Lady Gaga presents her 7th album MAYHEM – Review – ( high-resolution stereo vs Dolby Atmos)

[Jean.Francois]

Hello,

At the start of 2025, Lady Gaga is back in full force with Mayhem, her seventh studio album, awaited for five years after Chromatica.

Which version will offer the best listening experience on this new album?


Tidal Max’s Flac has a small dynamic range, with the use of a dynamic limiter, as confirmed by the DR5.

Below, Dynamic comparison between the waveform of the Tidal Max version and the Tidal Dolby Atmos version downmixed in 2.0.

The waveform of the Tidal Atmos version downmixed in 7.1 shows good dynamics, as the graphs below confirm, with a dynamic range of at DR13.

The spatialization of Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2025 version varies from track to track, with values between 6.8 and 8.9.

Lady Gaga makes her comeback with her new album MAYHEM, which is aligned with current standards with a highly dynamically compressed stereo version (DR3 minimum). Fortunately, the Dolby Atmos version offers total immersion in the music.


You can find samples to compare the rendering of the different versions, as well as all the measurements here.

Enjoy your listening

Jean-François

 

[Blumlein 88]

Kind of a shame. Beyond Atmos, the stereo downmix as I understand it has better DR because Atmos is usually mixed at -18 LUFS. Is this right? In any case if the stereo had been done with the same idea it could have been much better. I suppose a good question would be if the Atmos downmix to stereo would be preferred to a stereo mix with the same DR values.

 

[naagratrax]

Hello,

At the start of 2025, Lady Gaga is back in full force with Mayhem, her seventh studio album, awaited for five years after Chromatica.
View attachment 434348
Which version will offer the best listening experience on this new album?


Tidal Max’s Flac has a small dynamic range, with the use of a dynamic limiter, as confirmed by the DR5.

Below, Dynamic comparison between the waveform of the Tidal Max version and the Tidal Dolby Atmos version downmixed in 2.0.
View attachment 434349


The waveform of the Tidal Atmos version downmixed in 7.1 shows good dynamics, as the graphs below confirm, with a dynamic range of at DR13.
View attachment 434350


The spatialization of Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2025 version varies from track to track, with values between 6.8 and 8.9.
View attachment 434351


Lady Gaga makes her comeback with her new album MAYHEM, which is aligned with current standards with a highly dynamically compressed stereo version (DR3 minimum). Fortunately, the Dolby Atmos version offers total immersion in the music.


You can find samples to compare the rendering of the different versions, as well as all the measurements here.

Enjoy your listening

Jean-François

What's software do you use for downmixing Atmos ?

 

[Neddy]

Thanks, good stuff.
I just ordered the CD, curious to see how it compares. Waiting/hoping for a bluray with various surround formats. (Don't have atmos yet.)
I used to help with modern dance performance rehearsals and shows; the Abacadabra performance is simply stunning (esp the rehearsal clips) - apparently she sought out some of the best dancers (some retired) available anywhere for it, and it shows. Impressive.

 

[amirm]

Despite being a fan of her music, I couldn't stand this album after listening to first two tracks...

 

[Jean.Francois]

Kind of a shame. Beyond Atmos, the stereo downmix as I understand it has better DR because Atmos is usually mixed at -18 LUFS. Is this right? In any case if the stereo had been done with the same idea it could have been much better. I suppose a good question would be if the Atmos downmix to stereo would be preferred to a stereo mix with the same DR values.

That's right, Dolby Atmos imposes a built-in integrated level of -18 LUFS. For streaming, when the automatic sound level adjustment is activated, the reference level is around -14 LUFS (depending on the service), which means there's no point in sounding any louder. But unfortunately, they stick to the CD vision. A -14 LUFS Lossless stereo mix should be better than the Dolby Atmos downmix, which uses lossy compression.

 

[Neddy]

Just got my CD. I have to agree, at first listen, pretty bland sounding, and very little dynamic range (IRCC, the last track is more dynamic).
Guess I'll have to wait and see if there's multichannel bluray (w/video?) coming.
I don't have a way to get ATV atmos to the big system yet, so can't compare with streamed mixes easily.
If anything, the CD sounds worse than the official Ytube version.
Not suprised, it's Pop, after all.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

 

[ExPerfectionist]

This thread got me interested in trying out Atmos tracks to hear the difference in dynamic range.

I have Amazon Music Unlimited (and Spotify) so I tried listening to the 2-channel downmix of the Atmos version and compare it to the native 2-channel. I also wanted to see if the mixes have different/better dynamic range on Atmos tracks. In this case I'd probably take the 2-channel downmix with better dynamics over a lossless loudness-maxed-out version.

On my Eversolo DMP-A6, at first I was only able to get the 2-channel tracks to play (using the Streaming / downloadable Amazon Music app on the device - "Amazon Music" icon).

Using the native app on the Eversolo ("Music" icon without the "Amazon" - preloaded on the device), which has a UI like the Windows desktop app display (and can show lyrics), it shows Atmos tags in song lists.

