NEW Audio Tier Thread - Page 98

The way you have described this movie in question makes me feel almost certain that you are talking about THE GREY with Liam Neeson. If that is the case, I concur with your analysis and enthusiasm! This was a rare treat.

Also one of the best things I've ever heard, possibly THE BEST, is season four of BREAKING BAD on blu-ray -- not always churning with excess audio, but whatever is there is absolutely right in every respect -- room-filling, immersive, crystal clear.

You may laugh, but there are sounds which emanate in the action from higher up than where my speakers are positioned, and especially where the tweeters are, yet astonishingly seem to come from overhead. Example: action in back of truck. Sounds like you are riding in the back of the truck with two guys onscreen. Truck stops. You hear drilling sounding like it is coming from the top of the truck -- as if it were over your head! -- and as the camera follows the two fellows reacting within, they look to exactly where you heard that sound coming from -- where you don't even have any speakers! Amazing.

Hello,
Yes, pardon me you are correct! The Grey!

Just wondering as I want to get more of the reference sounding blu-rays...

Does it matter if I get a region A copy from Amazon US or a region B copy from Amazon UK?

I mean do different regions have different audio tracks?

In particular, I want to get Thor, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Real Steel and War Horse from Amazon UK - ie the region B version.

Hey Guy's
Wow this is practically a dead thread? Anyway I have not seen any mention of the new Sherlock Holmes, A game of shadows. DTS Master Audio 5.1, Reference. Amazing Deep sound!
Very encompassing and enjoyable. I thought the audio was one of the best so far this year.

Just got finished watching it. Without question one of the most refined listening experiences I have had in my home theater. While the sound effects are stunning, truly immersive, what is absolutelyamazing though is the score. It is really brilliant. Loved the whole experience. This one definitely belongs in reference.

Like clockwork, the posting traffic to this forum dies in the heat of summer. College kids disappear as they go home and everyone on the East coast is getting outside while they can. The PQ Tiers also sees a similar dip in traffic.

I think we should take time to work through the Unfinished Business list and start adding them to the "finished business" list. I know I haven't posted reviews in the past, but I'm willing to do it now. Who's with me?

Batman (1989) (Dolby TrueHD) - Tier 2

This placement was probably to be expected from a 23 year old track. Surrounds get nice use during musical numbers, but don't get used a lot during action sequences. Dialogue is easily understood. Nothing too exciting from the LFE end of the spectrum though. The Batmobile provides the only low-end punch, and even then it isn't much. Gunfire in Axis Chemicals sounded muffled as well, rather than flying around the sound space as would be expected from a higher rated track.

That being said, this was a childhood favorite and I enjoyed watching it again for this review!

We need some new movies to judge.

Is there a new audio rankings thread? Seems like this thread isn't as active as it once was...

It's a shame because it was good info!

I am anxious to hear how "The Avengers" sounds.

avengers imho was reference. great sound!!

also hunger games was close to ref as well...two great sounding movies!!

what happened to this thread?...hopefully people will start posting on a regular basis again...did the new forum software change scare people away?

I didn't leave per se but I watch far more content via streaming these days because it's convenient, and takes forever to receive the BD's {i want] from Netflix . Also till now was quiet busy with work as well.
Anyway,


Brave (Dolby THD 7.1) Reference

Pixar finally returned to it's pre- Wall E sound mix times, and produced a fantastic mix here.This is a reference from top to bottom as far as all technical aspects goes, from dialog, balance, dynamics surrounds coverage, and even sound design. Bass was excellent too. You will see some lone cries over at the bass chart thread at the subwoofer section claiming that the bass was weak, but that's just nonsense.Bass covers quiet a few audible octaves and complaining that below the very first one [below 16hz] there isn't much content, is well....... just missing the point. what is a good sound mix, and what it's purpose.
I did like Patrick Doyle's score as well, sort of like James Horner's Braveheart 's score.

Avengers( DTS HD MA) Reference

Frankly based on the Iron Man, Thor, and CA tracks I was expecting a reference track, and one will receive it IMO. If you have seen those films, then you know what to expect here. It's just flat out excels on every level, not an easy feat considering how busy the sound stage is most of the time.

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life thehun! I will throw out a few that I have watched recently...........

I agree with everything you said on Brave as I just watched this on Fri night. This was Pixar of old as far as the audio goes with non-conservative LFE that hit in all the right places with plenty of weight and impact. The surround track was exceptional.......yeah, this was up there with Nemo, Incredibles and Monsters Inc as far as sound design goes IMO. I also read those complaints in the bass thread and I made mention after I watched this that if this track was filtered, it must be the best damn filtered track ever! It did not sound or feel filtered to me at all. Seriously though, there was nothing lacking about this one from my perspective and I loved it!

