Jaws Anniversary Edition vs. DTS Edition (1 Viewer)

[Scott Adam]

A few weeks ago, I purchased the Jaws "Anniversary Edition" DVD with the silver stripes on the top and bottom of the box cover, proclaiming it was Universal's Widescreen version; however, I had a feeling there was another version of this film with a DTS soundtrack, and like an idiot, bought the standard Anniversary Edition with a simple Dolby Digital soundtrack that sounds like ass; there is an OCCASIONAL surround effect or two; the rest of the sound is caught in the ENTIRE FRONT soundstage. Does anyone have the Jaws DTS version, and is it phenomenally better on audio?

"Farewell and a-do to you fair Spanish ladies....farewell and a-do you ladies of Spain...."
-Robert Shaw, "Jaws"

 

[Francois Caron]

I'd be surprised if the DTS version was any better than the DD version. The movie was originally recorded in MONO.

 

[Scott Adam]

Thank You Francois...

That makes sense; I cant help, though, to think that they must have done something significant in the DTS remaster to warrant another version to be sold...DTS, in my particular system, sounds TREMENDOUSLY better than standard DD...Fast and the Furious, U571, Gladiator---I can name numerous discs that sound much better in DTS than DD. So I was thinking Jaws would be much of the same improvement...

 

[Eric Meske]

I haven't heard the Dolby track, but I assume there isn't too much difference between the DTS and Dolby.
The worst part is that the original mono is not included on either version. The DTS (and I assume, the new Dolby) track has re-recorded sound effects that, if you're as familiar with the film as I am, really sound out of place. And the score is really the only thing that shows up in the surround channels. Like Scott mentioned, it's very front-heavy.

 

[Simon Young]

Well, I've read numerous reports that the DTS is superior. It was the first DTS disc I ever heard, and the music blew me away. If the DD sounds weak, then I'd suggest trying the DTS one. It will never sound as good as a new 5.1 mix, but for a remixed mono track it sounds pretty impressive. I'd still have liked the original track included, but such is life.

 

[Scott Adam]

What is with everyone's fascination with old films' mono soundtracks? I have one DVD in my collection with such a soundtrack---The Amityville Horror--and I HATE it (the sound, that is)....everything coming from the center channel? Yuck! Why does everyone enjoy old films in mono?

 

[Scott Adam]

Eric,

What kind of sound effects on the Jaws disc sound out of place? Are they really that noticeable?

 

[RobertR]

Why does everyone enjoy old films in mono?

It may be incomprehensible to you, but some of us enjoy all time classics such as Citizen Kane, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Casablanca, Dr. Strangelove, and The Adventures of Robin Hood in their original sound format, and we happen to think that sound emanating from all six speakers is not the overriding basis for deciding how good a film is.

 

[CraigF]

What is with everyone's fascination with old films' mono soundtracks? I have one DVD in my collection with such a soundtrack---The Amityville Horror--and I HATE it (the sound, that is)....everything coming from the center channel? Yuck! Why does everyone enjoy old films in mono?

Because that is how the films were made and were meant to be heard. It's the same reason we want OAR. We don't *mind* an updated 5.1 etc. mix, as long as the original is included. Anyway, don't be fooled by Dolby 5.1 etc in many older films, they're usually not much better than mono, or maybe than stereo, and sound as fake/unnatural as early stereo music recordings. Dolby 5.1 means *up to* 5.1 discrete channels...one discrete channel falls under that description!

 

[Eric Meske]

The one that sticks out the most off the top of my head is Jaws busting through the cabin of the boat at the end. The glass breaking sounds quite different from the original track.

It's really not bad, just different. Someone who hasn't seen the film that much probably will not notice the difference. Someone who has seen Jaws many times like myself notices it right away.

And that's the biggest reason to include the original mono track is to hear the film as I've heard it many times before, without the "pumped-up" sound effects. That is how I came to love Jaws, and I would like to have that preserved. MGM's version of The Terminator did this correctly by including the new Dolby track with newly recorded effects, but also presented the mono track for history's sake if nothing else.


And ditto to what Robert and Craig said.

 

[Scott Adam]

"It may be incomprehensible to you, but some of us enjoy all time classics such as Citizen Kane, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Casablanca, Dr. Strangelove, and The Adventures of Robin Hood in their original sound format, and we happen to think that sound emanating from all six speakers is not the overriding basis for deciding how good a film is."

Well, all well and good...but there has to be more to it than that....what do you actually enjoy about all the directional activity coming from right in front of you, either above or below the screen? I understand the irrelevant issues of sound effects and timing in six channel surround with regard to the films you mentioned above---that is pretty obvious and understandable. But what is it about the mono sound you actually enjoy? It doesnt sound all that "rich" to me---forget about surround effects of any kind...and its not "incomprehensible" to me as you say...I am a very open minded person, and was only asking a question out of curisoity. Nothing is really incomprehensible to me.

 

[Scott Adam]

"Because that is how the films were made and were meant to be heard. It's the same reason we want OAR. We don't *mind* an updated 5.1 etc. mix, as long as the original is included. Anyway, don't be fooled by Dolby 5.1 etc in many older films, they're usually not much better than mono, or maybe than stereo, and sound as fake/unnatural as early stereo music recordings. Dolby 5.1 means *up to* 5.1 discrete channels...one discrete channel falls under that description!"

