Audio Tier Thread - Page 9  

Agreed.

Bolt DTS-HD MA Tier 0

Bolt (DTS-MA) tier 0

Great all around track, but not quite up to the animation king (IMO) KFP. A few missed sound spots and detail was not quite reference level, but these are minor complaints and this was a great track overall and solid tier 0 IMO. The opening scene is fantastic!

Agree with Toe on Bolt's AQ. Seems the sound stage gets a nice boost every tiime the movie switches to the Bolt series.

Twilight (DTS HD MA) Tier 1


Not much here to recommend much like with the movie itself. Bland mix with occasional dialog unintelligibility. Ok dynamics and mostly good balance. Not much surround activity or LFE.

Quantum of Solace (DTS-MA 5.1) Tier 0

Excellent sounding BD but to me it is just short of reference. Dialogue was excellent, even with som nuch action going n (there was actually one part that I didn't make out what was said), surround use was very good and LFE was minimal, but when used was done well, especially towards the end with blown up building.

Loved the movie

Punisher War Zone (DTS-MA 7.1) - Tier 0

Agree with everyones comments. Good LFE, booming at times. Good directionality with surround use throughout. Some occational discrete sounds, glass braking. I even learned how to fix a broken nose.


Predator 2 U.K. release (DTS-MA 5.1) - Tier 2

I haven't had any change in equipment or settings. I watched 2 other blu-rays last night before watching this one. When I first watched this movie I was able to hear surround use but it was difficult to distinguish since the sound from the center channel was over -powering it. There was a lot more than just dialogue coming from the center channel. The sound from the center was so loud at times (during action sequences) that is was annoying. After watching 3/4 of the movie I decreased the calibration level of the center channel by 4.0 dB which made a world of difference. It was like watching a different movie. The surrounds were easily heard. Good directionality and some discrete sounds (glass breaking, footsteps, rain/water). LFE was weak except in the voodoo sequence in the beginning of the movie. Dialogue was clear even with the decrease in the center channel level. At times the dialogue sounded a bit tinney/hollow.

It will be interesting to see if the U.S. release will sound different. This was released by Fox in the U.K.

Quantum of Solace (DTS-MA 5.1) - Tier 0

Dialoogue was clear. Overall sound quality was clear and crisp. Surround use was frequent. LFE was present but IMHO I felt it could have been better even in the action sequences. There was occasional directionality, few if any discrete sounds. There wasn't any one particular scene that stood out for me. I don't feel it belongs in reference compared to the others already in that category.

From Dusk Till Dawn Canadian release (DTS-MA 5.1) - Tier 1

Good surround use with some directionality which is especially good once they get to that "special bar" in Mexico. LFE was good but could have been better. Dialogue was clear throughout.

Checked out Quantum this weekend and while a very good mix, it does fall short of reference. I was actually amazed with the sound quality on the BD as I specifically went to a digital theater during it's showing and was underwhelmed by the audio. Well it was much better experience at home.

I give high scores to the bass when it was called upon, the mix of the music score and the dialogue was generally excellent. I will say I was suprised there wasn't as much directional presence as i'd expect and quite honestly I felt the clarity/resolution was not on the level of some of the best mixes i've heard. Short of that it was an excellent presentation. Solid Tier 0.

Mirrors (DTS HD MA) Tier 0

Typical "horror jumps scare mix" however without the "getting old tension bass" that frequently employed in mixes like this. Bass while mostly "accurate" it tends to be inconsistent in the final climax. Surrounds are active and believable though falls short of the best. Dialog is always intelligible and balance is spot on. A solid effort.

Quantum of Solace (DTS HD MA) - Tier 0
I agree with the posts here. It has great LFE, dialogue is clear, and the surrounds are used effectively, but it still seems there is something missing that prevents it from being moved up to Reference. Great movie, great picture, and great sound though!!

Quantum of Solace (DTS-MA) tier 0

I agree with most of what has been said in the tier 0 votes for this track. Solid all around track and I dont really have any complaints, but nothing stood out to me as exceptional. Although there were some awesome sound moments, there are a LOT of other discs I would turn to for "demo" material before this one.

