New (To Me) Favorite Lossless Atmos Releases

    Audio: Listen to this article.

Inspired(?) by the recent Immersive mixes piece by the proprietor in these here parts, I thought it was time to chime in again with some of my favorites of the newer Atmos recordings that have been added to my collection. A couple are new releases this week. Others are a few years old. Most are MKV files and one a Pure Audio Blu Ray disc. The musical styles are quite varied from different sources but all share a couple of things in common, namely stellar recording quality and fantastic use of the Atmos format.

1.  Himmelborgen (2L) Pure Audio Blu Ray (link)

This recording has been around for awhile and I have The Absolute Sound’s Andy Quint (@ARQuint) to thank for introducing this title to me at a recent listening session at his place. Thankfully Morten Lindberg at 2L was gracious enough to send me the disc when I inquired into the availability of a MKV file of this recording. Hopefully one will be eventually. You will note Morten being mentioned in a few of these releases as he was involved in the mastering of some of the non 2L Atmos mixes as well. Quite frankly, I can’t think of anyone who has done more to advance the state of the art of immersive recording than Morten.

Himmelborgen was recorded at the Uranienborg Church in Norway in May and June 2018. It features the Uranienborg Vokalensamble, and Elisabeth Holte conducting. This recording is one of the finest Atmos mixes, if not the finest Atmos mix, I have heard. It gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it and does so on repeated listening. I have been fortunate to have attended quite a few organ/chorus concerts over the years in churches in Europe. While I recognize how fleeting aural memory is, this recording takes me back to those concerts, placing me in those venues once again. The soaring sound of the chorus against the forceful and deep rumbling of the organ pedals, the reverb trails that seem to go forever. The sound is effortless yet powerful. The large chorus blends beautifully together yet one can clearly discern the individual voices. If you are a fan of immersive audio in any of its formats, you owe it to yourself to hear this recording.

2. Magnificat (2L) (link)

This is another 2L recording by Morten Lindberg featuring music composed by Kim Andre Arnesen, Aaron Jay Kernis and Ola Gjeilo. The music is performed by the Nidarosdomens jentekor and Trondheim Solistene. This recording is yet another example of Mr. Lindberg’s recording prowess. It is a perfect balance of a chorus, string ensemble and church organ in real space. Recordings like this bring the same sense of space and grandeur that you hear in the recording venue in a way that stereo, quite frankly, can’t even come close to delivering.

3. Sweet Caress Franco Ambrosetti & Strings (link)

This is a new recording being released this week by enja records, produced by Jeff Levenson, featuring Franco Ambrosetti on flugelhorn, John Scofield on guitar, Peter Erskine on drums, Scott Colley on bass and Sara Caswell on on violin and concertmaster all backed by an orchestra by conducted by  Alan Broadbent. Anyone familiar with recordings by the likes of Diana Krall, Jane Monheit and Paul McCartney should know of Mr. Broadbent. The album was recorded at Sear Sound in New York in December 2023 by renowned engineer Jim Anderson, with assistance from Steven Sacco and Ulrike Schwarz. The stereo release was mixed at Anderson Audio New York in Brooklyn. The immersive mixing engineers were Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz with assistance from Dann Thompson. Immersive mastering and authoring was by Morten Lindberg at 2L in Siggerud, Norway. There is the Morten Lindberg guy again.

When I was informed about this forthcoming release and the technical team behind it, I was expecting great things. I was not disappointed. Jim Anderson is well known in both the recording and audiophile worlds as is his wife Ulrike Schwarz. As one would expect, the sound here is superb with great tone, timbre and dynamics. Mixed at 7.1.6, the sense of space is wonderful. Pinpoint imagining of the main individual musicians is spot on in the front of the room. You can just “see” them before you, even with your eyes closed. In the past with mass string arrangements in jazz recordings, they tended to be on the shrill side. Not here. The strings are full bodied surrounding you in sound with not only a sense of space but height, more like real thing, with separation between each set of strings. One can clearly follow each instrumentalist. Sweet Caress is yet another reference immersive mix from the team of Anderson, Schwartz and Lindberg.