In my opinion, there was a period where I hadn't heard a DVD soundtrack from an older film that was not improved through a 5.1 remix---but this is my opinion only. And, you are correct---I HAVE indeed been fooled many times by so called 5.1 mixes from older films -- John Carpenter's The Fog and Halloween come to mind here -- where it really sounds no better than a stereo mix or even a mono mix...Jaws, The Fog, Halloween, Christine...all films I have experienced which dont sound all that hot in their so-called "Dolby 5.1 remix"...BUT they do add an occasional surround effect every now and then, and sometimes the creepy score from these films come through in surround, and I think that makes a difference over mono...

 

[Scott Adam]

"The one that sticks out the most off the top of my head is Jaws busting through the cabin of the boat at the end. The glass breaking sounds quite different from the original track.

It's really not bad, just different. Someone who hasn't seen the film that much probably will not notice the difference. Someone who has seen Jaws many times like myself notices it right away.

And that's the biggest reason to include the original mono track is to hear the film as I've heard it many times before, without the "pumped-up" sound effects. That is how I came to love Jaws, and I would like to have that preserved. MGM's version of The Terminator did this correctly by including the new Dolby track with newly recorded effects, but also presented the mono track for history's sake if nothing else.


And ditto to what Robert and Craig said."

Well, I guess I can understand this. Being bitten by the surround bug, however, I am constantly on the lookout for the latest over-the-top effects bonanza on these discs; I am a DTS freak, admitted and self-absorbed; if there is a DTS track on a disc, I wont even think TWICE about running the disc in standard DD....

I never really played a film back in its mono form when it was a choice on a disc; "The Amityville Horror" is the only DVD I own with a mono only soundstage. Here is a question for you mono guys: is there a way to "force" a mono soundtrack into some kind of surround mode on the receiver? When I try this with my Onkyo TX SR600 while running The Amityville Horror, I get a message across the receiver's screen that reads: "NOT AVAILABLE WITH THIS SIGNAL"...the only mode I can play the DVD in is mono, or stereo...it will actually let me run the film in 2 channel stereo, but that doesnt sound all that hot, either...is there a way to force a mono soundtrack into simulated, artificial surround?

 

[CraigF]

Scott, I forgot to mention that usually I *do* have sound coming out of all my speakers with a mono mix. Just like the theaters then didn't have one speaker in the front center of the room. I don't know what your receiver/processor can do, but mine can direct mono to all speakers or stereo to all appropriate speakers. Sometimes you have to play with this once you know the soundtrack: I often convert some so-called 5.1 mixes to 7 channel "stereo" (or Logic 7), sounds better to me when all the "5.1" sound is at the front...strictly personal taste and my mood at time of viewing. And yeah, dts for me too!

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Just like the theaters then didn't have one speaker in the front center of the room.

This is incorrect.

Virtually all theatres back then used only the center speaker stack for films in mono. The same goes for today - for example, Woody Allen films (which are mono, for the most part) play back in Dolby Digital or DTS out of the center speaker only. That's how mono films are supposed to be played, both in theatres and at home.

 

[Scott Adam]

Craig,

Thats sort of what I was getting at in my last post, where I try and force The Amityville Horror's mono soundtrack into my Onkyo's ALL CHANNEL STEREO mode, but it wont let me--it says "NOT AVAILABLE WITH THIS SIGNAL" when I try and do that...I can only run this film in mono or stereo...and stereo sounds weird, too, with dialogue coming from the main left and rights...

When you guys talk about "mono" I think you mean watching the film with ALL SOUNDS AND DIALOGUE coming from ONLY the center channel...thats how my Amityville Horror plays back....

 

[Scott Adam]

"Virtually all theatres back then used only the center speaker stack for films in mono. The same goes for today - for example, Woody Allen films (which are mono, for the most part) play back in Dolby Digital or DTS out of the center speaker only. That's how mono films are supposed to be played, both in theatres and at home."

This is what I thought, Peter. Can a film be DTS and still come through as mono??

 

[Scott Adam]

So, all in all fellas, do you non-mono diehard types recommend me trying the Jaws DTS DVD over the standard Dolby Digital-only version which I mistakenly purchased? Do you think the sound effects and music score would present a DRAMATIC difference on this film between DD and DTS? Someone suggested the music was TREMENDOUSLY better on the DTS version and blew him away; or should I just stick with the DD mix?

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Can a film be DTS and still come through as mono??

Yes, if that's the way it was recorded. Dolby Digital and DTS can provide *up to* five (or more, with the various ES/EX formats) channels of discrete sound.

 

[Paul_Scott]

one thing i noticed with the DTS version of Jaws more so than the DD version, was how much at odds the limited fidelity of the dialouge was with the new sweetened and polished foley effects.
the analog characteristics clashed more with the digital characteristics of the music and sound effects.
i'm not a big fan of either version here.
like some others, i've watched Jaws at least 50 times, and most of those were in the theater.
there are many sounds that are too pumped up, completely left out or just plain off( i really miss the sound of the sharks snout slipping against the hull as he rams it after Quints Indianapolis story- now its just a dull thudding sound), that is a disappointment that isn't mitigated by the capabilities of this new technology.
i actually like the 5.1 Superman. its also way at odds with the original in some places, but it really is creative and artistically inspired, and just plain fun, in its own right.
i don't get that with Jaws.
the work here just sounds 1/2 hearted and sort of only half-baked.

the music sound a bit better (sometimes the levels seem off though) but i'm really glad i only paid $7.50 for it (thru CH)