Friday 3 November 2023

The Mummy (1932)

1991 MCA Hi-Fi VHS: This sounds decent. The underlying source elements are clearly not the best, but I hear nothing in subsequent releases to suggest that better materials have since been found.

1993 CIC Video LaserDisc [PILF-1646]: The same transfer/mastering as the 1991 VHS, but in PCM. The best sounding release.

2004 R1 Universal DVD - Legacy Collection: Apalling. There's very little above 5 kHz, and things start rolling off well before that. The noise floor has been raised through EQ. Pretty incompetently done.

2013 Universal Blu-ray: Certainly better than the DVD, but not nearly as natural as the LD/VHS. There's a decent amount of noise reduction and a compensatory treble boost. It sounds harsh. The noise floor is (again) bizarrely louder than on the LD/VHS. 

2022 Universal UHD Blu-ray: Identical to the blu-ray.







1 comment:

  1. Just goes to show. Most Universal Horror films fail in the audio department post 1990’s.

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