HTF HD-DVD Review: Transformers (Highly Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[PerryD]

Thanks! That's exactly what the problem was. I finally got around to updating to the latest firmware (1.3) a couple weeks back and, sure enough, I just checked and the dynamic compression is set to ON.

I set it to off and watched the last 15 minutes of Transformers just now and it sounded great. Not only is the high end (glass shattering, etc) back, but there the extreme low end was there too, putting my Velodyne F1500 sub to good use.

 

[George_W_K]

Excellent! I'm glad that was the problem. I don't even know the purpose of having DRC anyway.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

If you are listening in a apartment or late at night and want to avoid volume extremes it makes the whispers louder and the explosions softer.

 

[George_W_K]

Ah, thanks for the info, makes sense.

 

[Brian L]

Actually, I missed your post, but yup, not a bright sound track, thats for sure.

As I am sure everyone reading this knows, there is a real sh*t storm in progress on other web sites regarding what some are calling lack of LFE. I have to say, when I screened this, I did not really perceive it to be weak in the bass, but clearly, it lacked the rumble in the couch that I get from certain other titles that I consider reference for bass impact.

For example, the opening scene of SW AOTC as the transport flies over, hovers and lands on the landing platform. Another couple would be Sky Captain (during the initial robot attack), and Polar Express (when the train first arrives). Transformers does not approach any of those in raw visceral impact.

For reference my rig is NAD 762, NHT Classic 3, Classic 2, and 3C, augmented with a HSU 1225, which is solid to 25 hertz, and does produce decent output to 20.

I am going to revisit my calibrations and give it another shot in comparison to those other titles. Rumor has it that the Iron Man trailer at the conclusion of the feature has pretty solid low end...I need to give that a try too.

I initially thought that maybe the fact that I am listening to a transcoded DD+ to DTS conversion was not as transparent as it should be, but perhaps other things are at play. At the end of the day, there may not be anything wrong with the soundtrack....it may just be the way the film makers wanted it to sound.

Brian

 

[Tim Glover]

Watched some of the web enabled features and they really are kind of cool. I was a doubter on this web stuff until now. Pretty nifty.

Reference disc all the way around. Good job Paramount. I eagerly await Paramounts other HD DVD coming soon efforts and the gems that are planned for 2008.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Wow I'm not having that experience at all. During the first attack I thought my neighbors were going to have a bowel movement, and I'm not in an apartment! The windows are literally rattling.

Doug

 

[EricW]

yeah it's kind of cool but it doesn't really take advantage of the technology - those clips and features could just as easily have been put on the disc without downloading. it does show alot of potential though.

 

[Brian L]

It does appear that there are even numbers of users that are saying that the bass is low, and other saying its fine. Kind of weird.

I re-calibrated yesterday (everything was already spot on), and played several of my reference discs.

So far, nothing touches the opening scene SW AOTC.

I also played the Iron Man trailer, and while it does rumble pretty well (subjectively better than Transformers but not by much), it still fails to lift my couch off the floor like AOTC does;-)

I did note another post on a different forum where a user claimed to have rented the SD disc, and reported that the subjective levels of bass on the SD release where much better than the HD disc.

This is all damn peculiar. I wonder if there is a player and/or connection issue where certain players using certain connections are behaving differently than others? As previously posted, I am using an A2 with optical to my AVR. Perhaps analog or HDMI connections are not behaving the same way?

Brian

 

[Tim Glover]

As a Star Wars fanatic, I actually think the opening of AOTC was too hot.

...While certainly earth rocking, not as impressively rich as the Episode 1 laserdisc nor the balanced Sith dvd. Just my 02.

Hard to compare mixes on different equipment too.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I am loving the web enabled intelligence mode, but I have to ask what is the point of creating a log in? Everything worked fine before I did, and after I created an account, absolutely nothing changed. Same thing for various re-boots. Does it do anything other than send the info to Paramount?

This would be one of the only times I am actually ok with sending random data to a corporation, just because I think it's important for them to see our support for the format.

 

[DavidJ]

I re-calibrated and checked my disc again. To me it is an impressive sounding disc with a solid low end, but it is not overwhelming. I have other discs where the low end is "more impressive." This makes me think that this is just the mix. Has anyone been able to check out my question from a few posts ago (#74 & #76)?

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Just guessing here ... but from what I understand, ... I'm pretty sure that this deals with some future upcoming features - the one that allows you to save your favorite clips or scene's that you can share with other fans. To share, Log-in allows you to use Paramounts (?) server as a central storage area that can be accessed by another Logged-in "Transformers" consumer fan.

Phil

 

[Neil Joseph]

I checked the setting and it was set to AUTO instead of ON or OFF. I have the Toshibs HD-A2. I just set it to OFF now.

Thanks,

 

[Brian L]

Dang...I thought this may have been it, but mine is/was Off (A2). The more I read about this, the more I am coming around to the notion that the bass response on Transformers is not "weak" or "anemic". It's simply not as pronounced as some of the titles that are being suggested as "reference", such as AOTC.

I would be curious to see a post from someone that thinks that the bass is OK with Transformers, who then popped in AOTC w/o changing the volume setting.

I suspect that damage would result;-)

Brian

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I finally got to watching part of this film for the first time today
on HD-DVD.

As much as I savored the awesome "demo quality" picture and sound,
I just couldn't get into the movie. I turned it off after 40 minutes.

Maybe I'm having a bad week. Maybe I'm getting too old for these
kind of films. I mean, I only made it 3/4 of the way through the Blu-ray
of Spider-Man because it was just an awful film.

I just can't tolerate these effects-driven films anymore. Obviously
they are geared to an audience 10+ years younger than I am.

Perhaps when I get out of this slump I'll give these films another try.

 

[DavidJ]

That's too bad Ron, but I am sure it is not everyone's cup of tea. I guess I am more surprised you made it that far through Spiderman 3.

I am not big on films that are just effects-driven either, but I have enjoyed the Transformers a lot more than I thought I would. Interestingly, so have many of my friends and my wife. Nostalgia explains some of it for me, but that doesn't work with everyone who does like it.

I like your idea of giving it another try at some latter date. I go through phases with the types of films that I enjoy or am interested in at the moment and the worst thing I can do is try to force it.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I also watched this recently and thought that this movie was awful. I’m not against special effects or action, I did enjoy Die Hard 4, but this just didn’t work. I couldn’t care less and at least the movie was 30 minutes too long, 2:22? I mean come on, a movie with no story can’t be over 2 hours! And John Turturro? :rolleyes

 

[Paul Arnette]

I thought that the PQ was great, but that the soundtrack was mastered too low IMO, and that hurt an otherwise great audio experience.

I'd never attempt to defend this film's artistic merit, but I will just say that it can't hurt to watch it with a child. They have a way of helping you bring out the kid in yourself, and, suddenly little else matters because there's giant, f*cking robots blowing sh*t up and battling on the interstate. If that can still overcome such a horrenous performance by John Turturro that's saying something, right?

 

[RobertR]

So this movie is basically for kids and 30 somethings.