Casino Royale (PCM) Reference

I might be in the minority here, BUT I found this PCM track which I watched right before Quantum to be a notch more impressive and worthy of reference status IMO. There are 3 standout audio moments in this film with my favorite coming at the end and I would use this to demo my system as it was very convincing. These 2 tracks are very similar as far as dialog (both are good), surround use (I would probably give the edge to CR by a hair), but LFE I found to be used a bit better in CR with a few truly WOW moments one of which was the end scene (which I mentioned) and one was during the airport sequence.

There was not a huge dif between these 2 tracks by any means, but certainly enough to my ears to be split a tier apart with CR being reference material IMHO.

Thanks Fanaticalism. If you ever need any help, I will try to assist you.

Transporter 3 (DTS HD MA 7.1) Tier 0

The only thing for me that took it down from reference is that "digital haze" sound around the dialog that kept me distracted throughout the film. It's not as bad as on Street Kings but it's easily heard nonetheless. Also the climatic train action scene had the music dialed up quiet a bit compared to the effect sounds, this gave it a 007 type mix, which was quiet the opposite of the style for the rest of the mix. I'm not quite made up my mind if it's a good thing or bad, but I figured I pointed it out anyway to see what you all think of that.

Chris Botti in Boston (DD-THD 7.1 24 Bit 96 Khz) – Top of Reference Quality just ahead of Divertimenti because the content is better

Stop the presses! I never thought a disc could surpass Divertimenti for audio quality. Well one finally has! This new Chris Botti disc is just stupid realistic. Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, Katharine Mcphee, and of course Botti have never sounded better.

The disc includes both 7.1 24 bit 96 Khz DD-THD and PCM tracks. I listened to both of them with some ERA Design 4, Design 3 speakers, a SVS PB-10 sub, a Rotel 5x100 amp, and the ASUS HDAV HDMI 1.3 card that can bitstream all codecs to a receiver from a computer.

This disc has a similar affect of absolutely putting you there on the stage like the Divertimenti disc does. However, the content on this disc is much more appealing. Especially the Katharine Mcphee song since this disc includes some pretty high quality video as well.

Overall this disc is as perfect as I have ever seen. It just doesn’t get any better unless you don’t like this type of music. However, who doesn’t like Sting?

If you don’t believe this disc could be that great then prove me wrong. Go out and buy or rent it from Netflix. You won’t be disappointed!

Bourne Ultimatum DTS-HD MA Reference

Reference with a capital R. This is the cream of the crop for me. The best of the best. Loved every single thing about the sound design. Lows, highs, ambiance, BU has it all.

The fight scene by the piano covers up any bone crunching with drum beats. And the fight in the garage also has the music dialed up too high. I had that same issue with the dialog, it was like someone shut of the mic the very second they finished speaking then turned it on for the next line. That's why I felt it was Tier 1. Plus I thought the bass was just overdone, it didn't really supplement anything it was just there.

I will check both those things out when I listen to this track again which will be soon since I liked this one enough to buy it which will happen Sun since it is 2 for 1 at Target I might have been too distracted by the vision blurring LFE the first time to notice this! I do remember VERY much liking the audio in the train scene, so I dont think I will find that to be a negative.

It REALLY is that good

The Matrix (Dolby TrueHD 5.1) Tier 0

I know I am in the minority here but I don't feel that The Matrix is reference, but is an excellent mix. For me, comparing it to the other movies currently in reference it just falls a bit short. Dialogue was excellent, surround excellent and LFE excellent but, to me, just under reference.

You mean to say the "Lobby Shooting Spree" can't go toe to toe with the best tracks in the reference level? Or the Kung Fu demo or the ship hovering(those things make the coolest buzz/hum noise ever, excluding the lightsaber).

Personally I think the mix on this one is 100% flawless. This is always the first disc I choose when I change any of my audio gear. This disc, Cloverfield, SPR, War of the Worlds and Episode 1(It still sounds good. Even for 2nd place)

The Rundown(DTS-MA) - Tier 0
This one sounded a lot better than I thought it would. Dynamics were good, directional effects were exciting, LFE is solid(doesn't dig super deep though), dialogue was good. Overall it's great, it's just nothing exceptional. I don't think this had the same mixing team as The Kingdom, this one had a great deal more creativity

I'm changing my vote on this one
Superman Returns(TrueHD/PCM) - Tier Reference
The mix on this one really is fantastic and the LFE is earth shaking. It's pretty close to perfect.

