Phil Collins – No Jacket Required – Is the 40th Anniversary Edition the New Standard? – Review (CD, vinyl, blu-ray, streaming, 1985 to 2025, Atmos...)

[Jean.Francois]

Hello,

No Jacket Required, released in 1985, is Phil Collins’ third solo studio album.
The album features several internationally successful singles, including “Sussudio,” “One More Night,” and “Don’t Lose My Number.”
No Jacket Required received multiple accolades, including Grammy Awards, and achieved major commercial success worldwide.
It remains an iconic work of 1980s pop and an important milestone in Phil Collins’ solo career.

Steven Wilson explains the 2025 mix process for the stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos:
“For recreating the stereo I had a copy of the first CD edition from 1985 and the most recent 2016 remaster as my references for the original mix, but have favoured the 1985, which has a much greater dynamic range and sounds more natural. Using this new stereo mix as a starting point, I then expanded the album out into both 5.1 and Atmos (the 5.1 is a dedicated mix, not a fold down of the Atmos).”

In terms of dynamics, it is indeed the 2016 remastered version that is most heavily affected by the loudness war, as shown by the waveform comparisons of the CD, 2016, and 2025 editions below:

As for the vinyl, we can observe the phenomenon described in article “Vinyl succumbs to Loudness War: more than just collateral damage!”: the 2025 box set edition was produced from a compressed master. This results in a lower-level cut on vinyl, as highlighted by the waveform comparison between the 1985 and 2025 vinyl editions:

Regarding the Dolby Atmos version, we find Steven Wilson’s excellent work, offering a fully immersive mix that allows listeners to rediscover the album in a new way. The Blu-ray edition, in particular, benefits from a lossless encoding in Dolby Digital Atmos TrueHD.

You can find all the audio samples to compare the 10 tested versions, along with the complete set of measurements, at the following link.

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

 

[jimmyjames8]

I just got the 2025 Blu ray Audio disc and find it very BRIGHT, like in your face bright.

 

[goat76]

@Jean.Francois

I see there is some use of the LFE channel in this Atmos release, but in many other releases you have measured, the LFE channel has not been seen at all. Is that because you are not always measuring that channel, or is it because it's not very often used in Dolby Atmos Music mixes?

 

[Jean.Francois]

@Jean.Francois

I see there is some use of the LFE channel in this Atmos release, but in many other releases you have measured, the LFE channel has not been seen at all. Is that because you are not always measuring that channel, or is it because it's not very often used in Dolby Atmos Music mixes?

Good point, I would say both. Indeed, over the past few months, I have updated the graphical representation of the spatialization: I now include the LFE channel, which was not shown before, and I also add a video representation of the spatialization for one of the tracks on the album. This explains why it is not visible in the older tests. However, analyzing the spectrum or waveform allows you to check whether the LFE channel is used in all tests.


Regarding the use of the LFE channel, it depends on the sound engineer’s intention. There is a particularity with Dolby Atmos: to generate the binaural version, the LFE channel is not used. Therefore, you should not place all the low frequencies in the LFE, otherwise they are lost during the generation of the binaural version. That said, some mixes do use the LFE to reinforce the bass when listening on an Atmos system (for example, 7.1.4). Some engineers use it only to enhance frequencies below 50 Hz.

 

[goat76]

Good point, I would say both. Indeed, over the past few months, I have updated the graphical representation of the spatialization: I now include the LFE channel, which was not shown before, and I also add a video representation of the spatialization for one of the tracks on the album. This explains why it is not visible in the older tests. However, analyzing the spectrum or waveform allows you to check whether the LFE channel is used in all tests.

Ah, I didn't think of checking the waveform for the possible use of the LFE channel. And thank you for the information that you used to leave out the LFE from the spatialization graphs. I think it's a good idea that you decided to include that from now on.

Regarding the use of the LFE channel, it depends on the sound engineer’s intention. There is a particularity with Dolby Atmos: to generate the binaural version, the LFE channel is not used. Therefore, you should not place all the low frequencies in the LFE, otherwise they are lost during the generation of the binaural version. That said, some mixes do use the LFE to reinforce the bass when listening on an Atmos system (for example, 7.1.4). Some engineers use it only to enhance frequencies below 50 Hz.

