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The Low Frequency Content Thread (films, games, music, etc)


maxmercy

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For everyone following along, Bosso is right, 10dB=10x the power, but....

 

While 10dB may be a 10x increase in power, it is only a 3.162x increase in signal amplitude, which is why stuff 10dB down shows up on the signal trace on the right as around 30% and not 10%. 20dB down in amplitude is the 10% mark on the signal trace on the right side of the waterfalls.

 

JSS

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You have been away for a while.....basically, it is a loud track that clips a lot, not unlike Terminator Salvation, Tron, or others. It is also high passed/shelved, very much like Avengers was. If it were a new film, it would have been received better. But since it was following the great audio in the first Star Trek, it fell flat to many ears. I liked the film. It did not need the heavy handed sonic treatment. I agree with Bosso's theory, that someone may have been twirling knobs that maybe shouldn't have been....

 

JSS

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Iron Man 3 (7.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level         - 3 Stars (109.4dB composite)

Extension  - 2 Stars (22Hz)

Dynamics  - 5 Stars (27.55dB)

Execution  - 3 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall      - 3.25 Stars

 

Recommendation - Rent

 

Notes: This one isn't too surprising given the history of the franchise - they're not bass monsters.  Luckily, IM3 only suffers from a minor amount of clipping, and none of it is too egregious.  What is egregious is that ugly HPF starting around 30Hz.  The mixing team didn't even twist the knobs to 11 to compensate!  The punch line is it's a reasonably entertaining film with a mix that will leave you bass aficionados wanting.  It gets a 3 for execution from me, maybe even a 2 - it doesn't disappoint compared to the first two (which were both underwhelming), but it's also not breaking any ground with its $200,000,000 budget.  Hollywood: you guys can do a lot better.

 

PvA:

 

post-17-0-42780800-1380045248_thumb.png

 

Clipping:

 

post-17-0-98555300-1380045266_thumb.png

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Also, while you're on the subject, exactly how does SL read straight off the disc? It can't decode the formats, so how do you inject the data into SL directly?

 

I don't see how SL reads directly off the disc.

You decode the audio first off a ripped Blu-ray. You can keep it as the original 6 or 8 channels or can combine all channels into a mono wav file. It can be done using something like EAC3to or JRiver Media Center. Once setup, you can can even pull the audio out of clips in just a few seconds. It takes about 30 minutes to rip the movie, 10-15 minutes to convert audio to wav file, and 2 minutes to run the entire movie through Spectrum Lab. Once the movie is ripped you can also convert the entire movie or any playback range. 

 

I posted a guide at AVS in The New Master List of Bass in Movies with Frequency Charts thread:

 

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1333462/the-new-master-list-of-bass-in-movies-with-frequency-charts/8800_100#post_23468771

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Iron Man 3 (7.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level         - 3 Stars (109.4dB composite)

Extension  - 2 Stars (22Hz)

Dynamics  - 5 Stars (27.55dB)

Execution  - Will Poll

 

Recommendation - Will Poll

 

Notes: This one isn't too surprising given the history of the franchise - they're not bass monsters.  Luckily, IM3 only suffers from a minor amount of clipping, and none of it is too egregious.  What is egregious is that ugly HPF starting around 30Hz.  The mixing team didn't even twist the knobs to 11 to compensate!  The punch line is it's a reasonably entertaining film with a mix that will leave you bass aficionados wanting.  It gets a 3 for execution from me, maybe even a 2 - it doesn't disappoint compared to the first two (which were both underwhelming), but it's also not breaking any ground with its $200,000,000 budget.  Hollywood: you guys can do a lot better.

 

PvA:

 

attachicon.gifIM3-PvA.PNG

 

Clipping:

 

attachicon.gifIM3-Clipping.png

This is bummer. I just picked this movie up today thinking it might have some slam, but I guess not. However I have enjoyed the first two and I am looking forward to watching it, bass or no bass. 

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Well folks.....it's time to eat some crow.

 

With all the STID bashing, I revisited Star Trek (2009). And the clipping is not just limited to the warps, which I had originally thought. But in Star Trek, it is more of a softer limiting, not the squared off edges STID had. There are a few hard edges, but not as often as in STID. I popped it in, and the harshness is simply not as easily discernible as it is in STID, and not as fatiguing. It is not as 'perfectly clean' as I remember, though. I guess I (and my ears) am just as susceptible to 'good old days' syndrome....