On "Perfect Celebrity" (Lady Gaga track), the "Music" native app volume is a lot lower in SPL at the same volume level, and seems to have more dynamics. I switched from Music app to Amazon Music app and the same song was a lot louder, more compressed dynamic range. I switched back to the Music app one more time to verify.

So it seems that on the Eversolo DMP-A6, using the native Amazon Music app (PC desktop app interface), Atmos tracks are available and the default version that plays on tracks that have Atmos and Stereo. However there doesn't seem to be a way to opt out of the Atmos version of the track, so you're stuck. Maybe this is something they can add to a future FW update.

On my iPhone, I can access and switch between Stereo and Atmos versions while playing out the phone's speaker, and when connected to my Beats Fit Pro IEMs and dongle DAC/headphones.

From my iPhone I am able to connect with Airplay to my Eversolo DMP-A6 and see on the display readout that it turns into AAC 256k stereo files when sending both 2-channel hi-res and Atmos tracks. Same goes for connecting with Airplay to my Denon 3700h AVR, although it doesn't provide the same file spec readout.

Listening to the stereo and Atmos versions of Lady Gaga's Mayhem album on a few tracks, including Perfect Celebrity (seems to have a very wide difference in dynamic range between the versions), the volume seemed to be 7-10dB different on the dial to level-match the SPL of the main vocals (based on how far I had to turn the volume dial to get approx the same base volume level of the vocals). The Atmos version had a lot more dynamic range in all of the extra sounds.

I listened briefly and compared a few other songs on the "Best of Dolby Atmos" playlist. The "modern" songs I checked (eg Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga) seemed to have a lot more dynamic range in all of the instruments and sounds, downmixed to 2-ch.

However Fleetwood Mac's song Dreams (and The Chain) sounded very very different from the original, the mix sounded sounded worse in the Atmos downmix (at least that was my impression). Bass seemed to be very elevated on Dreams (deeper bloom and recessed sound on the main bass line from the beginning), a lot of the instruments and backup vocals seemed muted or recessed (around 1:15), and the overall tonal mix felt very different. Perhaps this was a gimmick for Atmos to separate elements to different speakers/locations in the mix that doesn't translate well back down into a 2ch downmix (or maybe there are supposed to be more layers/depth?). Or this is from the 2004 Super Deluxe remaster (testing both Spotify 2-channel and "Music" 2-channel versions versus Amazon Music Atmos version)

The downside was that the downmix and the hi-res sent via Airplay to the Eversolo and Denon were limited to 256K AAC, and also I noticed quite a few blips and clicks especially on the Atmos tracks. I assume these were from the on-the-fly downmixing of all the channels into stereo, plus sending over Airplay.

I'd have to do more listening on my headphones/earbuds to see if the clicks persist there. But the benefits of the expanded dynamic range would require a quiet room (I have open-back headphones) and/or the noise isolation / active cancellation from my Beats IEMs to take advantage of being able to hear the lower volume part of the dynamic range without it getting lost and wasted.

It seems to be hit or miss on the Atmos tracks having better dynamic range, maybe higher likelihood for the more modern material, and the older material maybe suffering from stereo > Atmos mix > stereo downmix.

I'll be giving some of the Atmos tracks and playlists some air time on the Eversolo. Something new and interesting to experiment with.

 

[tifune]

View attachment 434351

I realize front wide is not very common, but I would love if you could add them to these graphs if you plan on doing these analysis regularly. Maybe its selection bias, but in my Atmos listening endeavors I often hear (and confirm in my HTP1 volume monitor) more from front wide than I do center. Stone Temple Pilots' Purple and Nina Simone Little Girl Blue are two examples. I use Apple Music, not sure if there's differences between streaming platforms when it comes to Atmos mixes

 

[2020]

Despite being a fan of her music, I couldn't stand this album after listening to first two tracks...

It is strange that it changes to funk feel in the middle to end of the album. I wish it was darker myself too. But it does reference The Fame so it's not completely out of left field.

In an interview about Mayhem, she said that she was going to revamp all the songs in the veil of Disease/Abracadabra and create a fully "electro-industrial" album, that way it had a cohesive sound and character, but then she decided against that decision since it wasn't an organic reaction and was just calculation. It's supposed to be "chaotic" in the way it's not predictable.

 

[boxerfan88]

View attachment 436646

I call it the "hair cut" tracks.

When I see such "hair cut" tracks on my foobar waveform display, psychologically I already don't like it even before I finish listening to the track. Confirmation bias at work, surely. Many of such tracks have the "grungy sound" or "crunched up sound" or "overly distorted segments" that I don't like. Few such tracks break-through my mental block and change my mind to like the track.

..

 

[Old_School_Brad]

I call it the "hair cut" tracks.

When I see such "hair cut" tracks on my foobar waveform display, psychologically I already don't like it even before I finish listening to the track. Confirmation bias at work, surely. Many of such tracks have the "grungy sound" or "crunched up sound" or "overly distorted segments" that I don't like. Few such tracks break-through my mental block and change my mind to like the track.

..

I feel the same way when I see it, but when I actually listen, I find it sounds okay. I haven’t heard this album yet, but I’ll get to it. In general, I think I probably enjoy a lot of compressed music -and honestly, I bet most people do.