Rarely has an album been so keenly awaited, proof that Pink Floyd still dominates the Paneathon of Rock worldwide. Strictly speaking, their fifteenth album is not new, but rather an invitation to look behind the scenes of the recording of The Division Bell, already published in its Studio Masters version by Qobuz ourselves.
Pink Floyd admitted to have reworked the tracks in The Endless River, which were recorded in 1993, and to have added instruments in order to make the album ‘sound’ more 21st century rather than 90s. And so, what should we expect when we listen to the HD audio (Studio Master 24-bit, 96kHz)?
To answer this question, our journalists gladly donned their favourite headphones and attached them to an Astell & Kern AK120 music player, downloaded with the album in FLAC 24/96.
Interstellar Sound!
When you sit back, close your eyes and listen to the opening of the album, you mistakenly believe that you are hearing the same tracks from Pink Floyd’s heyday, which mix all different kinds of sounds and noises. The ultra-delicate audio quality intrinsically swells the synthesizers and the guitar. The tone is very ‘Pink Floydian', with the characteristic ‘hazy’ guitar brushed with an ethereal touch.
The stereo is impeccable, very well designed, pushing the drums to the forefront, such as in the track Ebb and Flow. The set is very open, but can prove to be a little ‘confused’ technically, with an omnipresent drum (e.g. in Skins for example). However perhaps this is all part of the band's plan to take you on an audio rollercoaster.
In general, there is a seriously good sound distribution and an intricate yet crisply clear sound-scape, that constantly fills the stereo (it’s a mini festival!). This ‘compensates’ for the fact that the instrumentals in the album are sometimes rather short (except in Louder Than Words).
The similarities between The Wall and Wish You Were Here are numerous. The audio texture is not generally the best deciphered by us, but the aeration of the sound message and the general dynamic are convincing.
The very beautiful guitar on Eyes To Pearls, and the fantastic vocal recordings in Louder Than Words, are particularly well-rendered on the Hi-Fi Stereo.
Just like the Division Bell in 24-bit/96kHz, the The Endless River has extremely clean technological features, notably in its stereo, the depth of the sound scape and its dynamics.
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