Yes, I'm aware of the possible downmix problems that would occur if the mix is too dependent on what goes to the LFE channel. That's the reason why Atmos mixing engineers often suggest that the LFE channel is either not used at all or only as an enhancement channel or for special effects.

I have played around i little with mixing music in 5.1, and for a rock song containing the usual drums, bass guitar, guitar, and vocals, there really isn't much or anything to put in the LFE channel. But with that said, next time I play around with a multichannel mix, I will definitely figure out a way to utilize the LFE channel as an enhancement channel. I see that the LFE is indeed used in many Atmos mixes on your website, but it seems mostly at a fairly low SPL level compared to the other channels.

 

[beagleman]

My question.
Does TIDAL do any EQing/Compression or level matching when streaming music?

Honestly those tidal graphs look quite bad.
I am a Spotify user and Their files are for sure the exact ones used for the actual CD, but they will apply about 2 db of level matching to move really loudly mastered stuff lower and 2 db to raise really low level albums up a bit. But overall most albums are as they are.

 

[Jean.Francois]

My question.
Does TIDAL do any EQing/Compression or level matching when streaming music?

Honestly those tidal graphs look quite bad.
I am a Spotify user and Their files are for sure the exact ones used for the actual CD, but they will apply about 2 db of level matching to move really loudly mastered stuff lower and 2 db to raise really low level albums up a bit. But overall most albums are as they are.

By default, TIDAL does not modify the published files. However, to ensure that no alterations are applied, you need to disable the automatic track volume adjustment, which equalizes the sound level between songs.

 

[goat76]

By default, TIDAL does not modify the published files. However, to ensure that no alterations are applied, you need to disable the automatic track volume adjustment, which equalizes the sound level between songs.

The volume normalization Tidal uses is totally harmless, so there is no need to turn it off. They use “album normalization”, which means that the loudness differences between tracks on an album are respected and kept. The loudest track on the album will be the deciding factor of how much the rest of the tracks on the album will be raised or lowered in volume, and if any "positive gain" is applied, the loudest peak will always be kept with a headroom of a minimum of -1 dB under digital zero.

First example:
An album with 3 tracks, where the loudest track is at -9 Integrated LUFS, the second loudest track at -11 Integrated LUFS, and the third at -13 Integrated LUFS. With the normalization that Tidal uses, which is -14 Integrated LUFS, the loudest track will be attenuated by 5 dB, and the two other tracks will also be attenuated by 5 dB. The loudness of the three tracks will end up at -14, -16, and -18 Integrated LUFS.

Second example:
Another album with 3 tracks, where the loudest track is at -18 Integrated LUFS, and with the highest peak at -3 dB under digital zero. The second loudest track has a loudness of -21 Integrated LUFS, but with the highest peak at -2 dB under digital zero. The third track has a loudness of -23 Integrated LUFS, with the highest peak at -4 dB. This album will only be raised in volume by 1 dB, reaching -17 LUFS for the album's loudest track, as the positive gain will never exceed the rule of a -1 dB headroom, which is due to the peak level of the second track. The loudness of the three tracks will end up at -17, -20, and -22 Integrated LUFS.



As can be seen in the above examples, those two albums will not be matched in loudness, and the album in the first example will still be 3 dB louder than the album in the second example, but they have at least got much closer in comparison to the original loudness difference of 9 dB between the loudest tracks on the albums. No dynamic limitation will be used to make the albums equally loud to each other, so there is never any sound quality alternations going on with the volume normalization Tidal uses.