4. Bebo Valdes-Suite Cubana (link)

Suite Cubana by  the late Cuban jazz master Bebo Valdes was not a recording I was familiar with so I inquired of Ulrike Schwarz who was involved in this release to get the background story. Apparently, Bebo Valdes was a fan of engineer Jim Anderson and wanted him to record the album for the Calle 54 label. Jim was not available so this big band album was recorded at Avatar in 2002 by James Farber. Jim Anderson did the stereo mix in 2002. A 5.1 mix was done in 2019 for the Spanish Market but Ulrike and Jim loved the album so much that they were able to secure the rights to do an immersive mix which they did at Skywalker Ranch with subsequent mastering by Morten Lindberg.

This is a very dense big bang mix with a ton of horns and percussion. It was decided to do a traditional Columbia records mix, with saxes to the left, trumpets in a phantom center  and trombones on the right as Jim Anderson felt that this type of mix better served the music. The recording was so dense, that most of the percussion was placed in the rears so you are essentially surrounded by the big band. Heights were not used so we have what is a 5.1 mix. What you ask, not 7.1.4? No but is works. This album is a gas to listen to. It is fun, rich and dynamic. Did I mention it is fun? At its core music is meant to be fun, no? This mix delivers fun in spades. Atmos is but a tool and can be used in many different ways. The team of Anderson, Schwartz and Lindberg nailed another one with this release. If you are unfamiliar with the music of Bebo Valdes, give this release a listen. I have little doubt that you will be glad you did.

5. Anohni and the Johnsons- My Back Was A Bridge For You to Cross.

I was completely unfamiliar with Anohni and The Johnsons before I heard this release, available on Immersive Audio Album. The music can best be described as avant- soul and rock. The Atmos mix was performed by Jimmy Hogarth. Frankly some of the tracks are not my cup of tea, but the Atmos mix is superb, one of the best mixes of this type of music I have ever heard. Track one in particular, It Must Change, is as good as it gets with the surrounds gently caressing the listener. By all means, give this one a listen.

6. Monkey House - Remember The Audio (link)

This is another release found on Immersive Audio Album. This album sounds like something Steely Dan would be doing  if not for the death of Walter Becker. A nice mix of pop, rock and jazz. It is well recorded with an aggressive use of all channels. It is a bit repetitive but still great fun.

7. Nicolas van Poucke-Sweelinck, Mozart & Debussy-live at the Royal Concertgebouw (TRPTK) (link)

Several years before Covid, my wife and I were blessed with being able to attend two performances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one in the main hall and another in the Kleine Zaal right behind the Main Hall. The Kleine Zaal seats 437 and is about 66 feet by 49 feet. The concert at the Kleine hall was particularly memorable for the incredible solo piano performance by Boris Giltberg along with the hall’s incredible acoustics.

This recording of a solo piano performance by Nicolas van Poucke on the TRPTK label and was recorded in that very same venue that we found so memorable. The man behind TRPTK, Bredan Heinst,  is a devotee of Morten Lindberg and records in the highest resolution available and is a believer in immersive audio. When I noticed this recording was available for download on the TRPTK website, I grabbed it, in the hopes that the sound would be as great as I recalled. Was it, yes indeed.

The rendition of the piano is completely natural sounding like a real piano in your room with a sense of size that stereo can’t deliver. All of the natural reverb and reflections you would hear in the hall are presented in your space. You can hear the coughing and the shuffling of feet of the people around you just like you are there. The piano is rich and dynamic. The use of the height channels brings the piano up a bit sounding like you are sitting in a seat below the stage and the location of the piano, which you are. When the crowd applauds they are all around you.  In my opinion, only immersive audio can give you this perspective. The performance by Mr. Van Poucke is wonderful and judging from the enthusiastic applause, the audience agrees. This is a fantastic recording and Atmos mix and takes me back to my experience at Kleine Zaal all those years ago. Superb.

Well that is all for now. Check some of these recordings out if you will. Happy listening.