Does the Star Wars SE LD boxset have PCM tracks? (1 Viewer)

[David Ely]

I was just wondering if the Star Wars Special Ed. LD boxset has a PCM audio track on each of the disks. If so, great. If not, I gues I'll be needing a demod.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I'm watching the SE LD's today(I'm in between ESB and ROTJ as I type this), and they do have excellent PCM tracks. But the Dolby Digital 5.1 is even better.

 

[David Ely]

LARRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You're going to be the death of me!!! Don't you dare talk me in to buying a demod
Okay ... anyone know where I could get a demod for no more than $50 [waiting patiently for hell to freeze over].

 

[alan halvorson]

All Dolby Digital (AC-3) LD's have a PCM track - they gotta, because DD uses one of the analog tracks, the standard being that all DD LD's must remain playable on systems without DD. DTS, on the other hand, replaces both PCM tracks with DTS. The only way to play DTS LD's on systems without DTS capability is to switch to the analog tracks.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Don't you dare talk me in to buying a demod

Ok, I won't talk you into buying a demod.
Did I mention how good the 5.1 sound is on the STAR WARS Trilogy SE Laserdiscs?

 

[David Ely]

YAHOO!!!!! I just found out that the LD player I'll be getting doesn't even have an AC3 RF output!!!!
Wait a sec .... What's that Larry???? Want me to buy a new LD player????

 

[Philip Hamm]

David,

I've read here and elsewhere that the PCM tracks are better than the DD tracks for the Special Edition sets, particularly for "Star Wars" (A New Hope). I would stick with the PCM tracks and your current player and not worry about tracking down a new LD player and Demod. Most people who think the 5.1 sounds better have never really listened to the PCM tracks.

 

[RANDY FISHER]

The PCM tracks sound much more full. The 5.1 tracks have better seperation of coarse.

Randy

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

I agree, the PCM tracks are better. But then I always think the PCM track sounds better.
More seriously, I think that the 5.1 track on Star Wars SE is a little, uh, fake-sounding, for lack of a better word. The PCM (which appears to be a different mix, not a mixdown) sounds more like the 'original' mix, not as wide-open, not so much channel separation, and really really clean and nice and rich sounding.
Having recently A-B'ed them, I can confidently also say that the PCM tracks on the Star Wars SE are definitely better than the PCM tracks on the Star Wars THX 'faces' release, though the 'faces' disc does sound quite good. The 'faces' disc sounds like maybe a little too much de-hissing was done.
Both are hard working, and will serve you well.
(BTW, the PCM tracks on Empire and Jedi SE and Empire and Jedi 'faces' are all pretty much equal, IMO.)

 

[David Ely]

What's needed to play DTS disks? Is it just an optical out? My player has an optical out, but doesn't have the DTS logo anywhere on the player. It's a Sony MDP 650.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

What's needed to play DTS disks? Is it just an optical out? My player has an optical out, but doesn't have the DTS logo anywhere on the player.

With LD any digital output (coax or optical) will work, along with a receiver/processor capable of decoding DTS. It's different than DVD where you need players specifically capable of DTS.

 

[Wayne McRae]

Can one of you guys educate a newbie on PCM tracks.I have a old Pioneer Laserdisc player and the S.W. trilogy.Thanks for your help.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Inabout 1986 stereo PCM audio with the same specs as CD audio was added to the NTSC LaserDisc format. It's the same quality as CD audio, often mixed specifically to be decoded as ProLogic. DVD has PCM as an optional sound format.

 

[Wayne McRae]

Thanks Philip,I thought I was missing out on something.

 

[Seth Paxton]

nope Wayne, you were fine.
The "digital" audio on LD is PCM, remembering that LD is an analog video format using a laser reader (video stored in composite video format) and also has analog audio tracks as well.
DTS then sits on the digital audio space so a DTS LD won't have PCM.
DD will have PCM because the DD tracks are modulated on one of the analog tracks (R or L, I forget right now).
The bad news is that before the analog tracks come out the back of the player they are filtered which wipes out the DD that is modulated on the signal. That's why you need a specifically made RF/DD jack on the back.
BTW, I picked up a cheap LD player at work a few years ago and tried to do my own RF out circuit. Got the demod to synch but no audio. So much for do-it-yourself. I was just goofing with it anyway so I was mostly happy that it almost worked and I didn't destroy the player.

 

[Wayne McRae]

Thanks for all the good info Seth.

 

[Charlie Essmeier]

The guys at Precision Laserdisc (Link Removed) used to offer upgrade kits for most pre-Dolby Digital laserdisc players. They used to sell for $75 or so. I installed one in my Pioneer Elite CLD-97 about three years ago and it has worked well. Typically, you only need to drill a small hole in the case, mount an RCA jack, and mount a postage stamp sized circuit board. They include instructions.
Their site is still up, but I have no idea if they still have the product in stock. Worth a check.
Charlie