I thought the bass was spot on. On the music is too loud issue on the train, I forgot to mention that most of it came from the surround speakers, not from the front, like most music normally emanates from. Also the other fight scenes were more choreographed so maybe I was more distracted to notice the balance issue? It was a rental, so I can't go back and check, but I stand by my Tier 0 recommendation.

You not alone I voted the same way a few months back in the old thread, but I consider the other 2 Reference.




Nope! I think it is obnoxious actually the guns have that prop gun sound, they sound artificial to me. However on the chopper crash they used a freight train rushing by when the building started to make "waves". I thought that was pretty clever.

Cool! I never knew that.

Don't get me wrong, the Lobby shoot out scene was good, but not to the level of some other scenes from the movies in reference.

By the way, I have my wife and I have seen The Matrix on DVD and in HD through D* at least 50 times so we were surprised to see how much more we noticed with the BD.

For example, in the beginning, when Trinity goes through the window, without slowing the movie down I could clearly see that the stunt double was a man, confirmed after rewinding. When Smith and Neo are fighting in the subway, my wife caught that the pillar was already broken up just before Smith hit it and when Smith shoots the phone when Trinity goes back to real time, I never noticed the red wire between the broken handset.

We will be watching Reloaded this weekend.

Chronicles of Riddick (DTS-HD MA 5.1 ) Reference

Watched CoR a couple of nights ago. This one is truly a reference mix. From the opening scene all the way through to the end of the movie the AQ is top notch and comes through with deep bass, whizzing bullets in the surrounds, and lots of 360 pans. The dialog is also done well and very intelligible. CoR has been out for a long time on SD, but just in case someone hasn't seen it I'll try not to give anything away. There's just too many things that sound good in this movie, so I'll just describe a fews. Bass in really low and has a lot of punch whenever a huge thick door closes in a chamber, a ship passes by, or hovers overhead. Everything that should go boom does, and does it deep and loud. You really get the sense that a heavy door in a chamber hall is heavy, while from the surrounds you hear it echo the way a large chamber room would after a big door closes. There are several scenes with discrete sounds coming from the surrounds too, like when the quasi-dead speak while accessing Riddick's memories( you hear their voices going around the room from speaker to speaker). Whenever the Necromongers fire a pulse weapon you definitely feel that it has power and a kick to it. Also if you listen you can hear the ash falling around the room like snow when they are in the volcano field, kind of reminded me of that feeling of being in the woods while it's snowing. I don't want to give anything else away so I'll stop there. To me CoR has one of the best mixes I've heard in a long time.

Goldfinger (DTS-MA 5.1) - Tier 4

Sound is directed from the front with use of all 3 channels. The left and right fronts were used primarily in the action sequences. Surround use was limited. Surrounds were heard during an outdoor party scene in the beginning of the movie and scenes with airplane and helicopters (2 or 3 occasions). LFE was absent. Sounds of explosions and bullets were hollow and one-dimensional. Dialogue was clear throughout.

Moonraker (DTS-MA 5.1) - Tier 3

LFE was somewhat present giving it less of a hollow sound than Goldfinger. Sound was directed from the front with use of surrounds during some of the action sequences. There was directionality in the sequence with the gravitational machine. Surrounds were also used for ambience, birds, water, music. Crashes, bullets and other such sounds were slightly more dimensional but still greatly lacking in quality and dimension. Dialogue was clear.

Tell No One DD Tier 3

I took in the DD 5.1 track but the disc does offer a 2.0 PCM option. Mostly bland. Soundstage really only came alive when the score was heightened or a song played.
Great movie though.

The World is Not Enough (DTS-MA 5.1) - Tier 1

Surrounds were used throughout. LFE was present especially in the explosions but even in those scenes LFE could have been better. Nothing spectacular but nothing really negative, overall a pleasant experience.

Marley and Me (DTS-MA 5.1) - TIer 3

Dialogue driven movie with sound from the fronts. Little use of surrounds. LFE is appropriate for the material.