And even if someone makes their own playlist, the "album normalization" levels will still be used, as in the examples above. Tidal's idea is that if the loudness differences between different tracks work on an album, the same loudness differences will most likely work in a playlist as well, without too many extreme loudness deviations, as it's not very likely that someone will make a playlist containing both tracks from Billie Eilish's latest album and Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

 

[IngMishael]

My question.
Does TIDAL do any EQing/Compression or level matching when streaming music?

no they don't EQ or compress but there is volume normalisation which is just that, volume matching

 

[BJL]

Hello,

No Jacket Required, released in 1985, is Phil Collins’ third solo studio album.
The album features several internationally successful singles, including “Sussudio,” “One More Night,” and “Don’t Lose My Number.”
No Jacket Required received multiple accolades, including Grammy Awards, and achieved major commercial success worldwide.
It remains an iconic work of 1980s pop and an important milestone in Phil Collins’ solo career.
View attachment 477491


Steven Wilson explains the 2025 mix process for the stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos:
“For recreating the stereo I had a copy of the first CD edition from 1985 and the most recent 2016 remaster as my references for the original mix, but have favoured the 1985, which has a much greater dynamic range and sounds more natural. Using this new stereo mix as a starting point, I then expanded the album out into both 5.1 and Atmos (the 5.1 is a dedicated mix, not a fold down of the Atmos).”

In terms of dynamics, it is indeed the 2016 remastered version that is most heavily affected by the loudness war, as shown by the waveform comparisons of the CD, 2016, and 2025 editions below:
View attachment 477492


As for the vinyl, we can observe the phenomenon described in article “Vinyl succumbs to Loudness War: more than just collateral damage!”: the 2025 box set edition was produced from a compressed master. This results in a lower-level cut on vinyl, as highlighted by the waveform comparison between the 1985 and 2025 vinyl editions:
View attachment 477493


Regarding the Dolby Atmos version, we find Steven Wilson’s excellent work, offering a fully immersive mix that allows listeners to rediscover the album in a new way. The Blu-ray edition, in particular, benefits from a lossless encoding in Dolby Digital Atmos TrueHD.
View attachment 477494


You can find all the audio samples to compare the 10 tested versions, along with the complete set of measurements, at the following link.

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

Great! Thanks for your teview! Ordered it. Curious to hear if they take advantage of the frint wides (as did Brothers in Arms & Yello Point, both very effectively).

 

[Jean.Francois]

The volume normalization Tidal uses is totally harmless, so there is no need to turn it off. They use “album normalization”, which means that the loudness differences between tracks on an album are respected and kept. The loudest track on the album will be the deciding factor of how much the rest of the tracks on the album will be raised or lowered in volume, and if any "positive gain" is applied, the loudest peak will always be kept with a headroom of a minimum of -1 dB under digital zero.

First example:
An album with 3 tracks, where the loudest track is at -9 Integrated LUFS, the second loudest track at -11 Integrated LUFS, and the third at -13 Integrated LUFS. With the normalization that Tidal uses, which is -14 Integrated LUFS, the loudest track will be attenuated by 5 dB, and the two other tracks will also be attenuated by 5 dB. The loudness of the three tracks will end up at -14, -16, and -18 Integrated LUFS.

Second example:
Another album with 3 tracks, where the loudest track is at -18 Integrated LUFS, and with the highest peak at -3 dB under digital zero. The second loudest track has a loudness of -21 Integrated LUFS, but with the highest peak at -2 dB under digital zero. The third track has a loudness of -23 Integrated LUFS, with the highest peak at -4 dB. This album will only be raised in volume by 1 dB, reaching -17 LUFS for the album's loudest track, as the positive gain will never exceed the rule of a -1 dB headroom, which is due to the peak level of the second track. The loudness of the three tracks will end up at -17, -20, and -22 Integrated LUFS.



As can be seen in the above examples, those two albums will not be matched in loudness, and the album in the first example will still be 3 dB louder than the album in the second example, but they have at least got much closer in comparison to the original loudness difference of 9 dB between the loudest tracks on the albums. No dynamic limitation will be used to make the albums equally loud to each other, so there is never any sound quality alternations going on with the volume normalization Tidal uses.

And even if someone makes their own playlist, the "album normalization" levels will still be used, as in the examples above. Tidal's idea is that if the loudness differences between different tracks work on an album, the same loudness differences will most likely work in a playlist as well, without too many extreme loudness deviations, as it's not very likely that someone will make a playlist containing both tracks from Billie Eilish's latest album and Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Indeed, Tidal adjusts the volume level of each track within an album. However, if you want to preserve the sound levels as they were set during the album’s creation for each track, it is necessary to disable this adjustment feature, unless all the tracks have the same volume level.

