maxmercy

The headroom check reveals that the BEQ version of the film played back at +7dBRef (Equivalent dialogue reference), no instantaneous signal peak is higher than 125.4dB. Largest 'extended' peak (125ms) is 118.6dB. Comparison PvA coming later. JSS

I still have to do a headroom sanity check on the overall film, but I will. Only 4-5 films I have re-done have ended up with any >128dB effects when played back at 85dBRef (+7dB on the MV). rant/ Most films are VERY tolerant of BEQ, which has led me to believe that it is possible to have unclipped, dynamic, full-bandwidth presentations if someone takes the time to create a film soundtrack properly the first time. We unfortunately have few examples of this. So much of the problem is that most exhibitors will not playback films at Reference; too many complaints of "it's too loud". This sometimes forces mixers to mix films under reference, knowing their films will not be played back at Ref Level, esp for dialogue driven films. To get loudness under reference level, you have to compress/clip loud passages to keep dialogue loud and clear enough if you mix significantly under Ref. What happens if a film mixed under reference is played back AT reference level? LOUD/COMPRESSED/CLIPPED Hell. It can be even worse for HT 'home mixes' depending on the playback system and Ref Level it is mixed at. Was it optimized for soundbar, TV speaker,s, HTIB, or decent HT setup playback? And let us not forget about 'Director's Intent'. I'm talking to you, Chris Nolan, ever since 'The Dark Knight' (though I hold out hope for 'Dunkirk'), and you, Joseph Kosinski (who admitted to messing with 'Tron:Legacy's BD mix, and the clipped hell it was in every channel save for LFE). But I also have to thank Joseph Kosinski. Without Tron:Legacy's obvious clipping, I would have never tried to find out how to look for clipping in a soundtrack. I am just glad we get some decent mixes every now and then. Too many variables at play, and not many (if any) standards followed, with so many various powerful interests at play. /rant JSS

Anywhere from 4-12 hours per film, with about 1/2 that time just waiting for processing to happen as I think about how to do the next trial solution. Pacific Rim took me several days. That filter was steep and hard to correct. It does get easier, though. I have done around 50 or so films and 30 or so DTS/THX/Dolby trailers. JSS

Finally, LFE pre-post: About 7 iterations to get this one right, as headroom was at a premium. Turns out my first guess was closest to my final solution. As I expected, <10Hz is highpassed away, only able to be brought back by ever increasing negative gains before BEQ. Tentative LFE Solution: Gain -7dB Low Shelf 18Hz Q=0.707 +5.25dB Low Shelf 18Hz Q=0.707 +5.25dB Low Shelf 18Hz Q=0.707 +5.25dB SME, if you can input that into your incredible DSP, I'd be interested in what you think of the solution. JSS

Left Channel Pre-Post: I think that is a pretty good solution, at least one worth trying out for LCRS. I'll work on LFE later today, and have a tentative full solution. LCRS tentative solution: Gain -7dB Shelf Filter 30Hz, Q=0.707, Gain=6 Shelf Filter 30Hz, Q=0.707, Gain=6 Shelf Filter 30Hz, Q=0.707, Gain=6 Shelf Filter 12Hz Q=0.707, Gain=6 Shelf Filter 12Hz Q=0.707, Gain=6 PK EQ 31Hz, Q=2.871, Gain=6 PK EQ 31Hz, Q=2.871, Gain=6 I have found in practice I get smoother, more predicatble curves with multiple +6dB or lower steps than with one big filter, especially when using higher Q values, so in this case, this solution could be made into just 3 filters and a gain change. YMMV. JSS

Center pre-post, looks like a decent solution: The shelves and dip cleaned up nicely. I usually shoot for a flat peak graph, I have found it sounds better than correcting for the avg graph. Others may differ. JSS

Back Surrounds: Looks like only 2-3 solutions needed, one for LFE, one for LCRS and if you want, one for LCR and a separate one for Surrounds. The more I look at these graphs, the more I think someone heard the LCRS 'farting' with the content and pulled ~30Hz down to keep it sounding 'clean'. JSS

Surround Left and Right Similar treatment to these , but maybe a bit more de-shelving from 40-60Hz, depending on how the back surrounds look. I basically try to match the PvAs from my favorite, unfiltered films, and it usually does the trick very well (but sometimes fails). JSS

Right/Left: Probably will receive same correction as Center, as is usually the case. Shelve up 10-30 to meet 40+ and then look at the dip. I like it when tracks use the upper bass, like that 140Hz hit at -7dB...it generally makes a BEQ better if there is already a lot of upper bass present JSS

