Jean.Francois
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- May 31, 2022
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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.
![small - 7.1.4 - synthese.txt [Bluray Atmos] -- 7.6 ( 6.4 -- 8.8 ).jpg](https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/small-7-1-4-synthese-txt-bluray-atmos-7-6-6-4-8-8-jpg.449560/ "small - 7.1.4 - synthese.txt [Bluray Atmos] -- 7.6 ( 6.4 -- 8.8 ).jpg")
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
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
