So, what makes an audio track really "Good"(audibly)?

Combination like you say.. many things I'm sure I'm missing as well but I can think of off the top of my head.. Balance, Frequencey range, appropriate sound field (a guy 30 feet away doesn't sound like he is next to something close on the screen), no clipping/distortion, dynamic range, etc.

Solid room filling bass that does not muffle the dialog tops my list.

See Close Encounters for a great example of this,

See Tomb Raider 2 import for a horrid example of this.

Very good thread BTW. Hope to see much discussion on this.

I use a 3.1 set up with no rear satellites (they annoy me) and the Theater Dimensional DSP feature on my Onkyo turned on. Call me wacky, but I never liked the rear channels, even after appropriate calibration. Maybe it's the dimensions of my room.

Lots of seperation. And lots of screen panning. The old system of "voices from the center channel - music and effects from the L & R" doesn't cut it in my book.

IE: Directional Dialog

A combination of all of the above. Deep bass, clarity, distinct surround use, panning across all channels.

DTSMA - sorry, snarky one word response.

So, what makes an audio track really "Good"(audibly)?

Truthfully? Quit arguing over encodes and put as much money as you can into speakers and room treatments. The more you study audio, the more you will find this to be a true statement.

Doug

That's way I went out and bought the best Bose acoustimass I could. Instead of a common sub woofer like most it uses a true bass module to accurately reproduce the audio just like if I was in the studio.

+1
I would say that the most important thing about HD audio is the same thing that has been important for over 50 years. The audio MIX. Remember, s@#t in s@#t out.

Whatever sounds most natural and clear to you. That's pretty much it. Audio is subjective. No one else can tell you what is best...it is what you like that counts.

While it's true that you can't just go out and throw some blankets on the walls or spend stupid money on gimmicky speakers, the bottom line is that with audio, god is in the details. You have to make the room you use work for you and not against you. All I was suggesting was that people spend less time on audio codec minutia and more on understanding how sound behaves between their speakers and their ears and how horribly wrong it can go in between. It does not take a whole lot of money to make even the most mundane speakers sound quite good in any room. It just takes a good solid understanding of basic acoustic fundamentals. At least get rid of first reflections in your room and get a SPL meter and a way to play tones through your system. You might find out you are sitting at a -20 dB standing wave (or even worse, a +20 dB peak) at 1000 Hz and all these years you thought your speakers were cr@p.

Doug

I think imaging is a huge factor, which goes hand-in-hand with soundstage.

Also the above poster is absolutely correct. room treatment is vital.

For me?

I'll use Hot Fuzz's final gunfight scene as an example. When I have to stop the movie, back it up, and play a scene again because of what I HEARD; that is good audio.

The last time I remember doing that intentionally was the showdown between Al Pachino and Keanu Reeves in The Devils Advocate when you could hear Pachino's voice in sections of the room before he "appeared" in front of the camera.

Also when I play back a movie just because I like to hear the music, that is good audio.

Anyone here who want to know what home theater is (I mean experience it rather than postulate) should get over to Art's (Sonneborn). He has redefined it.... and it encompasses all of the above and intangibles not mentioned... It'd be worth the air fare or drive! If you don't know what the ideal is, how do you upgrade towards that end?

If I ain't bleeding out of my ears it is not HT!!!

Oh man, I wish I could just post "a link" The stuff is scattered all over. I will, however, share the searches I used about three years ago when I first got interested in this subject. I can't say I am very knowledgable yet but I have learned a lot about what is true regarding sound and acoustics.

On Google, search:

Speakers and room acoustics
Small room acoustics
Fletcher-Munson
Psychoacoustics

A word on the search results. In the spirit of the KISS principle, do not discount the Wikipedia entries and even the Crutchfield Advisor (strangely enough). I found these to be excellent basic guides. Beyond that, I would say just follow whatever interests you. But if anyone is interested in any of this, you really must have at least an SPL meter and some way to generate frequencies. Otherwise, you are just shooting in the dark.

Doug

ps. On the closet bass, I have been wanting to put in an infinite baffle for the longest time. I have the space, too, but life keeps interferring

This would make an awesome conversation amongst audiophiles.

Is good audio simply how loud it can get, or how powerful it can be even in lower volumes?

I used to be all bass, all window-rattling. Now I prefer clarity and ranged sound effects over boom and bass.

I like to put dynamic range on top. I like sound of gun and expolosion more realistic specially for action movies. I think explosin in movie doesn't have powerful high peak, it just have long lasting boomy sound which I think very unrealistic.

I'd also say dynamic range, clarity, low noise, and above all, a good original mix.

My favorite example might be True Lies. While slightly dampened by the overly loud tango music a little earlier, the earliest part of True Lies is alot of dialog, alot of it in hushed tones, sneaking around, etc. But even then, I noticed the crisp sound of shoes walking in snow, the clicks of real life as metal touches metal.

And then, "Here is my invitation" and BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM the room shakes.

THAT is good audio.

MEC2

Really? How many films has Art done the recording and mixing for?

Yes we would all love to own a HT like Art's, or your's for that matter.
But alas, not all of us are not far enough into our careers to afford such luxury yet.

Does that mean our opinions here don't matter?
If so, AVS would have far less members.

Michael Bay

The audio codec used won't fix poor sound design.

This discussion is relevant to my interests!

I've added a new receiver to the HT recently and I'm struggling to find the best mix of speakers and settings to produce a good solution for both movies and music. My current setup sounds good with classical, jazz and some rock, but the movie experience isn't theater-like yet. anyway... i think i'll use some of the movies mentioned in this thread to help with the tuning.

Cheers,
Chas

setting my receiver to "Arena" seems to do well.