Brave (TrueHD 7.1) Reference

Avengers (DTS-HD-MA) tier 0

Just going to copy and paste my post from Ralph's thread on this track...............I will say that this has to be the most controversial LFE track I have read about here at AVS. I fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes as far as this goes as I dont feel it was the train wreck that some did, but I certainly could tell the filter was in place and something was missing.

Even without seeing the nasty 30hz filter in the charts, I could tell the extension was not there on this track in relation to other tracks I have heard in my room like Battle LA, Tron, WotW, Cloverfield, TIH, Hannah, etc.......A lot of the LFE was very similar as well and this might also be the by-product of the 30hz filter. My subs and Buttkickers were just not pushed with the Avengers like they are with the better and best LFE tracks out there like the ones mentioned above. I watched Cabin in the Woods right after Avengers yesterday and that LFE track had noticeably better extension, output and variety. TIH is a natural comparison as well considering the Hulk is in this movie and there is no contest there.....TIH kills this track in every aspect as far as LFE is concerned (and otherwise). Having said that, I still enjoyed this track a lot from a LFE perspective and otherwise. This movie is loaded with bass and it hits pretty hard as well. Would love to hear it without the filter!

The rest of the track was very good as well, but not quite reference IMO. Reference surround work are tracks like Avatar, TIH, Hellboy 2, Transformers Dark of the Moon, etc......Avengers was a notch below these type tracks, but again still very good if not quite reference IMO.

Prometheus (DTS-HD-MA 7.1) Reference

One of my favorite audio tracks this year, maybe even my absolute favorite. Nothing to complain about as they nailed this track from every angle to my ears. LFE is absolutely fantastic and hits in all the right places. Surround work in the ambient and action scenes is excellent, etc.......Just a great demo worthy track IMO.

Dream Theater: Live at Budokan (DTS-HD-MA) Reference

MIND BLOWN..........that is what happened when I fired up this disc a week ago. I was planning to watch only about an hour of this ~3 hour concert and next thing I know the credits are rolling and my jaw was on the floor. THIS is the type of music mix that I love. Incredibly clean and up front sound board recording that puts the actual music as the focus and not trying to actually recreate being in the audience. This is an aggressive mix as instruments are placed all around the listener, but it works for this type of music and sounds absolutely incredible if you are sitting in your sweet spot seat as sound just encompasses and pans all around you..........I loved this mix! Not to mention my biggest pet peeve they nailed which is getting the bass drum/low end solid and strong in the mix which gives the sound a much needed foundation. Cant say enough and this is one of the best blu ray concert recording/mixes I have heard period.

Peter Gabriel Secret World Live (DTS-HD-MA) Reference

This DVD classic sounds better than ever with its move to blu ray with an exceptional audio mix that is just as good as I remember from my DVD. Open, airy, but dynamic when needed and crystal clear and very detailed. Another right off the soundboard that is recorded and mixed incredibly well IMO.........why cant they all sound as good as this, the DT mentioned above, Stop Making Sense, etc........?

Now we just need sb1, filmmixer and the other old regulars to start participating again so we can get this thread rolling!
Edited by Toe - 11/18/12 at 3:33pm

I wasn't aware of the controversy of the Avenger's bass . I guess I don't visit much of that bass chart thread. mostly because they all all over the place as far as how they are charted, the other is the sometimes comical reaction to the data by some posters. Ever since the now infamous discovery of filtering of the BD US version of M&C and the hysteria that followed that most DTS HD MA titles are filtered, I've lost interest to follow that thread at least on the regular basis. It's good that you don't since there are good data there and this could be relevant no doubt.
I also noticed inconsistencies especially with the Hulk on screen, and surely compared to the Incredible Hulk extension wasn't quiet there, same goes for the Thor, and Iron Man movies, the Avengers would fall short to those, I would agree, but overall it didn't distracted me bad enough to reduce it's over all impact, of how I would rate this title.Sure if it was just a pure LFE benchmark number racing I wouldn't rate this as high no doubt.

I also have the Dream Theater BD and also own the double DVD that was released some time ago. I haven't watched it all the way yet, but it is certainly a major step up from the DVD, and DT fans should own this no doubt.
I'll come back with a review on this soon.

