nube Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 How to Train Your Dragon 2 (7.1 DTS-HD MA) Level - 1 Star (101.75dB composite)Extension - 3 Stars (16Hz)Dynamics - 5 Stars (29.38dB) Execution - 2 Stars (by poll) Overall - 2.75 StarsRecommendation - Buy (by poll) PvA: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wth718 Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Just as I said. WTF happened here??? :angry: That said, I really liked the movie, hence my 1 star and Buy vote. Sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemX Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 26Hz? What. The. #"*&. I just checked on IMDB to see if Randy Thom had moved off the project but seemingly he's still overseeing things?? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646971/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm (and is the voice of toothless! lol) One can only hope it is a decision above him to ruin the sound... Would be interesting to see an overlay of HTTYD and HTTYD2 graphs, although it's pretty clear how bad it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toe Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Good news is this just moved from buy to rent, so at least I save $$$! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwtallguy Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Looks like they forgot the lfe channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan611 Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 WTF?? It arrives later today, was really hoping for some great LFE. Huh, would love to know the story behind the call on the audio. Well, I'm still glad I bought it as I really enjoyed the first one and hear this one is just as good. Will vote once I watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmoney Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 It's too bad too the rest of he sound design was great. But it was like no subs were on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SME Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I am disappointed to learn this one came up so short on bass, but it may have some potential. I'll have to see it to make up my mind. Netflix says I have to wait until 12/9. Maybe I should try Redbox, or just buy it. Are there any clipping or compression issues? From the looks, I'd say this may be very clean and dynamic mix, which may partly account for the low bass levels. The other reason may simply be a creative aesthetic choice. I imagine this may also be the case with "The Hobbit" series. Perhaps it's a reaction to the Godzilla/Pacific Rim type films that contain lots of loud and monotonous 30 Hz bass as big things stomp around. The trouble is, even films with good bass won't sound much different in a typical theater on its 30 Hz ported subs. What's a sound designer to do? While I did mourn the lack of bass, I still thoroughly enjoyed the sound in the first Hobbit (extended edition) movie. I thought it was clean and made good use of dynamics. (I'm going to watch the extended edition of the second one this weekend.) Unlike "The Hobbit", this one looks like it has extension despite low levels. Why is it rated as 26 Hz? The PVA suggests it doesn't roll-off until 20 Hz and not as steeply as many films. Perhaps playback with elevated sub levels and/or Bass EQ could bring this one to life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nube Posted November 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I am disappointed to learn this one came up so short on bass, but it may have some potential. I'll have to see it to make up my mind. Netflix says I have to wait until 12/9. Maybe I should try Redbox, or just buy it. Are there any clipping or compression issues? From the looks, I'd say this may be very clean and dynamic mix, which may partly account for the low bass levels. The other reason may simply be a creative aesthetic choice. I imagine this may also be the case with "The Hobbit" series. Perhaps it's a reaction to the Godzilla/Pacific Rim type films that contain lots of loud and monotonous 30 Hz bass as big things stomp around. The trouble is, even films with good bass won't sound much different in a typical theater on its 30 Hz ported subs. What's a sound designer to do? While I did mourn the lack of bass, I still thoroughly enjoyed the sound in the first Hobbit (extended edition) movie. I thought it was clean and made good use of dynamics. (I'm going to watch the extended edition of the second one this weekend.) Unlike "The Hobbit", this one looks like it has extension despite low levels. Why is it rated as 26 Hz? The PVA suggests it doesn't roll-off until 20 Hz and not as steeply as many films. Perhaps playback with elevated sub levels and/or Bass EQ could bring this one to life? Good catch. That was my error. It's actually 16Hz as the -10dB point for extension, and it's been corrected now. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemX Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Well, better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmoney Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 its weird...because coming from watching HTTYD you EXPECT the bass to be awesome...from the flying of toothless and fire etc. so when you watch this one...you are like "'WTH there must be somthing wrong with my rig! who turned off my subs!!" its too bad cause the movie is awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxmercy Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I'll look at it when I can to see if a BassEQ solution can be implemented. JSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefdvr27 Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Not to often you see a 1 star with a buy ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuxedocivic Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 At 16hz could someone just jack up the LFE trim in their AVR? If that isn't possible, then I won't even rent this. Things were looking up for a while with some great results in Captain America and Edge of Tomorrow. I'm back to protesting this crap I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmoney Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Not to often you see a 1 star with a buy ! actually there are tons...just none measured on here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aj72 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Movie wasn't too bad a bit more cheese though. As for the bass it was seriously disgraceful and I think I was being generous giving it two. Monumentally cocked up. The antithesis of the first movie is an understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan611 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Watched last night. I admit the 3 star execution is generous, probably should have been a two. I don't know what happened audio wise, but I had to crank this up to -13 or -12 to get the usual listening experience. I never listen that loud with my wife and son home. I thought the movie was better than the first one, the visuals were simply stunning. I had to keep reminding myself not to be judgemental of the film because of the audio, to just watch it and enjoy it. Lots of missed opportunities, could have been a HUGE LFE monster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefdvr27 Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 I watched last night and I gave a 2 star. However I think the overall soundtrack was garbage. I hardly noticed anything in the surrounds. I heard a couple of distance voices, but other than that just nothing. Flat all around, but the PQ was very dynamic, I think it was one of the best movies PQ wise that my PJ has reproduced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKtheater Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 This movie was made for all those flat screen owners with TV speakers. The sad news there are many more of them than us. Great PQ, that is it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay Posted December 21, 2014 Report Share Posted December 21, 2014 I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thought that bass was lacking. There should have been HUGE crunching bass when the alphas were battling it out but instead there was "meh". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SME Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 So I watched this today and enjoyed it a lot! I understand the disappointing lack of bass compared with the previous movie, but I thought that soundtrack was actually very well done in most respects and may be my favorite mix so far this year. I played this one at "-3" and will most likely enjoy it at "0" once I've addressed a few room issues. I didn't hear a hint of clipping, and the loud scenes were very clean and lively sounding. The mix had a lot of depth and space to it, and many images appeared to originate from elevated sources, even on my 5.1 system. This is similar to what I heard on the "Oz the Great and Powerful" mix, which was also mixed down from Auro 3D 11.1. It also deserves mention that I heard a lot more bass than I expected after reading comments here. I noticed plenty of effects that seemed to dig well into the 20s. I also felt slam in several places. Just nothing hit particularly hard. Why was the bass turned down? Who knows. Maybe they were afraid of scaring kids too much or maybe had complaints about playback issues in mainstream theaters. I know the first HTTYD movie scares many adults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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