoke is a live album recorded by jazz drummer Al Foster at the Smoke Jazz Club in New York. It features a high-level quartet composed of Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, and Joe Martin.
This album is among his final public recordings and stands as a major testament to the art of an iconic drummer, renowned for his collaborations with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, and many others. This posthumous release was recorded for his birthday, just five months before Foster passing in May at the age of 82.
The waveform of the Tidal MAX - 2025 version shows a good dynamic range confirmed with DR11. Despite a DR11, the use of a limiter is clearly noticeable, reducing the overall dynamics of the album. A regrettable choice, especially for a jazz recording where dynamics are naturally present.
The graph below compares the spectrum of the Vinyl Record - 2025 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX - 2025 (blue curve).The curves of the two spectra overlap almost perfectly from 30 Hz to 20 kHz. Above 20 kHz, a higher noise floor can be observed on the vinyl record compared to the digital version (yellow arrow). This is a very fine lacquer cut.
The Dolby Atmos spatialization in 9.1.6.
With these three formats, three distinct listening experiences emerge of this Al Foster's album. The high-resolution stereo digital streaming version delivers excellent sound quality and remains more precise than the vinyl edition.
The real surprise comes from the Dolby Atmos version, not because of its immersive qualities, the mix remains largely front-focused, but due to its impressive ability to separate instruments. It offers a very wide soundstage, making effective use of the wide channels in a 9.1.6 setup, even though it does not match the finesse of the high-resolution stereo version.
You can find all of the measurements for these three versions, as well as audio samples for listening comparisons, here (link).
Enjoy listening,
Jean-François
Live at Smoke is a live album recorded by jazz drummer Al Foster at the Smoke Jazz Club in New York. It features a high-level quartet composed of Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, and Joe Martin.
This album is among his final public recordings and stands as a major testament to the art of an iconic drummer, renowned for his collaborations with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, and many others. This posthumous release was recorded for his birthday, just five months before Foster passing in May at the age of 82.
The waveform of the Tidal MAX - 2025 version shows a good dynamic range confirmed with DR11. Despite a DR11, the use of a limiter is clearly noticeable, reducing the overall dynamics of the album. A regrettable choice, especially for a jazz recording where dynamics are naturally present.
The graph below compares the spectrum of the Vinyl Record - 2025 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal MAX - 2025 (blue curve).The curves of the two spectra overlap almost perfectly from 30 Hz to 20 kHz. Above 20 kHz, a higher noise floor can be observed on the vinyl record compared to the digital version (yellow arrow). This is a very fine lacquer cut.
The Dolby Atmos spatialization in 9.1.6.
With these three formats, three distinct listening experiences emerge of this Al Foster's album. The high-resolution stereo digital streaming version delivers excellent sound quality and remains more precise than the vinyl edition.
The real surprise comes from the Dolby Atmos version, not because of its immersive qualities, the mix remains largely front-focused, but due to its impressive ability to separate instruments. It offers a very wide soundstage, making effective use of the wide channels in a 9.1.6 setup, even though it does not match the finesse of the high-resolution stereo version.
You can find all of the measurements for these three versions, as well as audio samples for listening comparisons, here (link).
Enjoy listening,
Jean-François
