1989 MCA LaserDisc [21004]: Fairly natural sounding, although not without noise management. It has some high-frequency crackle during loud moments, most audible during the opening and end music.
1991 MCA LaserDisc [21004]: A digital version of the earlier track. No additional mastering work, so this is the most detailed track overall.
2000s R2 Universal DVD: The least detailed track. Noise gating has removed quiet sounds throughout: pops and crackle are gone, but so are subtle body movements, breaths, and sighs. This was released in Spain.
2006 R1 Universal DVD - Legacy Edition: More detailed than the earlier DVD mastering, but still very muffled and slightly noise gated.
2012 Masters of Cinema Blu-ray: Like the Legacy DVD.
2014 Universal Blu-ray: Like the Legacy DVD.
2022 Criterion UHD Blu-ray: A new mastering. Little to no noise gating, so quiet sounds haven't been removed and EQ-wise it resembles the LD mastering. Less hiss reduction than the non-LD releases, but still a decent amount (nothing above 8 kHz). Preferable to the DVDs and previous blu-rays, but the attempt to remove all distortion leaves loud segments and some dialogue dull and unnatural next to the LaserDiscs.
Touch of Evil was a weird case on the blu-ray (Universal edition)
ReplyDeleteThe reconstructed version sounds bad but the theatrical version sounds really good from what I sampled of it