Pink Floyd The Wall (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Larkin]

I searched for info on this title but didn't turn anything up.

Comments on transfer, sound quality, extras?

 

[Dan Keefe]

Transfer is good, extras are ok

BUT the sound is Awesome!! I have this title and the sound alone makes it worth the purchase.

Dan

 

[Matt Butler]

What Dan said. I thought the transfer was Good but the 5.1 will blow you away!!

And it has the deleted Hey You sequence that was missing from the film.

 

[Brett_B]

Here are a couple of reviews to look at:
http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews...the_wall.shtml
http://www.dvdfile.com/software/revi...oydthewall.htm
If you liked the movie and are a Pink Floyd fan you will not be disappointed.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The only negative comment I have about this disc is that the scene selection method is useless and there was no enclosed chapter list to make up for it. When that's the biggest complaint, you know you are looking at a great disc package. Sound (both mixes) and extras are stellar. Picture is very good.

Regards,

 

[Patrick Larkin]

On the sound, I see it is listed as having a DD 5.1 track and a PCM 2.0 track.

How does one listen to the 2.0 track? With receiver in Dolby Surround mode? I hate watching movies with no center channel.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Patrick,

It is a PCM 2.0 surround mix, so you will have to manually turn on your pro-logic decoding. The DD5.1 mix is extraordinary, however, and the trade-offs due to compression are slight, IMHO.

Regards,

 

[SteveA]

I disagree about the 5.1 mix being spectacular. I found it to be so-so, at best. The LFE track is not smoothly integrated with the rest of the channels. Listen to the bass in "Don't Leave Me Now" and you'll hear what I'm talking about. The bass sounds very artificial and disconnected from the rest of the music.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Don't forget the terrific commentary track featuring Roger Waters. He's actually a very funny guy. Who knew? Listening to it is like seeing an entirely different movie.

 

[Steve Simm]

I think the quality- sound and picture is great.

 

[Duane M Davis]

I wish they would release Roger Waters The Wall Live in Berlin. It probably the closest we'll ever get to seeing the original concerts. They filmed them, but apparently, they were disastrous. I have it on Laser, but I'd love to replace it.

 

[Luke_Khuc]

pink floyd - the wall is my most favorite dvd music video. i can watch the entire dvd without skipping any song.

---------

my music video dvd collection:

alice in chains - music bank

alice in chains - unplugged

eagles - hell freezes over

enigma - remember the future

madonna - madonna (i know i know)

mtv 20 - collection set

ozzy osbourne - live and loud

pink floyd - the wall

smashing pumpkins - greatest hits video collection

 

[Dean DeMass]

madonna - madonna (i know i know)

Whats wrong with Madonna? I think her music and her sexiness has gotten better with age.

As far as The Wall goes, I love this DVD and if you are a Floyd fan, there is no reason why you should not own this DVD. I forgot about the commentary. I will have to listen to it soon.
My music DVDs include:
The Wall
NIN - And All That Could Have Been: DTS (My fav)
Tool - Salival
Rage Against the Machine - The self titled DVD and The Battle of Mexico City
Dave Matthews - Listener Supported
Beastie Boys - Video Anthology
Metallica - Cunning Stunts
The Grateful Dead - Ticket to New Years and View From the Vault
Stone Temple Pilots - Core (DVD Audio)
Planet Drum - Indoscrub
-Dean-

 

[Rich Malloy]

How does one listen to the 2.0 track? With receiver in Dolby Surround mode? I hate watching movies with no center channel.

It's thread resurrection time!
I watched this for the first time in awhile last night, but before I settled in I took the time to sample the DD5.1 vs. uncompressed PCM track (in various speaker permutations for the latter). I'm sure things will be somewhat different from system to system, but this is what I've found to best:
First, both tracks are excellent. One might have hoped for a DTS surround track, but the DD and PCM are mighty fine. Either way you go you're not likely to be disappointed.
From the perspective of the music reproduction, the PCM track offers a not considerable but easily noticeable improvement in detail and timbre. The DD5.1 mix is quite good, but it certainly lacks the immediacy and presence of the uncompressed PCM track.
I found that using a surround decoding for the PCM track was better than straight stereo, providing a nicely ambient surround experience. However, the center channel was very problematic in my system, causing the front soundstage to collapse to the middle too much for my tastes. I greatly preferred running in phantom mode and taking the center channel speaker out of the mix entirely. This opened up the soundstage considerably, providing the very best playback of the music portions (at least on my system).
For dialog, it was slightly better to have the center back in the mix, but not so much as to be problematic (especially if one is occupying the sweet spot). The directional aspects of the DD-5.1 mix, mostly "sound effects" and the like, are impressive, but I found the music a tad anemic in DD.
I wonder if anyone else has a similar preference?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I wonder if anyone else has a similar preference?

I do.

The 5.1 track is very good and has an advantage with the directionality of sound effects such as bombs falling and such, but overall, I prefer to listen to the PCM track with pro-logic decoding engaged because of the noticeable (though not extreme) improvement in musical fidelity. For some reason, I frequently have to drop my center channel 2-3dB when decoding for pro-logic from PCM sources versus DD2.0. This has shown up on tests with an SPL meter, not just in my ears, but I don't really know why.

Regards,

 

[Kevin M]

As with many comparisons of matrix-surround PCM vs. discreet DD or DTS 5.1, it is really a trade off on fidelity vs. spatiality and although the DD track is very serviceable and absolutely has a nice open soundstage I too prefer the surround encoded PCM tracks as they have more to offer the fidelity of the music...and for me that is what makes The Wall what it is.
When I show a comparison to my friends I always use the transition from the maid in the beginning knocking on Pink's door to the concert goers breaking down the stadium gates...the bass hit as this happens is good on both tracks but it has an extra punch in PCM.
Also I use the "Goodbye Blue Skies" sequence because the difference in the High end and Bass between PCM & DD is very apparent.

 

[Rich Malloy]

I'm glad to hear I'm not alone, as a quick perusal of the DVD review sites today hardly mentioned the PCM track (but had great, and IMO deserving praise for the DD-5.1 track).

Kevin, I find that going "phantom" in PCM mode provides the same "spatiality" as the DD-5.1 track, and actually sounds even a bit more open to my ears. The directionality of many of the sound effects is lost, however, but if you ask me I think some of those are a tad overcooked anyway. And I used the same examples you cite for comparison (and also the extended "Empty Spaces"). I was pleased to find that the "Hey You" outtake was also encoded in PCM and DD-5.1... I found my preference for the PCM to hold true for this tune, as well.

Ken, that's interesting what you found about reducing the level output of the center channel in PCM mode. I didn't even think of that, but perhaps that's a good compromise to going "phantom". Hmmmm....

 

[Kevin M]

Whenever I hear excuses as to why DVD space issues limit more widespread use of PCM on other titles I always use The Wall as the perfect example of how, with proper encoding, you can fit a nice PCM track along with other soundtracks onto DVD without drastically compromising the image quality.
...what do you want to bet there will eventually be a Superbit version of this title without the PCM track?

 

[richardWI]

I haven't heard the 5.1 mix yet, but the disc is great and includes lots of great extras. Waters commentary is one of the most entertaining I've heard, and it's fairly informative.
Is there a thread for most best commentary tracks?

 

[Gary->dee]

I just want to echo(!) that this is a great disc. I especially like how they use songs from the different eras of Floyd for the menus. It's all done in a very sophisticated manner. The 2 part documentary was cool and informative. I still haven't listened to the commentary track but I will soon!