Prince – Purple Rain – Review, is the bluray the ultimate Audiophile edition vs vinyl record vs CD vs Streaming?

[Jean.Francois]

Hello,

Purple Rain is Prince’s sixth album, released in 1984, and also the soundtrack to the film of the same name. It contains cult tracks such as “When Doves Cry”, “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Purple Rain
Its sonic and visual aesthetic became emblematic of the 80s.

For this review, you will find 9 versions tested: vinyl records, CD, Blu-ray and streaming, with stereo and Dolby Atmos mix.

The vinyl reissues are worked aesthetically, such as with this Clear White Purple edition, rather than qualitatively, cutting from the compressed dynamic version: 2015 Paisley Park Remaster.

The waveforms below show the original vinyl record and the vinyl record made from the remastered version in 2015 (The same recording level was used for both vinyl records).

We notice that the cutting level on the remastered vinyl record is 1 dB lower than that of the original version, and more importantly, we notice a flattening of the peaks with a dynamic range reduced by over 5 dB!


The bluray version was released a few days ago with this sticker highlighting a version compliant with audiophile requirements, is this really the case?

For the stereo version, we find an identical dynamic range to the original version with a DR13, in contrast to the 2015 Paisley Park Remaster version which has a DR7.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Blu-ray stereo – 2025 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Tidal Deluxe version (blue curve). Above 24 kHz, the signal attenuates completely at 25 kHz, while the Tidal Deluxe version continues up to over 40 kHz. There’s no explanation for this attenuation on the bluray version, which is in PCM 24-bit 96 kHz format, and should therefore have a signal present up to 48 kHz.

Despite this limitation, the Blu-ray stereo version closely resembles the original version. It is not affected by the loudness war and remains true to the spirit of the audiophile sticker.

But the biggest surprise comes from the Blu-ray's Dolby Atmos version encoded in Dolby Digital TrueHD, which is a lossless compression format. Here we find very fine mixing work on this legendary album, perfectly exploiting the possibilities of spatial sound while respecting each track.

The spatialization of Blu-ray Dolby Atmos – 2025 version varies from track to track, with values between 6.4 and 8.8.



Once again, the impact of loudness can be heard on the remastered digital stereo versions, and also as collateral damage on the vinyl disc. More details in article “Vinyl succumbs to Loudness War: more than just collateral damage!” (link)
If you want to fully enjoy a dynamic version that matches the original, you’ll have to go for the original CD and vinyl editions.
But also via the Streaming service, because at Tidal you’ll find the Original version similar to the CD and the remastered version, which is truly exceptional, and a principle that should be generalized for all albums!

This bluray reissue complies with the “Audiophile Bluray” sticker, with a nice stereo track and an excellent Dolby Atmos mix.

Find all the extracts, measurements and analysis of the 9 versions tested here (link).

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

 

[Laika2]

Interesting, Have the original LP in mint shape and ordered the remaster yesterday... Yikes

 

[Travis]

Thank you for the hard work on this!

 

[aagstn]

Thank you for this. I was deciding on a version to get and got the Blu-ray Audio.

 

[Jean.Francois]

Hello,
Following a particularly successful Blu-ray edition, featuring a Dolby Atmos mix in Dolby Digital TrueHD format, a new vinyl edition is now available.

For this reissue, the focus has been placed on production quality. Limited to 6,000 copies, this version was produced using the One Step process, which minimizes the number of stages between the master cutting and the pressing of the record. This method helps preserve the fine details and dynamic range of the sound.

The record was created from a 24-bit / 192 kHz high-resolution digital master. The analog master tapes, now showing signs of wear, were not used. Because the One Step process only allows for small runs of 500 to 700 copies per series, a new lacquer cut must be made between each batch.

This edition stands out for its very quiet pressing and balanced sound reproduction, offering both clarity and precision. The soundstage is wide and well-defined, with excellent separation between instruments and vocals.

