How low do DVD movie soundtracks go??? (1 Viewer)

[GrahamJW]

Hi:

I was wondering how low movie sound tracks go on DVDs? I have a Paradigm PDR 10 which I believe goes down to 27 Hz. I was wondering if movie sound tracks on DVDs go below this frequency, and if so, how low do they go. I understand this is a budget subwoofer, so if movie tracks do go lower would I have to upgrade to an expensive subwoofer to get lower frequencies, if DVD movie sound tracks do indeed go significantly lower than 27Hz.

Cheers

John

 

[Robb Roy]

John,

More and more movies are going lower and louder (definitely below the 27Hz mark). Some action movies like the new Star Wars flicks and the LOTR movies dip into subsonic ranges. To view some waterfall charts of just how low and loud some materal goes, there's a thread on this forum and SVS Subwoofers has a List of bass demos that has links to waterfall charts as well.

-Robb

 

[GrahamJW]

Hi Robb:

Interesting waterfall charts in some of those threads. I didn't realize that there are some single digit frequencies. For what it's worth, I use to be a movie projectionist in a mega plex theatre and from what I can gather from my conversations with the sound technicians the subs in the mega complexes only went into the 30 Hz to 40 Hz range. That was about 3 to 5 years ago, so I am not sure what the subs in the multiplexs can do now. Purhaps another reason that home theatre sound is superior over the mega plex stuff. Although, I still love going to the movies. Anyway, some interesting stuff Robb.

Cheers..John

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I can't explain this quite right, but I heard once that ~40 Hz is the "sweet" spot for what people *perceive* to be strong deep bass, so that makes sense that movie theaters would have tried to at least get to those values.

 

[LanceJ]

"Deep" bass is subjective.

And the need for bass that can crack windows & cause physical discomfort is questionable.

LJ

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I can't explain this quite right, but I heard once that ~40 Hz is the "sweet" spot for what people *perceive* to be strong deep bass, so that makes sense that movie theaters would have tried to at least get to those values.

This is a common roll-off point for pro-audio subs (which I assume is what the theaters use). Getting appreciably below that point at the sound levels they need gets extremely difficult and expensive – exponentially larger cabinets/power requirements.

Then there is the situation of subsonic frequencies bleeding into adjacent theaters. It’s pretty remarkable to me that they’re able to contain 35-40Hz as well as they do.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Jai]

From a guy that has been only able to hear 40 cycles and up for the past few years,my new SVS has changed my LIFE! If you are after a HT sub it needs to be able to hit 20hz with decent output or you are wasting money IMHO

 

[Vincent_S]

I agree with Jai. Except that I believe a sub should hit at least 25hz.

 

[Rick Ewing]

Indeed. My stepfather has a Infinity BU-150 which I recently got out the ol' Rat Shack meter and tested it. Its wimpy amp and 12 inch driver only managed 35 hz before it rolled off like a cliff. Well hell, my Rocket 750s will do that with no subwoofer help and the rollout is more gradual. The sub is not completely worthless since his mains only are good to 50 hz and the satellites aren't much good below 100 hz, but clearly for $400, he could have bought a better sub.

 

[LanceJ]

.......but clearly for $400, he could have bought a better sub.

But what LEVELS was the Infinity able to achieve? Not that bad I'll bet (I'll admit I'm biased--I like Infinity's stuff!). Going low and loud is an expensive combination. For four hundred clams they could have made it go down to 20 or even 15Hz.......but it would have such a low output all across its range it would have only been suitable for a room the size of a walk-in closet.

And sharp roll-offs are a natural function of bass-reflex speakers (unless Infinity installed a filter to prevent the small amp from overloading prematurely). This is the point at which the port's bass waves and the woofer cone's waves are 180 degrees out of phase with each other and everything cancels out. This is one reason I like acoustic-suspension (sealed) subs/speakers: their bass just sloooooowly fades out. That's one reason why small sealed speakers can have such good bass response, the only drawback being they need more power to operate.

Ever heard any pair of Cerwin-Vegas with a 10", 12", or 15" woofer? Relatively speaking, they don't go as low as many subwoofers with those same size woofers, but those things put out some very clean & very powerful bass, even with only a small receiver driving them.

Same with the Klipsch LaScalas I heard once at frat party. They were driven by a 50watt/channel McIntosh tube amp and while their bass rolls off around 50Hz, ohmagawd those things hit soooo hard in that living room (their house looked almost indentical to the one in Animal House). It was almost scary to feel that kind of power. And totally devoid of distortion. But to make them get down to 20Hz, AND to that same loudness level, would require a huge bass horn and the price would go into the stratosphere (I think the Klipschorn goes down to 32Hz and look how large it is.....and remember, the walls of your room actually make up the rest of its bass "horn").

