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


maxmercy

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Finally got the opportunity for Elysium, really enjoyed the spectral balance ... Nube was right .. it's got the stuff, and I really enjoy the way the effects were implemented (sound design). Few big bombastic broadband high level effects, but the deep pulsating stuff, the room shaking energy,... was both appropriate for the scenes and well executed.

 

The movie, decent but that's another review. Again, the balance ... lovely, few if any crushing, reach for the volume effects. Just the deep stuff, loved the sound of this one because of the balance

 

Nube, thanks for graphing this one, some good demo worthy material, I'd have to view it again to single out my faves. 

 

Thanks

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I watched escape plan while off sick for work today. I can't say there was much impressive bass. The whole sound mix in general was a little blah. And the level was to low (and I rarely say that). But then it occurred to me, this was a redbox rental. Did I get burned by the lossy format getting put on the rental disc? I returned it before I could find out. I haven't voted on execution because I need to factor this in but unsure what I actually heard.

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Good morning,

 

I really appreciate the content of this topic. I want to take this opportunity to thanks everybody for everything that I found on this thread. The information and the details here are very useful.

It's giving me another perspective to look through the movies and I don't look into other bass threads anymore.

 

After finishing the Cinema Room and the sound system I was watching some movies and I found the sound mix interesting. I don't know if the following movies were ever discussed in the thread but perhaps could be added in the queue.

 

Gangster Squad

Knight and Day

Losers

The A-team

Megamind

 

All the best,

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NemoTitleBlock_zps84d62387.JPG

Nemo1_zps3cf39c95.JPG

Nemo2_zps8b22337d.JPG

Nemo3_zps6e492392.JPG

Nemo4_zps41533083.JPG

 

Finding Nemo (7.1 TrueHD)

 

Level        - 4 Stars (111.04dB composite)
Extension - 5 Stars (1Hz)
Dynamics - 5 Stars (31.38dB)

Execution - 4 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 4.5 Stars

Recommendation - Buy (by poll)

 

Notes:  This is an oldie but a goodie.  Really stellar work on the sound design that makes it the perfect complement to the fantastic animation and fun plot.  The mixing is generally good, and the only clipping I heard was in the famous Darla Tapping scene, which was probably intentional. 

 

My only complaint about this movie is that we (myself included) tend to think of it more nostalgically than it deserves.  It was one of those mythical movies with bass for a few years, but look at the graph: it's terribly humped and peaks significantly at 32Hz.  While it's technically a 5 Stars movie for extension, the -10dB point is actually 23Hz if we disregard the 1 very short transient effect that goes from DC to 1.5Hz for a brief moment and isn't even noticed during viewing. Finding Nemo really games the system for that 5 Stars extension rating, but them's the rules.

 

I like the flick a lot, but would have to deduct at least 1 star, and maybe two, from the execution rating due to the fact that it's actually a 2 Star extension movie (tho not technically), and that it's a very humped graph.  Otherwise, a fantastic movie with very immersive sound, plot and visuals. 

 

PvA:
 

post-17-0-72689700-1393281053_thumb.png

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Finding Nemo (7.1 TrueHD)

 

Level        - 4 Stars (111.04dB composite)

Extension - 5 Stars (1Hz)

Dynamics - 5 Stars (31.38dB)

Execution - Will poll

 

Overall     - TBD

 

Recommendation - Will poll

 

Notes:  This is an oldie but a goodie.  Really stellar work on the sound design that makes it the perfect complement to the fantastic animation and fun plot.  The mixing is generally good, with the only clipping I heard was in the famous Darla Tapping scene, which was probably intentional. 

 

My only complaint about this movie is that we (myself included) tend to think of it more nostalgically than it deserves.  It was one of those mythical movies with bass for a few years, but look at the graph: it's terribly humped and peaks significantly at 32Hz.  While it's technically a 5 Stars movie for extension, the -10dB point is actually 23Hz if we disregard the 1 very short transient effect that goes from DC to 1.5Hz for a brief moment and isn't even noticed during viewing. Finding Nemo really games the system for that 5 Stars extension rating, but them's the rules.

 

I like the flick a lot, but would have to deduct at least 1 star, and maybe two, from the execution rating due to the fact that it's actually a 2 Star extension movie (tho not technically), and that it's a very humped graph.  Otherwise, a fantastic movie with very immersive sound, plot and visuals. 

 

PvA:

 

attachicon.gifFindingNemo-PvA.PNG

 

Cosign.  Thank you sir!

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Thor 2: The Dark World (7.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level        - 4 Stars (111.07dB composite)
Extension - 5 Stars (10Hz)
Dynamics - 5 Stars (29.41dB)

Execution - 4 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 4.5 Stars

Recommendation - Buy (by poll)

 

Notes:  This one is an upgrade over the first one, with better extension, dynamics, and about the same overall level.  I think the effects had noticeably more extension than in the first, but only sometimes. If you compare the PvAs, you'll see that Thor has more between 20-30Hz than Thor 2, and I think that makes it feel like a much more powerful overall presentation.  After viewing some true bass monsters in the last few months, this one is no slouch, but also didn't leave me feeling too wow'd.  It's solid, but missing some in that critical range that gives it the impact for which a little extra from 10-20Hz, by itself, can't really compensate.

 

PvA:

 

post-17-0-58391800-1393334435_thumb.png

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Gravity (5.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level        - 4 Stars (111.87dB composite)
Extension - 3 Stars (18Hz)
Dynamics - 4 Stars (26.28dB)

Execution - 5 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 4 Stars

Recommendation - Buy (by poll)

 

Notes:  I think I may be a little spoiled when it comes to movies with bass, because I didn't think this one's mix was anything special.  However, it won both Academy Awards for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, so somebody must have loved it!  This movie uses a lot of 20-26Hz rumble that creates a room shuddering effect, but not a whole lot else really worth mentioning, and looking at the measurements, it has the steepest filter I've ever seen at 20Hz. 