Overall, this is a carefully produced reissue that delivers excellent listening quality and is likely one of the best vinyl versions of this album to date.

All technical measurements and audio samples from the different versions are available HERE (link), allowing listeners to evaluate the quality of this edition for themselves.

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

 

[aagstn]

I am not a big fan of vinyl myself but I do have a couple of records pressed by RTI and they were as good as you could hope for. I'm sure this record will sound as good as vinyl can sound. I did see some flipping out in other forums because there are still people that don't understand a DSD master is transparent to the original tape master. You can't convince some analog heads that digital doesn't ruin a master despite years of praise for MOFI when they thought their one step process was all analog.

 

[Laika2]

As a subjective review I found it awful. All but the soft songs broke down into high pitched mayhem (and not in a good way), only LP of 1,000s that cost so much and sounded like garbage. The original I have and the foil lined edges LP both sound way better. I think the foil lined one is a Kevin Gray remix. All the midrange is back and no endless screchy breakdowns that almost hurt my ears.

This may be a direct master the way the artist intended, if so I will take the older mixes any day.

I am glad you like it, especially for a $100 LP.

Subjectively there are many of these reviews on the net, I agree with this one. Not a scientific take but at the end of the day I will trust my ears.

PS; Keep up with what you are doing, I appropriate it. I use it all the time and have bought many LPs you run your tests on to recommend different pressings, this is the first time your hard work to determine the best pressings did not work out for me (but then I ordered it before you reviewed it.)

 

[aagstn]

Subjective is subjective. I have not heard this new vinyl but I have heard the 2017 Kevin Gray vinyl and it was awful to my ears. The blu-ray audio from the original masters got rid of all that compression and brightness I heard on the Kevin Gray vinyl. Again though subjective. Could be my ears, my speakers, my room, my stylus, my imagination, all of the above.

 

[Laika2]

Subjective is subjective. I have not heard this new vinyl but I have heard the 2017 Kevin Gray vinyl and it was awful to my ears. The blu-ray audio from the original masters got rid of all that compression and brightness I heard on the Kevin Gray vinyl. Again though subjective. Could be my ears, my speakers, my room, my stylus, my imagination, all of the above.

Exactly. So many factors involved. It's taste, just like food, what one person like another may dislike and that's all good. And as you say room, speakers, phono cart we may not be hearing the same thing even though the source is the same.

 

[Jean.Francois]

Subjective is subjective. I have not heard this new vinyl but I have heard the 2017 Kevin Gray vinyl and it was awful to my ears. The blu-ray audio from the original masters got rid of all that compression and brightness I heard on the Kevin Gray vinyl. Again though subjective. Could be my ears, my speakers, my room, my stylus, my imagination, all of the above.

I compared this vinyl record with the original version, and below is the spectrum comparison. The overall sound balance is preserved, with slightly more low-end presence on the One Step version.

Waveform : One Step vinyl record (white) vs 1984 vinyl record (blue)

I also included 24-bit / 192 kHz samples to compare the different vinyl editions, including the 2017 and 2024 versions, which are unfortunately of poor quality due to the use of dynamically compressed masters.

 

[pablolie]

Hello,

Purple Rain is Prince’s sixth album, released in 1984, and also the soundtrack to the film of the same name. It contains cult tracks such as “When Doves Cry”, “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Purple Rain
Its sonic and visual aesthetic became emblematic of the 80s.
View attachment 449555
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Wow thank you for the memories and interesting analysis! You rock!

I recall getting the album and I LOVED "I would die for you".

Then again... even at that young age, my reference album was George Benson's "Give me the Night" and particularly the "love times love" track, which I credit with my english ability as a kid that grew up in Spain :-D I did the background vocals incessantly...! :-D

But yes, I think that Prince album was nowhere near as well recorded (or delivered on LP) as the "Give me the Night" album. These days, "Give me the Night" I have as a FLAC rip, "Purple Rain" is perfectly fine as a 256-ish VBR MP3...