The Apartment (1960)

I previously wrote that the mono tracks on the first MGM DVD (the worst), the later MGM Collector's Edition DVD (poor but better), and the Arrow blu-ray (the same) are all disappointing.

For an audio track free of noise reduction, you need to go back even further - to the old MGM LaserDisc. The high frequencies and bass are noticeably more detailed and everything is no longer muffled. The MGM LD is very good, audio-wise.

Update:

1989 MGM LaserDisc: Very good overall, though I now believe its high frequencies are attenuated to some degree. 

1997 MGM Hi-Fi VHS: Like the 1989 LaserDisc.

2001 R2 MGM DVD: Terrible; heavily noise gated and harshly EQed.

2008 R1 MGM DVD - Collector's Edition: Better than the previous DVD, I guess, but it has heavy global noise reduction and sounds incredibly muffled.

2017 Arrow Blu-ray: Identical to the 2008 DVD.

2022 Kino Lorber UHD Blu-ray: Kino Lorber has sourced this mono track from the 1989 LaserDisc. I applaud them for doing so, but as always I would have liked a new audio transfer - one even less manipulated than the LaserDisc. 

Kino Lorber have indiscriminately applied what appears to be automatic declicking to the entire film, so while the infrequent ticks and pops on the LD track are now gone, so too are some sound effects. At 50:10 (UHD timecode - the office party scene), Jack Lemmon says to Shirley MacLaine, "...You me and the bowler. We'll stroll down Fifth Avenue, sort of break it in" and taps his hat. The sound of the tap is now missing, though it's still present in the 5.1. At 1:20:08, Lemmon says "I hate to disturb you, but something came up that's rather important." The "disturb you, but something" bit is echoey, as if it's double-tracked, but it's fine on the actual LaserDisc. At 1:47:14, about a second of Jack Lemmon singing while making pasta is missing on the LD track. The UHD fills this in with some looped background noise from elsewhere in the scene instead of using the 5.1 centre channel or the ~2008 NRed mono (as Kino Lorber did for other short segments missing on the LD). Some footsteps, subtle vocal noises, and a few high notes in the score are also attenuated throughout the film.

I spent very little time actually searching for errors, so there are bound to be more.

There are signs of unnecessary hum removal, but this isn't audible. The track is strangely quiet - I'm not sure why Kino Lorber didn't normalise it to at least match the 5.1. It's actually 2 dB quieter than a bit-perfect capture of the LD would be. 

Anyway, it sounds fine. None of these issues would be noticed by the average person watching the disc in real-time.

Update (3/29/2022): Added the Kino UHD

Update (5/8/2022): Added the 1997 VHS tape