If you have knowledge or suspicions of audio flaws in the home video releases of a particular film that you would like me to explore, please post these suggestions in the comments below.
(I realise I should have made this page a while ago -- the suggestions people have posted as comments under comparisons for unrelated films, while appreciated, are a bit messy!)
The box in the wishlist page doesn't seem to work.
ReplyDeleteI have a DVD of Maltese Falcon from 2000. It doesn't have anything to indicate it's a "special edition" and is region 1.
Let me know if you need more info or would like me to send you a rip.
Sorry, the form should be fixed now.
DeleteBe interested to hear your take on alien and aliens 5.1 and 4.0 tracks when you get a chance.
ReplyDelete"Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia". The Twilight Time (both) and Arrow releases use the exact same master and it sounds horribly muffled.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there are any audio flaws, but I would love for you to compare the two DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks on the 4K UHD of 2001: A Space Odyssey with the audio of previous releases (Blu-ray, LD, etc.).
ReplyDeleteThis is in the queue! Two LDs, but it's taking a bit of time.
DeleteApparently 1 of the 5.1 tracks it’s the original six track 70 mm mix and the other the original Blu-ray remix i’m curious too.
Deletewould like to see a comparison for midnight cowboy, i imagine it has noise reduction on the bluray
ReplyDeleteIt's a Criterion Blu-ray so I assume it has some noise reduction, but since it's one of my top 3 favorite films, I would love for you to do a comparison anyway for The Magnificent Ambersons with earlier laser discs, WB DVD.
ReplyDeleteThe Blu Ray of 'Things to Come (1936)'(from networkonair.com) is possibly the worst audio restoration I have ever heard.
ReplyDeleteThere is constant metallic comb filter ringing, way too much de-hiss, de-crackle and spectral gating used. As a result it's quite painful to listen to, and all room tone, ambience and even some of the dialog is completely lost.
It sounds like someone just picked a preset on a noise reduction plugin and ran the whole film through it. As the metallic comb filter ringing remains the same frequency throughout, it appears no attempt was made to optimise the settings for different scenes.
All prints of this are a little noisy, but earlier VHS, DVD and even the version of Youtube are far more listenable.
By the way, I'm glad someone at least is listening to blu rays as well as watching them.
Every single DVD and Blu-Ray of the Star Wars trilogy sounds inferior to the various Laserdisc editions, regardless of which cut you watch.
ReplyDeleteWould you mind doing a comparison between the Blu-ray/DVD 5.1 and laserdisc 2.0 for Back to the Future (1985) Although it’s mostly faithful to the original stereo mix there has been a change in take for a one lines in the movie?
ReplyDeleteplease comparison Unforgiven [1992] by Clint Eastwood
ReplyDeleteThe recent Satatango Bluray. I'd say the audio sounds okay for about 90% of the movie? But then some scenes such as the following timestamps (rainy scenes or scenes with music) sound god awful if you compare them with the DVD audio.
ReplyDelete02:09:30
03:57:24
I would sure love if someone made a bootleg version of the Bluray that had the DVD audio added in. This would be challenging though as I heard the timing/framerate of the Bluray movie is different than the DVD versions, so the audio would have to be retimed to sync up. This really tics me off because this is my all time favorite film, and they really butchered the audio.
Which one? There are four different releases (UK, JP, FR, US). I happen to own all of them so I might check those particular scenes sometime. While they're all sourced from the same new restoration, they're far from identical video-wise, so I'm quite curious myself about this.
DeleteAlright, went through all four last night and it's bad news. Couldn't reproduce the issue at 3:57 (sounded fine to me), but the heavy distortion at 2:09 mark in spoken passages is present on each and every one of them. Oh well, I think I can live with a few seconds of compromised audio in a 7-hour long feature.
DeleteI'd like to see comparisons of Poltergeist (1982) since the Blu-ray has one of the better sounding Lossy Dolby Surround tracks (Dolby Digital 2.0) through ProLogic.
ReplyDeleteDavey
I'd like to see some comparisons of "The Flight of The Phoenix" (the Eureka Blu is decent but the recent German Blu is heavily filtered and I'm curious what the LD sounds like), "Panic in the Streets", "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (the Twilight Time disc's 2.0 track is a downmix of the 5.1 remix), "Some Like It Hot", and "Two For the Road".
ReplyDeleteWould be good to know your opinion on Gandhi original stereo mix - UHD vs LD. I thought the one on UHD sounds a kinda muffled, wonder if LD's audio is any better?
