This one's interesting. I strongly dislike the 5.1 mix, which is the only option provided on the blu-ray. It's also present on the MGM 40th Anniversary DVD release, which thankfully also included the original mono mix.
The 5.1 is actually a remix, as opposed to an electronic reprocessing of the mono, so it has that going for it, and it is pretty faithful to the mono. The music is separated to the rear channels, however it sounds like a layer of reverb was applied to just the music, making it seem as though Ray Charles is singing from a chamber. Awful, awful, awful. There's a fair bit of new Foley added in places, consistently during outdoor scenes -- ambient effects like insects chirping, road noises (including distant train effects!), and night breezes have been added, replacing the sparse night sounds (usually just some bugs) present in the original mix.
The mono on the 40th Anniversary DVD sounds good. A light constant high-frequency hiss plays throughout, no real distortion to report, and it has a clarity that easily matches (and overtakes, in my opinion - no reverb~) the overall 'clarity' of the 5.1.
The mono on the earlier 2001 DVD sounds much worse than the 40th mono, which is surprising because at a quick glance, one would assume that the newer DVD was derived from a master that was simply tweaked from the existing master made in 2001 (or before).
Anyway, the 2001 mono has a constant low-ish frequency rustling going on, and everything sounds muffled and grimy, as if the track came from a film print.
What do you think of the mono on the Criterion blu-ray?
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't have the usual claim of removing hiss or cracks and when I checked it sounded hissy so I wanna know your opinion on that too.