Tuesday 8 January 2019

My Man Godfrey (1936)

The Criterion DVD and blu-ray both sound pretty bad. While the picture has been restored very nicely, the audio has been carried over and tweaked a bit. There are some differences, though, and I do prefer the blu-ray slightly.

It sounds like whatever track Universal has made available to Criterion was subjected to heavy noise reduction. The DVD has a hard high-frequency roll-off, but the blu-ray's high frequencies roll off more gradually. The DVD is 'clearer', but it sounds shrill -- as if it was hiss-reduced and then given a trebly EQ to compensate. It reminds me of the His Girl Friday DVD/BD audio compared to its less harsh LaserDisc track.

The DVD also has less low-frequency bass information, which is pretty audible.

The colourised Legend Films DVD sounds exactly the same as the Criterion DVD.


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