ReplyDeleteI've read complaints about the new Shawshank Redemption UHD. Specifically the dialog quality. I'd be interested to know your thoughts, as I heard the same complaints about Clockwork Orange UHD 5.1 track, which you actually found to be fine. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey, love the site. I was wondering if you were able to do a comparison on The Searchers (1956)? Every single worldwide release of this movie on blu-ray has been 192kbps mono...which is fine, but I'm really wondering how the laserdisc options sounded. Hopefully we'll get a 4k release in the future but I thought sourcing a copy of this on LD might be a fun project.
ReplyDeleteLove the site! I read that Kino’s Some Like it Hot UHD uses the same mono mastering from Criterion’s release. I’d love to read a deep dive going back to LD or VHS on the issues with the mix. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHow about "Paths of Glory"? The Criterion actually sounds quite good but, ironically, the Eureka disc has had some "additional work" done (I presume from MGM but I have no other international disc to verify).
ReplyDeleteWondering if you could take a look at Play Misty for Me (1971) when you get the chance. The Kino disc sounds completely lifeless, like the whole film is underwater. I wondered if better audio existed for home viewing.
ReplyDeleteHow about "Who'll Stop the Rain"? The Blus sound like they're coming out of a telephone.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see a comparison for Black Christmas since the UHD was just released recently.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in a comparison between the LDs/VHS and the DVD/Blu-ray of Good Will Hunting.
ReplyDeleteI'd like a comparison for Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
ReplyDeleteIf ever possible, do you think you could rip and post the audio files for the full length films some day? I'm trying to replace bad audio tracks on some films i have and locating some laserdisc files are near impossible unless you have a physical copy.
ReplyDeleteHey, Moshrom. Could you possibly compare the surround stereo tracks on the 1996 VHS and LaserDisc and all home video releases afterward of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) with the original mono track on the pre-1996 VHS releases and 1991 LaserDisc?
ReplyDeleteInterested to hear your thoughts on the following Bond films:
ReplyDelete1. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Best stereo mix. I believe the only U.S. digital sources for the original stereo are the 1990 MGM/UA Laserdisc and the Blu-ray. The 1998 THX Laserdisc has a PCM stereo track, but this may just be a downmix of the 5.1 AC3 track included on the same disc. I am unsure about analog sources.
2. Octopussy (1983). Best stereo mix. I believe the U.S. digital sources for the original (theatrical) stereo include the 1990 MGM/UA Laserdisc, the Special Edition DVD, the Ultimate Edition DVD, and the Blu-ray. I am unsure about analog sources.
3. The Living Daylights (1987). Best stereo mix. I believe the only U.S. digital sources for the original (theatrical) stereo include the 1992 MGM/UA Laserdisc, the Ultimate Edition DVD, and the Blu-ray. I am unsure about analog sources.
4. GoldenEye (1995). I have read that the 5.1 AC3 track on the Widescreen and Fullscreen 1996 MGM/UA Laserdiscs is the same as the one on the 1997 MGM/UA DVD and the Special Edition DVD. Would be curious to confirm if this is actually true. I also have a rare Cinema DTS 5.1 track for the film that I would be curious to compare to these.
As an aside, I have all of the above *digital* tracks (aside from the Goldeneye Laserdisc AC3) and am happy to send if that would help.
Spy who loved me was apparently 4 track stereo and mono ; not Dolby. The 5.1 on the ld is probably more accurate
DeleteI'd love to see a comparison for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with the laserdisc, vhs, dvds, and the blu ray's 5.1 and mono mix.
ReplyDeleteMaybe update The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to include the 2021 Kino Lorber 4k
ReplyDeleteFor Taxi Driver, I'd like to see an update that includes the Dolby SR mix from the 1986 theatrical re-release, which was featured on the 1997 and 1999 dvd copies.
ReplyDeleteCan you compare Ghostbusters [Criterion, RCA/Columbia LDs and Sony 4K UHD re-issue] and 2 [RCA/Columbia LD and Sony 4K UHD re-issue]?
ReplyDeleteCan you compare the audio tracks on the VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD releases of Rebel Without a Cause?
ReplyDeleteQuatermass and the Pit (1967) would be much appreciated. It was originally in mono and then remixed to 2.0 and 5.1 surround stereo for the US Anchor Bay VHS (1997) and LaserDisc (1998). Needless to say, most releases since only carry the remixes. Sigh.
ReplyDelete