Request: Tell me what DVDs soundtrack you want me to measure. (1 Viewer)

[Bjoern Roy]

Hi folks,
like in this thread, people ask me to measure certain DVDs from time to time. I will probably go into another SPL measurement frenzy soon, but i want to measure as many titles as possible 'in one session', because the setup of the equipment and cables is quite time consuming. Once i am actually running, it doesn't really matter whether i measure 5 or 10 titles.
I don't want to measure titles for the heck of it, though. As i stated in the SPL section of my homepage, i like to measure titles which are 'controversial'. Like the original JP DVD, where some people claimed it didn't have close to enough bass and others stated it had plenty. My measurements proved the former.
Another typical scenarios would be titles where either the DTS or DD track sounds 'significantly' better than the counter part. Like on Gladiator, where a completely different mix was used for the DTS track.
I am intruiged to check out whether the Superbit rereleases actually have new mixes or whether they simply contain the same mix as the original, only presented in 448kbps DD and 768kbps DTS.
So i am ready for suggestions.
I obviously can't guarantee anything. For example, i have to actually own the title or at least have access to it.
Regards
Bjoern

 

[Ryan L B]

matrix, pearl harbor for action flicks, american pie 1 and jay and silent bob strike back for comedy flicks

 

[David Ruiz]

Can you please measure just how much BASS there is on the "Haunting DTS"? I swear that my sub almost bottomed out, because it was so deep. Can you specify just how deep it really is, in Hz?

Also, I like to know just how deep the bass is on "Toy Story 2" because people claim that there's too much bass, but on my particular setup, there is NO bass what-so-ever during the opening sequence.

 

[Bjoern Roy]

Thanks for the suggestions.

David, both Haunting and Toy Story 2 make a lot of sense because they are definitely in the Top5 deep bass charts.

Ryan, Pearl Harbor is a great idea. I remember some discussion as to whether the DD and DTS track is better. Since i don't have the Matrix LD and it only has one mix (DD), i won't have anything to compare the DVD against. I consider the Matrix DVD DD track to be thin, shrill and weak. The only soundeffect worse mentioning is Fishburn landing on his knee in the 1on1 fight. This has quite a bit of bass extension.

If non-action movies like AP1 or Jay have both a DTS and a DD track, and one sounds 'more musical' or 'smoother' than the other, its rather difficult to find corresponding hints in the SPL measurements. They could both measure identical and the DTS mix could still be considered to have 'slightly more air' or 'more intelligable dialogue'. Of course, if one is overly 'shrill' it should show up as high SPL output in the upper frequency range.

The only non-action flic that i current plan to measure is Moulin Rouge. Apart from the terrible lip sync issue on the DTS track, i consider the DTS mix to sound much better than the DD one. So i will try to see whether these differences somehow show up SPL graphs.

Regards

Bjoern

 

[Ryan L B]

i dont think the lip sync problem is on every disc is it.

 

[Patrick McCart]

City Lights (1989 re-recorded soundtrack)

Ben-Hur

Lawrence of Arabia

North By Northwest

Superman: The Movie

City Lights has a PCM 2.0 surround track that really packs a punch.

The only non-action flic that i current plan to measure is Moulin Rouge. Apart from the terrible lip sync issue on the DTS track, i consider the DTS mix to sound much better than the DD one. So i will try to see whether these differences somehow show up SPL graphs.

I don't think the DTS track has lip-sync problems. Everything came out all right on my system. It may be player/amp related.

 

[HenrikTull]

Bjoern, do you think you could compare video transfers as well?

I see now that Disney has released an "SE" (it's actually not) of Face/Off in Europe. I wonder how that anamorphic transfer compares to the near unweatchable Paramount Region 1 transfer (has WAY to much EE for my taste).

Anyways, was just wondering if you would be interested in comparing the two...

 

[Ryan L B]

alright for non action flicks with two soundtracks, double take dd and dts, american pie 1 and 2.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

For Ben-Hur, the scene that I would want to see charted is the crucifixion sequence near the end. If you have the AC-3 laserdisc or the PCM only CLV one before that, all the better. My CLV PCM laserdisc from circa the early 90s has a tremendous amount of bass during that sequence (the most I had heard on a 2-channel track until Jurassic Park came out ), and I was curious how it would chart against the LFE-enhanced DVD remix.
Regards

 

[Adam_S]

I'd be very much interested to see how the dts and dd5.1 mixes on the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" suberbit fare against each other and especially the original (I'm considering upgrading ). Also I don't know if they're even comparable but I've never listened to the Eagles, "Hell Freezes Over" PCM stereo track (absolutely love the incredible DTS track) and would like to know how good it is.
On the off chance you get your hands on a couple of copies, I'd like to definitively know how much better Dances with Wolves DTS really is.
Thanks
Adam

 

[Scott_MacD]

I'd like you to recap on Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, and Se7en.. I remember a thread (quite a while back, admittedly)with a ton of these graphs which pretty much proved that the DTS mixes were different from the Dolby Digital versions. At least it'd be a permanent archive for us to point out to those who claim that one codec is better than another and using the above titles as "conclusive proof".
Another title which was pretty controversial at the time was The Rock : Criterion Collection. DVDFILE went on record as saying that the Dolby track was better than the DTS track, and discussion seemed to be in agreement. Again, were there different mixes, or was it a simple volume adjustment(accidental or otherwise)?
Also, the Twister DTS and DD tracks would be an interesting set of graphs to compare also. (I can't tell the difference between the mixes, personally.)
Silence of the Lambs Criterion vs. MGM? Perhaps this is a little trickier to pull off since it's a matrixed stereo surround mix against a 5.1 discrete surround mix, but I'm convinced that there is stronger bass in the Criterion's 2channel DD mix than the 5.1 mix when Clarice visits Lecter the first time.
That's all I can think of right now, but I will add more to the thread as I come up with more.