 

I did re-measure it, and with the new measurement methodology, it is a full 5-Star film (I always thought so)!! I'll update it later....

 

 

JSS

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You have been away for a while.....basically, it is a loud track that clips a lot, not unlike Terminator Salvation, Tron, or others. It is also high passed/shelved, very much like Avengers was. If it were a new film, it would have been received better. But since it was following the great audio in the first Star Trek, it fell flat to many ears. I liked the film. It did not need the heavy handed sonic treatment. I agree with Bosso's theory, that someone may have been twirling knobs that maybe shouldn't have been....

 

JSS

Yeah, been flat out lately. Thanks for the comments, I thought it was a little overdone on the sonic level. Although some scenes did shake the room.

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Awesome! If you could add This Is The End to the list that would be awesome. I remember that some parts had some pretty hit in the theater, and I'm curious if it was HPFed at 30 Hz or if it goes lower.

 

Got you covered.  I'll post measurements next week Tuesday after it's released.

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Just wanted to mention that if you are adding all the channels up and LFE why would you add 3 dBs more for peaks? 105 and 115 dBs are already peaks so why add another 3 dBs?

Because a sinewave's RMS is 3dB below its peak amplitude. Same reason REW's max value for a sinewave is -3.0dB when running a sweep.

 

JSS

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The Lords of Salem (5.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level         - 1 Star (100.3dB composite)

Extension  - 5 Stars (1Hz)

Dynamics  - 5 Stars (29.92dB)

Execution  - 4 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall      - 3.75 Stars

 

Recommendation - Rent (by poll)

 

Notes: The sound mix is unbelievably low on this one, and the sound design is predictably pretty bad.  However, it does have some bass.  That's about the only positive thing that can be said for this movie.

 

As for the movie, it's not even worth watching, and I'm not sure how this has better IMDb ratings than After Earth - though both are terrible movies, this one is far worse.  If you've seen House of 1000 Corpses, you know all you need to know to avoid watching this POS.  Only recommended as a rental for that small group of masochists who like watching really terrible gore flicks.  Oh, and satanists.

 

PvA:

 

post-17-0-17783300-1380303824_thumb.png

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Nope, it has dialnorm at -27, so it will be 4dB softer, IIRC.

 

JSS

Well just compared both tracks on r2 ee dvd and dolby digital ex track have more grunt on it. Bosso, what you think about this? :)

 

I will update the ST post with the new PvA, it is very similar.

 

This weekend: Open Range, Commando, and Inside.

 

JSS

Commando and Inside, this will be very interesting. ;)

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."But the numbers you're adding are peak numbers, not RMS."

 

I add the Peak RMS values per channel (115 + (105 x number of LCRS channels)) to get total RMS.  Then I add 3dB to that.  It assumes some things about peak and RMS, see here:

 

http://www.meyersound.com/pdf/cinema_technical_papers/cinema_calibration_tech_report.pdf

 

 

There is no true 'standard' or 'reference' out there, as evidenced by their study of 'reference signals'.  This is what the folks at meyer deduced from all the data out there.

 

JSS

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For Nicke, this is Inside:

 

Level - 4 Stars (111.3dB composite)

Extension - 5 Stars (2Hz)

Dynamics - 3 Stars (24.89dB)

Execution - 4 Stars

 

Overall - 4 Stars

 

Recommendation - Rent

 

VERY Well done Audio looking at the track, some clipping, but no overt square waves, most of the loudest peaks just touch 0dBFS.  As usual, the center channel is affected most, with the LFE channel having most of its problems toward the end.

 

 

JSS

post-20-0-51824100-1380406652_thumb.jpg

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Open Range:

 

Level - 2 Stars (107.1dB composite)

Extension - 5 Stars (1 Hz)

Dynamics - 5 Stars (37.98dB!!!!!!!)

Execution - 5 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 4.25 Stars

 

Recommendation - Rent (by poll)

 

Most Dynamic film measured yet.  It does clip the gunshots in places.  NEEDS A BLU RAY RELEASE!!!

 

JSS

post-20-0-34505300-1380410242_thumb.jpg

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