 

[goat76]

Indeed, Tidal adjusts the volume level of each track within an album. However, if you want to preserve the sound levels as they were set during the album’s creation for each track, it is necessary to disable this adjustment feature, unless all the tracks have the same volume level.

No, the thing I'm telling you is that Tidal does NOT adjust the volume level of each track within an album. They use album normalization, which means that the volume differences between the tracks on the album are kept intact as they were originally intended to be, and will not be changed individually. The normalization, whether the album will be raised or lowered in level to meet the normalization of -14 Integrated LUFS, is determined only by the loudest track on the album, and the rest of the tracks will follow that. So... If the loudest track on the album is at -10 Integrated LUFS, all the rest of the tracks on the same album will also be lowered by the same amount of 4 dB, so that the volume differences between the tracks are kept as they were originally intended to be.

 

[Jean.Francois]

No, the thing I'm telling you is that Tidal does NOT adjust the volume level of each track within an album. They use album normalization, which means that the volume differences between the tracks on the album are kept intact as they were originally intended to be, and will not be changed individually. The normalization, whether the album will be raised or lowered in level to meet the normalization of -14 Integrated LUFS, is determined only by the loudest track on the album, and the rest of the tracks will follow that. So... If the loudest track on the album is at -10 Integrated LUFS, all the rest of the tracks on the same album will also be lowered by the same amount of 4 dB, so that the volume differences between the tracks are kept as they were originally intended to be.

Thank you for the clarification; it is indeed at the album level.
However, by default, I always disable this feature to ensure that no changes are made to the original file, as should be the case.

 

[BJL]

While waiting for delivery of No Jacket Required, I decided to check a few blu ray Atmos discs for mixes that take full advantage of what Atmos has to offer. I found more than I expected, discs limited to 7 (or 5) plus heights, but here are a few standouts that take full advantage of Atmos, expand to the wides and give a fine sound stage and/or interesting musical effects:

Roxy Music - Avalon (Bob Clearmountain)

Boris Blank [1/2 of Yello] - Resonance (Stefan Bock)

XTC - Big Express & Skylarking (Steve Wilson)

Justin Gray - Immersed (Justin Gray)-- the compositions on this disc were written, performed, and recorded specifically for Atmos. There is accompanying video of the performances clearly showing how the music was recorded. This is available directly from the artist via Bandcamp (Canada/US) or IAN records in Germany.

Kraftwerk - Autobahn (Fritz Hilpert)

Grateful Dead - Blues for Allah (Steve Wilson)

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (Emre Ramazanoglu & Ken Scott)

There are many more, but this is what I've been listening to while awaiting the Phil Collins disc.

I was disappointed to find supposed Atmos discs where the engineer restricted three dimensional space to the 7 bed speakers.

Well, this is a bit off the topic, but I thought it might interest someone.

 

[jimmyjames8]

Ziggy sounds fantastic. Like it was (well) recorded yesterday.

 

[BJL]

Great! Thanks for your teview! Ordered it. Curious to hear if they take advantage of the frint wides (as did Brothers in Arms & Yello Point, both very effectively).

Answering my own question, yes - Steve Wilson has given us a true Atmos mix that does have objects in the front wide speakers.

For a completely different approach to Atmos, that also makes musically interesting use of objects active in the front wides, check out Mark Knopfler's recent (2024) album, One Deep River. The exquisite blu ray is unfortunately only available on the secondary market, but I presume that there is a lossy (DD+) version available from the streaming services.

 

[Limopard]

For the original stereo mix of NJR the AudioFidelity CD shouldn't be overlooked. It's hard to get and pricey these days, but if you really like the album I'd give it a go up to 30 €/$.

 

[Chester]

For the original stereo mix of NJR the AudioFidelity CD shouldn't be overlooked. It's hard to get and pricey these days, but if you really like the album I'd give it a go up to 30 €/$.

I was just about to say the same. Surprised not to see it mentioned here sooner.