Center and LFE: At first glance, Center will be probably easy. Shelve up the 10-30Hz range to nearly meet 40Hz and up. Then look at the 30Hz Dip. The LFE will prove similarly easy from 30-10Hz, but below that diminishing returns, as it looks like a highpass was added under 10Hz, around 7Hz if I had to guess. JSS

I hope the mixers just pulled down the 30Hz to keep the LCRS from distorting with high level playback (most theater LCRS are tuned to 40-45Hz), as the days of the twin BagEnd 18" units under the LCR in a soundstage are no longer around, AFAIK. FilmMixer used to work on a stage that had twin sealed 18s under each LCR in order to monitor what was encoded down low, along with sixteen 18" sealed units along the front wall floor to monitor LFE. Another BEQ I have done had a similar dip in the 25-30Hz range and sounded better with the dip filled in, IIRC. I would be interested in hearing what you think filled vs non-filled.... JSS

No magic or mystery, this all started trying to undo the amazing Avengers shelf filter....after I BEQ a film, I generally watch it before I say it's any good, as I have bloated out a few mixes. I now basically just try to get back whatever was shelved out while trying to preserve the midbass (not easy to do with very steep shelves, like Pacific Rim, that one took me many tries to get right). I'll post up my LCRS graphs this evening. JSS

I basically look at each individual channel, and see what may have been filtered/shelved and then try to get a decent solution to reverse the initial shelving. That 30Hz dip is strange. I'm separating the audio channels into individual wavs and graphing them this evening to ensure I get the same FR before I begin. JSS

Let me look at it. I'll come up with what I think will be a decent solution tomorrow. JSS

Pre-Subscribed... JSS

Alien: Covenant and GotG 2 measurements soon. JSS

Even the newer Danley Fireworks files I can find are clipped. I wish we had access to clean versions. JSS

Crowsons and even speakers should be fine, like SME said, the LFE channel will have a lowpass that smooths out the corners. I really only found sharp corners objectionable on a few films. Tron:Legacy and Star Trek:Into Deafness were the two that are the worst standouts. But many films clip. Many times it is not objectionable. For instance, both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 clip a lot whenever the repulsors are firing, but I never found it problematic, as the closest thing to repulsors are jet engines, which clip our ears. But when you clip a violin, or something that is very familiar, it just sounds wrong. Star Trek 2009, for all its accolades, clips the warp booms (WTF are they 'supposed' to sound like?). But they still sound great. At the same time, the film clips hardly anything else. JSS

I can't remember who gets credit for that one, but I didn't originate it. That was one clipped mess. It was horrible. JSS

So much EDM and DnB is a clipped mess (often intentionally), that I think we are almost conditioned to accept it as a fact of life. Some of my fav bass drum hits in some EDM have lots of flat tops.... You cannot ask more of a sound system than to playback what is on the disc, clipped or not. JSS

I watched Kong at -7dBRef (Reference Level per se for my size room, with -0dB set at 85dBC calibration), and no bad noises, but I expected some flat tops based on the listening experience. Not as bad as the 'lunge for the volume control' as in Tron:Legacy, and DEFINITELY not as bad as Star Trek:Into Deafness.... According to MrEdge's graph, GoTG2 has less of a rolloff than the original. That is a good thing. I do not use an LT boost anymore to watch films, as I get very little room gain in the new room. The Crowsons did get a workout, though. JSS

Kong: Skull Island (Dolby ATMOS) Level - 4 Stars (111.38dB composite) Extension - 5 Stars (1Hz) Dynamics - 5 Stars (28.84dB) Execution - 4 Stars Overall - 4.5 Stars Notes - This film delivers bass in spades, especially in the shake-and-move-stuff wheelhouse range of 12-25Hz. Clipping analysis shows flat tops in nearly every channel, Center is most egregious, but all the clipping appears to have rounded edges as if some sort of limiting was put in place like Pixels, so not completely objectionable, like Tron:Legacy clipping was. LFE channel clips with sharp corners, but low-pass filtering will smooth them out. Better movie than anticipated, but it almost always seems that way when you expect nothing from a film. Good surround use, good soundtrack. BEQ should make this a structure-endangerer. JSS

I wish REW had a "show all traces" for the Excess Group Delay window. That way, you know what freq ranges IIR filtering can be used for correction. Another would be an standard deviation or variance trace under the average trace whenever an average is calculated. I may need to post this info on the REW forum. JSS

SME, How do you spatially average? I know REW has an average all traces function, but do you utilize that function and take more measurements near MLP to prioritize, or another way? JSS

Kong: Skull Island may be amenable to BEQ..... JSS