Be glad you missed all the Avengers drama......it got ridiculous. I totally know how you feel as I have been turned off with that thread for similar reasons. I will never understand those that write off a track completely going off the charts without actually listening to it.

Crazy thing about my Dream Theater blu experience is that was also the first time I had listened to the band. Not sure how these great musicians have slipped by me all these years!

Interesting I must say Dream Theater is quiet a bit better in the studio then their concerts though, especially their singer LaBrie who gets too "shouty" live. I could make some recommendation if you're interested to purchase their studio albums. I wouldt say though that most are quiet good, but I have my favorites.

That would be great! I would love to check out more DT since I was very impressed with what I heard. What studio albums do you suggest?

For some reason I thought this thread was gone?

My ratings for the bigger releases this fall.

Avengers (DTS-HD-MA) Tier 0
This was a lot of fun but still a bit of an opportunity lost. I bumped my subs up four DB for this due to the LFE criticism. It helped but there were so many opportunities to go really low and impactful and it just wussed out. If Randy Thom had done this, would have been epic.

Prometheus (DTS-HD-MA 7.1) Reference
Everything was perfect.

The Amazing Spiderman (DTS-HD MA 5.1) Tier 0
Somehow the surrounds were not as impactful as they should have been for what was happening on screen.

Brave (TrueHD 7.1) Reference
Dialogue - perfect. Surrounds - exciting. Bass and Score- tastefully impactful.

Images and Words, Awake, Scenes from a Memory, Train of Thought, A Dramatic Turn of Events. Octavarium.

Thanks for the suggestions! Just bought Images and Words off Amazon and will check the others out as I go. Looking forward to it.

Sure, that was my first purchase too, it's an easy recommendation, let me know how you like it.

The thread sputters back to life, and with Dream Theater thrown in for good measure. Dream Theater is one of my all time favorite bands, and I have yet to pick up the Blu-Ray copy of Live at Budokan. I've always really enjoyed the DVD version and I really need to upgrade. Toe, what made you purchase the Blu-Ray to begin with? Just curious.

Upgrading to the blu should be a no brainer for you being a big fan of the band! I think what finally got me to purchase this was hearing rave report after rave report about the audio (and video as well). The final kicker was a forum friend over at bluray.com who likes the same type mixes/recordings as me and he was VERY excited after listening to it and could not stop gushing about it...........SOLD! Not to mention I had also started reading about the amazing musicianship on display with this band which made it an even easier purchase.........throw in the fact that it was on sale and I said why not? I wish some of the other bands I love that are still around would put together a blu ray of this quality!

I have the Images and Words CD sitting here, but am waiting to listen to it in the HT so I can fully experience it (my car stereo is nothing great).

Enjoy Toe!

For everyone else, I will be off from Christmas through New Year's, and plan on watching lots of movies and updating this thread accordingly. Can't wait to watch The Dark Knight Rises, Finding Nemo 3D, The Indiana Jones Collection, The Expendables 2, Metallica: Quebec Magnetic, as many of the Bond movies as I can, and a few others.

The Dark Knight Rises (DTS HD MA) Tier 0


For the most part this was a fantastic track, though it falls short of TDK, and about the same as BB. Two reasons I didn't think this was reference, that it was almost a "talkie". Because of it's length there was lot's of "idle", but that can be understood since it is a movie, not just an audio demo. however there were some technical issues that I can't overlook. Namely the dialog was severely drowned out by music cuts more then a few occasions. I did found the music to be favored over effect sounds as well in some cases, but they were not objectionable, and much more subjective in nature. Banes dialog while was largely intelligible, the choice that he must sound like he speaks through a PA system, is rather weird to me, especially when he picked up a microphone in that scene, it was borderline comical actually.Bass is very good, the introduction of the "Bat" was bad ass but sound design isn't quiet in the level with say the Transformer movies I saw Ralph gave it a perfect score of a 100, and I have no idea how that happened but to me it would be more like 90. YMMV.
Edited by thehun - 12/8/12 at 12:40pm

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to AVS and I found this thread several months ago. Gotta say it's been great seeing all of these movies put into tiers, I have actually used this thread several times to decide which Blu Rays to pick up. Glad to see that this thread might be picking up again. Anyway....


Prometheus (DTS-HD-MA 7.1) - Reference
Totally agree that the LFE was great and the ambient sounds were incredible. Outstanding job by the studio on this one.

Avengers (DTS-HD-MA) - Tier 0
Film sounded great for the most part but I thought a few scenes just didn't have quite the "oompf" I would have expected.

Looking forward to seeing more posts from everyone.