The Equalizer Discussion & Poll - CLOSED

[nube]

The Equalizer (7.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level        - 4 Stars (111.8dB composite)
Extension - 2 Stars (23Hz)
Dynamics - 5 Stars (31.56dB)

Execution - 3 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 3.5 Stars

Recommendation - Rent (by poll)

 

Notes:  This might as well be Man on Fire 2.  That doesn't mean it's a bad movie, as it was entertaining until the very last scene which was, unlike the rest of the movie, poorly scripted, stiffly delivered, arbitrary and unnecessary.

 

As for the bass, it's really not bad.  There's not much in the first half of the movie, but the second half ramps up in a big way.  It has the content, just rolled off, and It barely missed a 19Hz rating for extension.  Overall, it's a worthwhile movie, but not an allstar for bass unless you like midbass and droning 39Hz stuff.

 

PvA:

 

[Madaeel]

Dave graphed two scenes from this and they had content down to 3hz though? Yours was a rental and he bought it perhaps?

 

I thought the whole movie was like the last scene though.....awful. I was excited to watch it and was dissappointed to say the least. Almost every scene was left to the imagination. During the couple fight scenes I had no idea what was goin on and there were way to few of em to entertain. Only a couple bass scenes worth mentioning. 2 and a rent for me.

[tuxedocivic]

I thought this one sounded subjectively better than it measures, although not surprised by the extension or level rating. I was surprised by Dave's results. I rented...

 

It sounded good. I'll give it a 4. I didn't feel like it was hitting hard or deep, but very enjoyable mix. The microwave scene near the end made my room wobble a bit...

 

I did really enjoy this movie though. Very entertaining.

[Aj72]

Average all round for me with a couple of above average scenes thrown in for good measure.

[Bossobass Dave]

I don't vote in these polls for subjective input and this movie is a good example of why.

 

Wow. Droning 39 Hz stuff? Was your sub on?

 

Funny shit how people hear soundtracks differently, or, more likely, how their sub presents a soundtrack in their room.

 

There aren't a lot of big bass scenes but the peak hold and average graphs show the dynamics. I'm fried by war flicks, gore flicks and green screen overdose, I guess. This one was a welcome story with a great cast and the LFE was refreshingly apt, varied and inventive.

[SME]

Bosso, I presume you have a very good system with at least a reasonably flat response, so I think you of all people should vote subjectively.  Now of course, even two rooms with the same measured bass response will likely sound (and feel) different in practice, but they will be a lot more a like than a room or system that isn't very flat.

 

I haven't seen this movie yet, but from what I'm hearing, I bet I'll like the soundtrack.  I think people read too much into PvAs sometimes.  Sound design is a crucial component.  One issue I don't see discussed often with regard to the extension rating is how level affects extension.  Audibility is key.  It looks to me there's plenty of bass < 25 Hz that's audible, even if it's probably fairly subtle most of the time.  Of course that 50 Hz hit probably slams very solidly on the right system. 

 

Having gone from a sub+room system with huge holes in the bass response to one that's +/- 3 dB from 20-100 Hz across a 3 seat area, I understand very well why subjective opinions vary so widely.

[tuxedocivic]

That's why it's subjective Dave. You should vote. I to felt it was a great mix. No 5 star personally, but if you did think it was 5, go for it.

 

I also felt the movie itself was really good. Loved the office above the bar scene when he first goes ballistic and takes out those guys with a cork screw But when I think of something like Rush, to me that's a very nice mix that tops this one in just about every way. Those types of movies get fives for me. But that's a subjective feeling between the two. I'm the only person who voted Rush for 2014 movie of the year. So who am I to say one is better than the other.

[Bossobass Dave]

Subjective jargon and the infinite variety of subwoofer performance and calibration makes it impossible for me to vote a number from 1 to 5. I only understand full bandwidth and flat calibration. I do not understand the pants flapping terminology and never have.

 

I've always run my system flat and have used signal shaping, placement, phase/delay and levels to come to a flat response to 3 Hz and have never used post smoothing EQ or limiters. I've also scaled the system upward so that my FR remains intact throughout the listening session as it was during calibration with no compression and harmonic distortion kept <10%.

 

I would say that that narrows it down quite a bit to a subjective opinion that kinda stands over in the corner by itself at the party.

 

I also look at sound design and preservation thereof (production) as the most important metric as a consumer of the product.

 

When I saw the SpecLab thread at AVS started by DrPainMed and seeing caps posted by Kweezer, et al, I was blown away by the thought that you could actually see what you were hearing. After the rather steep SL learning curve and subsequently changing settings several times in SpecLab, I arrived at a frequency resolution that allowed me to see some of the infinite frequency content patterns, as well as the waveform showing dynamics, that make the sound effect unique.

 

When we mic'd Brandon's system at his GTG, I could tell immediately what the dynamic and frequency responses of his system were by being so familiar with the spectrographs of the scenes we measured. Ditto after doing the same at Adam's after setting up his Raptor system, which is virtually identical to the system I use currently. I may be reaching the better part of an octave lower (from 5.X Hz to 3.X Hz), but they both have magnitudes more efficient rooms with virtually zero rub & buzz.

 

Conversely, I saw the massive differences in the spectrographs when setting up little ported subs like SVS and Hsu for budget-minded people.

 

In looking at EQ with more scrutiny since this discussion, I have the -10dB point at 11 Hz and lower without the 53 Hz blip, which skews it quite a bit.

 

 

That^^^ is the digital cap, but my first posted mic'd cap of that scene was accurate enough so as not to change that.

 

 

I liked the story, I'm a sucker for the glib, one-liner-spewing, one-man-army hero guy and the sound was a surprise in the levels, placement and uniqueness of the low end, which is a relatively rare thing in movie soundtracks. Of course, as you can see in the animation of mic'd vs digital, I was running the subs hot by +6dB.

 

And, yes, I agree Tux, the 1st fight scene was top notch, both visually and sonically. If you look at the dynamics and frequency content of the scene, it's uniqueness is apparent without hearing a note.

 

 

Bottom line, adjust the extension and bump the SW trim and you have a 4.25 star movie. As far as star rating goes, looking at the other 4.25 star rated MWB, that sounds about right to me.

 

Subjectively, I like the movie and voted it top MWB of 2014. Not much else to say.

[Aj72]

I think there will always be an element of subjective opinion involved no matter how well your system can reproduce the material and how much you know about the content. Let's say we had some of the most knowledgeable people on this forum come by your place (Bossobass). Each person sits in the same listening position, watches the same movies (including this one) under the same circumstances you do. Would you expect everybody to have the same preferences as you? Correct me if I'm wrong but it feels like we're being told we can't see the forest for the trees on this one?

[Toe]

While not a bass fest (the material doesn't call for that), I thought this was a fantastic LFE track. When the bass was needed, it sure was convincing and hit like I would hope/expect. No complaints at all from me.