In the Land of Bass, there is no free lunch.

LJ

 

[terence]

Okay i can't hold it in anymore! I have to tell you guys this so you will be in for a real treat!

I have a family member who works in the movie industry and sometimes i will get lucky if he thinks of me, he will send me earliy DVD relesases. DVD 9 with DD & dts tracks! He sent me Matrix Reloaded, Finding Nemo and X-2. I have had MR for two weeks now and all have to say is you are in for some serious BASS that pushes the envelope on DVD soundtracks! From the very first chapter to the ending credits, some might think the LFE is cooked on the MR, but Damn the bass is loud and clean and very, very, very DEEP (20hz-??hz) in a lot of sence.

Finding Nemo has and excellent soundtrack as well Pixar does again. The chapter when the topedo hits the mine feild is crazy! The chapter when the sub slides off the cliff. This chapter will test your sub and house integrity, when Darla is tapping on the fish tank in the dentist office.

X-2 has some subsonic bass but nothing like the MR & Finding Nemo. You guys will definatly be blowed away with these two. Now if i can get my hands on The Hulk!

 

[Keir H]

Terence, you are so lucky dude! Will MR finally have a dts track on it? Will X-2? I dont think PIxar ever had dts though...just DD-EX which is pretty good however. dts would be awesome for all those tracks.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

, whereas the range of Dolby Surround’s single surround channel is limited (100 Hz – 7,000 Hz). This further heightens realism and gives sound mixers more creative freedom.

In addition, Dolby Digital’s multiple discrete channels enable more sharply-delineated spatial effects, and its ".1" LFE track makes it possible to reproduce low bass effects with stunning impact (twice as loud as the other channels).

So, Dolby Digital programs can deliver surround sound with five discrete full-range (20 Hz – 20,000 Hz) channels—left, center, right, left surround, and right surround—plus a sixth channel for those powerful low-frequency effects (LFE) that are felt more than heard in movie theaters.

If your HT/family room can support the occasional 20 Hz Fast LFE SPL peaks between 105 dB (-10 below REF Level) to 115 dB (REF Level) @ your 'sweet spot', then you'll feel the sub-sonic floor, couch, wall, pant-leg air moving LFE when called for by your blockbuster DVD's!!!

Phil

 

[terence]

Will MR finally have a dts track on it?

Sorry Keir H, only X-2 will feature a dts track when released. Maybe Finding Nemo will have a dts track on the very special edition. For some reason the DVD screeners he sent me all have dts & DD 5.1 tracks on them. Strange that they won't release MR in dts. I don't think WB has ever released a DVD in dts, but on this screener it has both DD & dts. Now the downside is the MR DVD i have has no special features ecept movie trailers for other movies that are not out yet, and it has every subtitle language under sun. it's bare bones probaly do to both muti-ch soundtracks. Play Movie, sence Selections, Language and sneek peeks. That's it so if i want all the x-tra stuff i will have buy the one that comes out in 2 weeks.

The same goes for FN and X-2, oh well can't have it all.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I realize that WB does not support DTS, but if I am not mistaken. I have four WB dvd's that have DTS soundtracks on them. It is pathetic that Matrix Reloaded will not have a DTS sound track. I am however waiting for MR to comeout soon on dvd.

DTS DVD's from WB
Twister
Lethal Weapon 1-3 Directors Cut

The sad thing is that WB decided not to give LW 4 the DTS treatment or put out a directors cut even after doing it for LW 1 - 3.

I am jazzed about the X2 coming out in DTS and will grab that one as soon as it is released.

New DVD Releases that I am looking forward to,

X- Men 2 DTS
Indiana Jones Trilogy DD Only
Lion King DD Only
LOTR: The Two Towers EE DTS
Matrix Reloaded DD Only
Terminator 3 DD Only
Tomb Raider 2 DD Only
Pirates Of The Carabean DD Only

Get a clue movie studios, you release motion pictures in more than one format for the theaters! Give us the choice on dvd.

 

[terence]

I have four WB dvd's that have DTS soundtracks on them.

You are right i have one of those (Twister) you mention, and it does have an dts 5.1 track.

 

[Vaughan Odendaal]

Hi terence,

Is there any low bass in the MR fight scenes? I enjoyed the first Matrix for its low bass in those type of scenes.Punches and kickes always gave such a nice deep thump.

Is it the same with MR? Is there bass deep in scenes like the burly brawl fight? Maybe you could expound on the deep bass.

 

[Vaughan Odendaal]

I can't wait to hear the burly brawl at serious output levels.Just another two weeks until the dvd release.