Bad Audio on Blu-ray
...amateur bassoonery at best.
Monday 12 March 2046
Sunday 31 March 2024
Predator (1987)
1988 CBS/Fox LaserDisc [SF078-1445]: A different mix than the 4.0/5.1 on the UHD - the dialogue/music/effects are aligned differently. It all sounds rather dead and undetailed.
1991 Fox Video LaserDisc [1515-85]: The same mix as the 1988 LaserDisc but significantly more detailed. Quite natural sounding.
2018 20th Century Fox UHD Blu-ray: The 5.1 is ostensibly the same mix as the 4.0, just conformed to 5.1. More dynamic range than the LaserDisc mix and more aggressive, but perhaps a bit bright.
Monday 8 January 2024
Holiday Inn (1942)
1985 MCA LaserDisc [40288]: Pretty unimpressive. It's an analogue track, but I think it sounds muffled due to some form of noise management. I suspect the 1986 Hi-Fi VHS uses the same transfer.
2003 R1 Universal DVD: Decent. More detailed than the LaserDisc.
2014 Universal Blu-ray: Like the DVD but with some additional light noise gating and limiting.
2022 Universal UHD Blu-ray: More noise reduction than the DVD and blu-ray - it sometimes sounds worse than the LaserDisc. Additional automated crackle removal has lopped off high-frequency peaks indescriminately: 1, 2.
Sunday 7 January 2024
Saturday 6 January 2024
Duel (1971)
Speaking only of the mono tracks on each of these –
1990 MCA Hi-Fi VHS: The same mastering as the 1993 LaserDisc.
1993 MCA LaserDisc [41752]: As is, this sounds muffled, though there is still plenty of high-frequency detail that has been attenuated - presumably rolled off to reduce hiss. With some EQ, it sounds great: -1 dB (bell) at 2500 Hz, q 2.8; +1 dB (bell) at 3130 Hz, q 1.1; +6.2 dB (high shelf) at 4830 Hz, q 1.5; and -2 dB (high shelf) at 13600 Hz, q 2. (Images: 1, 2.) I've applied this EQ to the LD track in the clip below.
2004 R1 Universal DVD - Collector's Edition: Like the blu-ray mono but with additional global noise reduction.
2015 Universal Blu-ray: The mono track here is a new reduction of the dialogue, music, and effects stems. There is moderate to strong hiss reduction on dialogue (the scene with the children and the school bus sounds especially bad), but less on the music and effects. A handful of the music cues are of significantly higher fidelity than the rest of the film. The effects are typically louder relative to the music, especially in the final five minutes. Some of the crude edits in the original mix have been made less jarring.
Friday 5 January 2024
Thursday 4 January 2024
Barbarella (1968)
Thursday 14 December 2023
In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
Wednesday 13 December 2023
Easy Living (1937)
2008 R1 Universal DVD: Pretty muffled.
2019 Kino Lorber Blu-ray: Nearly identical to the Universal DVD; based on the same mastering.