 

While there are other bass moments, I didn't think they were particularly well-designed - I felt like a whole lot of ELF could be used in place or in conjunction with that 20Hz stuff and, for a space movie that you might think would have perfectly quiet scenes, it didn't pull off impressive dynamics like it could/should.  I think what is there is used appropriately, even fairly artfully with some of the surround work that combines well with the interesting CGI cinematography, but in the context of this thread it didn't knock my socks off.  While the movie was good, it wasn't great, nor was the mix.

 

PvA:

 

post-17-0-35735700-1393334580_thumb.png

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So what is that flicker at 1hz? Who can reproduce that. I know we take exception to people who claim ULF is unintentional junk data on the disc, but maybe this actually is?

 

I don't remember the exact timestamp, but I can graph it if you want.  To me, it seemed like an effect that was designed without any filters in place.  I think it probably came from an unfiltered real-life recording of something, but was then manipulated in software to create the desired sound, and put in someone's effects library then pulled out to be used in Finding Nemo. When watching the movie's SpecLab scroll window, it's the highest amplitude content below 23Hz in the whole movie. 

 

I think it's likely that everyone, and I mean everyone, has DC blocking caps in their signal chain that completely eliminate this from being reproduced.  This actually happens a fair amount for effects from 3Hz on down - they're just there, and I think only maybe bosso can reproduce any portion of them.  Sometimes they're seemingly random and not attached to any other effect, and sometimes they're part of a larger-bandwidth effect.  In this case in Finding Nemo, it's associated with some effect from 30-50Hz, if I recall correctly.

 

And, as I said, it kinda games the system for its extension rating, but those are the rules and we'll stick with them to make sure this ranking system remains a true apples-to-apples comparison tool, or at least the best maxmercy's come up with yet.  When comparing movies, it's important to take all of this stuff into account.  That's why I said Finding Nemo's actually a 2 Star, 23Hz extension film in practice, when compared to other movies that have consistent content below 20Hz, and no humped Average RMS (red trace) response.

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Maybe we should consider that content <3hz is irrelevant? No seriously. It's damn near impossible if completely impractical to be capable of reproducing <3hz on any professional or consumer gear. All throughout the signal chain there will be DC protection.

 

Maybe we need a modifier to add to how we determine extension such as stuff like that doesn't affect scores. A peak like that at 5hz can be had. The same peak at 0-1hz? Umm, yeah no and I think even Dave would agree with me on this one.

 

John? Your thoughts on this?

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Here's a great source for an insider look into the creation of sound for many movies we like:

 

http://soundworkscollection.com/

 

Here's one of the vids and it describes the process for the Gravity ST starring the director and mixer and is well worth a watch (I particularly liked the MOS vid as well if anyone has a mind to watch that one as well):

 

http://soundworkscollection.com/videos/gravity

 

The point here is that this movie was specifically mixed for Dolby Atmos. I don't know what that means, exactly. Does that mean it was imperative to re-mix for cinemas that don't have Atmos and the video release?

 

I doubt the full effect of an Atmos mix can be realized in 5 or 7.1.

 

Thoughts on the subject are welcome because I'm completely new to the Atmos format.

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No, Dave. That is the whole point of Dolby Atmos. If or when there is a mix that contains content beyond 5/7.1 it can just as easily be "downmixed" back down to 5/7.1 or less with no loss or little loss of directionality.

 

It's better for everybody when a mix is done native in Atmos or any future form of object based audio.

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In the linked video, Skip says it was mixed for 7.1 initially, then later mixed for Atmos.  Specifically, regarding the 7.1 mix, the director Cuarón said it's directional - if there's a person behind the camera on screen, the sound comes from behind you.  Why the heck is the BR only 5.1 DTS-HD MA, then?  Cheapski initial release to pad their bottom line with special releases?

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Also, John and I have talked about that content at or near DC in the past, and I think he said it's better to keep the ratings the same than to let some subjective element into the extension rating.  We're just measuring what's on the disc, with no value judgment about whether or not it's intentional, nor whether or not you could or should reproduce it.  I'm generally in agreement, though it does require the reader to be a little more attentive to situations like this when comparing movies by this metric.

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People who replace or eliminate blocking caps and use transducers like Crowsons I bet will definitely notice the <3Hz stuff.  Even Infrasonic said he noticed a hell of a transient with his new system in TF1, when megatron blasts jazz.  It mainly is below 3Hz.  It is graphed on this thread.

 

JSS

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People who replace or eliminate blocking caps and use transducers like Crowsons I bet will definitely notice the <3Hz stuff.  Even Infrasonic said he noticed a hell of a transient with his new system in TF1, when megatron blasts jazz.  It mainly is below 3Hz.  It is graphed on this thread.

 

JSS

 

It was around that moment but not that actual shot. I don't think what I felt was the part charted showing that single digit stuff. And while the Crowson's themselves might be able to reproduce the effect they are still subject to the cumulative rolloff of the signal chain up until the Crowson itself. Not unlike any other speaker or sub.

 

When I get time to revisit TF1 I will see about pinpointing the time.

 

I can't imagine I am getting any appreciable output ~1hz. Not with all my muscle having to go thru a DCX. Those have been charted to have rolloff.

 

I don't know. It sure would be cool to say, "Hey! I can do 1hz, no problem." but that's too easy. ;):P

 

 

Also, who else is really going through the trouble to change out/remove the DC blocking caps inside amplifiers/preamps? Seriously? I think maybe Bosso is and like one other dude on planet Earth. :P

 

I for sure as heck ain't going through that for <5hz. Fuck that. :P:D

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