Blackhawk Down Superbit DTS

[bgillyjcu]

Watched this last night and I was a little disappointed. I was expecting amazing picture and a soundtrack that was steller!

My first experience with a Superbit and to me it was only a LITTLE bit better in PQ compared to other regular DVD's (I didn't do a head to head comparision between the regular blackhawk and the superbit). Don't know if I think it was worth the extra cash.

Also the DTS soundtrack was impressive as far as the surround sound goes, but I thought there would be more PUNCH and BOOM to the bass during the gunfire and explosions. The explosions were big, but I thought with a movie like this they would litterally ROCK my room considering I'm running a PB-12NSD in a small to med sized room.

Batman Begins DD and JP DTS both had way more PUNCH and BOOM to the bass in the movies when I watched them recently on the same exact system and setup.


a side note....the DTS soundtrack for Bad Boys superbit was VERY VERY VERY WEAK in the bass department too.

[thehun]

Perhaps your expectation was based on unfounded claims that DTS somehow magically changes the soundtrack on it's own. I own both the 3 disc special edition, and the SB version. Both are outstanding soundwise. True bass lays with the Black Hawks helicopters.
{Irene} ;) Your SVS just can't do justice to it. It is below it's tuning point.

[hdtvpros]

Perhaps your expectation was based on unfounded claims that DTS somehow magically changes the soundtrack on it's own. I own both the 3 disc special edition, and the SB version. Both are outstanding soundwise. True bass lays with the Black Hawks helicopters.
{Irene} ;) Your SVS just can't do justice to it. It is below it's tuning point.

Ditto.

[bgillyjcu]

The helicopters def. had the stongest bass repsonse I'll agree.

But what do you mean its below the tuning point.

This sub is tuned down to 18hz and probably even lower considering the room gain.

[Greybeard191]

the "f***ing Irene" scene has renowned bass (from the beat frequency of the rotor blades) which pulses in the 5-7 hz range. That's below the tuning frequency of almost any ported or PR'd sub.

GB

[bgillyjcu]

5-7 HZ HOLY CRAP

How the hell am I supposted to get a sub that can handle THAT! LOL

[thehun]

The helicopters def. had the stongest bass repsonse I'll agree.

But what do you mean its below the tuning point.

This sub is tuned down to 18hz and probably even lower considering the room gain.

Don't confuse tuning with room gain.The tuning is a function of the box, and room gain depends on the room size parameters. It remains independent from the sub box design.
The Irene scene has a fundamental around 10hz at loud levels, which could bottom out the woofer, which could lead to damage.

[thehun]

5-7 HZ HOLY CRAP

How the hell am I supposted to get a sub that can handle THAT! LOL

Go with many sealed ones. :)

[bgillyjcu]

5-7 is something I'll never attain

[Legairre]

While 5-7 isn't doable for me either my Hsu VTF-3 HO turbo gets down to around 12Hz in room and during the the Irene scene you really get some serious air moving and yes the room is rocking. This movie kicks butt especially on Irene.

Another great scene is from Revolutions when Neo speakes to the machine city. Bass all the way down to 5Hz when the machine speaks and you really feel it from the amount of air being moved. Also try the waterball explosion at the end of the movie, lots of presaure here too.

[PooperScooper]

My first experience with a Superbit and to me it was only a LITTLE bit better in PQ compared to other regular DVD's (I didn't do a head to head comparision between the regular blackhawk and the superbit). Don't know if I think it was worth the extra cash. Superbit is only a little bit better and you may not be able to tell the difference unless you have a "big" screen or know what to look for. It's just a higher bitrate encoding. Most Superbits are not made from new "masters". www.videophile.info has some good examples (comparisons) of what the differences are between Superbit and non-Superbit.

larry

[jacksonian]

Go with many sealed ones. :)
So are you guys saying that a sealed sub could get down lower to the 5-7Hz range better than a ported or PR sub?

[Greybeard191]

So are you guys saying that a sealed sub could get down lower to the 5-7Hz range better than a ported or PR sub?

yes... with the caveat that I think the poster above said "many sealed subs" :)

The basic premise is that beneath the tuning frequency of a ported or PR'd sub, the driver is essentially "unloaded". At this point, you can do serious damage to a driver... looking at any sub simulation software of the excursion of a ported driver will show you that the excursion of such a driver goes up, WAY up, once you drive it with a lower frequency than the tuning frequency of the box. This is why most retail ported subs include a high pass filter as part of the amps circuitry (blocks frequencies below tuning frequency).

Sealed subs are more protected from this by the air spring in the box.

Back to the caveat... to get impessive levels of output at 5-7 hz, you will need multiple sealed drivers, some kind of EQ (Linkwitz transform or something like it) and a lots of power. At least it's achieveable.

GB

[jacksonian]

Thanks for the explanation Greybeard. I ask because I'm trying to decide on a sub upgrade to either the
1) Definitive Technology Trinity (Two 14" long-throw SuperCube Technology subwoofers coupled to four 14" infrasonic radiators with 2000W amp)
2) JL Audio Fathom f113 (sealed 13" driver with 2500W amp)

And Irene is my favorite all time demo scene. I have one dealer about an hour away who carries both and I plan to go listen, but wanted to gather as much info as possible before making the trip.

[thehun]

Well we don't know which FR point the DT's PRs are tuned too to determine it's real useful response. Don't bother with the published figures they mean nothing without knowing the method it was obtained.
As for the Fathom you would need at least 2 to obtain to close to reference levels accross the board.